Looking for Recent Post-Apocalyptic Book [Archive]

Cat Whisperer

12-18-2009, 11:39 AM

and my google-fu is very weak, since I can't remember either the author OR the title. The author was on a talk show last year, so I know it's very recent, but I am having no luck finding it. It wasn't "The Road" - that's about all I got. So, can you people who still remember things help me out?

And, on a somewhat related note, trailer for the movie "Book of Eli" (http://video.yahoo.com/watch/6061618/15750836) with Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, and Mila Kunis. Looks interesting, if maybe a little light on plot and heavy on violence/blowing shit up.

StoutHearted

12-18-2009, 11:47 AM

Was the author male or female? If female, was it Margaret Atwood with Oryx & Crake or Year of the Flood?

RandMcnally

12-18-2009, 11:48 AM

And, on a somewhat related note, trailer for the movie "Book of Eli" (http://video.yahoo.com/watch/6061618/15750836) with Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, and Mila Kunis. Looks interesting, if maybe a little light on plot and heavy on violence/blowing shit up.

I have never heard of that before, but I totally want to see that.

Paintcharge

12-18-2009, 11:52 AM

Was it The Gone Away World? (http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Away-World-Vintage-Contemporaries/dp/0307389073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261158661&sr=8-1)

Cat Whisperer

12-18-2009, 11:55 AM

It was a guy (whose name I vaguely recognized). A Spanish name?

Nope, not "The Gone Away World," but I'll be adding it to my list.

This is like a game of Twenty Questions! :)

StoutHearted

12-18-2009, 12:24 PM

Is it bigger than a bread box?

How about Blindness by Jose Saramago? It came out over 10 years ago, but the film came out last year, so perhaps the author was back in the news because of that?

Cat Whisperer

12-18-2009, 01:00 PM

Is it bigger than a bread box?

Nope - it's about book-sized. :)

How about Blindness by Jose Saramago? It came out over 10 years ago, but the film came out last year, so perhaps the author was back in the news because of that?
No, that's not it, either. The Spanish name thing is driving me crazy now - the name is dancing around the edge of my brain. Maybe I'll have to sleep on it.

Elendil's Heir

12-18-2009, 01:04 PM

Can you tell us more about the book you have in mind - main character, setting, reason for the world ending, memorable scenes, etc.?

Elendil's Heir

12-18-2009, 01:10 PM

P.S. Yeah, I'm totally gonna go see The Book of Eli now.

Tapioca Dextrin

12-18-2009, 01:22 PM

How about The Strain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strain) by Guillermo del Toro? Spanish sounding author, recent (2009), and there was a bit of post apocalyptic vibe to it.

Saltire

12-18-2009, 01:31 PM

I know the author name doesn't work with your memory, but could it be the Change series by S.M. Stirling? The most recent book, Sword of the Lady, just came out in August, if I recall correctly.

Justin_Bailey

12-18-2009, 02:07 PM

How about The Strain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strain) by Guillermo del Toro? Spanish sounding author, recent (2009), and there was a bit of post apocalyptic vibe to it.

This is probably it. While it's not post-apocalyptic...

the end of the book strongly implies that the spread of the vampire virus is unstoppable

I can't wait for Book 2, which should be out in May or June.

Cat Whisperer

12-18-2009, 11:36 PM

How about The Strain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strain) by Guillermo del Toro? Spanish sounding author, recent (2009), and there was a bit of post apocalyptic vibe to it.
That's it! It's not post-apocalyptic? Maybe apocalypse-in-progress would be more accurate. :)

Thanks, guys. I knew you could fill in my brain hole.

Uosdwis R. Dewoh

12-18-2009, 11:57 PM

I was going to suggest Metro 2033 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Glukhovsky), a post-apocalyptic story where the last remnants of humanity have taken refuge in the Moscow metro tunnels.

Tapioca Dextrin

12-19-2009, 08:06 AM

That's it!

In ten years, that's the first time I've managed to get one of those "identify this book with no information" threads right :D

An Gadaí

12-19-2009, 08:42 AM

P.S. Yeah, I'm totally gonna go see The Book of Eli now.

A Canticle For Liebowitz on steroids. :)

Zsofia

12-19-2009, 09:22 AM

I was going to guess Jamestown, oh well.

Elendil's Heir

12-19-2009, 10:36 AM

A Canticle For Liebowitz on steroids. :)

Another difference: it looks enjoyable.

A Spoonful of Awesome

12-19-2009, 12:42 PM

I've nothing at all productive to contribute to this thread, just wanted to add a resounding "oh hell yes" for The Book of Eli.

ETA. I must now also read The Strain. Like I didn't have enough to do already. Thanks a lot guys. ;)

Cat Whisperer

12-19-2009, 03:17 PM

Another difference: it looks enjoyable.
Heh - post-apocalyptic (henceforth abbreviated PA) fiction is my favourite brand of sci-fi, and I found "A Canticle..." a tedious slog. There was apparently something momentous going on with the book, but whatever it was, I completely missed it. One of my favourite PA books is the one with the robot Spofforth ("Mockingbird" by Walter Tevis); I'd like to see a movie made of that book, except they won't because there would be too much story and not enough blowing shit up.

