So, what's your favorite? Be eclectic. I'm sure we'll get a lot of A Canticle for Lebowitz and Alas, Babylon, but what else?
And not just nuclear war ones, either. Steven Boyett's Ariel is one of my favorite books ever.
Here's a bit of a list:
Ariel, by Steven Boyett. Brilliant book about a boy and his unicorn. It's urban fantasy, because it takes place in our world, but after science unexplainedly stops working one day and magic starts.
The Postman, by David Brin. Just the pun of the title would have made me love this book, but it was great even aside from that. I haven't seen the movie and don't intend to. Why tarnish something great?
Emergence, by David Palmer (not the president from 24). I love, love, love this book. It can be off-putting for some people, because most of it is written as the diary of a 12 year old girl (who could give Podkayne a major run for her money) who doesn't bother with the wastage that pads most of our language. It's very terse, but you get used to it quickly. I did, at any rate. Amazing story, with laughs, thrills, chills, sorrow, joy, and one of the best characters ever created in fiction.
Nature's End, by the guys who wrote War Day (which isn't going to be on this list, because <gag>. Whitley Schreiber (before he became an abduction nut, I guess) and James Kunetka. That's from memory, so it could be wrong. It's a post-apocalypic story of environmental collapse. Very much before its time. Believe it or not, it's pollution, rather than "global warming". <cough, cough> Not a bad book. Not a classic, but definitely rereadable every now and then.
Niven and Pournelle's Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer, of course.
Stephen King's The Stand.
I know I'm just blanking. Those are the ones that come to mind right off the bat, though. Anyone want to add to the list?
Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a good post-apocalyptic fiction.
To be sure, they recovered from said apocalypse remarkably well.
Then again, the apocalypse they dealt with was only the precursor, to an apocalypse the heroes spend the series trying to prevent. (They don't. For all their troubles, they fail to keep the world from going all... post modern. )
Posted by dawnmaria (Member # 4142) on :
Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood is excellent and truly weird. I devoured it! End of the world for us but beginning for an engineered species. Also a fan of her Handmaid's Tale. I count The Stand as one of my top ten favs of all time and read it at least once a year. And I too, like Nature's End. I liked War Day, too. I guess I am just a weirdo though because I try to figure out what would I do in the event of the End. It might also have to do with living so close to DC. We as a family actually do have a worse case senerio plan and a planned meeting place in case something happens.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
It's probably a stretch to call them "post-apocalyptic", but Octavia Butler's Parable books leapt to mind. Her short story "Speech Sounds" is fantastic as well.
Walter Jon Williams' The Rift is decent reading, though not inspired. S.M. Stirling has series in which technology just stops working. It's not well written, really, but it's fairly entertaining (which is a description that fits for most of his work). I'm blanking on the title of the series, though.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Oh, and Frank Herbert's The White Plague certainly deserves a mention.
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
Childhood's End creeped me out in ways I never knew I could be creeped out.
-pH
Posted by hugh57 (Member # 5527) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: [*]The Postman, by David Brin. Just the pun of the title would have made me love this book, but it was great even aside from that. I haven't seen the movie and don't intend to. Why tarnish something great?
I agree. I've both read the book and seen the movie, and while the movie wasn't that bad, it will, IMHO, definitely disappoint anyone who read and loved the book.
Posted by Samuel Bush (Member # 460) on :
Hey, you said be eclectic. So here goes. I've enjoyed all of the following although some of the stuff was unsettling to varying degrees.
Dreamsnake by Vonda N McIntyre
Hiero's Journey and The Unforsaken Hiero both by Sterling E Lanier
The Scarlet Plague by Jack London
The 3 Battle Circle books by Piers Anthony
Cradle of Saturn and The Anguished Dawn both by James P. Hogan
Farnham's Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein
Against the Fall of the Night by Arthur C. Clarke
The Nitrogen Fix by Hal Clement
The Day of the Triffids and Out of the Deeps both by John Wyndham
Posted by Samuel Bush (Member # 460) on :
I might add that I've read and liked some of the ones alread listed such as Lucifer's Hammer, The Postman, The Stand
Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :
I second Day of the Triffids.
It is one of my favourite books. It always make me think twice whenever the news reports an iminent meteor shower...
The BBC did a serial adaptation of the book in 80's which was excellent and well worth looking up.
I love this genre. It appeals to the survivalist in me. Come the apocalypse all Jatraqueros (who survive the journey) will receive a cordial (if cautious) welcome in the Maven Mountain Retreat...
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Noemon: Oh, and Frank Herbert's The White Plague certainly deserves a mention.
