Post Apocalyptic Fiction

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Anyone have some good recommendations for this genre?



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"Earth Abides" George R Stewart, "Triumph" Philip Wylie, "The Purple Cloud" (Dammit I can't remember the author. Will look it up and get back to you).
 
"The Purple Cloud" is by M P Sheil. The three books that I have mentioned are older, and may be harder to get now, but I think that they are worth looking for.
 
You might also try to get some of the works of John Christopher (":No Blade Of Grass":, "Pendulum", "The World In Winter") and J G Ballard ( such as "The Crystal World" and "The Wind From Nowhere"). Leigh Brackett's "The Long Tomorrow" is another older work that could be worth a look.
 
I am Legend, Earth Abides and The Stand definitely among the best I've read. I'll also add The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, its dated now to England in the 40/50s but like The War of the Worlds I never found that to be a bad thing.

Maybe not one of PK Dick's best but Dr Bloodmoney isn't bad either and well worth a read. I can't remember if Gregory Benford's Timescape should count or not, its more apocalyptic than post-apocalyptic but I'd recommend it either way if you don't mind a lot of science with your fiction.
 
Let's see some more titles that might be of interest are "A Canticle For Leiberwitz"- Walter M Miller, "Alas Babylon" -Pat Frank.
 
RolandF1 said:
I am Legend
The Road
Tomorrow Series if into YA.
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I really didn’t enjoy I Am Legend. The protagonist was much less likeable than in the movie, IMO, e.g. his alcoholism and his fits of rage were like a baby wanting its bottle.

I LOVED The Road, though. Both film and book are gut-wrenchingly bleak and real.

Anyone read The Stand? It’s on my list to read in 2018.
 
Summer Nights said:
I really didn’t enjoy I Am Legend. The protagonist was much less likeable than in the movie, IMO, e.g. his alcoholism and his fits of rage were like a baby wanting its bottle.
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:eek: He's a normal person isolated in a world where he maybe the last of his kind while monsters outside constantly taunt and threaten. What do you think happens to someone in that situation over time?

The movie completely missed the point of the book and more specifically the title they used from the book. Turning Neville into a doctor was its first absurdity.
 
RolandF1 said:
:eek: He's a normal person isolated in a world where he maybe the last of his kind while monsters outside constantly taunt and threaten. What do you think happens to someone in that situation over time?

The movie completely missed the point of the book and more specifically the title they used from the book. Turning Neville into a doctor was its first absurdity.
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I think the way he was written was the non-believable part for me; perhaps just the literary style. It went on and on about his rage building up until he exploded and the way he described his sexual urges was just strangely put. I guess I’d more identify with someone who became obsessive or morbidly depressed than the Neville of the books. Just my opinion :)
 
Summer Nights said:
I think the way he was written was the non-believable part for me; perhaps just the literary style. It went on and on about his rage building up until he exploded and the way he described his sexual urges was just strangely put. I guess I’d more identify with someone who became obsessive or morbidly depressed than the Neville of the books. Just my opinion :)
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Matheson's main protagonist were usually based on his personality / perspective when they got themselves in these unusual situations. For some who read his stuff it doesnt work. I don't share your view with that book but felt similar in one he wrote later called Hunted Past Reason. That was an odd one.
 

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Summer Nights said:
I really didn’t enjoy I Am Legend. The protagonist was much less likeable than in the movie, IMO, e.g. his alcoholism and his fits of rage were like a baby wanting its bottle.

I LOVED The Road, though. Both film and book are gut-wrenchingly bleak and real.

Anyone read The Stand? It’s on my list to read in 2018.
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The Stand...there are two versions...
 
