# Dystopian/Post Apocalyptic- To Read List **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088 "2013-04-07T18:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/61 "2013-04-10T21:16:46Z")
> [@Lucky\_Mike](#): > > Is that the one with the big plants and it turns out the earth is a giant interplanetary farm? For the record, I guess this is **Tom Disch** ’s _The Genocides_. Not a very upbeat ending though! ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/62 "2013-04-13T04:44:58Z")
Finished the Plague Years books. When I bought them, i got linked to [the end of all things](http://www.amazon.com/End-All-Things-ebook/dp/B00B4ZK9QA/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1365827826&sr=8-1&keywords=the+end+of+all+things) , interesting book. Not a big romance fan, but it was pretty good. Thanks for all the references. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/63 "2013-04-13T04:47:36Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Another YA title is “The City of Ember”. It was made into a mediocre movie but the book is quite good. You can skip the sequels. I really liked this book, definitely an example of anxiety over the atomic age and many other things. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/64 "2013-04-13T04:50:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another unusual post-apocalypse work: _Saturn’s Children_ by Charles Stross. It’s about a robot civilization that’s struggling to figure out a reason for its existence after the extinction of the human beings it was designed to serve. Looking at it now, is [this](http://www.amazon.com/Saturns-Children-ebook/dp/B0013A1IYI/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1365828503&sr=8-1&keywords=saturns+children)really it, because it seems different from your description. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/65 "2013-04-13T05:03:09Z")
I’ll second “Far North” by Marcel Theroux. Set in the near future in Siberia which global warming has turned into viable farmland. Siberia has been colonized by American settlers before a total breakdown in society and technology lets loose roving bands of slavers who try to salvage what they can of dead technologies from deserted Russian cities. The summary sounds pulp-y but it’s very well done. Also, “The Dog Stars” by Peter Heller. Quiet and meditative interspersed with a LOT of sniper fire. After the usual population-decimating plague, one guy is holed up in a small Denver-area airport with his Cesna with a lone gun nut. They kill anyone who gets within sniper fire and the pilot goes up in his plane to patrol for intruders and ponders if it’s worth it to survive this way. Literary and beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/66 "2013-04-13T18:05:12Z")
> [@Lucky\_Mike](#): > > Looking at it now, is [this](http://www.amazon.com/Saturns-Children-ebook/dp/B0013A1IYI/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1365828503&sr=8-1&keywords=saturns+children)really it, because it seems different from your description. That’s it. It appears they played up the sex angle in the review to sell the book. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/67 "2013-04-14T01:11:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That’s it. It appears they played up the sex angle in the review to sell the book. Cool, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/68 "2013-04-14T23:37:31Z")
Can anyone identify this post-apocalyptic story? The protagonist is a woman alone in the nuclear winter. She encounters some aliens and it becomes clear that their arrival was the event that triggered a nuclear exchange. the aliens feel badly about this. They tell her she is the last person left alive but she resolves to drive across the frozen Atlantic, in search of others or just to die trying. She makes it half way and freezes to death. Her body, frozen in her snowcrawler, is preserved as a memorial to the aliens’s terrible shame. She may have started the story with a companion who died. ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/69 "2013-04-15T09:28:46Z")
> [@happycamper\_5](#): > > I know you said that you’ve read many of the older books, but just in case it slipped under your radar (because I don’t often see it mentioned in threads like this), I highly recommend _The Death of Grass_ by John Christopher. I would also recommend A Wrinkle in the Skin and World in Winter by John Christopher. The first deals with global earth quakes that cause massive amounts of destruction and the basic story follows a man and a boy on a trek through the apocalyptic landscape searching for the man’s daughter. The second deals with a new ice age that see’s the western nations having to become refugee’s to Africa. Both books are a little dated in places but something I really like about Christopher is he does not gloss over the grim details of what people may become after a total breakdown in society. Another possible good source for a post-apocalyptic author would be JG Ballard. The drowned world is fairly well know but he did a lot of post-apocalyptic type stories. I would recommend The Drought and Hello America as a couple worth checking out. Ballard does tend to get fairly surreal though so that may not be to everyone’s tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/70 "2013-04-15T23:58:45Z")
Thanks, guys - I’ve got a nice long list of books to check into now, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/71 "2013-04-16T00:10:08Z")
My recommendation - [The Cell by Stephen King -](http://www.amazon.com/Cell-A-Novel-Stephen-King/dp/1416524517/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366070360&sr=8-1&keywords=cell+stephen+king)not the best story ever, but I did enjoy it. Cell phones go wild! Everyone dies! Chaos ensues! ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/72 "2013-04-16T02:05:41Z")
