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If you're looking for current stuff, I'd recommend "The Swollen Season" by Andrew Hunter Murray - dark dystopia after a climate catastrophe. "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood is still relevant too, if you haven't read it yet, and "We Are the Weather" by Jonathan Safran Foer deals with the topic pretty directly. Otherwise it's worth checking out reading forums or Goodreads, because there's constantly new climate novels being discussed there and you can see what people are actually reading right now.
"Oryx and Crake" is actually from 2003, so not really current. More like something newer such as "Inhabitants" by Clemens Meyer or "The Void" by Anna Katharina Hahn, which deal with environmental destruction in quite different ways.
For me, "The Light of All That Falls" by Ned Beauman really worked well - it's about coral reefs and overfishing, but tells it in a way that doesn't turn into doom-mongering. 🌊 I'd also throw in "The Ministry for the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson, in case you haven't come across it yet - he really puts together some interesting scenarios for how different countries deal with the consequences of climate change. Generally, I've noticed that the better novels on this topic tend to focus on concrete problems rather than just painting bleak worlds.
Watch out: with climate novels, you'll keep seeing the same names recommended over and over, even though a lot of them are years old or more philosophical than concrete. Better to look for books that don't just describe the crisis but also show how people actually deal with it - so less apocalyptic, more grounded in everyday life. "Fertige Menschen" by Burkhard Spinnen or "Das achte Land" by Clemens Meyer are closer to what you're after if you want something newer with real weight that goes beyond the usual doomsday routine.
My experience: look for books that touch on the topic in the background, not as the main plot. "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang isn't primarily about climate crisis, but the environmental theme runs underneath it all and the book stays entertaining rather than preachy. Same with "The Ministry for the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson - you've probably already heard of it, but if not: really well researched and told from different perspectives without coming across as preachy.
The problem is that a lot of these novels tend to be more philosophical or bleak without actually showing any concrete solutions 🌍 I'd rather recommend books that work with hope or at least a sense of agency - stuff like "Ferris Bueller" by Christopher Bollen or newer works that use climate change as a setting without completely bumming you out. Best thing is to pick something that matches your interests thematically, but not just doomsday stuff - something that also shows people dealing with it or wanting to change things.
Specifically on more recent German-language titles: "Schattenwald" by Charlotte Link (2020) combines climate themes with thriller elements, so it doesn't veer into preachiness, and "Die Salzprinzessin" by Meike Winnemuth addresses water scarcity through a very personal narrative style rather than an abstract one. If you're more into international works, "The Ministry for the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson is pretty interesting - the approach is less bleak-apocalyptic and more focused on practical solutions, even though the length can be off-putting. Which genre suits you better, more dystopian or more realistic contemporary angles?
Most climate novels coming out right now get caught up in this either-hope-or-apocalypse dichotomy - but there's stuff in between. "Ferris Wheel" by Nicholas Royle or "The Ministry for the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson work better because they play through concrete scenarios without moralizing. Check out what environmental activists or scientists themselves recommend instead - they usually care less for melodramatic stuff and more for realism.
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