# Looking for Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 16, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649 "2009-01-16T19:54:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/1 "2009-01-16T19:54:16Z")
As if there were non-fiction of the genre, I mean. I just finished _A Canticle for Liebowitz_ and I’m in the mood for more. I’ve already read _Earth Abides_, _The Postman_, and _Lucifer’s Hammer_- what are your favorites of the genre?
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### Author:  [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/2 "2009-01-16T20:00:46Z")
It’s sort of a strange apocalypse, but I just read and enjoyed _Dies the Fire_ by S.M. Stirling. It’s about the aftermath of a moment in 1998 when the laws of physics suddenly changed on Earth, allowing no high energy densities. Gunpowder burns slowly, explosives don’t, steam and internal combustion engines can’t get pressures high enough to do work.
So, no destruction, just a total lack of the ability to continue as things were. Massive die-off, those that survive having to learn new skills, and strongmen and warlords pop up all over.
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### Author:  [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/3 "2009-01-16T20:05:47Z")
Personally I like _The Bridge_ (I can’t remember the author offhand). The basic idea is that an unknown alien race is trying to communicate with us via viruses, and inadvertently cause a pandemic. It’s focused more on the survivors trying to decipher the message than the aftermath though.
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### Author:  [@Redwing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redwing)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/4 "2009-01-16T20:10:43Z")
Well, leaving aside that you just finished the best in the genre, I’ll chime in with the book that led me past the mushroom cloud, _Alas, Babylon_.
A more cyperpunk take on it can be found in _Hardwired_.
And I must be one of the few fans of post-apocalyptic fiction that can’t stand _Lucifer’s Hammer_
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### Author:  [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/5 "2009-01-16T20:25:43Z")
Second _Alas, Babylon_.
Also suggest _The Day of the Triffids_. I’ll have to check out some of the other recommendations here, as I enjoy reading this genre.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/6 "2009-01-16T20:28:35Z")
**[Davy](http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/08/davy-book.html)** by Edgar Pangbourne. One of science fiction’s greatest novels. I reread it last year and it’s as good (and sexy) as ever.
**The Postman** by David Brin is pretty good, too (ignore the movie).
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/7 "2009-01-16T20:38:44Z")
Emergence by David R. Palmer was excellent. It had a Heinlein feel to it.
Robert Adams Horseclans books are interesting but not great.
I loved The Postman & Lucifer’s Hammer that you mentioned in the Op. Sorry **RealityChuck** , I couldn’t resist. . I liked Canticle.
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### Author:  [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/8 "2009-01-16T20:42:04Z")
Here’s [an older thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=450191)with lots of grat suggestions.
I loved Cormac McCarthy’s **The Road** , myself.
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### Author:  [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/9 "2009-01-16T22:02:32Z")
I’m probably all over that other thread, I’ve read post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels non-stop for about a year and a half, I’ve covered most of the ones in most threads and lists.
Some stand outs for me:
Alas Babylon
Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang
The Earth Abides
Oryx and Crake
The Stand
The Postman (don’t let Kevin Costner fool you, it’s a great book)
Parable of the Sower
I really did not like Canticle for Leibowitz. It was one of the first I read in the genre, I may go back and try it again, but there is so much out there…
If you tend to go on reading kicks like I do, I would suggest you find some light reading to pepper your apocalyptic reading list. It is down right depressing on a good day and I have to say, as a female reading it, it can be utterly devastating to see how our fate is commonly perceived.
I’m currently reading Uglies/Pretties, which might be considered young adult, but it is a society that grew from one that was destroyed, so it counts too.
* * *
Sorta OT, what inspired you to go down this path? I kind of backed into it myself while researching self-sufficiency, go figure. 😉 For me, they are interesting to see how writers perceive we’ve messed up, whether or not we have a significant chance of redemption and just how valuable toilet paper will be once TSHTF (The Shit Hits The Fan).
I can’t imagine that there is a Woman’s Studies class entirely devoted to how horribly women are fated to exist in these societies.
