Alex wrote: "My favorite may be The Einstein Intersection. It is humorous, imaginative, and one of the most visual books I have ever read.

There is a collection of short stories called [b:Bey..."

Love The Einstein Intersection!! You are correct in how visual it is. Even back when I was a teenager and read it for the first time, I felt like I was watching an off-kilter "Butch Cassidy" movie.

Alex wrote: "My favorite may be The Einstein Intersection. It is humorous, imaginative, and one of the most visual books I have ever read..."

You're one of the few others I know that's read it. It's one of my all time favorites along with a similar book, This Immortal by Roger Zelazny. If you haven't read it, I'd highly suggest you put it on your list.

My favorite may be The Einstein Intersection. It is humorous, imaginative, and one of the most visual books I have ever read.

There is a collection of short stories called Beyond Armageddon that is absolutely amazing. It has an intro to each story by Walter M. Miller Jr. of A Canticle for Leibowitz(I loved the first two of the three parts of leibowitz) fame and is co-edited by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor). Every story is great!

Although it's already been mentioned on this list, Dreamsnake is one of my favorites. And so is her short story that the collection The Crystal Ship Three Original Novellas of Science Fiction is named for.

Parable of the Sower is great too. Haven't yet read the sequel.

If you don't mind some violence, blood spilling like a jackson pollock, and taking the time to understand the universe, you may enjoy the Warhammer 40K books that are occasionally excellent. Some of the short stories and Dan Abnett are especially good for that post apocalyptic feel.

Tripods Trilogy (The White Mountains / The City of Gold and Lead / The Pool of Fire)by John Christopher. Its written for young adults but its a good read at any age.

Swan Song by Robert R. Mcammon was pretty good, so was The Stand by Stephen King. The Road was a poorly-written pointless waste of time. Eternity Road was not so good: the concepts were there, McDevitt just didn't do anything with them.

I just finished The Scarlet Plague and I'm sad to say that I can not recommend it. Quite disappointing. But there certainly are many other wonderful books on the thread that I would love to get my mits on.

Kathi wrote: "Just read Lucifer's Hammer and posted a review. Thought it was well done!"

Yeah, incredible book. Footfall is a great book too.

Just read Lucifer's Hammerand posted a review. Thought it was well done!

I got into post-apocalyptic books a few years ago and read some great books in the sub-genre:

Lucifer's Hammer
Dies the Fire
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Eternity Road

that is just a few

I don't want to beat this topic to death, but it's one of those things where, once you start thinking about it, it pops up literally everywhere. So... just saw this review of what looks like an interesting new post-apoc novel.

Stefan wrote: "Here's a list of 15 Influential Early Works of Apocalyptic Fiction... "

Thanks for the link Stefan! Have a whole bunch to add to my list now! = )

Still alive here. LOL this is one of my favorit types of books.I am keeping this thread for future reading.

Sisimka mentioned Russo's "Ship of Fools", a wonderful book (his cyberpunk/detective 'Carlucci' series is also tremendous). A review I read of it (here: http://januarymagazine.com/SFF/shipoffoo...) mentions another post-apocalyptic novel I don't think has been mentioned yet: John Brunner's The Sheep Look Up, a great novel, perhaps more truly post-apocalyptic than some on that list, Stefan, like "Anthem" or "Last and First Men".

Stefan wrote: "Here's a list of 15 Influential Early Works of Apocalyptic Fiction I just found via Matt Staggs' Enter the Octopus blog."

Thanks for this list Stefan, some of these books look great!

Here's a list of 15 Influential Early Works of Apocalyptic Fiction I just found via Matt Staggs' Enter the Octopus blog.

I've read nearly all of what's been posted here. It is one of my favourite genres - either the before or after scenario. Here are a couple I remembered that may not be mentioned above:

**A Wrinkle in the Skin by John Christopher** (This is one of my absolute favourites!)
and
The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier (Weird and good)
Plague Year by Jeff Carlson
Last Ship: A Novel by William Brinkley
Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change by S. M. Stirling
The Rift by Walter J. Williams
Footfall by Larry Niven
Beyond Armageddon by Walter M. Miller Jr. and Martin H. Greenberg (Anthology)
Bangs and Whimpers: Stories About the End of the World by James Frenkel (Anthology)
The New Madrid Run by Michael Reisig
Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo
The Host: A Novel by Stephenie Meyer

And I just ordered a new anthology called 'Wastelands'.

Happy Shopping! = }

Another good pre-apocalypse book was Hammer of God by Arthur C. Clarke. It seems I have read quite a few books that included an asteroid heading toward Earth or Aliens invading.

Carolyn--thanks for the suggestions.
I am going to take a list with the books mentioned in the last 3 posts & the upcoming Books of the Month to the bookstore today and see what I can find.

I remember reading _On the Beach_ as a teenager and being very affected by the description of all human life ending on Earth. IMHO, _On the Beach_ had more impact than the recently published novel _The Road_.

I recently read . It was fun, fast and interesting.

Some good near-future pre-apocalypse books are:

Nancy Kress: Maximum Light and Nothing Human

Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower and sequel Parable of the Talents

The classic that the movie Soylent Green was based on: Make Room! Make Room!

