Apocalyptic books

[goblinvalley]

Has anyone got any suggestions for end of the world type books ? I have read Terry Brooks Word and Void and am looking for some more good reading.

Thanks

[rushour]

the classic george orwell

[cyteen]

DP has just finished World War Z by Max Brooks, which apparently is quite apocalyptic - he said it was very good.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a classic sci fi post-apocalyse novel, detailing the fall, rise and fall again of a technologically enlightened society.

Blood Music by Greg Bear has been reissued recently, it's pretty bizarre - about a virus that gets out of control.

[grendel]

On the Beach by Neville Shute

The Pest House by Jim Crace (much warmer and more optimistic than The Road, although of course it is still a somewhat gloomy topic)

and of course, The Road (if you're feeling very robust)

[janeite]

Yes to "On The Beach".

DP read "The Road" and cried (he never cried) so I've not managed to bring myself to read it yet.

"Brother In The Land" if you don't mind children's books.

"The Stand".

[janeite]

Oh I've just read"The Pest House" and had forgotten all about it!

[janeite]

Sorry, should say "he never cries" not cried.

[marina]

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood

The death of the machine, a short story by EM Forster of all people, is good

John Wyndham's books on mankind facing mortal peril from alien life forces are also interesting - The Kraken Wakes, The Midwich Cuckoos

Marge Piercy's two books Woman on the Edge of Time and Body of Glass are her flirtations with dystopic cyberpunk. Woman on the Edge of time is one of the best novels I've ever read

[mamabutters]

"Girlfriend in a Coma" by Douglas Coupland

[bran]

Death of Grass by John Christopher is a bit dated, but good.

J G Ballard wrote a few apocalyptic novels too.

[mummyjaguar]

definitely the road.

dh as a father of two boys was very affected by it

made me want to put together an emergency survival kit

[bran]

Not exactly apocalyptic, but I think along similar lines to The Word and The Void is American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

I also really liked Earth Abides and Lucifer's Hammer

[Aimsmum]

Message withdrawn

[goblinvalley]

Thanks for all your great suggestions, I shall start hunting them all down

[squilly]

John Wyndham the Chrysalids is a post apocolyptic tale. Didn't see it mentioned with the earlier Wyndham classics and I have to say I loved this one...

I also liked Aldous Huxley's Brave New World...very chilling.

[hazeyjane]

Girlfriend in a coma - Douglas Coupland
Watchmen - Alan Moore (comic book/novel)
American Gods by Neil Gaiman is brilliant

[marina]

Children of Men, by P D James

Duh, fancy forgetting The Chrysalids squilly

[marina]

Oh, and The Birds by Daphne du Maurier is pretty conclusive

[IorekByrnison]

Would second recommendation of EM Forster The Machine Stops. It's short - you can download it for free here

Published in 1909, but would you believe it - the main character is a mother who spends her days talking about culture to people she never sees via a screen in her living room.

Could never happen!!

[marina]

I thought he was a genius when I read that story Iorek - it is stunning, isn't it. quite out of keeping with his better-known novels, although I think there is a tendency to underrate him critically because of the Merchant-Ivory renditions

[GrapefruitMoon]

I love Girlfriend in a Coma too - but I am a bit of a Douglas Coupland fan anyway....

[pooter]

Ooh 'Brother in the LAnd' that takes me back. I read it at about 12 and it really affected me. I still remember it vividly. Goblin, why do you want to read about EOTW scenarios? Just asking - personally i run a mile from anything a tad depressing.

Just had a thought - last weeks' New Scientist had a very interesting - and scary - article on how precarious our society is because no-one is self sufficient, indeed no country is, and how we should think about getting a survival kit together.

Right, im off to America to join a survivalist cult....byeeee

[janeite]

I'd forgotten about "Girlfriend In A Coma" too, which I read purely to spot Smiths' lyrics (how sad am I?!!!). I feel that Coupland has an utterly perfect novel inside him somewhere but that he hasn't quite managed to get it down on paper yet. His books are very good indeed but still flawed I feel and with every new one I find myself wondering if this one is going to be "THE ONE".