# Looking for good Post-Apocalyptic Fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691 "2006-05-14T01:28:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/21 "2006-05-14T18:30:43Z")
Luke Rinehart’s [Long Voyage Back](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1557501300/qid=1147631320/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-7734848-8465660?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), while more of an apocalyptic than post-apocalyptic, is a very good read. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/22 "2006-05-14T18:50:51Z")
Do give “The Stand” a try - I am a Post-Apocalyptic buff, and it’s one of my favourites for capturing the day-to-day weirdness and juxtaposition of how some people survive when a civilization ends. The ending, in true Stephen King fashion, sucks, but the book up to that point is amazing. I would say it is one of Stephen King’s least Stephen King-y books. [Here’s](http://www.emptyworld.info/book_index.html) a listing of P-A/End-of-the- World fiction. A book I’ve enjoyed not on that list is [“Mockingbird” by Walter Tevis.](http://www.thegline.com/book-of-the-week/1999/03-21-1999.htm) ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/23 "2006-05-14T19:32:46Z")
_Wolf and Iron_, by Gordon R. Dickson. The protagonist “unlearns” old pre-Collapse skills and mindsets in order to survive. Pretty cool read. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/24 "2006-05-14T19:49:48Z")
Not mentioned yet – The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett. Usually I like my P/A books to be epics. Start at the beginning and continue on to the aftermath and give me lots of characters and viewpoints, like The Stand. The Long Tomorrow is small-scale and personal, and you don’t even know the nature of the apocalypse, although there are hints. The book could have been longer, and I don’t usually say that about P/A books. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/25 "2006-05-14T20:00:05Z")
How bout **Oryx and Crake** , also by Margaret Atwood? Or **Parable of the Sower** by Octavia Butler. ZJ ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/26 "2006-05-14T20:20:36Z")
> [@Zjestika](#): > > Or **Parable of the Sower** by Octavia Butler. _Patternmaster_ by Octavia E. Butler would also qualify, although it’s kind of out there in concept. _Clay’s Ark_ is the story of the beginning of the apocalypse in that world. Butler’s _Dawn, Imago_, and _Adulthood Rites_ might also be considered post-apocalyptic as well, although it doesn’t dwell so much on that as on the relationships between the remnants of humanity and their alien rescuers. It seems to be a recurring background theme for her, the PA thing. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/27 "2006-05-14T23:21:45Z")
_The Purple Cloud_ is the definitive last-man-on-earth novel. You might want to check out _The Pleasures of a Futuroscope_. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but it’s by Lord Dunsany so by definition it’s good. As a tangent, you might want to check out some of his propaganda stories from World War 1. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/28 "2006-05-14T23:26:40Z")
So… Uh… How’sabout some Patrick Tilley? They’re a bit trashy, and the story can drag, but I always did like the **Amtrak Wars** books. I haven’t seen them around in a while, though, so I don’t know how easy they’d be to get. Of course, if you’ve read them then just ignore me. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/29 "2006-05-15T04:20:04Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > My favorite is [Earth Abides](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0449213013/qid=1147570640/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-0127001-4968177?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by George Stewart. > [@Lissa](#): > > Eh . . . I didn’t really like this one. The hero is so whiny and unsympathetic that it’s hard to enjoy the story. He spends hundreds of pages mentally complaining about how much smarter he is than the other survivors, but doesn’t do anything about the problems they face. In fact, he > > actively discourages the children from visiting the library by encouraging them to believe that it’s a sacred/forbidden place while simultaneously bemoaning the fact that they’re not well-educated. > > There are also some uncomfortable eugenics/racism aspects which come from the time period in which the book was written, but don’t play well to a modern reader. > > The hero thinks a retarded girl is better off dead, and abhors the idea of one of the children breeding with her. He also kills a stranger who enters their territory because he believes the man has a venereal disease and is sexually immoral. He also makes derisive comments about a settlement of black people. I think _Earth Abides_ is worth a read. I first read it about 25 years ago, and didn’t even realize it was a science fiction novel at the time. (I just found it lying around as a pre-teen.) I agree that it is somewhat dated, but it holds up surprisingly well for a nearly 60-year old novel. In addition, it’s notable in my mind as a novel that follows the story following civilization’s collapse not just for months or years, but for decades. Regarding the libraries, I seem to recall that the protagonist was primarily concerned with ensuring that libraries survived, and the best way to accomplish this was to make them out to be sacred. (This is certainly preferable to that of the books being burned for fuel.) On a separate note, I don’t think that [The Last Ship](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345359828/104-9710993-3196722?v=glance&n=283155) by William Brinkley has been mentioned yet. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/30 "2006-05-15T04:25:21Z")
