# Post-Apocalypse **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2000, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665 "2000-10-12T14:20:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/41 "2000-10-16T23:18:34Z")
I have a very vague recollection of a book I read as a wee lad, about a man and some sort of large cat wandering around a post-apocalyptic world. I think the guy makes a trip into what’s left of New York City. I can’t remember any details. The cover of my copy showed the man and the cat on a raft. That might have been the first science fiction book I read. I couldn’t have been more than 9 at the time. I remember loving the book, and it got me interested in science fiction, but now I can’t remember its details. I’ve always wanted to track it down and give it another look-see from an adult perspective. Does my vague outline ring any bells for anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/42 "2000-10-16T23:26:05Z")
I forgot to mention Footfall. Kinda like Lucifer’s Hammer in that it’s a big fat epic with a cast of hundreds, and involves an asteroid striking the Earth, and it’s written by the same two people, but the asteroid hits us because it was pushed by a very believable alien race that needs to take over the Earth. I liked it a lot, and it too has a very mainstream feel. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/43 "2000-10-17T01:44:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\*I forgot to mention Footfall. Kinda like Lucifer’s Hammer in that it’s a big fat epic with a cast of hundreds, and involves an asteroid striking the Earth, and it’s written by the same two people, but the asteroid hits us because it was pushed by a very believable alien race that needs to take over the Earth. I liked it a lot, and it too has a very mainstream feel. \*\* Actually, if you do any research, I distinctly remember reading that they had originally been one book… the Aliens are supposed to drop a huge asteroid (the HAmmer) and then invaded… Their editor told them to go with the asteroid story. If you read them back to back, or even worse, at the same time like I did, you will notice a ton of similarities… again, just my 2c. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/44 "2000-10-17T02:53:11Z")
Not a science fiction _novel_ per se, but there’s the Judge Dredd comic books. Don’t go by the Stallone movie, the original comic books are an extreme dark comedy vision of a post-nuclear holocast Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2000, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/45 "2000-10-17T14:08:37Z")
I would like to encourage any reader of science fiction to immerse yourself in the sea of great short stories in the genre, if you have not already. In fact I think the genre is more suited to the short story than any other medium. The story collection I would most recommend is the the World’s Best Science Fiction, edited by Donald A Wollheim. It runs by year, from 1972 (previous to that he edited with Terry Carr) to 1990, the year he died \. Any good library should have these books; they include short stories, novelettes and novellas that were published the previous year in various publications of the genre. All these stories are keepers. Go read them! (In keeping with the OP, there’s always at least one apocalyptic story in each book). Then there are the Hugo Winners collections, edited by Isaac, with Connie Willis taking over since he died \. Most fans are familiar with Hugo winning novels; these books collect the winners in the Short Story, Novelette and Novella categories. One of these is the one I was talking about yesterday, “By Any Other Name,” by Spider Robinson. To repeat: a mad scientist unleashed a hyperosmic chemical upon humanity. Everyone goes crazy from the overwhelming _stench_ of modern society…the fumes, the plumbing, the body odors. A huge portion of the population dies in the paroxisms thereof. What’s left of society changes rapidly; you can now literally smell fear in another person, or tell where a woman is in her cycle, etc. A small enclave manages to survive and prosper in the Catskills. Many years later, they send a young man to the ruins of New York City (where the mad scientist is rumored to survive alone) to assassinate him. The young man finds him–and the truth. You gotta read this. More later…if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![Rectangle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@Rectangle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rectangle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/46 "2000-10-21T10:02:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ankh\_Too \* > \*\*This is almost embarassing. > > There was a series by Victor Milan (writing as Richard Austin) called _The Guardians_. It had about 20 books in it chronicling the activities of an elite unit of soldiers after WW III as they try to help ‘put the country back together again’. > > Kind of dippy, but fun. > \*\* I use to have this series. In all my moves it got lost/stolen, or given away. I’ve just started to recollect them. I read them in High School/Army, 12 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/47 "2000-10-21T18:36:45Z")
