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Original poster

Apocalyptic books

34 replies

goblinvalley · 20/04/2008 21:00

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

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squilly · 18/08/2008 16:38

I loved Cloud Atlas...was just coming on to recommend that. Also Oryx and Crake which got mentioned early on.

Love these fantasy/SciFi type threads. Makes me feel less geeky...slightly

Earthymama · 18/08/2008 00:03

Marina...I love Woman on the Edge of time, I found it life changing in the 80's...so glad someone else is a fan.

Yet Again I recommend Sheri Tepper, www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/sheri-s-tepper/, many of her books have an Apocalyptic 'feel'. I love Family Tree and Gibbon's Decline and Fall. When she writes about other races and other times she says so much about this world we live in and what we need to be aware of.

And she is a Feminist!!

thumbwitch · 18/08/2008 00:00

I like Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle.
On an even lighter note, how about Ben Elton's Stark? or Gridlock? or This Other Eden?

themoon66 · 17/08/2008 23:53

1984

FlossCampi · 17/08/2008 23:48

Z for Zachariah

Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell) has a sort of post-apocalyptic strand.

There was an Ian McEwan piece on apocalypse in the Grauniad a few weeks back that might be worth a read - no book recommendations though.

RaggedRobin · 17/08/2008 22:26

sorry, i'm late to the apocalypse party, but i'm a newbie!

another vote for mccarthy's 'the road'. i had to put it down halfway through and creep into my sleeping son's room to hold him.

on a lighter note, kurt vonnegut's cat's cradle is a novel about the end of the world to make you smile.

wishfort · 30/04/2008 11:04

Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. A stunner.

francagoestohollywood · 23/04/2008 21:13

Cormac Mc Carthy "the road" and Jose' Saramago "Blindness"

TwoIfBySea · 23/04/2008 21:09

Brother In The Land, I remember that one. And I read it over 20 years ago when I was about 13. Gave me nightmares and made me terrified of a nuclear war happening.

Happy reading!

janeite · 22/04/2008 21:02

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".

pooter · 22/04/2008 20:40

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

GrapefruitMoon · 22/04/2008 11:04

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

marina · 22/04/2008 10:57

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

IorekByrnison · 22/04/2008 10:22

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 · 22/04/2008 09:38

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

marina · 22/04/2008 09:37

Children of Men, by P D James

Duh, fancy forgetting The Chrysalids squilly

hazeyjane · 22/04/2008 09:25

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

squilly · 22/04/2008 09:17

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.

Original poster
goblinvalley · 21/04/2008 13:09

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

OP posts:
Aimsmum · 21/04/2008 11:21

Message withdrawn

bran · 21/04/2008 11:18

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

mummyjaguar · 21/04/2008 10:45

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 · 21/04/2008 10:42

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

J G Ballard wrote a few apocalyptic novels too.

Psychobabble · 21/04/2008 10:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mamabutters · 20/04/2008 23:00

"Girlfriend in a Coma" by Douglas Coupland

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