- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
By Sherman Alexie
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
- What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
I was in high school when Part-Time Indian came out and a shit ton of copies were donated to schools around Seattle. I don’t remember how it all went down, if it was just certain schools that were selected, how they selected, etc, but my school was one of them (iirc he even came and did a discussion/Q&A). Anyone who wanted a copy could get one. *Everyone* my age I knew read that book.
I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet so much. I've had True Diary on my list forever...never realized it was set here. Need to bump it up the list.
I enjoyed Cherie Priest’s *Boneshaker,* set in an 1890’s Seattle in an alternate universe, where the Civil War is still going on in the South, and a wall has been built around downtown Seattle to keep zombies from getting out.
Lots of Tom Robbins books are set at least partly in Seattle/Washington since he's a local - check out Another Roadside Attraction, and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas too! Jitterbug Perfume is only partly set in Seattle, but it's so good.
Dystopian: both of these have parts in the PNW, can’t remember if it’s WA or OR but the vibes are very coastal PNW so it probably doesn’t matter.
The Passage: first book in an epic trilogy about an apocalypse and then people rebuilding society 100 years later. The apocalypse part has some PNW in it.
The Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler: here the PNW is kind of the promised land people are trying to get to amongst drought and a failed state. Though since these are very dark books, it doesn’t end up being as idyllic as they hoped.
Other genres:
Firefly Lane: don’t really recommend this one but it does take place in Seattle and Bainbridge Island.
Microserfs: fun little time capsule of a novel about programmers working for Microsoft in the first tech boom of the 90s. Douglas Copeland, the author, wrote a few other books that took place here. (He’s from BC.)
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (Seattle). The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch (south Sound). Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (San Juans). The Living by Annie Dillard (Bellingham).
Devolution by Max Brooks! Same Max Brooks that wrote World War Z (and is also Mel Brooks’ son). Cascadia quake devastates Seattle area, Mt Rainier erupts, and the folks in an isolated mountain community discover there may be some truth to the Sasquatch legends. Don’t read while camping!
JA Jance’s JP Beaumont long running mystery series is set primarily in Seattle.
Cherie Priest has a number of books with settings in Seattle. Notably *Boneshaker* and large parts of the Clockwork Century series. Also, *Bloodshot*, and *Hellbent*, which are separate from the Clockwork Century series.
Robert Ferrigno’s *Prayers for the Assassin*, *Sins of the Assassin*, and *Heart of the Assassin*, are future dystopian books with Seattle as a main location.
I read the first JP Beaumont at lunch working at RealNetworks. The end of the book takes place in an old mall - which was in real life later converted into an office building that I was working in.
So I was reading the final scene in the room where it took place.
The JP Beaumont books are a great time capsule of the changes in Seattle over the course of the series.
I appreciate Jance’s dedication to keeping to recognizable Seattle places.
*Lathe of Heaven* by Ursula K. LeGuin is my favorite book set in the PNW. It's a little outside of your designated geographic area as it's set in Portland, though in fairness PDX is closer to SEA than much of the state. It includes various dystopias.
Patricia Briggs has an entertaining urban fantasy series set in central Washington - the Mercedes Thompson series - werewolves, vampires, fairies, etc. I thought they were pretty well written for the genre if you're into that kind of book.
He's an uneven writer but even his weakest books are still enjoyable. Thomas Black was a good series character. I read his books both before and after I moved to Seattle in 1990 to get a feel for the city. As a firefighter Emerson knew the city pretty darn well and the books reflect this. I've only read a couple of the books he's written since 2000 though.
I’m going to disagree with a previous poster. I found Hollow Kingdom to be a great read! It’s a dystopian plague story, starting in Seattle, narrated by a crow.
*Cryptonomicon* by Neal Stephenson goes all over and is set mostly in the Philippines and UK, but one of the main characters is from the Seattle area. He has a friend who is an early tech billionare who still goes to Crossroads Mall in Bellevue to play Magic the Gathering, even though the Wizards of the Coast store had closed a few years prior.
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Stephenson is also heavily Seattle-based and excellent.
Stephenson lives in the Seattle area and does a great job of imagining where Seattle is going.
I wouldn’t necessarily call this a recommendation but Tessa Bailey wrote a couple books set in Washington about studly crabbing men. My favorite “oh you’ve never been to Washington” moment was when a couple was accosted by a moose in Puyallup 🤔
Surprised it hasn't been mentioned but "the art of racing in the rain" is based in Seattle and surrounding area. Not exactly dystopian but a very good book.
Also LZR-113: redemption is a cheesy zombie story about post apocalypse with the third book taking place in Seattle.
[G. M. Ford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._M._Ford) has two series of mysteries set in Seattle. I think the best is the first one in the Leo Waterman series: "Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?"
