Good post-apocalyptic books?

M

Median

First time out of the vault
Hello!

I've recently been starting to get an interest for post-apocalyptic books and i've just recently order books like the Postman, A Canticle for Leibowitz and the Snowfall trilogy.

Is anyone able to recommend any more books that i should read? I would like to avoid zombie apocalypses though, i prefer nuclear holocaust or some other sort.
 
I keep recommending 'Lucifer's Hammer' to people. Probably the best before-during-after apocalyptic book I've ever read. It was written in the 70's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle and it's about Earth getting hit by a massive meteor.
 
And here are a few more. The question arises from time to time. :)

Of those mentioned in the linked thread, I've got to put a bit of extra emphasis on Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick and Earth Abides by George R. Stewart.
 
SkuLL said:
I keep recommending 'Lucifer's Hammer' to people. Probably the best before-during-after apocalyptic book I've ever read. It was written in the 70's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle and it's about Earth getting hit by a massive meteor.
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Yeah, been on my list for quite some time now. Will buy it when i get the money.
 
SkuLL said:
I keep recommending 'Lucifer's Hammer' to people. Probably the best before-during-after apocalyptic book I've ever read. It was written in the 70's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle and it's about Earth getting hit by a massive meteor.
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+1 on this, it's a great book.
 
DammitBoy said:
SkuLL said:
I keep recommending 'Lucifer's Hammer' to people. Probably the best before-during-after apocalyptic book I've ever read. It was written in the 70's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle and it's about Earth getting hit by a massive meteor.
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+1 on this, it's a great book.
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+2!
Also, i recommend "The Stand" by Stephen King.
My favorite King novel.
 
I recently read After the Flood by P. C. Jersild. It reminds me of The Road in its attempt to not glamorize the life after the apocalypse - there is no hope and it is quite depressing throughout the entire read. But it's also the main strength in this book. The story is told by a rather detached voice, Jersild was a Swedish military doctor and it is reflected in his writing. It fits the setting very well.

Edit: After the Flood, not After the Fall (thanks, verevoof, for pointing that out).
 
Putting in another Stephen King book, or rather books. The dark tower series is part post-apocalyptic, part fantasy, part sci-fi, part western, part multi-dimensional romp.

It's great series and it's his self proclaimed magnum-opus.
 
+1 for the Stand and the Road, the former being pretty good (Excellent by King standards) and the latter being pretty damn excellent by any standards.
The Dark Tower series is pretty fun, but it draws far closer to a sort o western than apocalypse. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of apocalypse, but as it's put in the book, 'the world moved on'. There's also copious amounts of sci-fi and fantasy bits and a whole helluva a lot of tie ins to other King novels.
 
SkuLL said:
I keep recommending 'Lucifer's Hammer' to people. Probably the best before-during-after apocalyptic book I've ever read. It was written in the 70's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle and it's about Earth getting hit by a massive meteor.
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A fantastic read, I agree! I wish I still had my copy; read it back in junior high, and some bible-thumper asshole kid grabbed it off my lunch table and tossed it in the trash. :(
 
If you don't mind trash novels, I've heard the Deathlands series are pretty good. I for one recommend The Gunslinger by Stephen King. It's perfectly end of the worldish, philosophical and I enjoyed the relative short size and fast pacing. (A good break from the typical George RR Martin sized novel I usually read.)

As for The Stand? The first third is a great introduction to the end of the world. It's gripping, horrifying, and just fun to read. The 2nd half of the book however (the post apocalypse part) is actually rather dull and lingering. It's still intriguing to read, I just didn't breeze through it like I did with the beginning. And then there is the end. Good God, this novel has a shit ending. You can definitely tell King had issues with the ideas for it. My pet peeve with novels are when they are long and drawn out with quick and sudden endings and the Stand is the worse of this bunch. No sense of climax, it's cheap, and tries to be way too deep and it just fails at it.
 
ZeusComplex said:
If you don't mind trash novels, I've heard the Deathlands series are pretty good.
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A guilty pleasure to be sure. That and the Outlander series. Written by Mel Odom under a pen name.

Great writer, good stuff - even if it is kinda trashy pulp fiction.
 
The endings always kinda suck in King's novels. It's also got it's bit of supernatural hooey that he loves, but for the most part (the best part) it's not too much of a hassle.

Also, while it never happens, I do love the end of the world plot from Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. There is no actual apocalypse and it's about as long as the Stand is fairly awful, but still 'fun' if you're into that kinda thing.
 
Courier said:
I think he meant to post that in the gun owners thread.
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I can see how a person would easily confuse books and guns... :?

Book-Guns-by-Robert-The-004.jpg
 
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