Good Post Apocalyptic Books Wanted

[merritt]

Triumph by P. Wylie not mentioned?

pretty good book.

 

[bryanspellman]

ouch, dragged myself through The Last Ship...

take it off your must read list. Sorry...

 

[High Eight]

The Chalk Giants by Keith Roberts is post-apocalyptic fiction. Kind of.....

Well, it begins with a civilisation-destroying war. Maybe.........

Or perhaps it all takes place inside the head of the protagonist. Either way it's worth reading - it's difficult but rewarding and, like all Roberts, stunningly written - if a little depressing, with his usual jaundiced view of humanity (he was nothing if not a misanthrope).

 

[Connavar]

I recently bought The Road for two reasons Cormac McCarthey is hailed and cause people said the book was post apocalyptic.

But really i dont care how famous or hailed the writer is i bought it cause it was the easiest one to find in the book store of all post apoclyptic books i know of.

Hope its a good one.

 

[black1]

Hi


Just found this forum. I too like post apocalyptic fiction. I have a good collection. There was one book I had before and can't remember the title. Hope someone knows. There is a traveller and he's going through the ruins, finds a diary. The diary talks about the events leading up to the end of civilizatiuon. in this case it was a civil war in the USA with a black uprising starting in th Chicago area. The diary starts normally then the rebellion comes, it's all going well then the end quickly comes, they realise that the revolt is doomed and that they are going to lose - they also find out about the fall of gary and lots of long trenches being dug nearby.

Anyone know it?

 

[murphy]

Hi


Just found this forum. I too like post apocalyptic fiction. I have a good collection. There was one book I had before and can't remember the title. Hope someone knows. There is a traveller and he's going through the ruins, finds a diary. The diary talks about the events leading up to the end of civilizatiuon. in this case it was a civil war in the USA with a black uprising starting in th Chicago area. The diary starts normally then the rebellion comes, it's all going well then the end quickly comes, they realise that the revolt is doomed and that they are going to lose - they also find out about the fall of gary and lots of long trenches being dug nearby.

Anyone know it?

Hi, and welcome to the Chronicles. You might want to repost this in the book search section. Also give the approximate date when you read it.

 

[Junomidge]

I didn't want to start a whole new thread. I have just heard about a book called Into the Forest. It's supposed to be about a pair of sisters who are the only ones left after some sort of world ending situation. I am debating on buying it.

 

[lbr]

I've really enjoyed reading through the recommendations posted by the group and have a number of new books to investigate - thanks!

One of my favorites doesn't seem to have been mentioned so far - "The City, Not Long After" by Pat Murphy. It was originally published around 1990 and I found it in the fiction section of my local libarary. I loved it so much that I hunted down a copy of the hardcover first edition (it didn't make it to paperback at the time) and continue to buy copies whenever I find them so I can give them to friends. It looks like it's finally been re-released in paperback, so it should be much easier to find these days.

I found the story line to be really unique and I loved the way that Murphy portrays the city of San Francisco and those survivors who choose to stay in the city instead of returning to an agrictultural lifestyle as most others do. SF really is a core character in it's own right.

Laura

Book Description from Amazon
Half a generation ago, a gesture in the name of peace turned out to spread plague and disaster. In San Francisco, the survivors are heir to a city transformed. It is a haunted, dreaming place peopled with memories, and in a strange way nearly alive itself. And although it is only beginning to recover from near-ultimate disaster, the city is at risk again. An army of power-hungry men are descending on San Francisco. Teenagers Jax and Danny-boy must lead the fight for freedom using the only weapons they have—art, magic, and the soul of the city itself.

 

[Dave]

Just for the record, I don't think either of two books I've just read have been mentioned here yet. Both Timescape by Gregory Benford, and The Book of Dave by Will Self have cataclysmic scenarios.

 

[AlbertTatlock]

Outdoors by Bailey Ferry - apologies if anyone else has put that already.
Kinda post apocalyptic, the human race never goes outdoors.
I had another one but I waffled and forgot...damn!

 

[Praxxus]

I'm glad to see Malevil by Robert Merle get a couple of mentions on this thread. One of my alltime favorite books.
Hiero's Journey by Sterling Lanier is also well worth checking out. (The Unforsaken Hiero is the second book.) Long out of print but you should be able to find it in a used book shop if you look around a bit.

 

[ChrisBfla]

Hi:

I would reccomend Lucifer's Hammer. This is a good one about an asteroid strike.

Another is a book called Earth Wreck , but I can't recall the author.

The classic is Alas Babylon and Starman's Son. Another is The Tower in the Forest, this is actually part of a series but I cannot recall who wrote it.

War Day coulde alos be considered Science Fiction but it is pretty chilling.

I have writen two novels (one published and one not as yet) that are in this genre. However, in both of them, humanity mangages to pull their collective chestnuts out of the fire. My books show that even in the worst of scenairos, we as a species triumph. I mean what the heck, it wasn't that long ago with the United States and the Soviet Union were ready to blow the you know hwat out of each other and now I'm married to a lady from Ukraine with and we have a beautifl daughter. You have to have hope for a better future for all of us.

However, any of these stories act as a caution for global behavior.