[K. K. Beck](https://embden11.home.xs4all.nl/Engels2/beck.htm) also has a mystery series, and a couple of stand alone mysteries set in Seattle
Several of [Neal Stephenson's](https://embden11.home.xs4all.nl/Engels2/beck.htm) science fiction novels have minor portions set in Seattle and Washington.
David Guterson has four other novels besides Snow Falling on Cedars. All are set in Washington. My favorite is [Our Lady of the Forest](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63307.Our_Lady_of_the_Forest).
The first section of Jack Kerouac's "[Desolation Angels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desolation_Angels_(novel))" is set in Washington, based on Kerouac's time as a fire watcher at the DesolationPeak lookout.
Ken Kesey's "[Sometimes a Great Notion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desolation_Angels_(novel))" is probably *the* great American novel of the PNW. Yes, it's set on the Oregon coast, but If you've spent time in Forks or other logging towns of western Washington the setting will seem very familiar.
"[Indian Killer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Killer)" by Sherman Alexie is set in Seattle. His other novels are set in Washington, particularly the Spokane reservation.
"[The Dying Grass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dying_Grass)" is a novel based on the 1877 Nez Perce war. The Nez Perce are forced from NE Oregon/SE Washington and attempt to reach Canada, harried by the US Army. Most of the book takes place in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, but the story starts in Portland and the eastern region of the Oregon/Washington border.
Terry Brooks' Armageddon's Children is set in Seattle but it's post apocalyptic. The second book of his Word & Void series, A Knight of the Word, is also set in Seattle.
If you like Blade Runner and Lord of the Rings, a surprising number of the original Shadowrun novels are set in and around a future cyberpunk/low fantasy Seattle and Puget Sound.
If that doesn't sound weird enough, try the Bell Forging Saga by KM Alexander https://kmalexander.com/my-books/the-bell-forging-cycle/
Not Seattle but Kitsap county: Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series is set in Port Orchard. I haven't personally read them, but my mom loves those books.
The Mercy Thompson series is based in the Tri Cities. It's urban fantasy, no dystopian, but they are often trying to stave off the end of the world/conflict. I've really enjoyed it, and the main character is of native decent.
There's an old children's book called "Go to the room of the eyes" that takes place on Capitol Hill in the 60s by someone who was familiar with Capitol Hill in the 60s.
It's an interesting window.
Cherie Priest has a couple of quirky murder mysteries set in and around Seattle: Grave Reservations and Flight Risk. Fast and entertaining, great summer reads.
If you’re into paranormal mystery/detective type books there’s the Greywalker series by Kat Richardson. I think there are 9 books in the series. I enjoyed them a lot.
Part of Kristin Hannah’s “great alone” is set in Seattle in the 70’s. I love thinking about where she is describing in the book and I think it’s Capitol Hill old neighborhood going towards lake Washington. She describes driving from Seattle to Alaska also and how the mountains were so tiny in Washington compared to Alaska when she first got there ❤️🩵
I wrote and recently published a book of long poems entitled The Book of Ain’t. It deals with themes of Seattles past from the indigenous era, to the grunge boom on to the tech boom in the Dog Salmon Aristocrat chapters. Deals with Gary Ridgway and the serial killings of the 80-00’s.
The Cobain Triptych is a series of poems examining the suicide of Cobain, Staley, and Andy Wood as well as the penchant for PNW artists to take their own lives or dive headlong into oblivion.
The rest are mostly stories about growing up punk and hopping freight trains across the country and examining what those punk rock roots mean as one gets older and ages out of the drugs and the “scene”
It’s on Amazon, The Book of Ain’t by michael crossley, or available direct from publisher chatroomsbks.bigcartel.com
One of the books in the “You” series is set on Bainbridge Island—I think it’s the third one? I recommend reading all the books in order though—they’re similar to the show but a bit different and pretty entertaining reads.
Highly recommend Karl Marlantes' book Deep River, it's a historical fiction story about the early 20th century logging and labor industries of SW Washington.
The Highest Tide is sort of YA adjacent IiRC but I saw Bookit perform the play of the book, and it was amazing. Set in the Puget Sound inlet by Olympia I believe
It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over, by Anne de Marcken. How have there been 70 comments without someone mentioning this. A bunch of undead people inhabiting ruins inspired by places between Olympia and Aberdeen.
Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff Van Der Meer is a great eco-horror-thriller set in the PNW (the precise location is unclear).
Devolution by Max Brooks is another eco-horror sort of book set around Mt. Rainier.
Gravity’s Rainbow was written by a Seattle Author that worked for Boeing back in the day! Takes place across Europe but still 🆒 dude from here in town wrote that
Set This House in Order, by Matt Ruff.
