End of the World/Apocalypse Type Books

[Eric]

I really enjoy end of the world, last man left, or apocalyptic type books but am running out of ideas.

I've read and recommend:
The Stand - Stephen King
Blindness - Jose Saramago
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Cell - Stephen King
The Dark Tower series - Stephen King
Also, I've explored the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye.

Do you guys have any other recommendations?

[Becky]

I've read the ones that you mentioned, and loved all of them except "Cell". I was disappointed by that one. *sigh*

I have a few on my "To Read" list that sound very good:
Swan Song
The Plague
Year of Wonders (about the plague of 1666)
Oryx and Crake
Earth Abides
World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War
Wastelands Stories of the Apocalypse (a short story anthology)

I love post-apocalyptic & dystopian fiction... I will definitely be following this thread! :)

[Nancy]

Hi Eric,

Here are some of my favorites in this genre:

Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny
Skimming the Gumbo Nuclear by M.F. Korn
Blood Crazy by Simon Clark
Whisper of Death by Christopher Pike
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
The Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
Dead Sea by Brian Keene
Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody (first of series)
Vanishing Point by Michaela Roessner
Shade's Children by Garth Nix
The Stone War by Madeleine E. Robins
The Rising by Brian Keene
City Of The Dead by Brian Keene (sequel to The Rising)
The Children of Men by P.D. James

[Lori, Super Mod]

I second Earth Abides.....
I read it right after The Road and followed it up with I Am Legend. That was my trilogy of Apocalypse......

[Emily]

What about Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut it is excellent.

[El]

There are some great titles on this list...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopian_...

[Becky]

I will have to look at that one El, I enjoy dystopian fiction, but I haven't read all that much of it.

Here's a Wikipedia page I found for Apocalyptic and Post-apocalyptic books & movies, etc.

[Dorie]

You may also like The Pesthouse by Jim Crace. It’s set in an America that has regressed to a pre-industrialized age.

[Brenda]

Alas,Babylon

[Eric]

Holy Cow guys! Look at all these books I'm going to have to read now. They all sound so good an I've added so many to my 'to get to read' list that I don't know where to begin.

Thanks to everyone for all the recommendations and keep them coming.

Becky, I forgot that I read World War Z and enjoyed it ok. I also have Earth Abides in a pile around here waiting to be read.

[Nancy]

Eric,

I forgot to mention one of my favorites:

War with the Newts

[Eric]

Thanks Nancy. War with the Newts sounds very good, as well.

[Jessa]

If you've read The Rising and City of the Dead by Briane Keene, then I suggest The Rising: Selected Scenes From the End of the World by Brian Keene. I haven't read it yet (I just ordered it on Friday), but it's supposed to be set in the world of the other 2 books. I'm so excited to read it!! Those were my fav zombie books. And I second every single book that has been said because I LOVE zombie and apocalyptic books. :) And imo, I Am Legend is so much better than the movie. Movie was good, but books are always better. :)

[Kelly]

Eric wrote: "I really enjoy end of the world, last man left, or apocalyptic type books but am running out of ideas.

I've read and recommend:
The Stand - Stephen King
Blindness - Jose Saramago
I Am Legend - R..."

I would recommend the S.M. Sterling series beginning with Dies the Fire (There are five so far in the series). Also Nick Sagan's Idlewild (3 books) series puts a different twist on endworld novels. Try also The Rift by Walter J. Williams.

Furthermore if you google apocolyptic fiction, there is an extensive list on Wikipedia. Some books are out of print, but it gives you a good start.

[Meghan]

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank is awesome! Also, I really like The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

You might try A Canticle for Leibowitz, if you haven't read it already.

[Robin]

I've not read a lot of these types of books but my thumbs up and down.

The Stand - best of the series (IMO)
World War Z - Very entertaining
The Road - a big thumbs down for me.

I'm actually moderating a discussion on The Road in the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club Group And there are some comparisons between The Stand and the Road.

It's a great book for a discussion as people either love it or hate it. It's a great discussion going on.

-- Wife of GR author Michael J. Sullivan: The Crown Conspiracy (10/08) | Avempartha (04/09)

[Mosca]

Not a classic; but my favorite is The Forge of God by Greg Bear

[Paula]

The Rising by Brian Keene
City Of The Dead by Brian Keene
Dead Sea by Brian Keene
The Children of Men by P.D. James
World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War
I Am Legend
The Road

I've read and enjoyed all of these and gladly recommend them.

[Eric]

Thanks for all your continued recommendations, everyone. Just added a bunch more of your choices to my list.

[Christine]

if you want to try something with a bit of a humorous twist...

Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

It is absolutely HILARIOUS :o)

[Robin]

So I highly recoomend Good Omens as well - but not sure it fits well into this group - true it is about Armagedon but most of the books in that genre are more heavy and dark. Though I think everyone should read it just for pure enjoyment.

[Burbeny]

A few of my favorite 'end of the world' books:
The Girl who owned a city by OT Nelson
One second after by William Forstchen
-another book i cant remember the exact name it was translated into English but it was something like "the girl who never knew man" very good book.

[Tobey]

Some great recommendations here!

One of my favorites is: The Last Canadian byWilliam C. Heine

[Suzanne]

'The Taken' by Dean Koontz... one of my favorites

[Scribble]

A Rose for Armageddon is little known, but compelling.

A pair of scientists map morphology lines over the planet and discover an anomaly where no lines pass. Convinced this is significant and somehow connected to the fast-approaching disintegration of society, they journey to the anomaly. The choices they make there will impact both their pasts and futures.

Read it, I solemnly swear it is a worthy investment of your reading time.

[Kellyflower]

Eric,
You may like Neal Shusterman's Unwind
also Carla Buckley's book The Things That Keep Us Here.