# Recommend some good post-apocalyptic/survivalist fiction?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-post-apocalyptic-survivalist-fiction/309439>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 22, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-post-apocalyptic-survivalist-fiction/309439 "2005-06-22T21:18:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2005, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-post-apocalyptic-survivalist-fiction/309439/41 "2005-06-26T12:21:19Z")

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Orson Scott Card’s **The Folk of the Fringe** is decent, IIRC.

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**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-post-apocalyptic-survivalist-fiction/309439/42 "2005-06-26T16:28:32Z")

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> [@This Year's Model](#):
>
> Character development? From Niven and Pournelle? Don’t hold your breath. Keep reading it, though - it’s got a good plot.

Well, you know. In the first chapter we have the documentary maker with his hopes and fears, nis wife , his laid-back buddy he helps get work, the wide-eyed amature astronomer, the glitzy Beverly hills couple, the Archtypical Senator and his lovely daughter and so on. I don’t know which, or all, will play a signifigant role in later chapters so I’m trying to remember what is said of them for future interactions.  
That’s what I was referring to in the earlier post.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-good-post-apocalyptic-survivalist-fiction/309439/43 "2005-06-27T15:50:27Z")

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Nevil Shute’s late-'50s _On the Beach_ is very sad, moving, and plausible for its time - the survivors of humanity (in Australia, due to fallout patterns after WWIII) confront the fact that sooner or later, they’re all going to die. Society slowly collapses, and some parents decide to commit suicide after killing their babies with government-distributed pills, as it’s the least-bad option open to them.

I agree with the earlier poster - _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ bored me to tears, too.

A more recent book - which I highly recommend - is William Brinkley’s _The Last Ship_ (Ballantine 1988). A U.S. Navy destroyer survives WWIII and finds an isolated Pacific island on which to establish a new society. There are women in the mostly-male crew, and it’s fascinating to see how the captain and crew invent new social rules to ensure the survival of humanity. There are some plot holes, but overall it’s an excellent example of post-apocalyptic fiction.

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