“This is the Way the World Ends” (Morrow) won major awards and is a compelling read–unlike any other post-apocalyptic stuff I’ve encountered. I found “Alas, Babylon” annoying–not only would everyone be dead, but if the military blows us up I would be unwilling to voluntarily take orders from somebody just because he’s the highest ranking officer around. George Dozoi, a prolific editor, has some short story collections on this. Can’t remember the author, but “Level 7” was pretty creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/48 "2000-10-21T18:58:39Z")
Ann Rand did her own P/A book, tho I can’t remember the title of it. In the P/A society, the concept of the individual is erased, even from the language. All personal nouns and pronouns are in the plural form. It’s Rand’s typical anti-communist stuff, but still a pretty good read. ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/49 "2000-10-21T19:22:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*However, I _did_ enjoy a post-apocalyptic Saturday morning cartoon called _Thundarr the Barbarian_. \*\* Feel the bite of the Sun-Sword! I really enjoy this genre too. Has anyone mentioned _Wolf and Iron_? This guy befriends a wolf while learning about survival after the collapse of civilization. I read it several years ago and it was pretty good. I remember reading _The Postman_ back in the 80’s or early 90’s and enjoying it. I was excited when I heard Tom Hanks was interested in doing the movie. Then I heard Kevin Costner was doing it and I vowed to stayed away from it. Alas, a friend really wanted to see it and I couldn’t convince him not to so off we went. To be blunt: It sucks! :insert vomitting smiley: Which reminds me…apparently John Travolta was very pleased with _Battlefield Earth_. He says it is developing a cult following and he wants to do a sequel! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2000, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/50 "2000-10-22T01:08:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Freyr \* > \*\*Ann Rand did her own P/A book, tho I can’t remember the title of it. > > In the P/A society, the concept of the individual is erased, even from the language. All personal nouns and pronouns are in the plural form. It’s Rand’s typical anti-communist stuff, but still a pretty good read. \*\* _Anthem_ is the title you’re looking for. I read it because supposedly the Rush theme album “2112” was inspired by it, although it doesn’t follow the book to any degree I can recognize. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2000, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/51 "2000-10-22T01:31:53Z")
Yes, spoke-, I remember that book, or at least its cover. Wasn’t there also a sort of green leafy guy with him too? Or was that some other paperback cover? I have a couple more fragmentary memories of P/A stories. One was another quest plot, in which the hero finds a painting that just looks like blotches of colour up close, but a vase of flowers from a distance - “A great magic!”, he says. Maybe it was in one of the collections that Myron Van H. mentioned above. The other featured a hundred-mile circle of devastation called ‘the Blight’ where nothing could survive for long, except that sometimes monsters come out of that region. The hero sets out to cross it in hope of finding out what’s going on. (He does, but that would be a spoiler, if anybody cares.) Does anybody remember these? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2000, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/52 "2000-10-22T11:58:50Z")
I don’t remember a leafy guy on the cover, but maybe. I remember the guy was on a raft, and you could see the ruins of a city in the far background. I think the cat was on the raft with him, but I’m not certain of that. I have another fragmentary memory of a post-apocalyptic story or book that was read aloud to my class when I was in Junior High. (Cool teacher, huh?) There was a guy walking around in the ruins of a city, many years after the apocalypse. He found fragments of signs, including one which said “ASHING” (Washington) and another which said “UBTREA” (Subtreasury). I believe the guy thought these were the names of gods, and paid homage to them. Ring any bells? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2000, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/53 "2000-10-22T12:13:18Z")
