# Recommend me some good "end of the world" novels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421 "2002-05-05T19:50:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/21 "2002-05-06T04:07:41Z")
Some of my favorites in this genre are: The Forge of God by Greg Bear - Set in the present or near future, evil von Neumann replicators destroy the Earth. I also enjoyed its sequel, Anvil of Stars When Worlds Collide by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer - A rogue planet destroys earth. Scientifically quite dated, but still a good read. A movie was made from this book (not nearly as good as the book however, IMO). Dust by Charles Pellegrino - Set in the present or near future, a number of environmental disasters occur, including the death of (almost) all insects. Civilization collapses into anarchy, while a few people try to save everything. Corona Upcoming Attractions lists this as a possible movie someday. No Blade of Grass AKA The Death of Grass by John Christopher. All grass (which includes corn, rice, etc.) succumbs to a global disease, resulting in great upheaval. A movie based on this book also exists. John Christopher has written a number of “earth gets destroyed” books, some for adults and some for children (which IMO, can still be enjoyed by adults). Some of my other favorites are The Tripod Trilogy: The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, The Pool of Fire and also Empty World. The BBC made a nice TV series based on these books, or at least the first two. (The series was, unfortunately, axed after the second season, thus remaining forever unfinished). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/22 "2002-05-06T04:39:05Z")
No blade of grass? Aaugh! My plans for the great american novel, ruined! (My big creative writing project in college was to write the first 150 pages of an SF novel with exactly this premise. In moving, I lost the entire project. Just as well, it seems ☹ ). Daniel ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/23 "2002-05-06T04:44:04Z")
A few more I remembered: [Portent](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061054321/qid=1020659041/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-0244158-1018432) by James Herbert [Final Impact](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553563602/qid=1020659207/sr=1-11/ref=sr_1_11/002-0244158-1018432) by Yvonne Navarro [The Milennium Quartet](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312862741/qid=1020659435/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-0244158-1018432) by Charles Grant \* [Nature’s End](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/044651344X/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/002-0244158-1018432) by Whitley Streiber and Kunetka [The Nature of Balance](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0843949260/qid=1020659936/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-0244158-1018432) by Tim Lebbon Sheri - I haven’t read these, but they are sitting on my TBR shelf. ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/24 "2002-05-06T06:01:34Z")
I remember a great short story by W.P. Kinsella about how the Cubs wouldn’t be able to win the World Series until the Apocalypse. I can’t remember the name of the story, but it was published in his collection, _The Thrill of the Grass._ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/25 "2002-05-06T06:30:24Z")
Some good ones that haven’t been mentioned: _AfterAge_ by Yvonne Navarro _Emergence_ by David Palmer _The Harvest_ by Robert Charles Wilson And Rufus, it may have taken him almost a decade, but Haldeman did finally conclude his trilogy with _Worlds Enough and Time_. ---
**Author:** ![RightTurnOnly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f8ce5/32.png) [@RightTurnOnly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RightTurnOnly)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/26 "2002-05-06T07:28:42Z")
I loved “The Last Canadian” by William C. Heine. I am addicted to end of the world books and this one was definitely my favorite. Might be hard to find though, I have seen it only in used books stores. ---
**Author:** ![RightTurnOnly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f8ce5/32.png) [@RightTurnOnly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RightTurnOnly)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/27 "2002-05-06T07:33:16Z")
I loved **The Last Canadian** by William C. Heine. I am addicted to end of the world books and this one was definitely my favorite. Might be hard to find though, I have seen it only in used books stores. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/28 "2002-05-06T12:56:48Z")