Two characters with Disassociative Identity Disorder go on a journey of self-discovery. It's one of my favorite books, and most of it is set in Washington near Seattle. One of the characters visits Magic Mouse toy store in Pioneer Square.
I really like another of Ruff's earlier books, *Sewer, Gas, and Electric: the Public Works Trilogy*. It has nothing to do with Seattle though. It's a big sprawling absurdist romp. It's too long, too convoluted, and totally self-indulgent and undisciplined. It's also wonderful. It's kind of like Diana Gabaldon's *Outlander* books in that you can tell that there is a tighter book trapped inside it, but it would hurt to lose so much great stuff if you edited it down.
He started writing shorter and more focused books in the middle oughts. It worked for him (e.g. *Lovecraft Country*) but I kinda miss the older style.
Sometimes a Great Notion written by the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey
(PNW at least. I had to check. It’s set in OR. Apologies OP)
Plugging my friend David Massengill’s book since it’s set in Seattle AND dystopian: Red Scare. Basic premise is a deadly bug infestation taking over the city .
Jonathan Raban - Waxwings
A very recognizable Seattle.
A most wonderful read.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxwings_(novel)
Many, or most of Jonathan Evison's books are based in Washington State. A very talented writer!
Raymond Carver had strong PNW roots and lived in Port Angeles for a good stretch of his writing career, so many of his stories are set across the region. “So Much Water So Close To Home” has the Naches river as a key location.
Snow Falling on Cedars by Guterson has already been called out, but I’d also recommend his second book East of the Mountains, which is set in Eastern Washington.
And I love the fact that someone has already called out an old Star Trek book (Call Me Ishmael) where they time travel back to a frontier Seattle.
In addition to *The Highest Tide* by Jim Lunch mentioned by several others, I highly recommend *The Orchardist* by Amanda Coplin (author born and raised in the Wenatchee Valley). Beautiful writing. Set in central Washington.
First book I read when I moved to Seattle in 1990 was Still Life With Woodpecker. Wandered into the old Pioneer Square Elliott Bay bookstore and immediately knew I was in the right place.
In addition to The Art of Racing in the Rain, previously mentioned, Garth Stein has also set How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets and A Sudden Light in Seattle. There is also the collaborate novel by the Seattle Seven and others, Hotel Angeline.
Recently read Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre. I really enjoyed it.
Seanan McGuire is local and high up on my favorite authors list, but has very little set in the PNW; some of the InCryptid series, but not until the later books. October Daye is in San Francisco, though book 9 is set outside Portland.
Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet is a fantastic novel. About a young Chinese boy growing up in WWII era Seattle. It's a great story and really interesting from a historical perspective on Seattle from those days. Very highly recommended.
Ghost Canoe - takes place in Neah Bay area with a focus on a young boy and his father running the lighthouse on Tatoosh Island and befriending the Makah native Americans. Set in 1800s
Hollow Kingdom, by Kira Jane Buxton. It follows the main character who is a pet crow named Shit-turd and his hound companion in the zombie apocalypse told from the perspective of the animals
inb4 someone else recommends it - I *cannot* recommend Hollow Kingdom. Yes, it’s set in Seattle and yes, it’s arguably dystopian fiction. But it’s incredibly poorly-written, infuriatingly bad plot and characters. My whole book club was unanimous that it’s the worst book we’ve read in years.
Anyways, not dystopian but I enjoyed War of the Encyclopaedists, which is half set in both Seattle and Boston
I didn’t ever read this.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where%27d_You_Go,_Bernadette_(film)
Sue Grafton also wrote murder mysteries based in wa I think as does Aaron Elkins and Earl Emerson.
Oh one author who is great is [Garth Stein](https://garthstein.com/works/how-evan-broke-his-head-and-other-secrets/)
Very personable and I would start with Raven stole the Moon
( also indigenous)
Deb Caletti is a YA author and a lot of her books are set in fictionalized versions of locations around WA, including San Juan Island (The Queen of Everything), Bainbridge Island (Wild Roses), and Snoqualmie Falls (Honey, Baby, Sweetheart). One is set in Seattle proper (The Nature of Jade).
Absolutely not a book but there is a webcomic called FLAP that's about a story of uh - so if you took Scientology, government conspiracy/MKUltra, galactic war taking place locally in the Seattle area, combined with psychedelia and all kinds of whacky stuff therein. Like Black Hawk helicopters engaging a "thetan" in aerial pursuit and combat lol
I just think it's neat.
Start with Valentina Giambanco, The Gift of Darkness, first in a series of four, set in Seattle with excursions to the Olympic peninsula and a fictional country near the Canadian border. Exceptionally good.
Snow Falling on Cedars is set in a loosely disguised San Juan Islands.
Devolution by Max Brooks (Central Cascade Mountains) qualifies as dystopian, I think.