**Bucky** wrote: > [@](#): > > I found “Alas, Babylon” annoying–not only would everyone be dead, but if the military blows us up I would be unwilling to voluntarily take orders from somebody just because he’s the highest ranking officer around. I had the same problems with this book, but was able to “suspend disbelief” just enough to get some moderate enjoyment out of it. As far as following the military leader is concerned, you just have to realize that the book was written in an era when Americans _did_ trust the military to make decisions, much more so than today. Almost all of the P/A books have similar problems. I always find myself thinking “Well, it wouldn’t have happened _that_ way,” or “Why aren’t they doing X to prepare for the obvious prospect of Y?” (E.g., “Why aren’t they gathering vegetable seeds and farming equipment to prepare for an agrarian existence?,” or “Why aren’t they preparing to defend themselves in case things get nasty among the survivors?”) I still enjoy the stories, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2000, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/54 "2000-10-22T13:30:21Z")
I can’t belive no one mentioned **The Blood of Heroes** AKA **Wrath of the Jugger** It has Rutger Hauer, a character named Gonzo, and Joan Chen biting a guys ear off. My kind of movie. And of course, the amazing CRPGs Fallout and Fallout2 . . . – “I’ve broken juggers in half, smashed bones, and left the floor behind me wet with brains. I’ll do anything to win. But I never hurt a soul, for any reason, but to put a dogs skull on a post.” ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/55 "2000-12-07T04:04:52Z")
> [@](#): > > There was a guy walking around in the ruins of a city, many years after the apocalypse. He found fragments of signs, including one which said “ASHING” (Washington) and another which said “UBTREA” (Subtreasury). I believe the guy thought these were the names of gods, and paid homage to them. Ring any bells? Anyone? Yes, that was as I mentioned, “The Place of the Gods” by Stephen Vincent Benet. It can be found in _Tomorrow’s Children_, an anthology edited by Isaac. ---
**Author:** ![Lexicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac8455/32.png) [@Lexicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lexicon)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/56 "2000-12-07T04:17:10Z")
Post apocolyptic, eh? I can’t believe no one has mentioned _The Matrix_ as their favorite. It certainly is my favorite. _Mad Max_ runs a close second. Especially Beyond Thunderdome. The best PA concept I have ever come across is a RPG called _Rifts_. Awesome, absolutely awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Tygr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@Tygr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tygr)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/57 "2000-12-07T15:40:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Myron Van Horowitzski \* > \*\*“By Any Other Name,” by Spider Robinson. To repeat: a mad scientist unleashed a hyperosmic chemical upon humanity. Everyone goes crazy from the overwhelming _stench_ of modern society…the fumes, the plumbing, the body odors. A huge portion of the population dies in the paroxisms thereof. What’s left of society changes rapidly; you can now literally smell fear in another person, or tell where a woman is in her cycle, etc. A small enclave manages to survive and prosper in the Catskills. Many years later, they send a young man to the ruins of New York City (where the mad scientist is rumored to survive alone) to assassinate him. The young man finds him–and the truth. > > You gotta read this. > > More later…if you’re interested. \*\* Hey… **I** remember reading this book years ago. Didn’t the survivors’ hyped-up sense of smell make them realize the existence of these vaporous beings (“muskies”?) and that’s where human’s concept of ghosts came from? _Day of the Triffids_ is a great book. I once saw part of a British tele-movie version on PBS. Much better than the old American movie from the '60s. Does “Farenheit 451” count as P/A? IMHO, whatever happened to cause books to be outlawed must have been disastrous. Hey, what about the current P/A story on TV - Dark Angel? I like the premise that doomsday won’t be nuclear war but extreme financial collapse. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/58 "2000-12-07T16:35:46Z")
Deus Iras- Philip K. Dick Ape and Essence- Aldous Huxley ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2000, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665/59 "2000-12-08T12:19:08Z")
No one has mentioned the whole ‘Amtrack Wars’ saga. Can’t say I liked them but they were incredibly popular. Earth wiped out by impled nuclear war. Hunter/gatherer psychic mutants on the surface being systematiaclly eliminated by high-tech pure-strain humans living underground. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalypse/36665.md?page=2)