And if you haven’t seen it, watch Children Of Men.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/10 "2009-01-16T22:11:39Z")
Many apocalyptic books, films and scenarios reviewed [here](http://davidszondy.com/future/Dystopias/apocalypse.htm) and [here.](http://davidszondy.com/future/Dystopias/endworld.htm)
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### Author:  [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/11 "2009-01-16T22:56:59Z")
Cormac McCarthy’s **The Road** , mentioned already, is excellent.
For something slightly different I’d also recommend Russell Hoban’s **Riddley Walker** (post-apocalyptic Chaucerian confusion).
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### Author:  [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/12 "2009-01-16T23:23:02Z")
> [@Auntbeast](#):
>
> I can’t imagine that there is a Woman’s Studies class entirely devoted to how horribly women are fated to exist in these societies.
>
> And if you haven’t seen it, watch Children Of Men.
Sometimes I think that was the entire point of Mara and Dann, another post-apocalyptic book.
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/13 "2009-01-16T23:27:22Z")
> [@Crusoe](#):
>
> For something slightly different I’d also recommend Russell Hoban’s **Riddley Walker** (post-apocalyptic Chaucerian confusion).
Hm. I don’t see the Chaucer. It’s very religio-mystical. I can’t really give it an adjective other than “Hobanian.” He has a pretty distinct, even a unique, vision. And\* Riddley Walker \*is one the very greatest works of literature of the 20th century.
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/14 "2009-01-16T23:31:59Z")
_The Death of Grass_, by John Christopher.
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### Author:  [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/15 "2009-01-16T23:32:19Z")
I was thinking linguistically more than anything else. A tenuous connection, sure.
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### Author:  [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/16 "2009-01-16T23:38:40Z")
> [@lissener](#):
>
> Hm. I don’t see the Chaucer. It’s very religio-mystical. I can’t really give it an adjective other than “Hobanian.” He has a pretty distinct, even a unique, vision. And\* Riddley Walker \*is one the very greatest works of literature of the 20th century.
I think he was referring to the dialect-representation when mentioning Chaucer. None of those X-meets-Y analogies ever works, but I think Crusoe’s word choice was apt enough.
For my pick, I would go with my favourite Robert Altman movie, which was backgammon-inspired, set in a snowy wasteland, and featuring an international cast (Paul Newman, Vittorio Gassman, Bibi Andersson), and is completely unusual.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/17 "2009-01-17T00:02:56Z")
> [@Beadalin](#):
>
> Here’s [an older thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=450191)with lots of grat suggestions.
Even older thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=371565).
Meant to recommend something: Brunner’s _The Sheep Look Up_ might be a good example of the fairly rare “just-before-impending-apocalypse” genre.
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### Author:  [@gnagtcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnagtcha)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/18 "2009-01-17T03:24:25Z")
As mentioned in the “older thread” Warday by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. I remember reading that a long time ago and I think I liked it.
Of course, On The Beach. One of my favorites.
And, if I might be allowed to lean to the prophetic side, the letters to the editors in any newspaper on the day after December 21, 2012
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### Author:  [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/19 "2009-01-17T03:32:56Z")
> [@Crusoe](#):
>
> Cormac McCarthy’s **The Road** , mentioned already, is excellent.
“Excellent” does not do it justice. Christ almighty, that’s one of the most gripping, and most painful, books I’ve ever read. Every chapter felt like an elegant, beautiful kick in the stomach.
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### Author:  [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-post-apocalyptic-fiction/481649/20 "2009-01-17T03:44:45Z")
Two obscure ones that I’d recommend are _Through Darkest America_, by Neal Barrett, Jr., and _The Drowned World_, by J. G. Ballard. The former is sort Mark Twain meets torture porn, unapologetically violent and brutal, but it is real literature with a purpose. The later is one of the best works by Ballard, who’s a minor cult classic author. He’s writing is lavish, heavy on big vocabulary and philosophizing, but well worth reading.
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