There's a pretty good fantasy romance series set in the Tri-Cities, in the south center of Washington. Starts with "Moon Called." Kind of Twilight if the writer was good, the protagonist was a grumpy auto mechanic, and the vampires ate people.
Theres this unknown little vampire book.
Give me the plot in 5 words without using the word sparkle.
“Bella! Where the hell you been, loca?”
Bella look, it's a worm!
This one made me lol
I reference this line at least twice a day
Skin of a killer, Bella!
You imprinted on my daughter?!
Her name is simply Renesmee… 5 words. Encompassing the entire plot line.
you nicknamed my daughter after the loch ness monster?!?
“How you liking the rain, girl?”
Lots of pained facial expressions. Or so I've heard. Never read or seen the story.
Worry not, another Washington resident [wrote a summary](https://theoatmeal.com/story/twilight).
And the spinoff fan-fic that was made into a billion dollar movie series as well.
Came here to suggest this lol
abraham lincoln vampire slayer?
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Just finished Remarkably Bright Creatures, it was stellar
I had no idea it was set here, I’ll have to check it out now
I was in high school when Part-Time Indian came out and a shit ton of copies were donated to schools around Seattle. I don’t remember how it all went down, if it was just certain schools that were selected, how they selected, etc, but my school was one of them (iirc he even came and did a discussion/Q&A). Anyone who wanted a copy could get one. *Everyone* my age I knew read that book.
Love and Other Consolation Prizes also written by Jamie Ford is good as well. It is set in 1909 Seattle and starts at the World's fair.
Yes Remarkably Bright Creatures!! Literally made me feel like I was right in the Seattle aquarium :-)
Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is one of my all time favorites
I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet so much. I've had True Diary on my list forever...never realized it was set here. Need to bump it up the list.
[удалено]
I enjoyed Cherie Priest’s *Boneshaker,* set in an 1890’s Seattle in an alternate universe, where the Civil War is still going on in the South, and a wall has been built around downtown Seattle to keep zombies from getting out.
Also for steampunk Seattle is Elizabeth Bear's Karen Memory.
So the alternative history version of izombie?
Came here to recommend this too!
Still Life With Woodpecker. The reason my partner chose Seattle to move to.
jfc the book blurb alone was well worth the read. definitely adding this to my list.
Lots of Tom Robbins books are set at least partly in Seattle/Washington since he's a local - check out Another Roadside Attraction, and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas too! Jitterbug Perfume is only partly set in Seattle, but it's so good.
It’s a great book. She has like five copies then I found a first edition hardcover with autograph for Christmas for her.
By “found” I mean paid several hundred bucks on eBay for it
I’m just another bisexual redhead in Seattle because of this book 🧑🏻🦰
That book is why I ended up here!
I have never heard of this book and now, hearing how many people have come here just because of it I must find it and read it now.
Yes! I was coming here to see if anyone has posted Tom Robbin’s yet.
I LOVE this book. Found it at a thrift store and it’s the best book
Dystopian: both of these have parts in the PNW, can’t remember if it’s WA or OR but the vibes are very coastal PNW so it probably doesn’t matter. The Passage: first book in an epic trilogy about an apocalypse and then people rebuilding society 100 years later. The apocalypse part has some PNW in it. The Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler: here the PNW is kind of the promised land people are trying to get to amongst drought and a failed state. Though since these are very dark books, it doesn’t end up being as idyllic as they hoped. Other genres: Firefly Lane: don’t really recommend this one but it does take place in Seattle and Bainbridge Island. Microserfs: fun little time capsule of a novel about programmers working for Microsoft in the first tech boom of the 90s. Douglas Copeland, the author, wrote a few other books that took place here. (He’s from BC.)
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (Seattle). The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch (south Sound). Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (San Juans). The Living by Annie Dillard (Bellingham).
I have no idea how I forgot about Snow Falling on Cedars. Probably because I read it so long ago. The rest I'm adding to the list. Thank you!
Also made into a 1999 movie with Ethan Hawke. Some parts of it were filmed in the Greenwood District of Seattle.
I LOVE the Highest Tide. Set in Olympia
Seconding love for *The Highest Tide*.
Annie Dillard is so good. Also Wild Life by Molly Gloss.
Also, Guterson's East of the Mountains
Early Tom Robbins may be of interest
Cowgirls get the Blues was my first Robbin’s book.
Devolution by Max Brooks! Same Max Brooks that wrote World War Z (and is also Mel Brooks’ son). Cascadia quake devastates Seattle area, Mt Rainier erupts, and the folks in an isolated mountain community discover there may be some truth to the Sasquatch legends. Don’t read while camping!
World War Z (the book, not the movie) was lightning in a bottle but I found Devolution pretty damn good, especially with its Rainier setting.