The Stand (1990 version) by Stephen King. Really long book (over 1000 pages) so you get to know some of the characters in their normal lives first. Those ones are really well written, so well written that if the apocalypse didn't happen you'd still keep reading just for their stories. The build to the collapse of society and the collapse itself is really good. King deserves particular praise for making middle America, highways, soft drink cans etc seem like fascinating pieces of an epic world as the story goes on (if you've never driven in America it's really not epic at all unless you're in a national park or can see Manhattan in the distance). Loved this book for the first 80%. But the last fifth turns... the bad kind of Stephen King who believes he's above conclusions and endings that are satisfying or enjoyable or even just good. It was very similar to the shitty ending of his long-running epic series The Dark Tower. The ending of that series was so bad it took me 5 years to pick up this. In comparison the ending of this isn't as bad but I'm never reading Stephen King again. He just doesn't care about endings and that astounds me but more importantly it angers me after putting hours and hours into reading. Overall though this is a good book and I'm glad I read it. You'll enjoy it. More if you haven't read The Dark Tower and already received a slap across the face... * you Stephen King.
 
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Wool by Hugh Howey. Premise from web search "takes place in the world of the silo, a 144-floor underground community of humans, hundreds of years after an unknown event has caused the air above ground to become toxic." This was really good and exciting for the most part. Having to go outside to clean the only camera lens of the world above and die is the ultimate punishment so much of the drama is built around those happenings and that's used to keep the population obedient in ways we as the reader can tell are a little suspect. Computer technology is dialed back from what is available to us... as a reader we pick up on that and it gets into that later. Humans have been underground for so many generations with a view of a shitty wasteland that they've lost touch of what the world use to be. They think elephant drawings in ancient children's books are fantasy creatures because they can't fathom an animal larger than a dog or a space that could have so much life. They basically think of their 144 floors as the world. A criticism I have is there's a love subplot that feels a bit too young adult novel. Otherwise I liked it and was going to order the next books in the Silo trilogy but there was a surprising number of reviews from people who loved Wool that just tore into the second book so I may never get around to that. But Wool is worth reading. Check it out!
 
Loved The Stand. One of my favourites for sure. Hard to judge with 100% certainty though as I have yet to commit to a re-read.

One that hasn't been mentioned which I loved is the girl with all the gifts. About a virus that turns people into 28 days style man eaters and the remaining humans trying to find a solution.

Another is Year One by Nora Roberts. This comes with a disclaimer that the author normally writes romance novels and it shows through in some parts. Some corny arse dialogue but I liked the story that aside. It's pretty much a young adult book, definitely an easier read than the stand.
 
Bomberboyokay said:
But the last fifth turns... the bad kind of Stephen King who believes he's above conclusions and endings that are satisfying or enjoyable or even just good... **** you Stephen King.
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Yeah that's why I stopped reading his books too, it's like he's so afraid of having a clichéd ending he just settles on a really s**t one instead.

+1 on the Road, epic book.
 
One Second After by William R Forstchen is sensational and one of the best books I have read in the last 5 years.

It is about an electro magnetic pulse and it’s effects on the Earth and in particular one small town.

Totally gets you emersed in it after 1 chapter and the type of book that is impossible to put down! An easy read and not to long either but it had me thinking about it at work when I first read it and itching to get home to read more!

Must read if you like this genre IMO.

https://www.booktopia.com.au/one-se...MIp7fl8e214AIVQR2PCh26nQH9EAQYASABEgJBhfD_BwE
 
Wolf Road by Beth Lewis
Positive by David Wellington
The Dead Lands by Benjamin Percy

I’ve read these and thought they were good all came out between 2014-2016
This when I was into the post apocalyptic genre. Some people might have a different opinion
 
Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon, The Stand has been mentioned here and this is of similar style & quality.
The Emberverse series by S. M. Stirling & The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin are good for a long read.
The Passage is a Vampire apocalypse so it's more Resident Evil than Mad Max.
 
The Postman by David Brin later made into the Kevin Costner film.

I reckon I've read The Stand dozens of times but like others have said in here, the beauty of it is the foundation of it and then the collapse itself, the last part not so much. I know it so well now that I can just skip to the parts I like. I particularly like his description of the survivors that died anyway for all sorts of different reasons. I also like his description of the various situations when it was passed on.
 
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