SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
Recommendations and Lost Books
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Optimistic post-apocalyptic?
Oh, and the Lady Astronaut series.The Calculating Stars, The Fated Sky and the forthcoming The Relentless Moon and The Derivative Base.
I haven't read it yet myself, but my understanding is that The City, Not Long After is exactly what you're looking for.
Bannerless. Though to be honest I'm not 100% sure Vaughn isn't going for a dystopia. It certainly brushes up against the edges.
A Book Without Dragons qualifies. It was pretty feel good and had a warm fuzzy ending. Not really anything in the way of action, nothing weird, and it was current era Sci-Fi. I think it hit's most of your points. It was a bit juvenile in the message, but overall enjoyable.
Mira Grants "Feed" is set in the Post zombie apocalypse world, theres still zombies, but society seems to have survived and somewhat recovered
This Immortal qualifies, especially if you like classical allusions.Alas, Babylon might qualify, although most of the book involves the world falling apart with the rebuild story taking place at the same time. It has a fairly upbeat ending.
Ok, I'll look at the other recommendations in a moment, but I'm stuck on Calculating Stars. I read it: it's alt-history; there's been no apocalypse, and there is no rebuilding. Ben's expl. of Feed is on track; I'll investigate that first....
A lot of these I have heard of and they sound rather dark. I did say Optimistic in the subject line but maybe I need to emphasize it in the op better. Ok, off to explore, and thank you. I will monitor this thread indefinitely so keep the rec's coming; I do appreciate them!
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Dreamsnake is explicitly Earth post-cataclysm. I found it quite sweet.
I kiiinda want to say Spin? It's rather sweet, definitely there was a world-ending event, but I haven't gotten to the part of the story that's so much about rebuilding as it is trying to continue living?
The Fated SkyCheryl wrote: "Ok, I'll look at the other recommendations in a moment, but I'm stuck on Calculating Stars. I read it: it's alt-history; there's been no apocalypse, and there is no rebuilding. Ben's expl. of [bo..."
The apocalypse has yet to come--the sequels will deal with this ;) , [book:The Fated Sky|47552274] The Fated Sky book two, is the next step in building for the post apocalypse, and there is going to be a third book which is set a number of years after it.
For some reason at this point in time I have to add the book twice to get the link to work. Even if I get it to work and get rid of the first, it stops working.
I’ll throw in a second for Bannerless. Although I will say the focus is not on the world rebuilding. The world has thoroughly ended, Society has rebooted.It’s not dark and I can’t think of any content warnings. I know the description sounds like The Handmaid’s Tale, but it’s more a precautionary tale on living with excess.
Personally I loved it.
There’s another one called: The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk.
I can’t comment on content warnings or how dark it is because I haven’t read it yet, but it might be what you’re looking for. I believe it contrasts the golden rebuilt city of San Francisco with another rebuilt city that’s not doing so well.
Edited to add: I was mistaken about the apocalyptic part. In that book there was an economic collapse. Sorry! I’ll retreat to my corner. Still might have some elements you are looking for.
Feed - oh dear, having trouble with this one... it's blurbed and tagged as if dystopian and I don't see that it's going to have rebuilding... but I do see some of my trusted friends liked it so I'll try it.Alas, Babylon - I definitely will try.
This Immortal - The word 'intrigue' in the blurb is a personal turn-off, but I will try, if only for the sake of the alien.
A Book Without Dragons - I don't see that there has been an apocalypse (though maybe it happens within the pages and this discussion is spoilery) but it's about people working together so that's appealing so I will try it.
Bannerless - already on my list, now prioritized.
Dreamsnake - keeps coming up for different reasons, I'll add it to my list.
The City, Not Long After - very promising; the current default cover implies melancholy but maybe that's ok.
Seveneves - gosh. On my list already, but I usually don't do well with door-stoppers... still, I'll prioritize it.
Again, I'm grateful to all!
Cheryl wrote: "A Book Without Dragons - I don't see that there has been an apocalypse (though maybe it happens within the pages and this discussion is spoilery) but it's about people working together so that's appealing so I will try it."For this one it's a situation where all of the technology humanity has come to rely on stops working all at once. So we're set way back and have to figure out how to function without so much as the clocks working. Definitely a soft society collapse situation.
The Fifth Sacred Thing goes on my list, & ty for the explanation.Hm. I didn't particularly care for Spin or for Kowal's CS. Sorry. But ty for the ideas definitely.
Also ty Kristin for ABWD details.
Cheryl wrote: "Ok, I'll look at the other recommendations in a moment, but I'm stuck on Calculating Stars. I read it: it's alt-history; there's been no apocalypse, and there is no rebuilding. "Um...
Well, a meteor hit the Earth and took out half of the US eastern seaboard, wiping out DC and more. The subsequent tsunami struck Europe and Africa and smashed those places to bits. Tens of millions of people died and it wrecked the global environment; soon the planet will be uninhabitable with all 3 billion people dead. (That’s just the first chapter.) If that’s not an apocalypse, I don’t know what would qualify.
