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Original poster

Your favourite apocalyptic novels?

105 replies

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 10/05/2018 19:09

Not my favourite necessarily, but I've recently finished the Last Policeman trilogy and loved it. The premise sounded a bit Hmm, but it was actually really good - the slow unravelling of society as the trilogy progressed was gripping, and very convincing.

There also used to be a lot of kids'books about nuclear war around in the 80s, remember them? I must have read Z For Zacharia and Brother in the Land 20 Times each.

OP posts:
readyforapummelling · 10/05/2018 20:18

World War Z by Max Brooks is fab. Different from other books and I love it.

The Stand is still my favourite but love Brook's style.

wontbedoingthat · 10/05/2018 20:14

Mega femme - I really wanted to love station eleven. Female author, great premise, but I just thought something was missing somehow. Still a good read though.

wontbedoingthat · 10/05/2018 20:11

My favourite genre! Will have a look on my shelves in a bit but the first that came to mind is Night Work. Really quite terrifying actually. I think it's by a German author and has been translated.

megafemme · 10/05/2018 20:09

I love The Road. It is bleak.but ultimately uplifting IMO.
Station Eleven is a blimmin work of art. Adore it.

Imchlibob · 10/05/2018 20:08

I loved Z for Zachariah and Brother in the Land too.

But better than either of these is Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence - I'm quite surprised no one else has mentioned it.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 10/05/2018 20:08

place marking while I think of some.

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 10/05/2018 20:05

I remember reading The Death of Grass at school. It has stayed with me for 30 odd years.
The Justin Cronin trilogy are the bleakest books I have ever read - I cried bucketloads but they were absolutely amazing. I'm envious of people who haven't read them yet!

TinklyLittleLaugh · 10/05/2018 20:04

Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns trilogy and Prince of Fools trilogy are also post apocalyptic. As is Joe Abercrombie'sAbercrombie's Half a King trilogy. But they're post post post apocalyptic and set in societies very removed from our kind of society.

NannyR · 10/05/2018 20:01

The Road is excellent but very bleak.

AmazingPostVoices · 10/05/2018 19:57

Echoing others:

The Handmaids Tale
On the Beach (needs a large box of hankies)
Oryx and Crake

Forstchen’s One Second After is wonderful but terrifying. There are two follow up books if you like trilogies.

The Red Sister is the first of a new trilogy by Mark Lawrence, the second book is due out soon. It’s set in a post apocalyptic society where the world is reduced to a 50 mike corridor around an ice bound planet.

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 10/05/2018 19:55

Our book group got pre-publication copies of Wool to review .

The Prince in Waiting trilogy and Death of Grass are both v. bleak (I guess that kind of goes with the apocalyptic theme, though), but very good. The Death of Grass is available on kindle.

Not really apocalyptic, but Futuretrack 5 is a really excellent young adult dystopian story.

pinkmagic1 · 10/05/2018 19:53

Children of the dust is a book aimed at teenagers about nuclear war.
Read it as a young teenager in the early 90's and it stuck with me. I recently ordered it on ebay and re read it.

ZiggyStardusters · 10/05/2018 19:48

Station 11 is fab!

NukaColaGirl · 10/05/2018 19:48

The Darwath Trilogy by Barbara Hambly

Badbilly · 10/05/2018 19:47

War Day by Whiteley Streiber (check spelling) about the aftermath of a nuclear conflict between USA & USSR that only lasts a day, as both governments get wiped out in the first phase and there is no one left on either side to give further orders. Part novel, and part "documentary" based on the known facts at the time of writing (1980's).

Frogletmamma · 10/05/2018 19:47

I am legend.

Coffeethrowtrampbitch · 10/05/2018 19:44

The Partials series by Dan Wells is really good.
I love the oldies, The Chrysalis and The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham were some of the first adult books I ever read.

MyOtherHusbandIsTomHardy · 10/05/2018 19:42

The stand
Swan song
Domain

The one I've enjoyed recently was The End Of The World Running Club.

BoneyBackJefferson · 10/05/2018 19:40

the Jon Shannow Series

Corneliasedet · 10/05/2018 19:39

Definitely the Wool trilogy. I keep hoping someone might make them into a tv programme.

PuppyMonkey · 10/05/2018 19:36

I also love The Stand - DP and the kids look at me like this Hmm when they have a cold and I joke it might be Captain Trips. Grin

dontticklethetoad · 10/05/2018 19:33

Dubdoor glad someone else has read the Wool Trilogy. No one else seems to have heard of them!

Whatthefoxgoingon · 10/05/2018 19:31

Also:

Swan song by Robert McCammon (nuclear, written in the 80s)

I like the first Wool book, but was disappointed with the other two.

Whatthefoxgoingon · 10/05/2018 19:28

Some more recommendations, some are more YA fiction:

  1. Age of miracles by Karen Walker (just read this, about the spinning of the earth slowing down)
  1. The passage trilogy by Justin cronin (vampires)
  1. The girl with all the gifts by MR Carey (zombies)
  1. The death of grass by John Christopher (oldie and obscure about er...the death of grass!)
  1. On the beach by Neville Shute (nuclear, another oldie but goodie)

The stand remains my favourite. I will check out the last policeman!

Jozxyqk · 10/05/2018 19:24

The Mad Addam trilogy.
Also The Handmaids Tale.
The Children of Men
Green Angel
Brother in the Land

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