A Creed for the Third Millennium by Colleen McCullough

Ken wrote:
(re:Forge of God)

Now that you mention it, its not Post but Pre. I just loved the book and rushed it on the list
"
I really liked Forge of God too. I have really been in the mood to read something similar to that--some sort of near-future hard sci fi pre- or post-apocalypse so if anyone has any suggestions...

I forgot to mention the tripod books by John Christopher. They are young-adult and seem a bit dated (not sure when they were published)--I read them after my son had and really enjoyed them. Sort of War of the Worlds-ish.

Jim wrote: "I just finished "Alas, Babylon". I read this when I was a teenager & was fascinated. It was first published the year I was born, so a lot of the attitudes were very real to me. I remember bomb d..."

I read Alas, Babylon while I was on vacation in Mammoth one August weekend. I didn't watch any TV news, listen to the radio, or read any newspapers while I was up there. I got back home about two days after Hurricane Katrina hit. It was really bizarre how closely the aftermath of Katrina mirrored the book.

Barb wrote: "
I read the Forge of God too but didn't really consider that post-apocalypse.

Now that you mention it, its not Post but Pre. I just loved the book and rushed it on the list

I just finished "Alas, Babylon". I read this when I was a teenager & was fascinated. It was first published the year I was born, so a lot of the attitudes were very real to me. I remember bomb drills, taking 'the position' under desks or in the hallways, the Civil Defense rooms & shelters. (Remember that originally all the overpasses in the 'new' highway system were supposed to have CD shelters? Didn't last long, but you can still see some around.)

While the book was quite a trip down memory lane, I was surprised at how well it had aged. I highly recommend it to everyone.

I forgot about John Wyndham. Several of his novels could be considered post-apocalyptic but the one I'm really thinking about is The Chrysalids

Carolyn wrote: "I really like the post apocalyptic/dystopian genre, so I have a whole shelf for them in my books, if you want to see all I've put on there, here's a direct link.

Besides The Postman, I'd also re..."

To nitpick just for a second, the KSR trilogy is called "Three Californias". "The Wild Shore" is the post-apocalyptic take on the theme; the other two are "The Gold Coast" and "Pacific Edge".

I have found, with the Post-Apocalypse novels I have read, that I typically enjoy the beginning of the books very much but they seem to 'peter out' at the end. I felt this was true for Earth Abides as well.

Besides Earth Abides, I have read:

A Canticle for Leibowitz
Alas, Babylon
The Stand

I read the Forge of God too but didn't really consider that post-apocalypse.

I have also been reading (on and off) World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. I am enjoying it, but without any one character to follow I find it is easy to set aside.

Here are a few. Most of them are horror.


Swan Song
Damnation Alley
I am Legend
The Stand

Let's see:
Alas, Babylon, Pat Frank
Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
Lilith's Brood, Octavia Butler (although it doesn't take place on Earth at first)
Dreamsnake, Vonda McIntyre
Heroes and Villians, Angela Carter
The Shore of Women,Pamela Sargent
The Gate to Women's Country, Sherri Tepper
A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller

Carolyn mentioned Star Man's Son, 2250 A.D. That book was my very first experience with post-apocalyptic fiction. I was in 4th or 5th grade when I got it through the Scholastic Book club. I loved that book.

Just occured to me.The Forge of God by Greg Bear. My favorite scene is near the end where one of the characters sits on top of a mountain to watch the world end. Amazing

I really enjoyed The Road, I think my favorite would have to be Lucifer's HammerIt is similar to The Road and Earth Abides in that it mostly set immediatly after the "Disaster", but it also spends quite a bit of time in the period leading up to it.

I haven't read The Road (but I probably will at some point), but I read Warday and while I thought the original premise was neat, the book was tedious and dull to plod through, so I don't recommend it.

Anyone read The Road by Cormac McCarthy and then there is Warday by Whitley Strieber.
I haven't read those 2.
There is also The Coming of the Horseclans by Franklin Robert Adams Its a series that takes place in the future with a changed world we assume that happens after some sort of catastrophe.

I really like the post apocalyptic/dystopian genre, so I have a whole shelf for them in my books, if you want to see all I've put on there, here's a direct link.

Besides The Postman, I'd also recommend:
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Folk of the Fringe by OSC
Wolf And Iron by Gordon Dickson
Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein
Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt
Warrior, Wanderer, and Witch a trilogy by Donald E. McQuinn
Star Man's Son, 2250 A.D by Andre Norton
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
The Visitor by Sherri S. Tepper
Califia's Daughters by Leigh Richards

Also I recommend a really interesting trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson called the Wild Shores Trilogy. He looks at the same stretch of California and each book imagines it in a different future: one is post-apocalypse, one is uber-developed, and one is an ecotopia.

The one that comes to mind is Malevil by Robert Merle. Originally in French, it is a moving account of a community in the south of France enduring and then rebuilding from a worldwide nuclear event. The Wikipedia article is at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malevil

I went through jag of reading post-apocalyptic novels for a while. I thought Earth Abides was the best of them. Second place would have to go to A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. In third would be The Postman by David Brin.

Honorable mentions would go to World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks and Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank.

For me, the absolute worst post-apocalyptic novels were The Road by Cormac McCarthy and On the Beach by Nevil Shute.

It's YA, but I'm currently really enjoying Isobelle Carmody's Obernewtyn Chronicles.

Have you read any other post-apocalypse novels? Any you'd recommend?