# What are some good fiction books on the antichrist/end of the world, etc

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 17, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081 "2006-05-17T06:23:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
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**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/1 "2006-05-17T06:23:24Z")

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As opposed to non fiction natch. Actually books intending to be non-fiction can be pretty entertainin too. Ruth Montgomery wrote alot about the rise of the antichrist (he is about 8 years late as of 2006, plus there was no shift of the earth’s axis either) and her stories were really interesting.

When the remake of the Omen comes out I’m going to watch it. I guess I enjoy first person accounts of power hungry dictators. The best fictional book I’ve ever read was [the earth is the Lord’s](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0884111547/002-9281504-3161612?v=glance&n=283155) which was a personal account of Genghis Kahn’s rise to power.

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**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/2 "2006-05-17T10:05:44Z")

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Depends on what you’re looking for. Stephen King’s THE STAND certainly presents an Anti-Christ character with great depth- up till recently, no one beat Randall Flagg as a literary Anti-Christ. Certainly not those ponces Damien Thorne and Nicolae Carpathia.

Then I met Christopher Goodman, the title subject of James BeauSeigneur’s THE CHRIST CLONE TRILOGY (In His Image, Birth of An Age, and Acts of God)- the one fictional (Anti or Returned?)-Christ to be fully developed as a character. I regard this as the best most thorough fictional treatment of the Apocalypse.

BUT as interesting curiosities, look for

Carol Balizet’s out of print, late-seventies novel THE SEVEN LAST YEARS, featuring (I kid you not) Pope Sixtus VI. Much better than that sounds. It even lurks as a free e-book somewhere on the Net.

Sydney Watson’s also out of print, 1910s novel THE MARK OF THE BEAST, in which the Beast is world-renown genius, inventor & diplomat Lucien Apleon. It’s predecessor IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE is in print from Barbour and also is somewhere on the Net in e-book form. They and Robert Hugh Benton’s (S.J.) novel LORD OF THIS WORLD are the earliest Revelation novels I know of (I have not yet read LORD tho I did download it from ProjectGutenburg- btw it also is in print).

Pat Robertson’s END OF THE AGE - not too bad. I wonder who ghosted it for him.

The Earth is the Lord’s… Taylor Caldwell? That’s one book by her I don’t have!

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**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/3 "2006-05-17T10:20:32Z")

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Oh, two other novels- both now available from Infinity Press (a vanity press?)-  
Mark Rogers’ THE DEAD (demonized zombies feast on those Left Behind)  
and Brian Caldwell’s WE ALL FALL DOWN (the Apocalypse according to Quentin Tarantino- a terrible, fascinating and heartbreaking tale of a soul who won’t surrender to Satan or Jesus). Both well worth the time & money. Don’t leave WE ALL out for the kiddies to pick up, tho. I still can’t fully read the rib-rape scene. :eek:

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/4 "2006-05-17T13:51:27Z")

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_Good Omens_ by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, the funniest bok ever.

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**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/5 "2006-05-17T13:57:24Z")

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I’ve heard that **The Apocolypto by John of Patmos** is an excellent read if you can get past the allegory and metaphorical language.

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**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/6 "2006-05-17T15:43:53Z")

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> [@Peter Morris](#):
>
> _Good Omens_ by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, the funniest bok ever.

seconded.

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**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/7 "2006-05-17T16:06:44Z")

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> [@Antinor01](#):
>
> > [@Peter Morris](#):
> >
> > Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, the funniest bok ever.
> 
> seconded.

And it’s a jolly good _book_ too.  
Though it may not be quite what the OP had in mind, not being entirely serious ‘n’ that.

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/8 "2006-05-17T16:38:32Z")

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Black Easter and The Day After Judgement by James Blish are pretty good. I have them in two volumes, they may have been combined, and I’m sure they’re out of print.

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**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/9 "2006-05-17T16:50:03Z")

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_Good Omens_ is definitely about the antichrist, so I’d say it qualifies, but the OP specified enjoying books about “power hungry dictators,” and the antichrist in _Good Omens_ doesn’t quite fit that mold!

It is, however, a fabulous book (or bok, even). Totally hilarious.

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**Author:** ![BlackHeart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c77e96/32.png) [@BlackHeart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackHeart)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/10 "2006-05-17T17:46:20Z")

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I enjoyed reading Fallen Host by Lyda Morehouse. Anti-christ fiction with a sci-fi twist.

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/11 "2006-05-17T19:17:22Z")

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The Book of Revelation.

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**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/12 "2006-05-17T22:23:30Z")

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> [@simster](#):
>
> I’ve heard that **The Apocolypto by John of Patmos** is an excellent read if you can get past the allegory and metaphorical language.

I’ve read it. You heard wrong.

Here’s a pretty comprehensive list of Antichrist books & films: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antichrist#In\_popular\_culture](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antichrist#In_popular_culture)

You might find interesting the “Eschatology” page of the website of conservative Catholic intellectual John J. Reilly: [http://www.johnreilly.info/esch.htm](http://www.johnreilly.info/esch.htm) I didn’t know Ira Levinson had written a sequel to _Rosemary’s Baby!_ Here’s a review: [http://www.johnreilly.info/soro.htm](http://www.johnreilly.info/soro.htm)

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**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-fiction-books-on-the-antichrist-end-of-the-world-etc/357081/13 "2006-05-17T22:47:03Z")

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I’d recommend the “Left Behind” series, but your OP did say “good fiction books.” Not sure if this would qualify, YMMV.