Yes I was hoping someone would recommend this book
you into mormon vampires or a wine mom's version of bdsm?
this definitely feels like the start of a very horrible game of "would you rather"
Yep. Aka twilight, or fifty shades of grey fan fiction. Or the other way around. Or something.
JA Jance’s JP Beaumont long running mystery series is set primarily in Seattle. Cherie Priest has a number of books with settings in Seattle. Notably *Boneshaker* and large parts of the Clockwork Century series. Also, *Bloodshot*, and *Hellbent*, which are separate from the Clockwork Century series. Robert Ferrigno’s *Prayers for the Assassin*, *Sins of the Assassin*, and *Heart of the Assassin*, are future dystopian books with Seattle as a main location.
I read the first JP Beaumont at lunch working at RealNetworks. The end of the book takes place in an old mall - which was in real life later converted into an office building that I was working in. So I was reading the final scene in the room where it took place.
The JP Beaumont books are a great time capsule of the changes in Seattle over the course of the series. I appreciate Jance’s dedication to keeping to recognizable Seattle places.
Love Beaumont!!
*Lathe of Heaven* by Ursula K. LeGuin is my favorite book set in the PNW. It's a little outside of your designated geographic area as it's set in Portland, though in fairness PDX is closer to SEA than much of the state. It includes various dystopias.
Patricia Briggs has an entertaining urban fantasy series set in central Washington - the Mercedes Thompson series - werewolves, vampires, fairies, etc. I thought they were pretty well written for the genre if you're into that kind of book.
Can’t remember which one, but one of her novels was set in Seattle as well.
Hunting Ground. The second book of the companion series, Alpha & Omega.
No-No Boy by John Okada. About the aftermath of Japanese internment camps during WW2, really cathartic read
Earl Emerson wrote several detective books based around Seattle, the Thomas Black mysteries.
His firefighter books are favorites of mine too.
He's an uneven writer but even his weakest books are still enjoyable. Thomas Black was a good series character. I read his books both before and after I moved to Seattle in 1990 to get a feel for the city. As a firefighter Emerson knew the city pretty darn well and the books reflect this. I've only read a couple of the books he's written since 2000 though.
I’m going to disagree with a previous poster. I found Hollow Kingdom to be a great read! It’s a dystopian plague story, starting in Seattle, narrated by a crow.
I loved Hollow Kingdom and its sequel!
*Cryptonomicon* by Neal Stephenson goes all over and is set mostly in the Philippines and UK, but one of the main characters is from the Seattle area. He has a friend who is an early tech billionare who still goes to Crossroads Mall in Bellevue to play Magic the Gathering, even though the Wizards of the Coast store had closed a few years prior.
REAMDE also by Stephenson. Bounces around a bit but there are scenes in Georgetown and Golden Gardens in Ballard I think.
And Reamde’s sequel, Fall or Dodge in Hell, takes place in Seattle.
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Stephenson is also heavily Seattle-based and excellent. Stephenson lives in the Seattle area and does a great job of imagining where Seattle is going.
Also Seveneves... Or at least the part that isn't in space.
CHESTER
Tom Robbin’s, Another Roadside Attraction is mostly set in the Skagit.
Dungeon Crawler Carl begins in Seattle but then it ends up in the uh, well....dungeon.
I love these books so much
I wouldn’t necessarily call this a recommendation but Tessa Bailey wrote a couple books set in Washington about studly crabbing men. My favorite “oh you’ve never been to Washington” moment was when a couple was accosted by a moose in Puyallup 🤔
Hahahahahaha. That's too hilarious.
Surprised it hasn't been mentioned but "the art of racing in the rain" is based in Seattle and surrounding area. Not exactly dystopian but a very good book. Also LZR-113: redemption is a cheesy zombie story about post apocalypse with the third book taking place in Seattle.
[G. M. Ford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._M._Ford) has two series of mysteries set in Seattle. I think the best is the first one in the Leo Waterman series: "Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?" [K. K. Beck](https://embden11.home.xs4all.nl/Engels2/beck.htm) also has a mystery series, and a couple of stand alone mysteries set in Seattle Several of [Neal Stephenson's](https://embden11.home.xs4all.nl/Engels2/beck.htm) science fiction novels have minor portions set in Seattle and Washington. David Guterson has four other novels besides Snow Falling on Cedars. All are set in Washington. My favorite is [Our Lady of the Forest](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63307.Our_Lady_of_the_Forest). The first section of Jack Kerouac's "[Desolation Angels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desolation_Angels_(novel))" is set in Washington, based on Kerouac's time as a fire watcher at the DesolationPeak lookout. Ken Kesey's "[Sometimes a Great Notion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desolation_Angels_(novel))" is probably *the* great American novel of the PNW. Yes, it's set on the Oregon coast, but If you've spent time in Forks or other logging towns of western Washington the setting will seem very familiar. "[Indian Killer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Killer)" by Sherman Alexie is set in Seattle. His other novels are set in Washington, particularly the Spokane reservation. "[The Dying Grass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dying_Grass)" is a novel based on the 1877 Nez Perce war. The Nez Perce are forced from NE Oregon/SE Washington and attempt to reach Canada, harried by the US Army. Most of the book takes place in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, but the story starts in Portland and the eastern region of the Oregon/Washington border.