They definitely start on the rebuilding thing. Granted it’s offworld, but still.
If you want really post-apocalypse with society patchily rebuilt, then one of the best examples is the Pelbar Cycle by Paul O. Williams. The overarching story is one of reconnection of the disparate survivors who have remained mostly separate for generations.The background is that some generations ago the world was wrecked. We don’t find out how until later in the series. For those who can’t wait: (view spoiler)
The Breaking of Northwall
The Ends of the Circle
The Dome in the Forest
The Fall of the Shell
The Ambush of Shadows
The Song of the Axe
The Sword of Forbearance
Northwall is a great castle/fortress on the Missippi River, built during the aftermath of the world ending. The Shell is a similar structure further down the river. These two towering cities are built by the Pelbar. The “savages” and wild tribes that live in the surrounding area include the Sentani and the Shumai, which are kinda-sorta equivalent to Native Americans, Vikings, Celtic tribes, etc. (Song of the Axe was one of my favorites of this series.) I forget offhand which tribe it is, but one of them are descendants of a Boy Scout/Girl Scout Jamboree who were off in the wilderness when civilization ended. Instead of going all Lord of the Flies they forged a viable society.
It’s very much a Science Fiction take on medieval exploration and cultures clashing — the Romans versus the Celts, for instance — but given a spin based on American culture. There are trials and tribulations, which you can probably tell by the book titles, but the overall theme is one of reconnection, discovering our common heritage, and forging a new society from the ashes of the old.
Dang, now I want to reread these.
Ty Trike.I'm confused but it's all me, not any of you.
Oh man! I've been lumping my Cataclysms and Apocalypses together. I'm going to have to sub-genre myself out of this mess.
Don wrote: "Oh man! I've been lumping my Cataclysms and Apocalypses together. I'm going to have to sub-genre myself out of this mess."Please elaborate!
The long fall. The problem is that i also searching for pre apocaliptyc books, apocaliptyc or post apocaliptyc books or series whitout zombies.... If anyone knows smt pls share them with me
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Not sure if David Brin's The Postman is up your alley.
The TestingBasically this is after the wars that pretty much decimate the earth. It's post war earth and how the continuing humans decided to continue education and so on. The reason I put it in optimistic is that the main character continues to try and believe in people even with bad things happening. I would say it falls under dystopian/post apocalyptic.
Swan Song (dark and uplifting if you can put those words in the same sentence) Lucifer's Hammer, Dies the Fire
Cheryl wrote: "The Long FallOne Second After
The Postman
Might be too dark for me but I will def. check, thank you!"
I will recommend you don't read "One Second After". It's a (view spoiler) It will rip your heart out & there's another that is even worse.
Wow, great help, ty all!I'll add an older one I just happened to read, The Watch Below by James White'
From my review:
Both wise and clever. I don't want to spoil anything for you, even something you learn pretty early on, but let's just say it succeeds at being a lot of different things: a survival story, a first-contact story, two variations on generation-ship stories, and it even feeds my interest in stories about post-apocalyptic rebuilding.
It's dated, and flawed, but still a fascinating read imo. Really gets into theories of sociology and explorations of what it means to be a person.
I am now re-reading Station Eleven and am intrigued by the resemblances....
I just enjoyed The Danger Quotient and it fits. This book from the 80s is YA classic time travel, but with many subtleties and provocative bits that make it a joy for open-minded adults, too. Not a whole lot about the re-building, but enough to interest fans of the theme.
John wrote: "Swan Song (dark and uplifting if you can put those words in the same sentence)..."Oh, man, huge second for Swan Song. Not a lot of rebuilding, but it does show the apocalypse, the good and evil people are capable of, and the end... (view spoiler) Well, |I'll just say that this book will stay with me forever.
Little side-note, while I was deployed, I met my (then future) wife online and we bonded over this book, so it holds even more hope to me than might be found by others.
Also The Chronicles of Old Guy. Not exactly post apocalyptic, but it's set after the human singularity and describes the civilization built by those they left behind. Lot of fun to read.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet doesn't take place on earth, but is also post-apocalyptic (earth became uninhabitable and is only slowly being restored) and definitely optimistic, reminiscent of Star Trek.
I read Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence when I wa in school - twice. It made a huge impression on me at the time, and my mom who usually don’t read genre fiction or anything gruelling liked it as well because of it’s uplifting, hopeful ending. It was 25-30 years ago though so I can’t say how it’ll hold up today, but now I kinda want to re-read it myself.
Children of the Dust & Earth Abides are both getting re-prioritized on my list, thank you both!Chambers whole trilogy is excellent, and though I hadn't thought of them through this lens, it's a valid perspective, ty Eva.
I think Emergence is pretty optimistic about its future. It's at the very beginning of the rebuild phase, hope that would be all right.
Ky wrote: "I think Emergence is pretty optimistic about its future. It's at the very beginning of the rebuild phase, hope that would be all right."It's already on my list for other reasons, so thanks much for giving me incentive to get around to it sooner rather than later!
