Chapter 1: The End.
Chapter 2: Cue alien cyborg zombies!
Grr. I do so love my rebirth-of-the-world stories, but I’m tired of the same old ones that overcrawl with zombies, have us fighting with endless Terminator clones, or that shift the plot away from basic survival and towards “Oh, look, here’s this powerful magical force that we must suddenly deal with because, you know, living past the end of the world just isn’t interesting enough!” By the same token, please no aliens.
Can you recommend a tale (novel, movie, or otherwise, but not video games) that takes place in a ruined future with regular humans facing non-supernatural, non-supertechnological forces? Bonus points if the story is focused on problems inherent in human society and makes external/environmental threats secondary.
Basically, I’d love to read about what might happen if the World As We Know It ceases to function, but the laws of physics and biology stay the same.
(Note: I have not seen or read any of the above, but I know of them, and they seem to fit the theme, based on plot summaries)
And Waterworld is post-apocalyptic, of a sort (though not even remotely realistic)…
It’s been a long time since I’ve read it, so I won’t vouch for the quality of the story, but Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle would seem to fit the bill. Massive asteroid strikes Earth, chaos ensues.
As soon as I saw the thread title, I said to myself, “The first reply will be The Road by Cormac McCarthy.”
OP, if you like graphic novels, check out Y: The Last Man. And if you don’t like graphic novels, check it out anyway, because it seems to have a lot of crossover appeal. The series is done, so no waiting for new issues, and you can get the whole thing in 10 volumes.
Do NOT see Book of Eli. It is not about survival in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s a story about a God-powered super warrior delivering a Bible. Did I mention he’s God-powered?
Not “The End of The World” but a look at a small-ish city in the U.S. after a EMP wipes out all electronics throughout the country.
One Second After by William A. Forstchen.
I second Alas, Babylon even though it’s quite dated, Lucifer’s Hammer for a post-cometary impact setting and The Postman novel, which is far superior to the film.
Contemporary with Alas Babylon and * On the Beach*, Walter Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz. (Completing my personal after-the-Bomb trilogy from my youthful years).
Very much about about what could be involved in civilization re-evolving.
The TV show “Jericho.” It started pretty bad but somehow got good, touching on some of the issues a small town might face after a nuclear disaster that didn’t directly destroy them. Looters, scarcity, having no information, competition with neighbors. Unfortunately, just as it hit its stride, the writer’s strike killed it.
“The Wild Shore” by Kim Stanley Robinson.
It’s not safe for work, but my favorite post-apocalyptic story is Al Steiner’s Aftermath. It’s available on Stories Online. I’ll put the link in code, although you can’t actually get to the story unless you have a (free) account on the site:
http://storiesonline.net/story/34601
The basic plot is a comet impacts the Pacific ocean and the tsunamis destroyed all the low-lying areas. The protagonist was on a camping trip in the Sierras. He encounters other survivors - some decent, some awful. I wouldn’t want to spoil the story, but there are a number of sex scenes, so if you have no interest in that, avoid it. But it is not a “stroke story”.
The author is apparently an EMT/helicopter pilot and the level of research is impressive. He created a very believable world, and I for one would love to own this as a hardbound book.