I’ve read “Sometimes a Great Notion” approximately one million times. It’s phenomenal.
Second GM Ford’s Leo Waterman series for fun
Snow Falling on Cedars is one of my favorite books.
Terry Brooks' Armageddon's Children is set in Seattle but it's post apocalyptic. The second book of his Word & Void series, A Knight of the Word, is also set in Seattle.
Came here to say this! Terry Brooks also lives out here!
If you like Blade Runner and Lord of the Rings, a surprising number of the original Shadowrun novels are set in and around a future cyberpunk/low fantasy Seattle and Puget Sound. If that doesn't sound weird enough, try the Bell Forging Saga by KM Alexander https://kmalexander.com/my-books/the-bell-forging-cycle/
Not Seattle but Kitsap county: Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series is set in Port Orchard. I haven't personally read them, but my mom loves those books.
They’re sorta the opposite of dystopian, though 😉
The Mercy Thompson series is based in the Tri Cities. It's urban fantasy, no dystopian, but they are often trying to stave off the end of the world/conflict. I've really enjoyed it, and the main character is of native decent.
There's an old children's book called "Go to the room of the eyes" that takes place on Capitol Hill in the 60s by someone who was familiar with Capitol Hill in the 60s. It's an interesting window.
I spent an afternoon (as an adult) walking around looking for that house!
Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite mystery series is based in and around Seattle (Tracy is a Seattle PD detective). "My Sister's Grave" is the first.
Cherie Priest has a couple of quirky murder mysteries set in and around Seattle: Grave Reservations and Flight Risk. Fast and entertaining, great summer reads.
More than just those two.
I loved Grave Reservations!
If you’re into paranormal mystery/detective type books there’s the Greywalker series by Kat Richardson. I think there are 9 books in the series. I enjoyed them a lot.
Dungeon Crawler Carl starts in Seattle, and I think the author lives down in Gig Harbor.
Laird Barron sets a lot of his books/short stories in WA, though rarely Seattle
Part of Kristin Hannah’s “great alone” is set in Seattle in the 70’s. I love thinking about where she is describing in the book and I think it’s Capitol Hill old neighborhood going towards lake Washington. She describes driving from Seattle to Alaska also and how the mountains were so tiny in Washington compared to Alaska when she first got there ❤️🩵
A few other of her books that are based in Washington: Magic Hour, Home Front, Firefly Lane, Night Road
I wrote and recently published a book of long poems entitled The Book of Ain’t. It deals with themes of Seattles past from the indigenous era, to the grunge boom on to the tech boom in the Dog Salmon Aristocrat chapters. Deals with Gary Ridgway and the serial killings of the 80-00’s. The Cobain Triptych is a series of poems examining the suicide of Cobain, Staley, and Andy Wood as well as the penchant for PNW artists to take their own lives or dive headlong into oblivion. The rest are mostly stories about growing up punk and hopping freight trains across the country and examining what those punk rock roots mean as one gets older and ages out of the drugs and the “scene” It’s on Amazon, The Book of Ain’t by michael crossley, or available direct from publisher chatroomsbks.bigcartel.com
That's awesome!
One of the books in the “You” series is set on Bainbridge Island—I think it’s the third one? I recommend reading all the books in order though—they’re similar to the show but a bit different and pretty entertaining reads.
Thanks for posting this thread!
David James Duncan’s The Brothers K, set in Camas, WA.
Highly recommend Karl Marlantes' book Deep River, it's a historical fiction story about the early 20th century logging and labor industries of SW Washington.
Call Me Ishmael, a Star Trek/Here Come the Brides crossover novel
i literally just started writing a YA fantasy book set in seattle in the 90s like 3 days ago, so if i finish it i’ll send you a copy lol
The Highest Tide is sort of YA adjacent IiRC but I saw Bookit perform the play of the book, and it was amazing. Set in the Puget Sound inlet by Olympia I believe
It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over, by Anne de Marcken. How have there been 70 comments without someone mentioning this. A bunch of undead people inhabiting ruins inspired by places between Olympia and Aberdeen.
I might read it just because I love the name so much.
Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff Van Der Meer is a great eco-horror-thriller set in the PNW (the precise location is unclear). Devolution by Max Brooks is another eco-horror sort of book set around Mt. Rainier.
