# Recommend a "realistic" post-apocalyptic story without magic, cyborgs or zombies!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 15, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238 "2010-06-15T01:57:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/1 "2010-06-15T01:57:49Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/2 "2010-06-15T02:04:01Z")
The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
---
### Author:  [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/3 "2010-06-15T02:07:05Z")
How about the book (and movie) _The Road_
Or the movie _The Book of Eli_?
(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)…
---
### Author:  [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/4 "2010-06-15T02:11:45Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/5 "2010-06-15T02:16:52Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/6 "2010-06-15T02:22:26Z")
No zombies, nothing supernatural, plausible, and good reading:
[The Pest House](http://www.amazon.com/Pesthouse-Jim-Crace/dp/0385520751) by Jim Crace
[The Long Loud Silence](http://www.amazon.com/Long-Loud-Silence-Wilson-Tucker/dp/0899683754) by Wilson Tucker
[The Long Tomorrow](http://www.amazon.com/Long-Tomorrow-Leigh-Brackett/dp/0345242890) by Leigh Brackett
---
### Author:  [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/7 "2010-06-15T02:28:35Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#):
>
> As soon as I saw the thread title, I said to myself, “The first reply will be The Road by Cormac McCarthy.” 🙂
Glad to verify your faith in the world 🙂
Riddley Walker might also fit the bill.
---
### Author:  [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/8 "2010-06-15T02:30:12Z")
The Road Warrior movies.
---
### Author:  [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/9 "2010-06-15T02:32:47Z")
The Postman - though the movie was awful, IIRC it was based on a David Brin book so it might not completely suck in text form.
---
### Author:  [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/10 "2010-06-15T02:33:51Z")
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?
---
### Author:  [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/11 "2010-06-15T02:33:57Z")
Alas, Babylon would be my vote. Excellent story!
---
### Author:  [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/12 "2010-06-15T02:43:57Z")
Wasn’t there a novel about a couple trying to cross post-WWIII America? Can’t recall the title, but I used to see it all the time in used book stores.
---
### Author:  [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/13 "2010-06-15T02:50:12Z")
You all like The Road? I thought it was so dry and boring, I wasn’t impressed at all.
---
### Author:  [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/14 "2010-06-15T02:53:54Z")
> [@nikonikosuru](#):
>
> You all like The Road? I thought it was so dry and boring, I wasn’t impressed at all.
Maybe that was the point. I mean, what is there to really write about?
Day 1: 99% of the human race dies.
Day 21: 99% of the human race dies without clean water.
Day 99: 99% of the hunman race starves.
---
### Author:  [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/15 "2010-06-15T02:56:30Z")
On the Beach by Nevil Shute, perhaps? Not particularly cheery…
---
### Author:  [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/16 "2010-06-15T02:57:35Z")
_Alas Babylon_ is one of the finest books I have ever read. Of any genre. I always wish it could go on and on.
---
### Author:  [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/17 "2010-06-15T02:58:35Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/18 "2010-06-15T03:05:27Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/19 "2010-06-15T03:11:30Z")
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.
---
### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238/20 "2010-06-15T03:29:24Z")
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:
```auto
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.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-realistic-post-apocalyptic-story-without-magic-cyborgs-or-zombies/543238.md?page=2)