[Rasputin]

I sure hope not!

Here's the deal: I'm looking for recommandations on sf (or fantasy!) books that portray a world with as little humans as possible- but in a good way. Think of "I'm legend" but without the horror element- zombies etc.
Here are some more guidlines: There's a book called "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curious_Incident_of_the_Dog_in_the_Night-time)" which I recommaned to all of you. The protagonistlikes to pretend that all people have vanished and that he can, for example, enter candy shops and take stuff for free.
Basically I'm looking for "the last man on earth" scenario, in which the man (or woman) is enjoying the solitude and loneliness, while the human world of cities and technologies is crumbling away.

Someone recommanded me The Dancers at the End of Time which kinda sounds like what I'm looking for, but more recommandations are welcome.

Big P.S: if the author and/or some of the characters hold misanthropic views and general hatred towards humanity- that's an advantage, though not mandatory.

Thanks!

[Rob B]

The one that might fit the bill is Cormac McCarthy's The Road or George R. Stewart's Earth Abides (reviewed by yours truly) (http://www.sffworld.com/brevoff/279.html).

Failing that, try these threads:
Post-apocalypse books (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6489)
Classic Post-Apocalyptic Story (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20116)

Plus, all the threads tagged (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/tags.php) with
post-apocalyptic (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/tags.php?tag=post-apocalyptic)

[phil_geo]

In LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven, there is one segment of the book where humanity has been reduced greatly in numbers, and it is a pretty nice place to live - everyone has lots of property and there is enough food to go around, etc.

[Rasputin]

Thank you very much!

I'll look into all of them. Heared that the LeGuin book was inspired by PKD, which is probably the only entity in the universe that I would kill and/or get killed for.

PKD is dead, alas!

[Yobmod]

Agree with Earth Abides - after the apocalype the surviors create an insular little cosy community.
But not The Road - they spend most of their time starving and freezing, and avoiding the cannibul rapist cults.

[Nicolas]

Some of the Collected short stories by Vernor Vinge deal with the aftermath of a global catastrophe from very optimistic perspectives.

In them civilisation survives, scientific knowledge and technologies are not automatically lost and humanity endures rather well.

They might be worth checking. They are not strictly speaking "last man on earth" type scenarios, but they do try a different approach from the usual doom and gloom of most of the post-apocalytic stories around.

All the best.
Nick

[B5B7]

I believe Arthur C. Clarke's 'The City and the Stars' fits your stipulation. That reminds me - Clifford Simak's 'City' and Edmond Hamilton's 'City at World's End'. [note: by coincidence I have just started reading Greg Bear's 'City at the End of Time' (parts of it is set in distant future, other parts in a world similar to our own - it probably has too many people for your OP, though the ones it does have are "loners", and is not particularly optimistic probably].

Roger Zelazny's 'Damnation Alley' is a 'fairly happy man type' post-apocalyptic novel as is David Brin's 'The Postman' - don't be put off these by the inferior movie versions.
J.G. Ballard's 'Concrete Island' has a contemporary setting, but deals with a man alone in an environment, and his coming to terms with it.

[JunkMonkey]

The Purple Cloud by M P Shiel
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11229

[Nottobrite]

I would recommend Wolf and Iron (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/gordon-r-dickson/wolf-and-iron.htm) by Gordon R. Dickson. I think it fits your criteria nicely.

[Randy M.]

A couple of books I mentioned in another thread fit better here:
Davy
Still I Persist in Wondering, both by Edgar Pangborn

I need to reread these, but 20 years ago they were among my favorite s.f. novels. Pangborn wrote well, with empathy for his characters and a clear sight of their flaws. Davy establishes how the world is after a non-specified apocalypse and follows the adventures of the title character. The other book is a collection of short stories and novellas that give further background about the world and its survivors.

Randy M.