There’s Into the Forest but it’s more about 2 isolated sisters dealing with being alone in the world than a viewpoint from all of society. There’s no great apocalypse, just the electricity going off and no more gas, weeds growing in the roads, etc.
If you’re looking for something a bit humorous for a Post apocalyptic, then Greener Than You Think is for you. It’s pretty much just a satire on the whole genre. It’s about a strain of devilgrass mutated by humans that takes over the world. Enjoy!
Another vote for Stirling’s Dies the Fire – which, BTW, has given rise to a trilogy, with a second trilogy planned.
I give it props for good storytelling and characterization – but I have my doubts as to whether a worldwide interruption in powered technology would destroy civilization quite as thoroughly as Stirling envisions.
I came here to recommend Davy also. You won’t regret reading it. I’ve read most of the books recommended here, and I’d put Canticle in second place - though it is of wider scope than Davy. Avoid the sequel at all costs, though.
It was Stephen King’s favorite too, according to his column in Entertainment Weekly. It’s certainly the bleakest PA book I’ve ever read. Other books can make it fun (in a perverse way) to imagine yourself in a PA world (mine has me and Jimmy Smits as the sole survivors), but not so with The Road.
When Worlds Collide by Philip Gordon Wylie was followed by a sequel, After Worlds Collide.
Also try:
No Blade of Grass by John Cristopher (UK title, The Death of Grass)
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
And despite some valid criticisms, I really enjoyed the granddaddy of the genre, Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (1949).
Or you could try the great-granddaddy, The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel (1901), which answers the question, “What if the last person on Earth were a huge jackass?” (I won’t spoil it with specifics, but I didn’t like the book because the protagonist seemed like a jerk.)
wow, thanks guys
Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang By Kate Wilhelm
Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt (who seems to get little love on the Dope for some reason).
Well, I won’t spoil it. But it’s a great PA novel.
What, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman? Haven’t read it – what’s wrong with it?
Other than the fact that it reeks, you mean? Terry Bisson couldn’t write a suicide note. If you liked Canticle, avoid the sequel like the plague.
I’ll defend Bisson – he’s a wonderful writer – but he should have left Saint Lebowitz alone.
It was an assignment from hell: you’re competing with a classic of the field on its own turf. There’s no way you’d please the audience, even working from Miller’s manuscript, since everything bad would be blamed on you.
But don’t let it prevent you from reading Voyage to the Red Planet (the most charmins SF book ever) or Talking Man of Pirates of the Universe (which could be considered post-apocalyptic).
Lucifer’s Hammer is a really well done look at an apocalyptic event itself; a classic in the “impact” style, where a meteor or comet ruins everyone’s day. If you want one that takes place well after the event itself, maybe The Postman by David Brin.
Down to a Sunless Sea is sort of unknown, but a real find. Kinda unsophisticated, but I loved it.
I think it was a unique situation for the survivors to be in.
A second vote for The Death of Grass.
These are probably the best two.
I will add **Emergence ** if you can find it. A great book written in a very Heinlein like fashion.
**Footfall ** and **Lucifer’s Hammer ** were both very good.
Jim
John Christopher also has two trilogies that are technically post-apocalyptic and are somewhat less disturbing than No Blade of Grass. (I really like him, but some of his stuff just disturbs me, like The Lotus Caves.)