Your top 5 apocalyptic novels

[Dust253]

My top 5

1. Lucifer's Hammer
2. The Stand
3. Earth Abides
4. Alas, Babylon
5. The Day of the Triffids

 

[brsrkrkomdy]

1. Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham
2. The Stand by Stephen King
3. Swan Song by Robert McCammon
4. The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel
5. The Nature Of Balance by Tim Lebbon

 

[Aleksei]

1. Wolf and Iron - Gordon R Dickson
2. The Breaking of Northwall (The Pelbar cycle) - Paul O Williams
3. The World Ends in Hickory Hollow - Ardath Mayhar
4. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
5. A Strong and Sudden Thaw - R. W. Day

 

[kcs_hiker]

1. Wolf and Iron - Gordon R Dickson
2. The Breaking of Northwall (The Pelbar cycle) - Paul O Williams
3. The World Ends in Hickory Hollow - Ardath Mayhar
4. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
5. A Strong and Sudden Thaw - R. W. Day

I've not read any of those... although I've been meaning to pick up Cormac McCarthy, and I'm a fan of Gordon Dickson so I'll try his as well.

I would add S.M. Stirling's Dies the Fire to the list, although I might warn that if Wicca and practicing Witches bothers you, you should pass.

 

[dormouse]

My choices would have to be: 1984, Stepfather Bank, Farenheit451, Brave New World, Camp of The Saints

I have heard of a book called The Iron Heel by Jack London, which I am told is a pretty good. I have not read it yet. Has anyone read it?

 

[Ragnar]

1. The Sheep Look Up - John Brunner
2. Z for Zacharia - Robert O'Brien
3. A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller
4. The White Plague - Frank Herbert
5. The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Honourable mention - The Forge of God, Earth Abides, I Am Legend, Damnation Alley

 

[2nddan]

1. The Stand
2. Path to Savagery
3. Dies the Fire
4. Alas Babylon
5. A Canticle for Leibowitz

I'll have to pick up "The Sheep Look Up". I didn't know it was this type of story.

I would also recommend against "The Postman". The movie was much better.

 

[Aleksei]

I would also recommend against "The Postman". The movie was much better.

Yes, the book was a bit of a disappointment.

 

[that old guy]

My choices would have to be: 1984, Stepfather Bank, Farenheit451, Brave New World, Camp of The Saints

What's apocalyptic about the first four? I'd say they're more dystopian than anything else

All I know about the last one is that it seems to be a favorite among racists, though I have no idea why, precisely. Or perhaps it is on the receiving end of a politically correct smear job?

 

[dormouse]

Dystopian, yes -- but surely some form of implied apocalypse must have happened for their drastic scenarios to have come about. So in that sense they could be argued as being post-apocalyptic, if not apocalyptic in themselves.
Unless instead of a big-bang type of apocalypse there was a progressive (but none the less damaging) slide into the dystopian future they portray; which is where "Camp of the Saints" comes in, as an examination of the psychological interactions, delusions, wishful-thinking and assumptions which could allow such futures to develop. It is indeed politically incorrect in that it portrays a possible end result of political correctness having been carried to its logical conclusion, but then running aground on harsh reality.

 

[beenorthern]

I find it impossible to decide which are the best apocalyptic novels, so here are five of my favourites instead. I think they're good ... I like them ... but best of this subgenre? Probably not!

John Barnes *Earth Made of Glass*
Mona Clee *Branchpoint*
Daniel Keys Moran *The Armageddon Blues*
M.K. Wren *A Gift Upon the Shore*
Philip Wylie *The End of the Dream*

I love the writing in *Camp Concentration* by Thomas Disch ("Chairs by Harley Davidson. Hard-edged pictures, chosen to suit the pleasures of such chairs ..."), but got to admit this is one incredibly depressing book! Thought of Mike Connor's *Archangel* but since I can't bring myself to read it again, it can't be that favourite!

Favourite apocalyptic movie: <Miracle Mile>

 

[dormouse]

If movies came into consideration, then the strange combination of film and animation
called In the Aftermath is .... different. I like it.

 

[DeepThought]

The Postman, David Brin
1984, George Orwell
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
The Stand, Stephen King
Lucifer's Hammer, Authur C. Clarke