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).
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 ).
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.
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.
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.
Moonseed 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).
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.
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?
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.
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.
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