Post-apocalypse books

[Mithfânion]

I don't know if we've ever had a topic specifically about this subject but if there is one, I couldn't find it.

My question is, has anyone read any really good post-apocalypse novels? I ask because I've recently read two quite good ones, the first one was by Micthell Smith, called "Snowfall", and the second was by Brian Aldiss, called "Greybeard". On Amazon I saw several other titles but I was curious as to what you guys think are worthwhile. Please give a short summary/intro as to what has happened (nuclear, comet, plague etc) and what the story will be about?

[Duraccione]

There is a Philip Dick's novel, "The penultimate truth", which is about this subject. I'm not a Dick fan nor like the day-after stories but I can remember I enjoyed it.
It's about the war survivors who are forced to live in underground hives while robots are fighting wars on the surface. One of these people offers himself to go on the ground searching for a spare synthetic organ a citizen of his hive needs: he knows that somewhere there's a warehouse that keeps the last available ones, requisitioned by government to keep alive the old one (some kind of big brother). But when he reaches the open air he's amazed: instead of the old world's ruins he sees a whole new world, an endless beautiful garden which is divided into feuds given to the most (worthy? rich? loyal? I don't remember) people of the government. And here something happens, I can't remember what, but I remember there was an equivocal character who's a hinge to the story.

[Ouroboros]

I can remember a previous thread which covered this topic, you might want to have another go at searching.

Off that bat, George R. Stewart's Earth Abides springs to mind as one of the more realistic (less sensationalist) depictions of the long-term effects a global catastrophic plague might have on our level of civillisation. Stewart's survivors and their descendents slowly slip backwards into a simpler, quieter way of life.

Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle is also excellent, a grittier depiction of post-meteor strike america. Gated communities, rampaging starving military units, survivalism and so on...

Then there's Zelazny's Damnation Alley (cross america post-apocalyptic truck-ride with bikers, giant lizards etc. Great book, lousy movie).

There's plenty more, Stephen King's The Stand, for example. Another Phillip K. Dick novel which deals with this theme is Dr. Bloodmoney.

Last but not least, in my opinion one of the finest works in this genre is Algis Budrys' Some will not die. Exceptional, but hard to find.

[Hungry Jo]

PKD has also written alot of short stories about post-apoclypse type scenarios which can all be found in 5 volume complete stories, I can't remember any of the names off the top of my head or which stories are in which volumes but I remember them being good.

[Clarkesworld]

That five volume set is getting a bit hard to find again. I think they even renamed some of the books when Citadel (I think) republished them. If you can find it though, consider all five volumes essential reading material. Someone should reprint these again...

[Mithfânion]

Ourobouros, I found the other thread, the spelling was off so that's why I didn't find it iniially:

http://www.sffworld.org/forums/showt...lyptic+Authors

[troxelb]

I own a good one called "Wolf and Iron." Society collapses. (Can't remember why exactly...economic I think.)

So this guy starts heading west to meet up with his brother. He has to dodge outlaws, bears, and other nasty stuff. Then he meets up with a wolf. They soon become fast friends.

I should re-read that one again. I can't seem to remember much about it.

[Hobbit]

I own a good one called "Wolf and Iron."

That'll be the one by Gordon R Dickson?

Hobbit

[troxelb]

That's the one! I couldn't remember the author before.

[Ouroboros]

I seem to recall a foreword to Wolf and Iron talking about how much research he put into ensuring the wolf's 'character' was accurate to reality.

It's not a bad book ... a little bit cheesy in parts but overall good fun.

[Mithfânion]

But sadly out of print!

[Expendable]

There was this old book I read, I think the title was "Emergence" or something. I'm sowwie, I forget who wrote it.

When international tensions get tight, a book-starved teen is surpised when her foster father shows her the secret bomb shelter hidden under their house, complete with a giant library. When he goes off on a trip, she goes down there to grab some books - and someone starts a nuclear attack.

the bombs don't do alot of damage, they go off in the air and the radiation from them trigger a seeded virus to go lethal, killing people all over but leaving animals and cities untouched.

When she climbs out of the shelter months later, a note from her sensei next door tell her there's other survivors, people who would be immune to the virus and a map to where they are. So she goes on a trip to find these people - some good, some not.

[Mithfânion]

Probably David Palmer's book that Lemming recommended. Equally out of print.

[starman]

Another good post-apocalypse novel (actually a novella) is "The Scarlet Plague" by Jack London. It was written in 1912 and looks as if it might have inspired "Earth Abides". It's set in 2072 when San Francisco is a ruinous jungle and people have reverted to a stone age lifestyle. An old man, the last one alive who remembers the plague, tells his savage grandsons about what happened and how he survived when the plague struck in 2013. Two other good post-apocalypse novels are by John Christopher: "A Wrinkle in the Skin" and "Empty World" (another plague novel).

[Olivaw]

This may not count as post-apocalyptic, but it does involve the story of the last human alive; try Red Dwarf by Grant Naylor. Sci-fi/humor at it's best.