I really enjoyed movies such as The Day After Tomorrow, Testament, Terminator 2, 28 Days Later, and books such as The Stand, The Tripods Series (young adult), and The Folk of the Fringe.
I'm looking for books such as these. I'd like stories that focus on the people affected, not usually the politics.
Can anyone here recommend a sure thing? I did find a list of possibilities but there are so many to choose from and the Amazon.com reviews are no help at all.
Thanks to anyone who can throw something my way.
[ November 28, 2006, 10:19 PM: Message edited by: Valentine014 ]
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
I very much enjoyed Alas Babylon when I read it in 7th grade. Not sure how it would hold up now, but it did focus on people, a family in a small town in Florida cut off from the rest of the world after a nuclear war.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
I'm so glad you named that one! It was my first pick.
Posted by HollowEarth (Member # 2586) on :
Alas, Babylon, On the Beach and A Canticle for Leibowitz are the classic novels in this genre.
Also, anything suggested on this page (and any paged linked from it) is probably worth reading or watching. It was an awesome class.
Posted by katdog42 (Member # 4773) on :
Z is for Zachariah, was interesting, though definitely for young readers.
Pierced by a Sword is also very interesting. Not terribly political, but there are definitely religious undertones. It's also not quite "post" apocalyptic but definitely deals with a time of apocalypse.
Not sure of either authors right now. Sorry. Kat
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
One of my favorite subgenres
War Day (or Warday) is like The Day After or Alas Babylon but much, much more intense. It's written very realistically, documentary-style, by a pair of journalists traveling across a post-war US. Every few chapters has a monologue (the once-current secretary of Defense, a British soldier stationed here, a 13 year old kid, an urban "salvager") or a poll ("Should the Western states abandon the East?" "What have you heard about think of <insert urban legend here>?"). It's really quite interesting, and I wish more people had read it. If you want to see how people might live five years after a nuclear war, this is a good one.
The Postman -- overall good book (had it's strong and weak points), not so good movie. In fact, the movie is almost nothing like the book and could have been so much better.
And for a far future society ... The Miocene Arrow takes place about two millenia in the future after EMPs stopped electricity for several centuries and a mysterious force draws every living thing larger than a rabbit out to the ocean every few hours. Add a society that has developed a sort of Middle Ages feudal system ... with WW1 technology. Chivalrous knights on horseback are replaced by chivalrous Wardens dueling in armed aircraft. It's a really fun book, if not a little odd. Do note, however, that many of the mentalities from the middle ages have been carried over ... 'nuff said. It's "sci-fi," because everything in the book is scientifically explained and enginneered, but everything's so original about it's setting and storyline I might call it borderline "fantasy" rather than post-apocalyptic.
--j_k
[ November 28, 2006, 11:04 PM: Message edited by: James Tiberius Kirk ]
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
The latest Cormac McCarthy book, The Road is post-apocalyptic, or so I am told. The hubby read it in a single sitting (while I was watching V for Vendetta, no less-- I bet you can tell whose brows are higher in this family). There was some sort of nuclear thing, and this man and his son are walking across a wasteland.
He said it was disturbing, and was not sure whether to reccommend it to me or not. Said it had cannibals. I decided not to read it. I was an English major and all that, but his stories make me feel like I need a decoder ring or a black light or something.
Anyway. Haven't read it, but I still might. If I do, I'll let you know.
Posted by Samuel Bush (Member # 460) on :
I have found the following books excellent:
Lucifer’s Hammer (by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle)
“Aftermath” and its sequel “Starfire” ( by Charles Sheffield)
The Day of the Triffids The Kraken Wakes (Out of the Deeps) (both by John Wyndham)
The Scarlet Plague ( by Jack London)
“Cradle of Saturn” and sequel “The Anguished Dawn” (by James P Hogan)
The Nitrogen Fix (by Hal Clement)
I have also often seen good story synopses on the following web site DB:
Farnham's Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein and Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard are both really good post-apocalypse books.
Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samuel Bush: I have found the following books excellent:
...snip...
The Day of the Triffids The Kraken Wakes (Out of the Deeps) (both by John Wyndham) ...snip....
Both books are heartily recommended. The Day of the Triffids is one of my favourite books. If you can get your hands on the 80's BBC TV version it's well worth it, much better than the 50's B-movie one.
The "post-apocalyptic" is a favourite of mine so here are some other suggestions:
If you enjoyed 28 Days Later, try No Blade of Grass, the darker 1960's film that was the inspiration for it.