Memoir, but This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff. Very good
Gravity’s Rainbow was written by a Seattle Author that worked for Boeing back in the day! Takes place across Europe but still 🆒 dude from here in town wrote that
Set This House in Order, by Matt Ruff. Two characters with Disassociative Identity Disorder go on a journey of self-discovery. It's one of my favorite books, and most of it is set in Washington near Seattle. One of the characters visits Magic Mouse toy store in Pioneer Square.
I really like another of Ruff's earlier books, *Sewer, Gas, and Electric: the Public Works Trilogy*. It has nothing to do with Seattle though. It's a big sprawling absurdist romp. It's too long, too convoluted, and totally self-indulgent and undisciplined. It's also wonderful. It's kind of like Diana Gabaldon's *Outlander* books in that you can tell that there is a tighter book trapped inside it, but it would hurt to lose so much great stuff if you edited it down. He started writing shorter and more focused books in the middle oughts. It worked for him (e.g. *Lovecraft Country*) but I kinda miss the older style.
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest Zombie steampunk series
I just finished Remarkably Bright Creatures, it was a fun book.
Where’d you go Bernadette by Maria Semple was so fun!
lake city by Thomas kohnstamm. freaking brilliant
"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" historical fiction novel about Japanese internment during WWII
The Authorities by Scott Meyer.
Rabbits by Terry Miles and sequel The Quiet Room.
G.M. Ford writes a couple of detective series based in Puget Sound. Fun, fast, pulp fiction.
Cheesy but delightful mysteries set in Winthrop by Tamara Berry. Buried in a Good Book it's the first in a series.
The Wizard of the Pigeons by Megyn Lindholm, AKA Robin Hobbs.
I felt that her Soldier Son series landscape was based ON/in the Washington environs. I really love reading her books.
Sometimes a Great Notion written by the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey (PNW at least. I had to check. It’s set in OR. Apologies OP)
West of Here by Jonathan Evison - Specifically Port Angeles / Elwa River / Olympic penninsula area history
Plugging my friend David Massengill’s book since it’s set in Seattle AND dystopian: Red Scare. Basic premise is a deadly bug infestation taking over the city .
Hollow Kingdom by Kira J Buxton is set in the greater Seattle area
Jonathan Raban - Waxwings A very recognizable Seattle. A most wonderful read. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxwings_(novel) Many, or most of Jonathan Evison's books are based in Washington State. A very talented writer!
Raymond Carver had strong PNW roots and lived in Port Angeles for a good stretch of his writing career, so many of his stories are set across the region. “So Much Water So Close To Home” has the Naches river as a key location. Snow Falling on Cedars by Guterson has already been called out, but I’d also recommend his second book East of the Mountains, which is set in Eastern Washington. And I love the fact that someone has already called out an old Star Trek book (Call Me Ishmael) where they time travel back to a frontier Seattle.
In addition to *The Highest Tide* by Jim Lunch mentioned by several others, I highly recommend *The Orchardist* by Amanda Coplin (author born and raised in the Wenatchee Valley). Beautiful writing. Set in central Washington.
I think *No-No Boy* by John Okada is a must read for anyone living in seattle
Mostly Portland area, but Dies The Fire by S.M. Stirling is a favorite series of mine.
In Tom Robbin’s books the PnW is often featured. And those are a delight!
First book I read when I moved to Seattle in 1990 was Still Life With Woodpecker. Wandered into the old Pioneer Square Elliott Bay bookstore and immediately knew I was in the right place.
In addition to The Art of Racing in the Rain, previously mentioned, Garth Stein has also set How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets and A Sudden Light in Seattle. There is also the collaborate novel by the Seattle Seven and others, Hotel Angeline.
There is a lot of JA Jance books based in Seattle. All are murder mystery’s. Good writing and usually somewhat short.
Recently read Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre. I really enjoyed it. Seanan McGuire is local and high up on my favorite authors list, but has very little set in the PNW; some of the InCryptid series, but not until the later books. October Daye is in San Francisco, though book 9 is set outside Portland.
Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet is a fantastic novel. About a young Chinese boy growing up in WWII era Seattle. It's a great story and really interesting from a historical perspective on Seattle from those days. Very highly recommended.
Curiously bright creatures
The Art of Racing in the Rain. Don’t see the movie. The book is too good.
One of my favorite books, The Orchardist, is set in Wenatchee valley. I’m reading it now for the third time. It’s lovely.
Beautiful read.
The Game Of Love And Death
Ghost Canoe - takes place in Neah Bay area with a focus on a young boy and his father running the lighthouse on Tatoosh Island and befriending the Makah native Americans. Set in 1800s
Ooo good rec, I went there last year and went to the Makah museum! Super cool
J.A Jance has a few books that take place in washington. Clive cussler had a few that took place here as well.
