Geology in Fiction: A Community Favorites Survey

By Bella Gray, PhD 2029

We asked and you answered! We’ve compiled a list of Jackson School student’s favorite works of fiction that feature geology or broader earth science.

Novels

Next time you want to read about geology without having to open your own manuscript or one of your many citations, give one of these a go:

The Martian (2011) by Andy Weir

Mark Watney finds himself stranded and alone on Mars after a dust storm forces his crew to evacuate. He’s unable to signal to Earth and his supplies are dwindling fast but he’s not ready to give up. Determined to survive, he draws on his ingenuity and his engineering skills to confront the impossible.

See the Goodreads synopsis4.42/5 stars (1,231,479 ratings)

The Ministry for the Future (2020) by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Ministry for the Future was established in 2025 to advocate for future generations and protect all living things. Told through fictional eye-witness accounts, The Ministry for the Future imagines how the extraordinary challenges caused by climate change will affect us all.

See the Goodreads synopsis3.87/5 (39,500 ratings)

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) by Jules Verne

Geology professor Otto Lidenbrock investigates claims of a supposed route to the earth’s core. With his nephew Axel and a guide Hans, he descends into an extinct volcano to a fantastic subterranean world.

See the Goodreads synopsis3.85/5 (217,514 ratings)

The Broken Earth Trilogy (2015-2017) by N.K. Jemisin

Book #1, The Fifth Season: Three terrible things in a single day: Essun comes home to find her son murdered and her daughter kidnapped; the empire that has been civilization’s bedrock for thousands of years collapses as its citizens are murdered to satiate a madman’s vengeance; and a great rift has torn into the heart of the earth. Now, Essun will stop at nothing to save her daughter as she travels through a deadly, dying land. 

See the Goodreads synopsis4.29/5 stars (314,328 ratings)

Beyond Sleep (1966) by Willem Frederik Hermans

Alfred Issendorf, a young Dutch geologist, is looking to make a name for himself. He joins an expedition to far north Norway in hopes of being the first to identify a suite of craters in the landscape. The unforgiving environment instead brings a series of unimaginable tribulations. Pushed to his physical and mental limits, Alfred becomes paranoid and begins to lose his grip on reality. 

See the Goodreads synopsis3.86/5 stars (10,376 ratings)

Em Hansen Mystery Series (1994-2012) by Sarah Andrews

Book #1, TensleepEm Hansen, a forensic geologist turned sleuth, decides to investigate a series of mysterious events when working on an oil-drilling rig in the Wyoming badlands. 

See the Goodreads synopsis3.63/5 stars (422 ratings)

The Mars Trilogy (1992-1999) by Kim Stanley Robinson

Book #1, Red Mars: It’s 2026 and a group of 100 colonists set out to conquer the desolate and hostile Martian landscape. What follows is an epic terraforming mission filled with daring acts of courage and madness, incredible engineering feats, and the follies of mankind. 

See the Goodreads synopsis3.86/5 stars (86,767 ratings) 

Jacob’s Well (1984) by Stephen Harrigan

Stephen Harrigan’s second novel takes readers on a passionate, emotionally intense journey deep into the mysterious passageways of a Central Texas aquifer—and the human heart.

See the Goodreads synopsis4.00/5 stars (98 ratings)

Gurren Lagann Series (2007-2013) by Kotaro Mori

Gurren Lagann, Vol. 1: Simon drills holes daily in an attempt to expand his skyless cavern. That is until an extraordinary discovery drags him headfirst into a plot to break through to the surface, defend his village, and defeat a monster. 

See the Goodreads synopsis4.07/5 stars (283 ratings)

The Alternatives (2024) by Caoilinn Hughes

The Flattery sisters are in their 30s, all single, and all with PhDs. The four lead distanced lives attempting to do meaningful work in a rapidly changing world. One day, the oldest sister, a geologist haunted by the earth’s future, vanishes from her home. The other three must work together in search for a sister who may not wish to be found. 

See the Goodreads synopsis3.39/5 stars (3,449 ratings)

Film

If you’re needing a break from the rigor of academics, check out some of these movies that put entertaining storytelling ahead of strict scientific accuracy:

Tremors (1990)

“Val McKee and Earl Bassett are in a fight for their lives when they discover that their desolate town has been infested with gigantic, man-eating creatures that live below the ground.”

Description from Letterboxd

James Bond: Quantum of Solace (2008)

“Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M interrogate Mr. White, who reveals that the organization that blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.”

Description from Letterboxd

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

“After paleoclimatologist Jack Hall is largely ignored by UN officials when presenting his environmental concerns about the beginning of a new Ice Age, his research proves true when a superstorm develops, setting off catastrophic natural disasters throughout the world. Trying to get to his son, Sam, who is trapped in New York City with his friend Laura and others, Jack and his crew must travel to get to Sam before it’s too late.”

Description from Letterboxd

Dante’s Peak (1997)

“Volcanologist Harry Dalton comes to the sleepy town of Dante’s Peak to investigate the recent rumblings of the dormant volcano the burg is named for. Before long, his worst fears are realized when a massive eruption hits, and immediately, Harry, the mayor and the townspeople find themselves fighting for their lives amid a catastrophic nightmare.”

Description from Letterboxd

Megafault (2009)

“When miner Charley ‘Boomer’ Baxter sets off a series of massive mining detonations in West Virginia, a gigantic earthquake is soon rocking the North Atlantic, exposing a deep seismic fault that runs the length of the North American continent. Joining forces with government seismology expert Dr Amy Lane, Boomer must now race against time to stop the chasm that is threatening to tear America – and the entire world – in half.”

Description from Letterboxd 

Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)

“On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the earth.”

Description from Letterboxd

Jurassic Park (1993)

“A wealthy entrepreneur secretly creates a theme park featuring living dinosaurs drawn from prehistoric DNA. Before opening day, he invites a team of experts and his two eager grandchildren to experience the park and help calm anxious investors. However, the park is anything but amusing as the security systems go off-line and the dinosaurs escape.”

Description from Letterboxd

2012 (2009)

“Dr. Adrian Helmsley, part of a worldwide geophysical team investigating the effect on the earth of radiation from unprecedented solar storms, learns that the earth’s core is heating up. He warns U.S. President Thomas Wilson that the crust of the earth is becoming unstable and that without proper preparations for saving a fraction of the world’s population, the entire race is doomed. Meanwhile, writer Jackson Curtis stumbles on the same information. While the world’s leaders race to build “arks” to escape the impending cataclysm, Curtis struggles to find a way to save his family. Meanwhile, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes of unprecedented strength wreak havoc around the world.”

Description from Letterboxd

Crack in the World (1965)

“Dr. Steven Sorenson plans to tap the geothermal energy of the Earth’s interior by means of a thermonuclear device detonated deep within the Earth. This experiment causes a crack to form and grow within the Earth’s crust, which threatens to split the earth in two if it is not stopped in time.”

Description from Letterboxd

The Wave (2015)

“Although theorised, no one is really ready when a mountain pass above the scenic and narrow Geiranger fjord in Norway collapses and creates a tsunami over 300 feet high. A geologist is one of those caught in the middle of it.”

Description from Letterboxd