Thank you! They look more dystopian than *post* apocalyptic to me, though, and I am not adding them to my list.
"The years of rice and salt"and
"The city of Ember"
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers is my favourite that fits this description - it’s generations post an earth collapse and about a space based civilisation of humans. It’s part of the trilogy that starts with ‘long way to a small angry planet’ but you could read it as a stand alone if you didn’t want to get in to all three books.
Good add to the list. I treasure and reread all three books, but it hadn't occurred to me to mention that here. Thank you.
Oh, I actually have something for you: the Kate Daniels series Magic Bites takes place in post-Magipocalypse Atlanta. Our world (cities lie in ruin) and society have been largely destroyed by the return of magic, which rolls over the landscape in periodic waves which makes technology stop functioning and magic start functioning, so that e.g. cars need a regular motor and a magic powering device to switch to during magic waves so you can keep driving. It's set during a time when the world has more or less started to recover and learned to cope, but it's still pretty gritty, broken and lawless. Kate starts out as a simple mercenary, but across the series accepts more and more responsibility for the world she lives in, trying to make it better and protect it from harm.Content warning: this has a sexy lion-shifter and werewolves and stuff like that, it's SF and fantasy mixed, just like it's world.
Optimistic post-apocalypse seems to be Sanderson's big theme, by the way: The Way of Kings is set in a post-apocalyptic world (to explain how and why would be a spoiler, I think).
Elantris is also set after a catastrophic event has destroyed a kingdom's way of life, turning its living gods into undead ghouls, basically, and the story focuses on undoing this again and finding out what went wrong.
The Final Empire is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which evil has won and now ash rains from the sky and people live in slavery.
Thanks! I'm looking more for SF than fantasy, but I'll investigate all suggestions. Except the last two... 'ghouls' and 'evil has won' don't sound optimistic to me!
I have been looking for some new SF to read so thanks! I think I’ll try LUCIFERS HAMMER.
I'm not sure if this works for you but it's an AMAZING story. It's called "I call him HIM" by Scott W. Kimak. Here's a review I recently wrote...
Masterpiece, is that a word I can use? When reading a book what do you consider a masterpiece? For me it’s a book that I can’t put down. A book that moves me and yanks me emotionally to my limits. And that is exactly what Mr. Kimak does in this phenomenal read. He has created a futuristic world as grim as you can possibly imagine. It is a dark and horrific place filled with sorrow. I hope to God it isn’t a foreshadowing of things to come. With all the crazy things happening in our world today it has left us with different opinions on politics and religion, but one thing I am sure all of us have in common is the love for our family. But what would happen if that was torn away? How would it impact you? Could it change you into something else?
This is the dilemma facing HIM. He is an unnamed warrior that never speaks. No one knows his name and that’s why they simply refer to him as “oh that’s him over there.” He is a man lost in pain, slipping deeper and deeper into darkness. The only thing he lives for is revenge. But then something happens. He meets a very special little girl and everything starts to change. Is he her savior or is she the one saving him?
Mr. Kimak has masterfully turned the written word into an art form to show you the bond between these two characters. You can visualize his pain and the love that he has for this child. I’m not ashamed to say that this book made me cry, but it also made me laugh. There is a side character named Bill that is absolutely hilarious, adding a needed element of joy to punch a hole in the darkness. There are two other characters that also play major roles and you easily fall in love with.
The main theme of this book is hope and I think that’s something all of us need in our lives in 2020. No matter how bad things may seem or how hopeless the future may look, we can’t give up. That’s what the characters in this book teach us. They live in a place a thousand times worse than we can imagine but they don’t lose faith. Sometimes just one little girl can make a difference and show us the way.
As I said in the beginning, I couldn’t put this book down. I read the entire thing from cover to cover in one day. I didn’t want to stop to eat. I didn’t want to stop to sleep, and I didn’t. My body begged for sleep but I wouldn’t listen. I told myself “Just one more chapter and then I’ll go to bed.” But one chapter turned to two, and two into three, and the next thing you know I was approaching the finish. I had to know what was going to happen. In the seventy years I’ve been on this planet, I’ve never had a book do that to me. So yes, I can say without doubt it’s a MASTERPIECE.
So totally wrong. I mean, look at this part of the blurb:." Ruled by an evil presence which dominates and controls what is left of mankind, Earth has been reduced to a violent place of darkness, grief and destruction.
I call him HIM follows the journey of this unnamed warrior as he loses both his family and his mind. As he hits rock bottom, all he can think of is his insatiable yearning for revenge"
Can you get much darker or less optimistic? Not imo.
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I think a sequel to Station Eleven might possibly qualify. I've got The Long Tomorrow on my list because it might be good even if it's distressing.
Any era* or intended age level ok. SF preferred. Info-dumps and character-heavy ok (action definitely not required).
I'd rather not read stuff that rates content warnings or is thrilling, but I do appreciate works that make me slow down and think.
*I should qualify that as I'm not a fan of most weird or experimental show-offy or drug-addled writing styles or foci like Spinrad or the difficult PKD.