OMG, I can't believe I forgot that one. That's an amazing book. It actually reminds me a bit of D.F. Jones' Implosion. Jones wrote the Colossus trilogy ("The Forbin Project" was based on the first book), and Implosion takes place in a near future where some or other chemical attack has rendered most women permanently infertile. I'm a little surprised that Jones wasn't given credit for "Children of Men", since it seemed like a bit of of a ripoff.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Noemon: S.M. Stirling has series in which technology just stops working. It's not well written, really, but it's fairly entertaining (which is a description that fits for most of his work). I'm blanking on the title of the series, though.
Dies the Fire, The Protector's War and A Meeting at Corvallis. It's the flip side of his Nantucket trilogy, and again, I can't believe I forgot to list it. I love his stuff (except for the one with the British Empire in India, which I couldn't even finish).
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samuel Bush: Cradle of Saturn and The Anguished Dawn both by James P. Hogan
See, I liked Cradle of Saturn a lot (partly because I'm a bit of a Velikovskian myself), but I thought the sequel was pure dreck.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa:
quote:Originally posted by Noemon: S.M. Stirling has series in which technology just stops working. It's not well written, really, but it's fairly entertaining (which is a description that fits for most of his work). I'm blanking on the title of the series, though.
Dies the Fire, The Protector's War and A Meeting at Corvallis. It's the flip side of his Nantucket trilogy, and again, I can't believe I forgot to list it. I love his stuff (except for the one with the British Empire in India, which I couldn't even finish).
Right, those are the ones. I actually just finished A Meeting at Corvallis last week. I'm enjoying this series, although not as much as I did the Nantucket trilogy (which I actually thought about mentioning in the context of this thread; "Getting thrown into prehistory" books have a lot in common with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic books), but his writing is a little too clumsy for me to be able to say that I actually love it. I consider Stirling to be good popcorn SF.
I'm in the midst of a phenomenally well done apocalyptic series right now by Peter Watts. The first book in the series, Starfish, was bleak enough that I had to read A Meeting at Corvallis as a breather before continuing. Now I'm in the next book, Maelstrom, and loving it. Your taste in fiction seems similar enough to mine, Lisa, that I suspect that you'd really like Watt's stuff (though I'd recommend his most recent, Blindsight, above his earlier trilogy).
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I'll take a look at it, Noemon. Thanks.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
On the Beach -- Stanley Cramer Planet of the Apes -- Pierre Boule The Earth Abides -- George R. Stewart I Am Legend -- Richard Matheson Davy series -- Edgar Pangborn Barefoot in the Head - Brian Aldiss Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang -- Kate Wilhelm Einstein Intersection -- Samuel R. Delaney -- Dhalgren To Your Scattered Bodies Go -- Philip Jose Farmer Millenium -- John Varley -- the Eight Worlds series Dancers at the End of Time series -- Michael Moorcock Madness Season -- C S Friedman The Galactic Center series -- Gregory Benford The Forge of God (apocalypse) -- Greg Bear -- Anvil of Stars (post) The Ring of Charon (apocalypse) -- Roger Allen MacBride -- The Shattered Sphere (post) The Radix Tetrad -- A. A. Attanasio The Ardneh Sequence -- Fred Saberhagen
Posted by David G (Member # 8872) on :
For a parallel history, very similar to a post-apocalyptic story, the WEST OF EDEN trilogy by Harry Harrison is excellent. In these books, the dinosaurs were never wiped out, and some evolved into an intelligent race.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
The Road.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Lisa, are you on LibraryThing or GoodReads? I need to scan your library: I thought I was the only one who had read "Emergence." How about "Threshold?" And wasn't there supposed to be more in that series?
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I didn't read Threshold. I heard it wasn't that good, actually. I'm not even sure what LibraryThing and GoodReads are. And it would take me a really long time to enter in my whole library. Is it worth it?
Which one is better?
I think Threshold was supposed to be the beginning of a series. I know Architect of Dreams was. That's one of the reasons I didn't buy Threshold; after Architect of Dreams, I was a little gun shy.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Goodreads is free. That's my favorite price. But it's going to take me ages to fill this in.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Well, I've started. I just wish they had a 10 star system to work with. Five is a bit squished.
[ August 29, 2007, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: Lisa ]
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.
Posted by DSH (Member # 741) on :
Just read Re-Birth (or The Chrysalids) by John Wyndham in a 1950's sci-fi anthology I found at a used book sale. Great story and very thought provoking.
[ August 30, 2007, 06:43 PM: Message edited by: DSH ]
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
On the Beach is by Nevil Shute. It's the least good of his books, though, I think.
