[Ganymed]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but my search function (yes, even the advanced search) does not work. I checked some of the already existing threads but found nothing, but still...

Anyways, I'm hugely interested in apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic settings for science-fiction/fantasy books, but find it hard to find them. I've read "The Stand" and am currently reading "Earth Abides" and am searching for new stuff. What I have in mind is like the "Fallout" games or the "Mad Max" movies or the film "Soldier" with Kurt Russell, which is not very good, but I liked the idea of a world used as a dump. It should be dark and gritty, kinda like everything is going to hell.

Oh, forgot to mention that I've also read the obvious candidates like "1984" or "Brave New World".

So, any suggestions, anyone?

[ch'arlz]

_Oryx and Crake_, Margaret Atwood
_The Road_, Cormac McCarthy
_The Cell_, Stephen King

_Children of Men_ is a pretty good movie

[Ganymed]

@ch'arlz
Thank you. Have some rep...

Come on, guys! That can't be everything, can it?

[The Tyrant Lizard]

Stephen King's Dark Tower is kind of post-apocolyptic, but he's gone kind of western in it.

Terry Brooks' Armegeddon's Children is a bit Mad Max crossed with Jedi. And if you like it there's another two books that follow.

James Herbert's final instalment of the Rats Trilogy is about post nuclear war London. I highly rate that book. It's called Domain. (in fact, the other two are worth a read too.) Herbert also does another book called 48. Its about a post war London following world war 2. Pretty decent ideas in that one too, including a deranged German bomber who doesnt know the war is over and just keeps bombing london on his own.

[Ganymed]

Thanks, Lizard.

I'll try to get a look on the books you mentioned. I would give you rep, but that seems to be a thing of the past, so you have to be content with my undying gratitude.

Anyone else any suggestions?

This post has been edited by Ganymed: 24 September 2008 - 05:26 PM

[Imperial Historian]

I enjoyed Philip K Dicks Dr Bloodmoney which is set in a post apocalyptic world, and David Gemmels Jon Shannow books are set in a post-apocalyptic world.

A friend of mine asked me this same question recently, and I was really surprised by quite how few post-apocalyptic books I could name, so I would also appreciate any recommendations!

[Ganymed]

Imperial Historian, on Sep 25 2008, 07:03 PM, said:

A friend of mine asked me this same question recently, and I was really surprised by quite how few post-apocalyptic books I could name, so I would also appreciate any recommendations!

Yeah, that's the problem. I know of a book by Philip K. Dick where people live in sort of a bunker or underground city because the surface of the earth is supposedly barren and toxic, but that seems to be a lie by the ruling class. Don't remember the name, but I'm sure it is part of the SF Millennium Series. Hmm. My problem with Dick is, that I'm reluctant to let myself in on him, because most of the time his writing is as if he was on drugs. Brilliant, but in a sick way.

Still, there's got to be more than what we have up to now:

Margaret Atwood - Oryx and Crake
Terry Brooks - Armegeddon's Children
Philip K. Dick - Dr. Bloodmoney
Philip K. Dick - The Penultimate Truth
James Herbert - Rats Trilogy
Stephen King - The Stand
Stephen King - The Dark Tower Series
Stephen King - The Cell
Cormac McCarthy - The Road
George R. Stewart - Earth Abides

As you can see, I found the title of the above mentioned book by Dick.

Additionally I found this list at amazon.com, but I don't know if it is any good.
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Post-Apoca...m/2BH1R91R2OECF

This post has been edited by Ganymed: 25 September 2008 - 08:03 PM

[Pallol One Eye]

Here's a few:

Patrick tilley's Amtrack wars series (6 books in all)
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M. Miller
Lucifers Hammer - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - about the after effects of a comet/asteroid hitting te earth. Set in the 70's so a little dated but a good read.

Just thought of a couple more:

Damnation Alley - Roger Zelazny - About a Hells Angel carrying a serum across USA after a nuclear war. Good song of the Same name by Hawkwind.
Swansong - Robert McCammon. Events after a nuclear war.
Third World war - General John Hackett. Sort of a Non Fiction account of a nuc attack on UK. This was a huge best seller in the late 80's.

This post has been edited by Pallol One Eye: 26 September 2008 - 01:00 PM

[polishgenius]

You could try The Electric Church, by Jeff Somers. It's not exactly a classic of the genre or anything hugely original, but it's a good read. The whole apocalypse is a bit uncertain - it's more of a social breakdown than a wipeout event - but it kind of fits the tone you specify.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 26 September 2008 - 12:39 AM

[Ganymed]

Slowly but steadily we got to a impressive list of post-apocalyptic literature. I knew there was some dark and gritty stuff out there. Thank you, guys. I am looking forward to reading some of the mentioned books this winter. Keep 'em coming!

Margaret Atwood - Oryx and Crake
Terry Brooks - Armegeddon's Children
Philip K. Dick - Dr. Bloodmoney
Philip K. Dick - The Penultimate Truth
General John Hackett - Third World War
James Herbert - Rats Trilogy
Stephen King - The Stand
Stephen King - The Dark Tower Series
Stephen King - The Cell
Robert McCammon - Swansong
Cormac McCarthy - The Road
Walter M. Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz
Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - Lucifers Hammer
Jeff Vandermeer - Veniss Underground
Jeff Somers - The Electric Church
George R. Stewart - Earth Abides
Patrick Tilley - Amtrack Wars Series
Roger Zelazny - Damnation Alley

EDIT: Got Thursday's suggestion in there.

