# Favorite Post-Apocolyptic/Dystopian Books/Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894 "2007-09-12T13:35:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/101 "2007-09-16T16:09:32Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] That sounds like Richard Matheson’s 1954 [I Am Legend](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Legend), which was made into two movies, _The Last Man on Earth_ with Vincent Price in 1964, and _The Omega Man_ with Charleton Heston in 1971. I don’t recall the main character having to kill his wife, but it’s been a long time since I read it. [/QUOTE] Dude. How timely was my question! Apparently “I Am Legend” has been remade again, starring Will Smith, to be released 12/14/2007. How cool is that? I’m totally stoked, though I’m not even sure this is the same book where I read the middle 50 pages for an hour when I was 12. Regardless, the [trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX773fMkS90) looks pretty cool and I plan on seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/102 "2007-09-16T16:32:05Z")
Related notes– There were at least 2 Post-WW3 Role Playing Games. One was military-oriented, & set in Europe. I don’t recall the name. The other was _Gamma World_, & although it was silly, it was fun, both to play & GM. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/103 "2007-09-16T18:50:49Z")
**Twilight 2000** may have been the European-set game. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/104 "2007-09-16T19:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=Brain Wreck] Dude. How timely was my question! Apparently “I Am Legend” has been remade again, starring Will Smith, to be released 12/14/2007. How cool is that? I’m totally stoked, though I’m not even sure this is the same book where I read the middle 50 pages for an hour when I was 12. Regardless, the [trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX773fMkS90) looks pretty cool and I plan on seeing it. [/QUOTE] Yes, I had noticed that, but didn’t bother to mention it. I hadn’t seen the trailer for it before now; I have mixed feelings about modern movies based on classic SF, since they always seem to feel obligated to rewrite them as action movies or make massive plot changes until they bear no resemblance to the original. But I do like Will Smith as an actor, and don’t hold him responsible for the changes that were made to Asimov’s _I, Robot_ (which I thought was a good movie, it just wasn’t Asimov’s vision). ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/105 "2007-09-17T05:09:45Z")
[Swan Song](http://www.amazon.com/Swan-Song-Robert-McCammon/dp/0671741039/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-6991573-1534518?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190005088&sr=8-2) by Robert McCammon. If you enjoyed The Stand, then you’ll most likely enjoy this book. It’s an excellent PA potboiler, starring our old friends, Good and Evil. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/106 "2007-09-17T09:00:11Z")
[QUOTE=Purd Werfect] [Swan Song](http://www.amazon.com/Swan-Song-Robert-McCammon/dp/0671741039/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-6991573-1534518?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190005088&sr=8-2) by Robert McCammon. If you enjoyed The Stand, then you’ll most likely enjoy this book. It’s an excellent PA potboiler, starring our old friends, Good and Evil. [/QUOTE] I thought I was going to be the first to mention _Swan Song_. 😛 I’d also recommend [Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Late_the_Sweet_Birds_Sang) by Kate Wilhelm ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/107 "2007-09-17T12:50:49Z")
[QUOTE=Purd Werfect] [Swan Song](http://www.amazon.com/Swan-Song-Robert-McCammon/dp/0671741039/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-6991573-1534518?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190005088&sr=8-2) by Robert McCammon. If you enjoyed The Stand, then you’ll most likely enjoy this book. It’s an excellent PA potboiler, starring our old friends, Good and Evil. [/QUOTE] Just on a whim I looked up the word “potboiler” because I wasn’t sure what it meant… after finding this definition, are you quite sure that’s how you intended to describe an “excellent” book that you recommend? **pot·boil·er** (pŏt’boi’lər) n. \*A literary or artistic work of poor quality, produced quickly for profit. \* ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/108 "2007-09-17T13:09:20Z")
Brian Aldiss’ [Greybeard](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0755100638/guardianunlim-21) - similar plot to ‘Children of Men’. M John Harrison’s \*‘The Committed Men’ \* is a rather cynical take on the ‘civilisation running down’ scenario, favourite of British 1970s New Wave SF. Long out of print and difficult to get hold of these days The late Keith Roberts destroyed civilisation a couple of times. [The Furies](http://www.solaris-books.co.uk/Roberts/dfuries.htm) is a deliberate hommage to John Wyndham, an alien invasion story with giant wasps as the aliens. Well-written and atmospheric. [The Chalk Giants](http://www.solaris-books.co.uk/Roberts/dchalk.htm) is a story cycle about the destruction and partial rebuilding of civilisation. Then again, it may all take place inside the protagonist’s head. Or, how about a post-apocalyptic [poem?](http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1378.html) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/109 "2007-09-17T15:47:50Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] …For short stories, I quite like _The Lottery_ (Jackson, arguably PA but I think so)… [/QUOTE] Well, I’d argue against “The Lottery” being PA. The ritual is clearly very long-established. The people drive cars and seem to be living a pretty standard small-town-America 20th C. lifestyle, except for the Lottery. I think it’s more about rural isolation and the persistence of (blind, evil) customs than a PA story. **Brain Wreck** , if you liked _Warday_ (which I agree is excellent), you might also like the same authors’ _Nature’s End_, about a near-future looming environmental disaster that’s seized upon by a messianic figure as an argument for mass suicide. Both are engrossing, chillingly plausible books. And another vote for _On the Beach_. The scene with the young parents deciding what to do with their baby, realizing they’re all going to die of radiation poisoning… wow. Terribly powerful and sad. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/110 "2007-09-17T16:02:05Z")