Try his Round the Bend, Trustee from the Toolroom, Pied Piper, The Legacy, or No Highway. Those are my favorites. Sorry, none of them are post-apocalyptic.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Oooh. I'm glad this thread popped up. I've been dying to read some Post Apocalyptic stuff Course...that stems from the desire to play Fallout 3, but hey Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
World War Z Posted by Samuel Bush (Member # 460) on :
Yeah Lisa, I gotta admit that Mr. Hogan has written a lot of better stuff than Anguished Dawn. You can’t win them all. But I’m still a devoted fan of his.
“This is the way the world ends: This is the way the world ends: Not with a bang but a whimper . . .“ Ah yes, On the Beach by Nevil Shute, It must have been 20 years or so since I read it. But I think I still haven’t fully recovered. It disturbed me but at the same time I liked it a lot. I mean, I’m a tough guy and I don’t cry, but the last part of that book, well . . . .
At any rate, today I just remembered four more books of this genera:
The Forge of God and Anvil of Stars both by Greg Bear.
Wolf and Iron and Time Storm both by Gordon R. Dickson.
Time Storm was maybe one of the most original and maybe even weird stories I can think of in this genera. But I liked it a lot.
Posted by rakhabit (Member # 10914) on :
Idlewild by Nick Sagan
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samuel Bush: Yeah Lisa, I gotta admit that Mr. Hogan has written a lot of better stuff than Anguished Dawn. You can’t win them all. But I’m still a devoted fan of his.
Me too. Despite his recent adoption of Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories. We were corresponding, and I pointed out that sometimes, when people who've been devoted to an orthodoxy (like establishment science) break away from it, they often go to an opposite extreme, and begin giving credence to the most ridiculous and nutty theories. He acknowledged that, but maintained that he isn't like that. <sigh> I can only hope that it's a phase.
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
quote:Originally posted by mackillian: World War Z
Is that any good? I read the "Zombie Survival Guide" and that was awesome. Should I shell out the money for it?
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
WWZ is definitely worth the read. It isn't the best written thing in the world, and I feel enormously irritated that the author beat me to the punch (its format is a bunch of interviews that chain together to form a narrative, a la Studs Terkel, and I've been working on something that uses a similar style to talk about experiences with the fey in North America. I don't think that Brooks actually does a great job of creating distinctly different voices in his various "intervews", but still, he got there first. I can't really complain, though, as I've certainly been kicking around and working on my thing for years without having a book to show for it), but it's interesting.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I'd actually forgotten the Genesis of Shannara books. Technically, I guess Shannara belongs in this category altogether, but you only really see it in Armageddon's Children and the new one.
My father just called me to tell me that he picked up the new one (Elves of Cintra) and that he'll give it to me when he's done with it. It's really funny, because the only fantasy he has ever read has been Terry Brooks. As a Chicago area doctor, Magic Kingdom for Sale (Sold) was irresistable, I guess. And the Word and Void books just seemed like urban fantasy (not too bad, right?), so he went with those as well. And now my poor dad, who prefers his science fiction at the very hard end of the spectrum (Baxter, Clarke, Peter Hamilton) has actually bought a book about elves.
This is so cool. <grin>
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I just read the GoS, and I really liked it a lot. I don't usually go for fantasy in a modern setting, other than De Lint, but I really liked the Word and Void series, and the new Shannara book was really good, IMO.
Wolf and Iron, by Dickson. Very realistic, IMO.
White Plague.
I liked the movie The Postman, but the book was a lot better.
Childhoods End.
Hiero's Journey and The Unforsaken Hiero ( I loved those when I was younger)
Posted by Samuel Bush (Member # 460) on :
It would be so cool to have a pet war-moose to ride around on! Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Yep. Even if it was smarter than I was....
Posted by Samuel Bush (Member # 460) on :
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
quote:Originally posted by rakhabit: Idlewild by Nick Sagan
I'll second this. I picked it up on a clearance table for $2 in Hardcover and I really enjoyed it. I haven't read the sequels yet though.
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
I'm sure it's not what you're looking for but to a certain extent Ringworld by Niven would fit the bill as a post-apocalyptic novel... though in a very different angle from Alas, Babylon and the like.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
A Meeting in Corvallis? As in Corvallis, Oregon?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Yes, I second what Noemon said about World War Z being worth it. It's a light, entertaining read. And if you like post-apocalyptic stuff AND zombies, it's win-win!
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
If comics count, I'd have to add Xenozoic Tales.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shigosei: A Meeting in Corvallis? As in Corvallis, Oregon?
That's the place. The whole series takes place around there.
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
If movies are allowed, then Children of Men was really good.
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Course...that stems from the desire to play Fallout 3, but hey ![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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