> [@Politzania](#): > > _The Last Policeman_ - Winters, Ben H. - Technically pre-apocalyptic, as an asteroid is due to hit Earth in a matter of months - a detective story set in a society slowly breaking down. The ending felt a bit off, like Winters decided at some point to make it a series, but still enjoyable. (FYI - [the Kindle version](http://www.amazon.com/Last-Policeman-Novel-ebook/dp/B0076Q1GW2/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1365616844&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Last+Policeman+%09+Winters%2C+Ben+H.+*) is currently available for cheap!) I just finished this and I really, really liked it. I’m glad it’s going to be a series, the next one is coming in July I think. I’ve been enjoying the recent trend of serials. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/73 "2013-04-16T02:25:43Z")
I’m reading _The Last Policeman_ now. So far it’s pretty good. Robert Charles Wilson’s novel _Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America_ was one of my favorite reads of last year. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian United States, but it’s largely a cheerful story. Another older suggestion is _China Mountain Zhang_, by Maureen F. McHugh. It’s an elegant novel set in a future where China has become the dominant world power. It’s a strongly character-driven story, only loosely plotted, and I found it mesmerizing. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/74 "2013-04-16T06:02:11Z")
A couple more (terribly obvious) recommendations from me: Atwood’s _The Handmaid’s Tale_, a true dystopia. Tiptree’s “The Screwfly Solution”, a science fiction short story about a biological apocalypse. Found it online: [Dr. David Lavery](http://davidlavery.net/Courses/3840/stories/screwfly.html) ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/75 "2013-04-16T09:02:50Z")
One I forgot that I don’t see anyone has mentioned yet is Mockingbird by Walter Tevis. I loved it. You could sort of see it as taking place in the same universe as Fahrenheit 451. It’s a great book and much underappreciated. Set in the far future it’s the story of a humanity that is slowly dying out due to a lack of impetus and a dumbing down of the population who seek nothing but personal pleasures. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/76 "2013-04-16T10:13:16Z")
> [@glaeken](#): > > One I forgot that I don’t see anyone has mentioned yet is Mockingbird by Walter Tevis. I loved it. You could sort of see it as taking place in the same universe as Fahrenheit 451. It’s a great book and much underappreciated. Set in the far future it’s the story of a humanity that is slowly dying out due to a lack of impetus and a dumbing down of the population who seek nothing but personal pleasures. The book I was about to recommend. I stopped reading much SF in high school but read Walter Tevis because I really enjoyed his non-SF works. He was a great writer and I am constantly surprised that SF fans seem largely to have missed out on his works. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/77 "2013-04-16T21:04:22Z")
For a more humourous post-apocalyptic tale, there’s Will Self’s [_The Book of Dave_](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Dave-Novel-Will-Self/dp/1596913843/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366145565&sr=1-1&keywords=the+book+of+dave). The book is partly flashbacks set in the present, where slightly unhinged cab driver Dave Rudman is suffering from a bad divorce, and puts his deranged thoughts to paper, so to speak. The rest of the book takes place 500 years in the future, after a great deluge reduces society to its primitive beginnings. Survivors find this “Book of Dave” and adopt it as their supreme religious text. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/78 "2013-04-17T05:18:39Z")
> [@glaeken](#): > > One I forgot that I don’t see anyone has mentioned yet is Mockingbird by Walter Tevis. I loved it. You could sort of see it as taking place in the same universe as Fahrenheit 451. It’s a great book and much underappreciated. Set in the far future it’s the story of a humanity that is slowly dying out due to a lack of impetus and a dumbing down of the population who seek nothing but personal pleasures. That is a good one. I don’t have it in my library yet, and I think it should be - it’s definitely a re-read for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/79 "2013-04-20T11:02:51Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > A couple more (terribly obvious) recommendations from me: > > Atwood’s _The Handmaid’s Tale_, a true dystopia. > > Tiptree’s “The Screwfly Solution”, a science fiction short story about a biological apocalypse. Found it online: [Dr. David Lavery: A Comprehensive Biography](http://davidlavery.net/Courses/3840/stories/screwfly.html) Handmaid’s Tale is an awesome piece of literature in my humble opinion. A poignant statement about ex-post facto law in conjunction with a dystopian religious fascist state. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088/80 "2013-04-20T15:37:27Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Tiptree’s “The Screwfly Solution”, a science fiction short story about a biological apocalypse. Sort of.It’s revealed at the end of the story that the disease that killed off humanity wasn’t a random event. It was a carefully designed biological weapon used by aliens to eliminate humanity so they could occupy Earth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dystopian-post-apocalyptic-to-read-list/655088.md?page=5)