There’s always the cheerful books of [D. F. Jones](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/j/d-f-jones/), a British science fiction writer who wrote about such sunny topics as computers taking over the world (and doing a far better job with it than mankind could hope) in _Colossus_ (3 novels), the atmosphere being poisoned by nitrogen in _Denver is Missing_, extra-dimensional insects that invade the Earth and drive mankind to the poles (_Xeno_), and my favorite, _Implosion_ where all women are made sterile. The basic idea of _Implosion_ was lifted by Frank Herbert in his _The White Plague_ (though it’s hardly likely it was original with Jones, true). I’m pretty sure the Jones books are out of print: it’s been a damn long time since I’ve seen one. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/111 "2007-09-17T16:13:53Z")
I tend to find Alternate History novels to be more dystopian than utopian, likely because a goodly number of them work on two themes: If the South/Nazi’s had won the US Civil War/WW2. One of my favorites along these lines is, despite his limitations, Harry Turtledove’s Great War/American Empire/Settling Accounts series that has the South winning the Civil War. While his characterization isn’t the greatest and there are a few “look how clever I’m being” moments (like WW2 beginning on June 22, 1941), the overall thrust of the series is pretty depressing and is very believable in its general plot. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/112 "2007-09-17T16:22:02Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] Yes, I had noticed that, but didn’t bother to mention it. I hadn’t seen the trailer for it before now; I have mixed feelings about modern movies based on classic SF, since they always seem to feel obligated to rewrite them as action movies or make massive plot changes until they bear no resemblance to the original. But I do like Will Smith as an actor, and don’t hold him responsible for the changes that were made to Asimov’s _I, Robot_ (which I thought was a good movie, it just wasn’t Asimov’s vision). [/QUOTE] For what it’s worth, I’m told that they originally weren’t calling it _I, Robot_. But after they got through they realized it was halfway a dead ringer for the short stories, so they bought the rights to forestall a lawsuit and used the name, since they’d paid for the darn thing. And it did actually touch strongly on the issues Asimov raised. But there were also guns. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/113 "2007-09-17T17:02:53Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] For what it’s worth, I’m told that they originally weren’t calling it _I, Robot_. But after they got through they realized it was halfway a dead ringer for the short stories, so they bought the rights to forestall a lawsuit and used the name, since they’d paid for the darn thing. And it did actually touch strongly on the issues Asimov raised. But there were also guns. 😃 [/QUOTE] And really, really fast cars. Plus, Susan Calvin was _way_ more hot than even that old lech Asimov ever imagined. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/114 "2007-09-17T17:19:26Z")
I’d heard several variations on the story behind _I, Robot_ and at the time I was posting couldn’t remember which one was true. My biggest regret is that it probably drives the final nail into the coffin holding the screenplay which Harlan Ellison wrote, which I think would have made a terrific movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/115 "2007-09-17T17:24:52Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] …it probably drives the final nail into the coffin holding the screenplay which Harlan Ellison wrote, which I think would have made a terrific movie. [/QUOTE] I absolutely agree. I read his published screenplay in a trade paperback and was very impressed. It would’ve made a _great_ movie. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/116 "2007-09-17T19:03:42Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] While his characterization isn’t the greatest and there are a few “look how clever I’m being” moments (like WW2 beginning on June 22, 1941), [/QUOTE] In what way could that be seen as clever? The significance isn’t apparent to me. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/117 "2007-09-17T19:44:45Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Beaten to the punch! That one is _amazing_. \* Lord of Light\*, by Roger Zelazny, is… well, you have to read it to understand. But it’s very definitely a new take on a post-apocalyptic society. [/QUOTE] Hrm. I never saw LoL as a post-apocalypse one… I always sort-of imagined it as time travel, or perhaps space-travel. Then again, when I first (and last) read it, I was just starting to read sci-fi, and wasn’t very familiar with a lot of the sub-genres. Still, a most excellent book. One thing I’m surprised no one has mentioned is _The Martian Chronicles_ by Bradbury. It’s short-stories, but about half-way through, a war happens on Earth, and a lot of the remaining stories deal with the post-apocalyptic on a far-away, semi-unreachable colony. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/118 "2007-09-17T19:58:17Z")
[QUOTE=Brain Wreck] In what way could that be seen as clever? The significance isn’t apparent to me. [/QUOTE] That was the date that Hitler invaded Russia. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/119 "2007-09-17T20:33:24Z")
[QUOTE=Brain Wreck] **pot·boil·er** (pŏt’boi’lər) n. \*A literary or artistic work of poor quality, produced quickly for profit. \* [/QUOTE] This was surprising to me. I’ve always thought “potboiler” was another word for “page-turner”, something that’s hard to put down because you’re too involved in the story – something’s always happening – as opposed to a book that you appreciate mostly because of the quality of the writing. To keep this on topic, **The Stand** would be a potboiler/page turner; **The Road** – excellent quality but not a page-turner. Hmmmm. Except that I couldn’t put down The Road once I started it either. Hell. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894/120 "2007-09-17T21:08:20Z")
A “pot-boiler” is the literary equivalent of a B-movie. It can be a lot of fun, but it’s usually in spite of its flaws, not because of its merits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-post-apocolyptic-dystopian-books-movies/418894.md?page=7)