**Davy** by Edgar Pangbourn. By far the best post-WWIII novel ever written. It’s a crime that it is no longer in print. > [@](#): > > And what was that series of British novels about a Hothouse Earth, where there were spiderwebs between the Earth and the moon, and the few remaining humans lived in terror of the jungles? **Hothouse** (aka “The Long Afternoon of Earth”) by Brian Aldiss ---
**Author:** ![Regina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@Regina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regina)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/29 "2002-05-06T13:33:23Z")
[Moonseed](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006105903X/qid=1020691740/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8910409-8354354) by Steven Baxter was pretty good. I went on to read some of his other works and boy, does he have a depressing view of things! Others already mentioned Moonfall by Jack McDevitt. I thought it was great. Also Swan Song but only because my brother-in-law was roomates with McCammon in college (well, not only because, it was still a pretty good book). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/30 "2002-05-06T17:20:41Z")
_Deathkiller_ and _Lifehouse_ were not set in the same universe, so to speak, as was _Telempath_. They are, though, remarkably good novels. The RealTime series by Vernor Vinge (_The Peace War_, “The Ungoverned”, and _Marooned in Real Time_) is remarkable. A great deal of Pangborn’s work is set in the same future as _Davy_ – the origins of it being detailed in _A Mirror for Observers_. _The Company of Glory_ is, so I understand, more or less a sequel to _Davy_ (I haven’t read it at present). Short stories in the same future are collected in _Still I Persist in Wondering_, which includes two of the best shorts I’ve ever read (the title story and “The Night Wind”) in the same thin volume, along with a number of other fairly good stories. But a thread on end-of-the-world stories would be incomplete without the ultimate one: **Tau Zero** by Poul Anderson, perhaps the only story to feature the end of the universe as a minor plot development. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/31 "2002-05-06T17:58:15Z")
_Last and First Men_ by Olaf Stapledon, one of Arthur C. Clarke’s big influences. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/32 "2002-05-06T18:38:51Z")
can’t believe no one mentioned it, Ayn Rand’s _Atlas Shrugged_, i won’t give away the ending its not the complete end of the world, but things get pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/33 "2002-05-06T18:45:49Z")
I don’t know if this constitutes “cannon,” but in the Dark Empire comic books, Luke takes down an AT-AT by deflecting its laser weapon back at it with his saber. He was dabbling in Dark Side force powers at the time, though. :hijack: Speaking of cannon, does anyone else think the Star Wars authors (Timmothy Zahn, Kevin J. Anderson, Michael Stackpole, etc.) have done a far better job imagining stories in the SW Galaxy than Lucas has? ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/34 "2002-05-06T18:48:38Z")
damn, thought i caught that in time, sorry bad post ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/35 "2002-05-06T18:52:51Z")
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham Greybeard - Brian Aldiss ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/36 "2002-05-06T18:58:56Z")
Interesting, **RightTurnOnly** made his/her virginal post, diubleposted one with a sig, and it still says 1… I liked Postman, hated On The Beach ---
**Author:** ![RexKatWA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@RexKatWA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexKatWA)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/37 "2002-05-06T20:28:54Z")
**REVELATIONS** by “God”. Copyright xxAD. All rights reserved. Violators will be punished severely, _forever_ !:eek: ---
**Author:** ![absimia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bbe5ce/32.png) [@absimia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/absimia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/38 "2002-05-06T21:39:41Z")
**A Canticle for Lebowitz** by Walter M. Miller It starts several hundred years after a nuclear war and is one of my favorite books. It seems to be out of print, but here is the description from amazon nonetheless. > **[A Canticle for Leibowitz: Walter M. Miller Jr.: 9780553273816: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Canticle-Leibowitz-Walter-Miller-Jr/dp/0553273817)** > > A Canticle for Leibowitz \[Walter M. Miller Jr.\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. A Canticle for Leibowitz ---
**Author:** ![OfBlinkingThings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ebca7d/32.png) [@OfBlinkingThings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OfBlinkingThings)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/39 "2002-05-06T22:03:32Z")
Cats Cradle by vonnegut ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421/40 "2002-05-07T06:42:10Z")
I’ll second the recommendation for _On the Beach_. It takes place in the aftermath of a nuclear war that occurred in the northern hemisphere. Slowly, the fallout is moving south. The story chronicles what happens in Australia (especially Melbourne) as the fallout moves ever closer. Haunting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-good-end-of-the-world-novels/107421.md?page=3)