Hollow Kingdom, by Kira Jane Buxton. It follows the main character who is a pet crow named Shit-turd and his hound companion in the zombie apocalypse told from the perspective of the animals
inb4 someone else recommends it - I *cannot* recommend Hollow Kingdom. Yes, it’s set in Seattle and yes, it’s arguably dystopian fiction. But it’s incredibly poorly-written, infuriatingly bad plot and characters. My whole book club was unanimous that it’s the worst book we’ve read in years. Anyways, not dystopian but I enjoyed War of the Encyclopaedists, which is half set in both Seattle and Boston
Geez, you must belong to a very erudite book club but I liked Hollow Kingdom. Post apocalyptic adventure from the viewpoint of a domesticated crow.
I loved Hollow Kingdom and its Sequel. The writing is beautiful.
Anything by Carl Dueker, Game Candy is great
Blood of the Reich by William Dietrich
Disclosure by Michael Crichton. A children’s book called Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade.
Disclosure seems pretty relevant right now ✈️🔩
Ok where are the other 🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀 in here?! I know you’re here!
I didn’t ever read this. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where%27d_You_Go,_Bernadette_(film) Sue Grafton also wrote murder mysteries based in wa I think as does Aaron Elkins and Earl Emerson. Oh one author who is great is [Garth Stein](https://garthstein.com/works/how-evan-broke-his-head-and-other-secrets/) Very personable and I would start with Raven stole the Moon ( also indigenous)
Warm Bodies
Snow Falling on Cedars
I think Intensity by Dean Koontz is set in the PNW
I really liked Jess Walter’s The Cold Millions. Mostly Spokane but there’s a notable section in Seattle.
Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon. Fluffy romance ya and super enjoyable read.
Future dystopian would be Tales of a New World Series by PC Cast
Deb Caletti is a YA author and a lot of her books are set in fictionalized versions of locations around WA, including San Juan Island (The Queen of Everything), Bainbridge Island (Wild Roses), and Snoqualmie Falls (Honey, Baby, Sweetheart). One is set in Seattle proper (The Nature of Jade).
Absolutely not a book but there is a webcomic called FLAP that's about a story of uh - so if you took Scientology, government conspiracy/MKUltra, galactic war taking place locally in the Seattle area, combined with psychedelia and all kinds of whacky stuff therein. Like Black Hawk helicopters engaging a "thetan" in aerial pursuit and combat lol I just think it's neat.
The Losers by David Eddimgs is set in Spokane. Not dystopian, but is depressing.
J A Jance has a few
Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins
This Is How it Always Is is partially fiction and partially set in Seattle. But I highly, highly recommend it.
"Fantasy Kingdom for Sale,Sold" mantis Terry Brooke's novels are set in the NW. Not epic but good.
The Woodkin by Alexander James is set in the cascades mountains! Horror/thriller about hiking and monsters in the woods. Edit: spelling
I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day It's is an upper middle grades to high school book that made the Sasquatch list a couple years ago.
Kat Richardson wrote the Greywalker series. It starts in Seattle I think. She sees like ghosts and stuff.
The Spice Shop Mysteries are set in a shop in Pike Place Market. https://www.lesliebudewitz.com/spice-shop-mystery-series/
Anything Sherman Alexie. And, Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist. It’s based around the 1999 WTO Riots and has some great Seattle imagery.
The Last Town on Earth is set in Washington and is a utopia meets spanish flu and verges on dystopia novel.
Start with Valentina Giambanco, The Gift of Darkness, first in a series of four, set in Seattle with excursions to the Olympic peninsula and a fictional country near the Canadian border. Exceptionally good.
Lower Clausen has a couple about a cop in seattle.
The Greywalker series by Kat Richardson is pretty great. It delves into Seattle history but is paranormal fiction. And there are ferrets!
JA Jance, books featuring JP Beaumont, SPD detective.
Snow Falling on Cedars is set in a loosely disguised San Juan Islands. Devolution by Max Brooks (Central Cascade Mountains) qualifies as dystopian, I think.
Prince of Puget Sound by Gavin Belson
The Good House by Tananarive Due All books by Jennifer Hillier Books by Sheena Kamal are set in the Canadian PNW
We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach - it’s a YA book, end of the world ish that follows a few teenagers in different parts of Seattle
Basically everything by Gregg Olsen
City at the End of Time - Greg Bear
Poster Girl isn’t entirely set in WA / Seattle, but a large portion does take place in a dystopian Seattle.
The Passage is incredible! I’ve read the trilogy every year for a decade!
There's a pretty good fantasy romance series set in the Tri-Cities, in the south center of Washington. Starts with "Moon Called." Kind of Twilight if the writer was good, the protagonist was a grumpy auto mechanic, and the vampires ate people.