By Octavia E. Butler

Dawn is a post-apocalyptic tale with a twist. Protagonist Lilith Iyapo is here to help rebuild civilization, but she has a little bit of help. In fact, she and the other apocalypse survivors have been held in a cryo-sleep by aliens for hundreds of years. The aliens aren’t in it for charity, though: they genetically merge with the humans, meaning that the humans repopulating our planet won’t quite be human at all.

Still not convinced? Lupita N'yongo gave the book a glowing review, listing it as one of her favorites: "I was stunned by how relevant the themes of the book are to today. I did not imagine that sci-fi would be an enjoyable genre to get into for me, but Butler writes with such a familiarity that the alien is welcome and intriguing. She really artfully exposes our human impulse to self-destruct."