You could also try Soylent Green or slighty tangentially Silent Running.
The Planet of the Apes is the grand-daddy of the post-apocalyptic, but I'd stick to the original series rather than the later remake.
If you have the stomach for it, the BBC produced a mini-series called Threads in the early 80's. It was based on the aftermath of a 1 kilotonne nuclear strike of the city of Sheffield. Rather a chilling description of surviving the nuclear-winter. I have it on DVD, but still can't bring myself to watch it again...
Z for Zachariah was one of the books that has been forever poisened for me by being required reading at school...
There are a million more, but that's all I can think of for now. I'll post sopme more after I've had my morning caffiene fix!
Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :
Great thread BTW, I can feel and Amazon binge coming on...
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Parable of the Sower is kind of peri-apocalyptic.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
the Russians have alot of post apololyptical scifi.
Posted by Raventhief (Member # 9002) on :
The Greatwinter Trilogy by Sean McMullen. Easily among my favorite books.
Posted by Mig (Member # 9284) on :
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is a classic everyone should read. Plus, the movie with Will Smith comes out next year, and you'll want to read the original before you witness it getting butchered on the big screen.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
*saves this thread*
I love this genre.
Posted by Mig (Member # 9284) on :
P.D. James' Children of Men about a future in which a child hasn't been born in decades is another good book. It is also coming out as a movie soon, in December.
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
all repeats of what's already been said but: Alas Babylon: some of the concerns are a little outdated, but most of it is still very valid. I just re-read this about a week ago (first read it back in highschool)
Canticle for Leibowitz: One of my favorites, and while it has a religious setting, I never found it to be terribly preachy or the like.
The Postman: honestly a great book, whether you appreciated the movie or not.
Pierced By a Sword: Somewhat preachy, so it would probably put off KoM quite a bit, but it's also a very interesting read both for the post-apocalypticness as well as the end-times-yness. IMHO much much much better than the Left Behind series.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
If you don't mind your fiction interactive, I heartily recommend both Fallout & Fallout 2. You should be able to get your hands on a used copy on half.com or something like that.
Not only isn't great post-apocalyptic fiction, but it is one of the best CRPGs I have ever played. The story is completely non-linear. If you know the location of the last level, you can go straight to it. Now, you'll get obliterated by overpowering enemies, but you can go there.
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
I was considering saying the same thing PC, so I'll second your comments. Fallout Tactics is also similarly fun and has a decent storyline, though it's more combat oriented.
Posted by Gecko (Member # 8160) on :
The Dark Tower serise by Stephen King
Posted by hugh57 (Member # 5527) on :
The Postman, as a David Brin novel was great (or at least near-great). The Kevin Costner movie - not so much.
I also found The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson good, though I didn't much care for his latest series, the one that starts with Forty Signs of Rain. Posted by dawnmaria (Member # 4142) on :
Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood rocked!
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
Thanks so much for the help, guys. Many of these are on my Amazon wish list now.
Posted by Eduardo St. Elmo (Member # 9566) on :
I'd like to recommend October the First will be too late, but I'm sorry to say that the author's name has slipped my mind for the time being. While it's not exactly a post-apocalyptic novel, the issue does come up. At least a part of the world is uninhabitable and some nasty temporal distortions make the rest of the world less welcoming than it should be.
Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :
By random chance there was a documentary about "The British Catastrophy Novel" on BBC4 last night as part of the Science Fiction Britannica season.
A few of the titles mentioned are already listed but form memory here are a couple that aren't:
The Drought - J.G. Ballard The Drowning World - J.G. Ballard Fugue for a Darkening Isle - Christopher Priest
It was a fascinating documentary with interviews with various authors including Brian Aldiss, Christopher Priest and many more who I forget.
The theme was that in the 50's and 60's British SF produced a glut of disaster/post apolcolyptic fiction as a reaction to the post war, post imperialist changes within society.
Lots of triffids too, which is always a bonus.
I'm off to check the stocks in my mountain refuge. Come the apocolypse, you are all welcome to a cup of tea in the Bunker.
Posted by Rotar Mode (Member # 9898) on :
I've always enjoyed "This Is the Way the World Ends" by James Morrow and "Oryx & Crake" by Margaret Atwood.
Posted by Silent E (Member # 8840) on :
Philip K. Dick has a couple I like. Dr. Bloodmoney is probably the better of the two, but I also like Deus Irae (which I also think is a wonderful title).
He has about a ton and a half of amazing post-apocalyptic short stories, too.
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