09-16-2012, 06:16 PM | #1 | ||
High School Varsity
Join Date: Sep 2001
|
Best post-apocalyptic books?
Kind of getting into this lately - my new "thing." Any serious recommendations, apart from 'The Road'? Gone through that one already ...
P.S. I've read 'The Hunger Games' as well. Last edited by booradley : 09-16-2012 at 06:16 PM. |
||
09-16-2012, 06:18 PM | #2 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Massachusetts
|
S.M. Stirling's Emberverse series?
|
09-16-2012, 06:27 PM | #3 |
College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2004
|
Its more pre-post apocalypse, and I'm only 1/4 in, but I'm enjoying The Last Policeman. Have another one, The Dog Star, up next.
|
09-16-2012, 06:32 PM | #4 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2006
|
The Stand and Swan Song.
|
09-16-2012, 06:32 PM | #5 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Keene, NH
|
The Stand
__________________
Mile High Hockey |
09-16-2012, 07:24 PM | #6 |
General Manager
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: The Mountains
|
Earth Abides and Alas, Babylon are two old-school books in this genre (40s and 50s), I think I learned about both in a previous post-apocalyptic books thread on FOFC, and I enjoyed both.
|
09-16-2012, 07:30 PM | #7 |
College Prospect
Join Date: May 2005
|
Edenborn by Nick Sagan.
It is the second book in a trilogy. I would recommend reading the first book, Idlewild before reading Edenborn. However, Idlewild is not a post-apocalyptic book, but science fiction. |
09-16-2012, 07:54 PM | #8 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2000
|
I'll second or third the Stand, Earth Abides, and Swan Song.
I'd throw in Lucifer's Hammer to make up my top 4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is pretty good (if you can read his stuff). If you are willing to do graphic novels, The Walking Dead is obviously very well regarded around here. And if you like Zombie and/or horror (where the "end of the world" is not caused by a natural disaster), The Rising, City of the Dead, and Dead Sea by Brian Keene are fun and fit in the genre. The Conqueror Worms (despite its cheesy title and artwork), is fun, as well. Cell by Stephen King is pretty fun. |
09-16-2012, 08:02 PM | #9 |
SI Games
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Melbourne, FL
|
The Stand is awesome, while I'm not overly religious I enjoyed the first 5-6 books of the left behind series a lot .... I'd also recommend S.M. Stirling's series where technology stops working (can't recall what its called).
|
09-16-2012, 08:17 PM | #10 | |
College Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Out of Grad School Hell :)
|
Quote:
__________________
“I don’t like the Cubs,” Joey Votto said. “And I’m not going to pat anybody with a Cubs uniform on the back." |
|
09-16-2012, 08:41 PM | #11 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Cary, NC
|
Have to go with some classics - I Am Legend (not the nonsense movie but the original book by Matheson) and Canticle for Leibowitz, and Nevil Shute's On the Beach.
If you want graphic novels as Swaggs mentioned, I'd throw in Y: The Last Man. Last edited by Peregrine : 09-16-2012 at 08:43 PM. |
09-16-2012, 08:44 PM | #12 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Massachusetts
|
Yeah - On the Beach is a great call.
|
09-16-2012, 08:45 PM | #13 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Massachusetts
|
Quote:
Suggested those already - it's the "Emberverse" series. And me personally, I usually skim through all the wiccan-religion junk in those books and find I enjoy them just fine.
__________________
Get bent whoever hacked my pw and changed my signature. |
|
09-16-2012, 09:02 PM | #14 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Dec 2009
|
Watch The Walking Dead (at least season 1. Have heard bad things about 2)
Play Fallout 3 |
09-16-2012, 09:12 PM | #15 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
|
I'll echo the mentions of Swan Song and Lucifer's Hammer, especially the former.
I think the movie may have dimmed people on another one, but I'd still recommend David Brin's The Postman. And if you find yourself in the mood for something much more pulpy, try William Johnstone's series The Ashes. Not much in the way of depth but certainly plenty of post-apolcalyptic combat for what had to be close to two dozen books.
__________________
"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis |
09-16-2012, 09:49 PM | #16 |
College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Jun 2002
|
I really liked Ex-Heroes which takes place after a Zombie apocalypse. Oh did I mention it has super heroes as well?
|
09-16-2012, 10:11 PM | #17 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Pacific
|
The Stand in on my to read list after I finish re-reading a song of fire and ice, which is kind of pre-post-apocalyptic
I enjoyed the left behind series as well. But thats not really post-apocalyptic. |
09-17-2012, 01:39 AM | #19 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Newbury, England
|
I love The Passage - one of my favourite books. Great read.
__________________
'A song is a beautiful lie', Idlewild, Self Healer. When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you. Sports! |
09-17-2012, 08:22 AM | #20 |
High School Varsity
Join Date: Sep 2001
|
Thanks for the help. Not so much into zombies, but more into how modern humanity will adapt when the machines stop working, and traditional political boundaries are erased.
|
09-17-2012, 09:39 AM | #21 |
College Prospect
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Berkley, MI
|
The Dark Tower series has elements on that aspect.
