# Recommend some post-apocalypse tales **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520 "2002-07-24T06:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/21 "2002-07-25T08:17:51Z")
The Forge of God by Greg Bear Swan’s Song by Robert McCammon Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany (?) ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/22 "2002-07-25T10:03:21Z")
\*\*the stand Alas, babylon Battlefield Earth Out of the Ashes- series Wingman- series \*\* The series books are corny to the extreme, but fun to read. Battlefield earth, oddly enough, is not that bad of a read. Piers Anthony wrote another book (not the Battle Circle books) about how quickly society reverted to barbarism after it became possible for the majority of Humanity to leave the Earth behind. I love this type of book, and will be looking up the ones spoken of here… woo hoo! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/23 "2002-07-25T11:14:16Z")
I have to advise against both **Alas, Babylon** and **Battlefield Earth**. [ul] [li] **Alas, Babylon** is simply a bad book. It extolls the virtue of the strong man who can take more or less total control of the situation. That in itself isn’t bad, but the book borders on a Fascist tract, with the Good Man killing various degenerates or watching them die from their own stupidity and keeping blacks as essential slaves. The plot is a contrived series of episodes that constantly resorts to _deus ex machinas_ to get the Hero Family out of various fixes. The book does everything but actually _advocate_ nuclear war as a way to ‘clean up the planet’ and rid it of undesirable elements.[/li][li] **Battlefield Earth** , as I’m sure most of you know, is the work of noted madman L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Cult of Scientology. That much I can stomach: Elron himself died in 1988, so further sales of the book can’t further benefit the madman himself. But the Cult is still around, abusing dupes and threatening legal action (threats too credible) against anyone who dares expose what it is and what it teaches. You can bet the Cult still gets a profit from every one of Elron’s books that are sold. [Operation Clambake](http://xenu.net) is a good place to find out about the anti-Cult movement’s latest news.[/li][/ul] OK, I’m done ranting. What book would I recommend? The unknown masterpiece **Earth Abides** , by George Stewart. It is about the aftermath of a _biological_ war, and makes the point that no matter what man does to himself, Earth goes on. It is one of the few books of the genre with an athiest protagonist, one who recognizes the poetry of the Bible without believing it. It has a strong protagonist as well, but one who treats humans as humans and does not subjugate others. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2002, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/24 "2002-07-25T11:31:34Z")
_The Handmaid’s Tale_ by Margaret Atwood. _Gate to Womens’ Country_ by Sheri S. Tepper. I loves me some post-apocalyptic fiction. Thanks for this thread. I’m gonna check my bookshelf and see what else I’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/25 "2002-07-25T11:50:26Z")
Sort of a spoiler, but Empire of the East by Fred Saberhagen is a post-apocalyptic novel. Way, way post. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/26 "2002-07-25T12:31:13Z")
HG Wells’ **The Time Machine**. Doesn’t qualify as _exactly_ post-apocalypse, rather as far-future, but worth mentioning here, as one of the earliest-written examples of the genre. Short and sweet, too. I also enjoyed Ronald Wright’s **A Scientific Romance**. A modern (late 1990’s) take on The Time Machine. Thanks to the OP for an interesting thread. I’m certainly going to check out a few of the others mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/27 "2002-07-25T14:20:25Z")
originally posted by **belladonna** > [@](#): > > Thanks Neidhart, you’re my hero for the night. _blush_ ---
**Author:** ![Broodha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Broodha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broodha)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/28 "2002-07-25T14:28:11Z")
Oooooo. I can’t remember the book I read in 10th grade English class. It was written in the 1950’s and dealt with the aftermath of a catastrophic nuclear war. I remember that it was impossible to put down and scared me to death. What was it called? ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/29 "2002-07-25T14:55:55Z")
Oh, and I just remembered another good one: **The Survivors,** by Terry Nation (1976). Set in Britain. A mutant strain of bubonic plague kills nearly everyone; people think it’s just a severe flu epidemic until it’s too late. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/30 "2002-07-25T16:11:43Z")
**The Genocides** - Thomas Disch (post apocalyptic)(giant trees that grow like weeds and suck up the water supply push mankind to extinction) This one’s a little out there, and not really my cup of tea, but for the sake of completeness… ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/31 "2002-07-25T17:38:01Z")
The best ones have already been mentioned, so I’ll just be a slobbering Heinlein fanboy\* and suggest **Tunnel in the Sky** and **Farnham’s Freehold** , which are both about a small group of people suriviving with limited resources after they have been separated (spatially and temporally, respectively) from their societies. _Tunnel in the Sky_ is a rock-solid juvie, and _Farnham’s Freehold_ is one of his more controversial works. If your wife likes Niven, she might like Heinlein, too, because their styles are similar. To avoid being a one-trick pony, I’ll also recommend _Z for Zachariah_ by Robert O’Brien is another good one. Another juvie, but very cool and clausterphobic. - **N.b.** “Fanboy” is an lifestyle, not a gender. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/32 "2002-07-25T17:41:03Z")
