# Post-apocalyptic novel recommendations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728 "2002-11-20T12:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/41 "2002-11-26T04:33:17Z")
Is “war day” the book told from the perspective of a guy in new york city right as the war starts? I think I might’ve read it in middle school. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/42 "2002-11-26T06:09:39Z")
When I was in middle school, we had to read a short story about a primitive hunter wandering through a ruined “city of the gods”. Somehow he gets a vision of the apocalypse and realizes that the “gods” were his own ancestors. It was written before World War II, but my English teacher claimed that it contained a lot of small details that were consistent with the destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Does anyone out there know this one? In a similar vein, perhaps _Star Man’s Son_ by Andre Norton. It’s written for “young adults” but it’s a fun read. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2002, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/43 "2002-11-26T09:15:03Z")
Two I’m am deeply ashamed for omitting the first time 'round: _Childhood’s End_ by Arthur C. Clarke _I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream_ by Harlan Ellison (and I named two other Ellison stories _before_ this one! What the hell is wrong with me?!) Also made into a kick-ass computer game, or so I am told (never played it myself, but I heard good things) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/44 "2002-11-26T14:34:04Z")
Woohoo! One of my recommendations isn’t on the list yet! **Telempath** , by Spider Robinson. Also, Earth Abides & Emergence. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/45 "2002-11-26T14:36:38Z")
Another vote for **A Canticle For Liebowitz**. It’s very fine. ---
**Author:** ![Tygr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@Tygr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tygr)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/46 "2002-11-26T19:36:32Z")
Dangyou, **Ethilrist**! I just finished re-reading “Telempath” and was about to post it! “Triffids” is a lot of scary fun. Did anyone here ever see [the British TV version](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0081850)? I saw a very tiny portion of it years ago and am wondering if it was a dream… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/47 "2002-11-26T19:49:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Did anyone here ever see the British TV version? I have a copy.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/48 "2002-11-26T21:37:32Z")
I second “I am Legend.” Incredible book. **The Omega Man** is an incredibly poor adaptatation that drops the most important theme (actually the central message) of the book. I’d also second “Swan Song” by Robert McCammon. Unusually good for McCammon, who’s pretty hackish. Has one of the creepiest lines in any book I’ve ever read (from one of the villains): “I’m a carpenter. Jesus was a carpenter.” “A World out of Time,” by Larry Niven isn’t strictly post-apocalyptic (it’s more in the vein of “The Time Machine”), but it is very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/49 "2002-11-26T21:46:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\ ***Davy** by Edgar Pangbourne. This is none better. \*\* I’ve read most of the books mentioned in this thread, and I give a hearty second to Davy. It, and some associated stories (published, I think, in the collection **Still I Persist in Wondering** ) are wonderful. Only question - are they still in print? I agree that Canticle for Leibowitz is good - the sequel, however, I found to be poor. It was finished by someone else after Miller’s death, and, to my surprise, I thought the non-Miller part was the best. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/50 "2002-11-26T21:50:51Z")
_sigh_ All of my recommendations are already there, so I’ll second/third/whatever _The Stand_, _Swan Song_, _On the Beach_, and _The Last Ship_. And here I thought sure I was the only one who read the last one! 😉 And **Scupper** , have you read McCammon’s newest, _Speaks the Nightbird_? It’s very different from _Swan Song_, but it’s far from “hackish.” In fact, his last three books have all been pretty good. Though I agree that his early work was obviously early. Even he agrees, as he pulled his first four novels from re-printing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728/51 "2002-11-26T22:00:46Z")
More votes for: **Earth Abides**. I think this is exactly what the OP is seeking: a serious examination of how society would react to a catastrophic event (a plague), and the book is regarded as a landmark of the genre. **A Canticle for Liebowitz**. **Day of the Triffids**. The premise sounds silly, but Wyndham is such a great writer he makes it work. **Usram** wrote: > [@](#): > > John Christopher virtually made a career out of post-apocalyptic novels, although many of them are aimed at adolescents. They’re all set in England. I liked The Death of Grass, which fits your description. This was also published as **No Blade of Grass** , but I’m not so sure it fits the OP’s description. It was a little heavy on the gunplay and (as the OP puts it) “testosterone violence fantasies” for my taste. I really liked the cataclysmic premise though: a virus wipes out all grass species (including rice, corn and wheat). **Lucifer’s Hammer** also has a lot of gunplay, but it is very well written and thoughtful, and otherwise meets the criteria of the OP. I would recommend it. I cannot recommend **The Purple Cloud** , which (IMHO) answers the question, “What if the last man on Earth were a gigantic ass?” The main character was so unlikeable, I couldn’t enjoy the book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-apocalyptic-novel-recommendations/137728.md?page=2)