Last edited by gi : 09-17-2012 at 09:39 AM. |
09-17-2012, 09:54 AM | #22 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
|
Quote:
A common theme seems to be the attempt to restore them as much as possible. Altered/improved perhaps, or changed due to new realities, but along the same general notions as before "the event".
__________________
"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis Last edited by JonInMiddleGA : 09-17-2012 at 09:55 AM. |
|
09-17-2012, 10:07 AM | #23 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Newburgh, NY
|
Heinlein's Farnham's Freehold is a good read, but doesn't focus as much on the societal level.
__________________
To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.. - Mr. Rogers Last edited by JPhillips : 09-17-2012 at 10:09 AM. |
09-17-2012, 10:13 AM | #24 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
|
@ bob : Loved The Last Policeman
more of a classic (and a bit outdated), but J.G. Ballards The Drowned World should get a mention, the thing making it a bit different from others is that the characters are in a way facinated by what the world has become. Another classic would be Mary Shelley´s The Last Man And not really fiction, but Alana Weisman´s World Without Us is pretty cool. Basically it´s him going on the assumption of mankind disapearing like "poof" and what would happen then. I need to finally tackle Cronin´s book, allways put it off and read other stuff for some reason ...
__________________
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!” |
09-17-2012, 10:16 AM | #25 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
|
Quote:
Damned if I didn't almost mention that one myself.
__________________
"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis |
|
09-17-2012, 10:52 AM | #26 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Decatur, GA
|
"Canticle for Leibowitz" is probably my favorite of the genre.
__________________
"A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages" -Tennessee Williams |
09-17-2012, 12:14 PM | #27 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Back in Houston!
|
First thing I thought of when I saw the thread was The Stand as it's the quintessential post-apocalyptic book. Yes, there's a plague that wipes out practically all of humanity. But that's only the first quarter of the book and then you get into the battle of good vs evil. Bad special effects aside, I like the made for TV miniseries back when they actually had a little bit of a budget. The runtime is 6 hours long
I'll warn away from The Road as Cormack McCarthy is hard to read and the book basically reads like "hey, the world sucks and it's all meaningless". If you're into that, go nuts, but it's by no means my cup of tea. It's the opposite of The Stand, in my mind. Agreed 100%. I didn't worship the original Fallout like a lot but Fallout 3 is worthy of all the praise heaped on it. Bonus points if you live in DC (or nearby as I did in Richmond at the time). It's tremendously immersive and a great post-nuclear world. Quote:
Agreed 100%. It's a little dated now but it's an excellent book. Only somewhat related but I love the theme of a current civilization thinking that it's the most advanced that civilization has ever been. World War Z is a nice short book and even tho I'm not a zombie fanatic, I liked it quite a bit. I really liked it as an audio book- that added to the verbal history part of the book. Lastly, anime has made a killing on this sort of thing. You can go with a classic series like Neon Genesis Evangelion or Cartoon Network frequenter Big O. Tho if you wanted something that has a concrete ending and no an "anime ending", you'll be sorely disappointed (heck, NGE's ending supposedly garnered death threats for the writer). One of Miyazaki's first movies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, takes place 1000 years into the future in a post-apocalyptic future. SI
__________________
Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" |
|
09-17-2012, 12:52 PM | #28 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Massachusetts
|
Quote:
Oh wow. I had friends like 10yrs ago who were anime fiends...Nausicaa was like...our most frequently watched movie. Bonus points for you!
__________________
Get bent whoever hacked my pw and changed my signature. |
|
09-17-2012, 12:59 PM | #29 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Back in Houston!
|
Quote:
Just saw it a couple of weeks ago so it was fresh on my mind. Museum of Fine Arts Houston was doing a Miyazaki series at their little theater through August and my wife and I saw Spirited Away on my birthday. I started looking at which major Miyazaki movies I hadn't seen and that was near the top of the list so we picked it up from the library here and watched it. Oddly enough, the other major one I haven't seen is Princess Mononoke even tho I've seen Spirited Away twice and Castle in the Sky. SI
__________________
Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" |
|
09-17-2012, 01:02 PM | #30 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Decatur, GA
|
Quote:
As stated in the OP, he's already read it. Besides, I think you are getting the wrong message out of it. The Road is more about the world sucks and seems meaningless, but there is hope even in the darkest of situations.
__________________
"A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages" -Tennessee Williams |
|
09-17-2012, 01:20 PM | #31 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Newburgh, NY
|
Quote:
This. It's hopeful in the same way as Beckett's Waiting for Godot. I can't go on. I'll go on.
__________________
To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.. - Mr. Rogers |
|
09-17-2012, 02:26 PM | #32 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Conyers GA
|
I've read most of what's been mentioned here and enjoyed:
The Stand Lucifer's Hammer Swan Song World War Z Earth Abides Cell is okay and so is One Second After also. But one that I highly recommend that I haven't seen mentioned is The Last Ship by William Brinkley. |
04-10-2014, 09:03 PM | #33 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2005
|
I've finished reading the Autumn series.
Not really action packed, the writing sometimes dragged on but I enjoyed the situations he put his survivors through. A fun read. Autumn: David Moody: 9780312569983: Amazon.com: Books |
04-11-2014, 11:30 AM | #34 |
College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Portland, OR
|
World Made by Hand.
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
Thread Tools | |
|
|