Or claustrophobic, even. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/33 "2002-07-25T20:08:51Z")
Another early “last man on earth” novel is [The Purple Cloud](http://unp.unl.edu/bookinfo/3981.html) by M.P. Shiel. This book answers the question “What if the last man on earth were a huge jerk?” I’m kidding, but only just. The main character is so unlikeable, it made it hard for me to enjoy the book. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly (of Frankenstein fame) gave us what may be the seminal “last man” novel, fittingly entitled [The Last Man](http://www.lostbooks.org/guestreviews/2001-03-01-1.html), a plague novel with (of course) deeper meanings. I haven’t read it yet, so I can’t comment on its quality. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/34 "2002-07-25T20:46:43Z")
Quoth **cmkeller** : > [@](#): > > The “Battle Circle Trilogy” (Sos the Rope, Var the Stick, Neq the Sword) by Piers Anthony wasn’t bad. Actually, yes, it was. To give you an idea: Of the four main male characters, one is castrated, one is rendered sterile as a side-effect of an operation, one is sterile from radiation, and one is psychologically impotent. Gee, do you think that Piers was going through a phase, there? Throw in rampant sexism and a totally hackneyed plot, and you’ve got it. The other Anthony novel mentioned is _But What of Earth_, which wasn’t quite _as_ bad, but I still wouldn’t recommend it. The main gimmick of the story is that humanity is not decimated by a disaster, but by the development of cheap interstellar travel, such that most humans just leave the planet. Not exactly post-apocalyptic, but if your wife likes to read about the building/rebuilding of a society, she’ll probably enjoy Asimov’s _Foundation_ series. ---
**Author:** ![burntsand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@burntsand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burntsand)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/35 "2002-07-26T01:48:14Z")
Not completely post-apocalyptic, but … _Warday_ by James Kunetka and Whitley Strieber is good. It’s an interesting look at the U.S. several years after a limited nuclear war. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/36 "2002-07-26T01:54:23Z")
I’m shocked it hasn’t been mentioned already, and you’ve probably already read it, but **Cat’s Cradle** by Kurt Vonnegut is one of the best novels ever written and it just so happens to be a post-apocalypse story. Ok, so the world freezes rather than being nuked. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/37 "2002-07-26T02:22:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grendel72 \* > \*\*I’m shocked it hasn’t been mentioned already, and you’ve probably already read it, but **Cat’s Cradle** by Kurt Vonnegut is one of the best novels ever written and it just so happens to be a post-apocalypse story. > Ok, so the world freezes rather than being nuked. \*\* Which reminds me, Fallen Angels by Niven, Pournelle, and Flynn, is set in the US at the beginning of an ice age. A sort of pre-apocalyptic novel, with lots of scifi fandom in jokes and references. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/38 "2002-07-26T02:32:45Z")
Another interesting Vonnegut book is **Galapagos** , set one million years in the future with a radically altered human race (basically intelligent seals), looking back at the events that caused the transformation. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/39 "2002-07-26T08:05:01Z")
Wow, I go away for a couple of days and I come back to a huge thread. Thanks, everyone. spoke-, I don’t know why she didn’t like Earth Abides. That was definitely one of my favorites when I was younger. She didn’t much like the protagonist, who I remember as an arrogant pain in the ass, but a lot of protagonists are like that. cmkeller, sorry, have to agree with the Piers Anthony naysayers. Dude has Issues, like, totally man. belladonna, no hijacking allowed! You’ve upset the precise fuel calculations of my thread, and I am now authorized to eject you through the airlock. I’ll forward your ident disk to your family. Nothing personal, you understand. You know, fuel’s expensive and life’s, uh, cheap. [sub]Just kidding. It’s a reference to some story I can’t remember the name of.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520/40 "2002-07-26T11:18:39Z")
Warday!! How did I forget that one?? wow!! Also, for a quasi-post apocolyptic-ish tale, one called **Remembrance Day** is fairly good, although a tad cheesy. **Derleth** - Man, I have to ask… are you actually in Havre? Having grown up in Great Falls, I think you may be the first Montana Doper I’ve noticed. Woo Hoo! Coming soon, when I go back to bury my uncle… Rocky Mountain Dope Festival! Ahem. I don’t remember Alas, Babylon having racist tones like that, but again it’s been getting on to 15 years since I read the dang thing. Someone once asked me if I wanted to buy their copy a long time ago, but I mis-remember who… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-post-apocalypse-tales/120520.md?page=3)