Elendil's Heir

12-19-2009, 05:01 PM

You might also like War Day by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, a travelogue about the aftermath of a limited nuclear war between the US and USSR; The Last Ship by William Brinkley, about the sole surviving U.S. Navy warship after a fullscale WWIII and the new society its crew struggles to create; and, of course, the classic On the Beach by Nevil Shute, about the slow dwindling of humanity as postwar radiation covers the globe.

All very different; all very good.

Snowboarder Bo

12-19-2009, 05:08 PM

If that's your favorite type of fiction, I highly recommend S. M. Stirling's 3 related series about the Change.

Start with the Nantucket series:

Island in the Sea of Time
Against the Tide of Years
On the Oceans of Eternity

Then switch it all up with the first Emberverse series:

Dies the Fire
The Protector's War
A Meeting at Corvallis

This story (somewhat) continues 22 years later with:

The Sunrise Lands
The Scourge of God
The Sword of the Lady
The High King of Montival (due in 2010)

The first three are really good books. The first 3 Emberverse novels are excellent. The next Emberverse series is engaging and really good so far.

Cat Whisperer

12-19-2009, 09:28 PM

I'm making a list now. :)

kapri

12-19-2009, 10:31 PM

I know exactly what book this is. I think. I just can't remember the title, so I'm going to go to my library's website and see if they have a list of books I've taken out in the last year . . . darn, they don't. But does this book take place in a European country, and is the main character a man, and as far as he can tell he's the only person alive, and he travels all over Europe and into England looking for other survivors? And then at the end . . . well, you know . . .

(going to look for title)

ETA: This is driving me crazy. For the past five years or so I've been keeping lists of books I've read, but the computer that list is on doesn't work anymore, so I'm googling furiously to figure this out.

kapri

12-19-2009, 10:38 PM

Auntbeast

12-21-2009, 12:06 AM

For you post-apoc/dystopian fans. I had the book "One Second After" (or later or something) recommended to me as the best book someone ever read. I paid full hard-back price for it, only to discover it is basically a geographic rewrite of "Alas Babylon" by Pat Frank.

OTOH, YAY! new books for my long, long list. Yes, My Big Stolen List of Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Fiction (http://chicksrock.net/wordpress/?page_id=51)

Cat Whisperer: I'm with you on Canticle. I don't understand the fascination. Your description mirrors my experience exactly.

Cat Whisperer

12-21-2009, 12:15 AM

Is it Night Work? That's the one I was thinking of. I liked it, but it's only got 3 stars on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Work-Novel-Thomas-Glavinic/dp/1847671845/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261283864&sr=1-1
I'm not sure if you're pulling my leg or asking about another book - we've already figured out that the book I was trying to remember was "The Strain" by Guillermo del Toro. :)

Auntbeast, that is an awesome list! I'm going to have a LOT of reading to do!

Justin_Bailey

12-21-2009, 12:20 AM

For you post-apoc/dystopian fans. I had the book "One Second After" (or later or something) recommended to me as the best book someone ever read. I paid full hard-back price for it, only to discover it is basically a geographic rewrite of "Alas Babylon" by Pat Frank.

I hated One Second After. It committed the cardinal sin of post-apocalyptic fiction, turning the general population into a band of savage rapists within hours of whatever event caused the apocalypse.

I'm about 200 pages into Stephen King's Under the Dome and it's about to do the same thing.

Auntbeast

12-21-2009, 06:00 AM

I'm not sure if you're pulling my leg or asking about another book - we've already figured out that the book I was trying to remember was "The Strain" by Guillermo del Toro. :)

Auntbeast, that is an awesome list! I'm going to have a LOT of reading to do!

There are quite a few threads in here discussing this type of fiction. I've been reading it for several years now and every time I think I've run out of books, another cool thread pops up. Someone else compiled the list, but I've added to it.

Justin Bailey, try reading this type of fiction as a woman. After especially insidious books, I have to fight to not hate men. They can be very hard to read.

Auntbeast

12-21-2009, 03:28 PM

FYI: I have done a partial update of that list to include books I have digital copies of, in case anyone cares.

Cat Whisperer

12-21-2009, 07:32 PM

I hated One Second After. It committed the cardinal sin of post-apocalyptic fiction, turning the general population into a band of savage rapists within hours of whatever event caused the apocalypse.

I'm about 200 pages into Stephen King's Under the Dome and it's about to do the same thing.
I'm not sure I agree this is unrealistic - the stress of an event like a good sale on electronics will turn your average human into a savage. Our civilization is a thin veneer over a bunch of hairless animals.

Justin_Bailey

12-22-2009, 03:22 AM

I'm not sure I agree this is unrealistic - the stress of an event like a good sale on electronics will turn your average human into a savage. Our civilization is a thin veneer over a bunch of hairless animals.

I'm sorry, but I have a hard time believing that in less than 24 hours after a terrorist attack that blows out the power that huge gangs of people would just start raping random people.

JuliaSqueezer

12-22-2009, 08:46 AM

One of my favorites from a year or so ago is World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler. Did anyone else read it?

kapri

12-22-2009, 10:28 AM