Since we’re “spoilering” Earth Abides, regarding the library, Ish tried manfully to teach the children to read. Only one learned; the rest saw no point to it. So he simply boarded up the library and made it tabu in the hope that some of the learning would be preserved. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/31 "2006-05-15T04:34:55Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Since we’re “spoilering” Earth Abides, regarding the library, Ish tried manfully to teach the children to read. Only one learned; the rest saw no point to it. So he simply boarded up the library and made it tabu in the hope that some of the learning would be preserved. Thanks; I haven’t actually read the book in at least 10-15 years. I assume it’s in a box in the basement with all of my other paperbacks. I just read the first 15 pages excerpted on Amazon and would like to read the whole thing again when I find my copy. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/32 "2006-05-15T08:01:25Z")
Frank Herbert’s _The White Plague_? Whyndham’s _Day of the Triffids_? I know the OP said no aliens or zombies, but I think this comes more under “bio-engineered plague”, and is my favourite PA book. The there is the _Survivalist_ series… ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/33 "2006-05-15T12:06:40Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Since we’re “spoilering” Earth Abides, regarding the library, Ish tried manfully to teach the children to read. Only one learned; the rest saw no point to it. So he simply boarded up the library and made it tabu in the hope that some of the learning would be preserved. [spoiler]I guess the real kicker for me was when his wife got pregnant and he decided he should read up on maternity/childbirth, but never got around to it. He more or less gives up trying to educate the children when the kid in which he believes he saw the intelligent “spark” died. I imagine if that snobby, whiny man was trying to teach me to read, I’d be a bit off-put by his attitude of superiority and his gross favortism, too. He was a shitty teacher, blaming those he was trying to teach for being too thick to get it.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/34 "2006-05-15T12:42:33Z")
_The Survivors_ by Terry Nation. Set in the UK, a new Black Plague wipes out civilization. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/35 "2006-05-15T12:56:29Z")
You didn’t specify Earth so I’ll reccomend Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s _WarWorld_ series. It takes place on one of the planets that was colonized in the future by forcefully shipping Earth’s malcontents. Everything’s going well until a galaxy-wide civil war throws the planet into chaos. Lots of authors have written short stories in this series and some of them are quite good. Different cultures trying to survive the collapse of their society and going back to bows and arrows and subsistance farming. Kinda like the tv show _Firefly_ in a way. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/36 "2006-05-15T13:19:09Z")
[Hiero’s Journey](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345308417/qid=1147699013/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-8187859-2944823?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) may be too over the top, but it is post-apop. In terms of Role-Playing Games, set post-apop, try _Gamma World_. I used to run a _great_ campaign in that game. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/37 "2006-05-15T14:07:17Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Whyndham’s _Day of the Triffids_? I know the OP said no aliens or zombies, but I think this comes more under “bio-engineered plague”, and is my favourite PA book. I remember reading that back in High School… not a bad book, IIRC. I might have to dig it out again- along with John Christopher’s _Tripods_ trilogy, obviously designed to be a “What if the Aliens had actually taken over the Earth in _The War Of The Worlds_”, but still not bad read when I was in Form 2, either. Looks like there’s quite a bit to keep me going out there! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/38 "2006-05-15T14:18:48Z")
Being essentially a children’s book, it’s a bit lightweight, but I still like _Z for Zachariah_. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/39 "2006-05-15T14:31:58Z")
Let me recommend [Eternity Road](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061054275/sr=8-1/qid=1147703384/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4018412-2837723?%5Fencoding=UTF8) by Jack McDevitt. The reason for collapse isn’t evident but our protagonist (I’m not spoiling anything not on the jacket here) is left a copy of ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court’ which was, along with the 99.9999% of pre-collapse writings thought to be lost. So our hero travels out of her beginning to recover civilization to find out where it came from. Good read. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691/40 "2006-05-15T15:31:10Z")
You might want to try [I Am Legend](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Legend) by Richard Matheson (link is to Wikipedia article). (from that article) The protagonist, Robert Neville…is apparently the only survivor of an apocalypse caused by a pandemic of a bacterium the symptoms of which are very similar to vampirism. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-good-post-apocalyptic-fiction/356691.md?page=3)