This post has been edited by Ganymed: 26 September 2008 - 11:03 PM

[Sir Thursday]

I would highly recommend Jeff Vandermeer's Veniss Underground. Incredibly imagery and some nightmarish visions of what society has become. And over (or should I say under) it all, the shadowy figure of Quin sits like a futuristic Kurtz (fitting given the topic title ).


Sir Thursday

[polishgenius]

Another one that's slightly odd is Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds. It's set in a post-space-travel society and the 'apocalypse' only affected the one planet, but it does give an interesting perspective in that the event has already happened but the world is completely new to the character, and it's definitely dark and gritty. Also very inventive.

The Book of All Hours duology by Hal Duncan has apocalyptic vibes, but takes a while to get to them, and it's quite hard work, especially Vellum the first time. Very rewarding eventually though and it is like nothing else.

[Astra]

Ganymed, on Sep 26 2008, 11:42 PM, said:

Slowly but steadily we got to a impressive list of post-apocalyptic literature. I knew there was some dark and gritty stuff out there. Thank you, guys. I am looking forward to reading some of the mentioned books this winter. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks for updating the list.

[Ganymed]

@Astra
No problem, dude.

Here is the up-to-date list:

Margaret Atwood - Oryx and Crake
Terry Brooks - Armegeddon's Children
Philip K. Dick - Dr. Bloodmoney
Philip K. Dick - The Penultimate Truth
Hal Duncan - The Book of All Hours Duology
General John Hackett - Third World War
James Herbert - Rats Trilogy
Stephen King - The Stand
Stephen King - The Dark Tower Series
Stephen King - The Cell
Robert McCammon - Swansong
Cormac McCarthy - The Road
Walter M. Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz
Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - Lucifers Hammer
Jeff Vandermeer - Veniss Underground
Alastair Reynolds - Chasm City
Jeff Somers - The Electric Church
George R. Stewart - Earth Abides
Patrick Tilley - Amtrack Wars Series
Roger Zelazny - Damnation Alley

I do not guarantee for the apocalypseness(!) of the above mentioned books.

[Binder of Demons]

The Postman - David Brin
(not a bad novel, sadly tarnished by the piss poor "interpretation" that Kevin Costner did of it)

Fairyland - Paul J McAuley
(it's a post nano tech world set in a shattered Europe. Well worth a read).

The only other ones i could think of have already been mentioned.


Would "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson count as post apocalyptic. Haven't read it but from what i know of it, it sounds pretty apocalyptic all right.

This post has been edited by Binder of Demons: 01 October 2008 - 09:42 AM

[Sir Thursday]

Binder of Demons, on Oct 1 2008, 10:38 AM, said:

The Postman - David Brin
(not a bad novel, sadly tarnished by the piss poor "interpretation" that Kevin Costner did of it)

Fairyland - Paul J McAuley
(it's a post nano tech world set in a shattered Europe. Well worth a read).

The only other ones i could think of have already been mentioned.


Would "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson count as post apocalyptic. Haven't read it but from what i know of it, it sounds pretty apocalyptic all right.

It would, and I'd highly recommend it.

While the protagonist's situation is somewhat similar to in the film (which I'm guessing more people have seen), the tone is completely different. Matheson's work is taut, claustrophobic and lonely - our hero is a regular joe in a regular house with some boards nailed to the door, who is sorely tempted to go out and join the hordes outside his door.

Plus the ending actually gives meaning to the title of the book, and is a major departure from the storyline of the film. So yeah, I'd recommend you put it on the list.




Sir Thursday

[murphy72]

S. M. Stirling has written some pretty good post apocalyptic books.

Snow Brother, the first of the Fifth Millinium series.
Island in the Sea of Time
Dies the Fire

This post has been edited by murphy72: 02 October 2008 - 07:45 PM

[polishgenius]

The Book of All Hours, by Hal Duncan, is apocalyptic. Vellum and Ink being the two books in it. It's not an easy read, but I thought it was brilliant second time round.

[Ganymed]

Update:

Margaret Atwood - Oryx and Crake
David Brin - The Postman
Terry Brooks - Armegeddon's Children
Philip K. Dick - Dr. Bloodmoney
Philip K. Dick - The Penultimate Truth
Hal Duncan - The Book of All Hours Duology
General John Hackett - Third World War
James Herbert - Rats Trilogy
Stephen King - The Stand
Stephen King - The Dark Tower Series
Stephen King - The Cell
Richard Matheson - I am Legend
Robert McCammon - Swansong
Cormac McCarthy - The Road
Paul J McAuley - Fairyland
Walter M. Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz
Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - Lucifers Hammer
Jeff Vandermeer - Veniss Underground
Alastair Reynolds - Chasm City
Jeff Somers - The Electric Church
George R. Stewart - Earth Abides
S. M. Stirling - Dies the Fire
S. M. Stirling - Island in the Sea of Time
S. M. Stirling - Snow Brother (the first of the Fifth Millinium series)
Patrick Tilley - Amtrack Wars Series
Roger Zelazny - Damnation Alley

Thanks, all you guys, for creating this list. It seems there is much to read for me left, after all...

[Masonity]

Already mentioned (then promptly ignored for the sake of the listings), but I'd strongly recommend Gemmel's Jon Shannow series. It starts with Wolf in Shadow (also published as The Jerusalem Man), then goes on to The Last Guardian, before ending in a stunning fashion in Bloodstone.

I really can't recommend this series enough.