Chris

 

[LiamCostas]

How about 'Last Light' by Alex Scarrow.

Wife's reading it right now, says it read like 'George Romero' but instead of zombies or virus's, the premise is the world's oil supply is suddenly stopped. Which means in the matter of days everyone is starving and going crazy.

She says it's terrifying stuff. Might give it a go after her. I'm after some PA fiction that isn't, yakknow, zombies/nuclear war/viruses.

 

[WizardofOwls]

If you are still looking, the name of the book is "A Secret History of Time to Come" by Robie Macauley

Hi


Just found this forum. I too like post apocalyptic fiction. I have a good collection. There was one book I had before and can't remember the title. Hope someone knows. There is a traveller and he's going through the ruins, finds a diary. The diary talks about the events leading up to the end of civilizatiuon. in this case it was a civil war in the USA with a black uprising starting in th Chicago area. The diary starts normally then the rebellion comes, it's all going well then the end quickly comes, they realise that the revolt is doomed and that they are going to lose - they also find out about the fall of gary and lots of long trenches being dug nearby.

Anyone know it?

 

[Diggler]

some of the books people have mentioned sound interesting. but what i want to know is are any of these newer. books set in the 50's and stuff like that just don't appeal to me.

I'm about 5 years too late replying to this LOL, but here goes.

Some of the 1950's stuff is actually quite good. The Day of the Triffids has some very haunting visions. Especially the whole of London dying.

My personal favourites when it comes to PA fiction would have to be...

Greybeard - Brian Aldiss (My personal favourite PA novel. It is based in England 50 years after the last child was born (Children of Men?) and the youngest people left are at least 50 years old. Even though it is a world devoid of younger people does not mean it's all boring. This is one hell of a book and very highly recommended by myself)

The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham (I mentioned this earlier as a way of explaining that 1950's novels need not be silly. This is a prime example of that. Very scary depicition of humanity falling apart and overall just plain excellent!)

The Road - Cormac McCarthy (Scary, prophetic, depressing as all hell. I read this book in one sitting I was so engrossed)

I Am Legend - Richard Matheson (WOW! Yet more proof that not all books from the 50's just don't hold up. The brunt of the book dealt with solitude and the protagonist keeping his home maintained from the nightly hordes. This was pure edge of your seat)

A Boy and His Dog (Holy Crap! This is only a very short Harlan Ellison story, but this is a no holds barred, kick in the groin story. Homosexuals, rape, extreme violence and a truly amazing open ended twist at the end. Satirical, funny and downright controversial)

Other novels of interest...

Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny (while being a PA, it is really an action/adventure story. A fun read, but damn I found the characters "hip 60's" lingo to be just plain annoying)

Warday - Whitley Strieber/James Kunetka (Massive achievement on their part to create this technical diagram on the possibilites of what may happen after a limited nuclear strike on the US. Very indepth, though a bit too technical for my liking)

The Game Players of Titan - Philip K Dick (PKD is my favourite author. So it isn't complete without mentioning some of his. The world has been ravaged by sterility and only a fraction of civilisation remains. Aliens have also come down to earth to help the remaining humans. The aliens are avid gamblers (a common theme among PKD novels) and a few of the remaining humans gamble frequently for large pockets of land across the world)

The Penultimate Truth - Philip K Dick (Another classic from PKD. This time most of humanity are stuck down in bunker factories pumping out war machines for world war 3 which they think is still going. Little do these people know is that the war ended decades ago, and a small group of officials and beuracrats have taken it upon themselves to keep the masses down there to keep on making machinery that they use for the own personal means)

Farnham's Freehold - Robert A Heinlein (deemed as the unofficial survivalists handbook and racist by others. A family and their man-servant are transported some 3000 years into the future, to find out that the world is now run by Black Muslims and white people are nothing more than slaves. some of the dialogue grated on me, but overall a very good book)

One last notable entry is Philip K Dicks Post Apocalyptic short stories like "Second Variety", "To Serve The Master", "The Last of the Masters", etc

I could probably add yet more books, including some more PKD stories, though I'll really just be covering yet more books that other people have already mentioned. Also thank you for this thread as it has given me an amazing listing of books to search for

 

[Patrick Mahon]

I Am Legend - Richard Matheson (WOW! Yet more proof that not all books from the 50's just don't hold up. The brunt of the book dealt with solitude and the protagonist keeping his home maintained from the nightly hordes. This was pure edge of your seat)

I've got to agree with that. Just finished reading 'I Am Legend', and really enjoyed the psychological suspense that forms such a major part of it. My copy was a tie-in edition to the Will Smith movie in 2007. I've not seen that - how does it compare to the book?

 

[Rodders]

I still need to get this. I just recently watched Omega Man for the first time and was impressed by both this and the Will Smith Version.

Perhaps i shall stop putting this off and pick it up some time next week.

 

[Connavar]

Anyone read Dies the Fire (Dies the Fire, #1) by S.M.Stirling ?

I have seen it in the library many times and i enjoy any book of Post Apocalyptic that is good read.

 

[Omphalos]

Omphalos' Book Reviews: Book Info

It was OK.

 

[murphy]

OTOH I really liked it.