I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday, which was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog.
In honor of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, I wanted to share a list of speculative fiction books set during wars that the U.S. was involved in (since this is a U.S. holiday). I’ve been thinking about doing this list for a few years now, but it took some time to find and compile it. And because Angel Down just won the Pulitzer Price for fiction, a story firmly entrenched in WWI (sorry, pun not intended!) it seemed like perfect timing. All these books have speculative elements, but all take place during real world wars: the Civil War, World War I and World War II. I’m separating these by war, and I’ll link them either to my reviews or to Goodreads. I haven’t read all of these, but I found the ones I have read to be extremely powerful and worth reading. Note: this is only a small selection of what I imagine is a much bigger pool of books, so I’d love to hear recommendations for any you’d add to the list!
World War I
Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. Five WWI soldiers stumble upon what they believe to be an angel, spurring them to carry out a dangerous and deadly rescue mission.
It Came From NeverLand by Cynthia Pelayo. Set during WWI, this Peter Pan retelling follows a grown up Wendy Darling as she attempts to uncover the culprit in a string of recent murders.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden. Separated by the war, two siblings search for each other in this ghostly, emotional and surreal story.
A Spell for Change by Nicole Jarvis. Post WWI, three people whose lives have been deeply affected by the war come together in this story of ghosts and possession.
Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan. In the wake of WWI, a woman deals with unspeakable loss in this fantasy-tinged story about the fae realm.
World War II
The Girl With a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean. A twisty, decades spanning horror story that partly takes place in World War II Hong Kong.
A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan. A multigenerational story of a family of witches which partly takes place during the horrors of World War II.
The Enigmas by Emilia Hart. A portal fantasy that spans both WWI and WWII and revolves around two sisters.
Nonesuch by Francis Spufford. A tale about an ambitious young woman who must thwart an occult plot by time-traveling fascists during the chaos of the London Blitz.
Fata Morgana by Steven R. Boyett. A B17 bomber manages to find a rift in time in this World War II focused time travel story.
A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel. A unique science fiction story that takes place near the end of WWII and gives a speculative twist to the space race.
Civil War
Sarafina by Philip Fracasi. Three brothers fighting on the side of the Confederacy during the Civil War find themselves in an otherworldly realm after going AWOL.
Thanks for this list! I’m normally not a fan of wartime women’s fiction or literary fiction, but I had no idea there were horror, fantasy, and sci-fi books set during those wars. How cool! I’m definitely going to have to check some if these out.
There are quite a few speculative fiction war stories, I hope you get to read some:-)
A wonderful list!
Thanks Bree!
The only one I’ve read is The Warm Hands of Ghosts — an incredibly powerful book! I’d like to read the Sylvain Neuvel book. I didn’t realize it had a connection to WWII. Great list!
Yes, I loved it too! Thank you:-)
I’ve been meaning to get round to several of these! I’ve been curious about The Warm Hands of Ghosts for a while (initially just because of that title), but I keep hesitating. Looks like a good list!
Warm Hands is really good, and very emotional!
Lots to check out in this list! I’m reading a WWII novel right now, but it’s a straight historical, I never really thought of specfic/historical before
I was surprised how many there are!
I’ve enjoyed the Nicole Glover ones set around the Civil War timeframe.
Somebody else mentioned that book too, I should add it.
I was wondering if The Warm Hands of Ghosts would make your list!
It was the book that got me started on the list!
Very interesting topic! You just educated me about several of these books. I did not know they took place during these specific time periods. I am really curious about It Came from Neverland.
I’m hoping to read It Came From Neverland very soon!
Ooo great idea for a post! I’m very curious about Angel Down, but I read a review on GR that said it’s kind of gory and I usually try to avoid that. Do you plan to read it (or have you and I missed your review?)?
Thank you! Yes, I read Angel Down and it was a pretty tough read, although I loved it. If you don’t like reading about soldiers in the trenches, it probably isn’t for you.
I am reading The Girl With a Thousand Faces right now but am not getting very far. I am hoping to finish Femme Feral so I can focus on it soon. Great post idea!
Thanks Barb! The Girl With a Thousand Faces is pretty complex and twisty, so I’m not surprised.
I’ve not read any of these yet, but I did take this as an opportunity to purchase Angel Down. 🙂
Hey, one step closer…:-)
Great list, I’ve read two only but want to check out Sarafina! Sorry it took so long to check your list out!
Thanks! I really want to get to Sarafina at some point.
Neat idea for a list! I just finished reading Connie Willis’ Passage, and while it’s not set in WWII, one of the secondary characters spends a LOT of his time telling the main characters about his experiences in the navy during those years, so it almost felt like it counted when I was reading those sections.
Oh cool. I will have to look that one up!
I’ve only read two but would definitely like to read more. I really fancy reading Angel Down.
Lynn 😀
Angel Down is worth reading:-)
Great list. The only one of these that Ive read, The Warm Hands Of Ghosts, I literally got to this week. The majority of the others are on my TBR with Thistlemarsh, Girl With A Thousand Faces and It Came From Neverland especially intriguing me. I’m sure I must have read some books with speculative elements set within the wars but I’m drawing a blank right now and can only think of historical titles that I’ve tried. I haven’t read it yet but Dread Nation is on my TBR and has civil war ties.
Dread Nation is a great idea for the list. I may have to add it:-)
What a wonderful list of books! I was blown away by Nonesuch and am eagerly waiting for the next book as it ended on something of a cliff-hanger. And I also loved Thistlemarsh – another one that popped into my head was Blackout by Connie Willis.
The Warm Hands of Ghost was so good!
Excellent post!
I hope now with “Angel Down” winning the Pulitzer Prize that readers will consider reading, “The Warm Hands of Ghosts.”
I wonder if R.F. Kuang’s “The Poppy War Trilogy,” could be considered WWII (it’s based on the Second Sino-Japanese War) due to the references made about that war throughout the series.
I had to DNF Girl With a Thousand Faces which was a shame. It started great but the started unraveling near the half way point and it just got so tedious I actually had to throw in the towel at like 75-80% rather than push through! Seeing it on this list just reminded me that the story was connected WWII, because that’s how quickly it lost track of that context!