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Original poster

Does this book exist? Help please.

95 replies

ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 02/07/2011 21:31

So - I want a book.

I want it to be a huge and well written and gripping post-apocolyptic novel.

I want to not have read it already and that is where the problem starts!

Have read-
The Stand - the best imho
The Handmaid's Tale - liked it
The Road -didn't think much of it
Cell - better 2nd time around but not a patch on The Stand
I Am Legend - ok
The Knife Of Never Letting Go series - v good
Brother In The Land - loved it as a teen
On The Beach - liked
The Passage - liked a lot and will read again before the next one comes out
Oryx And Crake - didn't like much
The Flood - liked a lot

SO does what I want exist please? :)

OP posts:
PirateDinosaur · 10/07/2011 20:26

Earth Abides is a classic -- am Shock that no one has mentioned it yet

John Christopher's The Death of Grass is good but falls down on hugeness.

Takver · 10/07/2011 20:00

Try abebooks for 2nd hand copies of some of the older ones? (Mind you was looking for a copy of Canticle for Liebowitz & also Flowers for Algernon myself recently & was cheaper new.)

spiderslegs · 10/07/2011 19:41

Oh & J G Ballard's The Drought is a cracker.

BalloonSlayer · 10/07/2011 19:32

What about Patrick Tilley's Amtrak Wars? Couldn't stand it meself but loved his "Mission" so he is a good writer.

spiderslegs · 10/07/2011 19:32

& Riddley Walkey is a classic.

spiderslegs · 10/07/2011 19:31

There's always the Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF.

Short stories & novellas but a whopper & some great ones in there.

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell is one I enjoyed recently - quite poetic, and examines the human relationships beautifully.

Also second Steven Baxter's Flood & Ark - I thought they were fantastic, Flood follows the downfall over a period of decades with interwoven stories, Ark is concerned with the projects designed to escape the catastrophe.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 10/07/2011 19:30

Thanks Takver.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 10/07/2011 19:28

Thanks. At least one of them has been mentioned (A Canticle...) but the library didn't even have it available to order. I'm working up to an Amazon order!

Googling Earth Abides now.

Takver · 10/07/2011 19:26

Walk to the End of the World / Motherlines (Suzy McKee Charnas) - gripping, substantial (at least I have the two books bound together which makes it rather large), post-apocalyptic. Good but depressing - but I guess if you like post-apocalyptic you won't mind that Grin I think there are further sequels

Native Tongue / the Judas Rose (Suzette Haden Elgin) - not so much post apocalyptic, but if you liked the Handmaid's Tale I think it would appeal

Not massive at all, but my personal favourite post-apocalyptic tale is Solitude, by Ursula le Guin. Its only a short story (in the collection the Birthday of the World) but hits way above its weight.

Definitely agree Riddley Walker is a classic.

spiderslegs · 10/07/2011 19:23

*apocalyptic

spiderslegs · 10/07/2011 19:21

Has anyone mentioned A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller or Earth Abides by George R. Stewart?

Both post-apocolyptic, beautifully written & pretty chunky.

Definitely not your Steven King type though - more literary.

Will think of more, it's one of my favourite sub-genres.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 10/07/2011 19:09

Sci-fi as a genre isn't just books which are set in the future though, is it? I think it has other conventions which The Stand and The Road, for example, do not meet - yet they are post-apocolyptic. For sci-fi, I would assume other worlds, reliance on futuristic technology perhaps, non-human characters maybe.

CoteDAzur · 10/07/2011 19:03

How exactly do you define worldwide apocalypse, if post-apocalyptic works of fiction are not to be sci-fi?

My understanding is that since we haven't had one yet, any global apocalypse will have to be in the future: sci-fi.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 10/07/2011 17:24

Cote - I agree that those two aren't post-apocolyptic but disagree that post -ap fiction is always sci-fi.

CoteDAzur · 10/07/2011 17:18

Post-apocalyptic books are by definition sci-fi, so I'm a bit puzzled by some of these book recommendations like Book Thief and Ukrainian Tractors

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 10/07/2011 16:50

David Gemmell books are a great read, but not exactly high literature, no. Great anti-heroes but possibly a bit 2 dimensional.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 10/07/2011 15:17

Have read 'Androids' but not the others. Ta.

CoteDAzur · 10/07/2011 15:09

Anathem by Neal Stephenson. I have read nothing more "huge" and brain-hurty.

CoteDAzur · 10/07/2011 15:02

Children of Men? If you haven't watched the film, especially.

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep is good post-apocalyptic fiction, whether or not you have seen Blade Runner.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 10/07/2011 13:43

Read Z for Z. Brother In The Land is another good teen one too.

squishysquashy · 10/07/2011 12:05

Z for Zachariah. But read it as a teenager so not guaranteeing anything...

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 10/07/2011 12:00

Thanks. Not heard of those, so will need to google.

Does 'easy read' mean 'not terribly well-written' though?

EllenJaneisnotmyname · 10/07/2011 10:18

The Postman by David Brin is really quite good. I love post-apocalyptic stuff and have read most of the above!

Jon Shannow books by David Gemmell are an easy read, but I prefer his Drenai books (not post apocalyptic)

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 09/07/2011 16:57

Read it - loved it.

OP posts:
MayorNaze · 09/07/2011 16:57

the passage by justin cronin is post apocalyptic-ish

but more in a monster/vampire type of way

still good though :)

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