Does this book exist? Help please.

[ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie]

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? :)

The Stands is a cracker.I agree.

Gah - I got all excited then because I thought you were going to tell me what to read!

The Stand is one of my favourite books ever

Robert R. McCammon's Swan Song is nearly as good

The Crysalids - John Wyndham - not huge but cracking

and my top novel of all time, Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

Have read The Chrysalids etc.

Googling Ridley Walker (which I had forgotten about, even though it's been mentioned a lot on here) and Swan Song now. Thanks.

Sorry Colonel.
My brain is fried after entire day in front of the computer.

Wally Lamb is a fantastic writer. 'She's come undone' and This much is true will stay with you for a loooong time.

world war z was okay, wasn't a huge book though.

I am going to buy Children of the Dust, Louise Lawrence, to read next someone recommended it to me.

Ohhh, Riddley Walker is v cool. Although it will affect your future enjoyment of Punch & Judy no end.

Not post apocalypse as such, but on the distopia mould - how about:
Angela Carter: The Passions of a new Eve
Native Tongue: Suzette Elgin

Both feminist standpoint, but if you have Atwood in there, assume you're up for that :-)

The problem is with the huge - nothing seems to be as huge as The Stand. I love a good post-apocalyptic novel so am racking my brains.

Not huge books but i enjoyed
The Ice People - Maggie Gee
The Carhullan Army - Sarah Hall
Death of Grass - John Christopher (retro - no need to fear any female heroines)
Not post-apocalyptical put have you read 'The Sparrow' Mary Doria Russell ?- I loved that so much.
Stephen Baxter - 'Flood' followed by 'Ark' - - I thought it was going to be trilogy but can't see signs of No 3. i enjoyed the scope but less so the actual books. (Not sure if you were referring to Atwood's Flood or this one)

And another book that really stayed with me even though it's officially a 'young adult' book (not on same scale as the Knife of Never Letting Go though) is Susan Beth Pfeffer's 'Life as We Knew It' - I haven't read the 2 other books in the series though. Have been recommended Children of the Dust before - must get around to it..

Still can't come up with anything as big as 'The Stand' though. will keep thinking.

Ah The Flood by Maggie Gee - I knew there was something else I had been meaning to read..

John Twelve Hawks - 'Traveler' had the same hype as the Justin Cronin ' 'The Passage' but can't recommend it yet because it's still on my shelf.

Ok that's definitely it.

Thank you all - I now have some serious googling to do!

Just given dp a library list...

Riddley Walker
Swan Song
Children Of The Dust

for starters. I can't remember if I've read the latter before or not - it sounds familiar but I'm not sure.

Any more?

I liked Gwyneth Jones - as bold as love series. Will look up the others as loved the Stand too.

It'll never get better than The Stand.

" 'Goodbye, East Texas. It's been pretty goddamn good to know you.' ...and none of them ever saw Stu Redman again."

Moondog I Know This Much is True is sooooooo good. Most satisfying ending ever.

Teenage fiction, but very well written - The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

I have just finished Stephen King's Dark Tower series and thought they were even better than The Stand. I would really recommend them.

My fav book is The Book Thief by Marcus Suzak. Not sure if it's what you're after though.

I Am Legend - ok?! Just ok! Gah!!
I'm really into my Zombie post-apocolyptic stuff atm, so ignore me if it's not your sort of thing;
Monster Island by David Wellington is ok, but the other two books in the trilogy are just awful.
Hater- David Moody is alright, but is terribly London/city-ish, there is a second book out atm.
Plague of the Dead: The morningstar strain is good & is the first in a trilogy, yay!
If you're happy to look at (not so) pretty pictures The Walking Dead series is awesome; compendium 1 is £25 on amazon atm & has 1088 pages (although I did read it in a sitting)!

Have read King's Dark Tower series lots of times - I love it and you're right, I should have listed it.

I Am Legend was a bit clunky, I thought - some good bits but the ending felt a bit contrived and so did the 'fitting in the title' thing.

Must try the Hunger Games ones.

No to Zombie stuff and pictures - but thank you anyway.

Read and enjoyed The Book Thief but not the sort of thing I'm after now.

Cheerful Yank :( :( :( God I love that book. If I had to save that or the complete works of Austen from a burning bookcase, Janie might have to die. :(

If you liked The Stand, which I loved in my twenties (would like to read it again to see if I still do...) Under the Dome is meant to be that huge by Stephen King, or there is his gunslinger series (loved them but never finished the last few). They are also called Dark Tower. If you like S.K. I recommend loads of his earlier stuff. James Herberts "If" and "The magic cottage" are also great x

and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, loved most of it, didn't finish it, would like to speak to someone who did!

If you liked The Stand, which I loved in my twenties (would like to read it again to see if I still do...) Under the Dome is meant to be that huge by Stephen King, or there is his gunslinger series (loved them but never finished the last few). They are also called Dark Tower. If you like S.K. I recommend loads of his earlier stuff. James Herberts "If" and "The magic cottage" are also great x

Read Under The Dome - read everything by SK. You MUST finish The Dark Tower. They are superb!

read a lot of JH's but don't like him much. King writes 'real' characters whilst JH writes cardboard cutouts imho. And King writes for emotions whilst JH writes for shock/schlock value. Not read 'The Magic Cottage' though.