Your favourite apocalyptic novels?

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

Not my favourite necessarily, but I've recently finished the Last Policeman trilogy and loved it. The premise sounded a bit , 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.

I found Girl with all the gifts incredibly warming and life affirming DustOffYourHighestHopes, through all the suffering and terror, humanity and kindness prevailed. I nearly gave up 3/4 way through as it was just irritating me but so glad I persevered and I think about it quite fondly now.

Not apocalyptic, but definitely dystopian (Sorry for derailing OP, I lump them all together in my head!), Never Let Me Go is a complete heartbreaking, horrifying joy. After I finished it I sat completely still for about an hour just thinking about it and having a little weep. Utterly gut wrenching, in such a gentle way.

Great thread!

Can I add Wolf and Iron by Gordon Dickson. It's about one man who foresaw the end of the world through mathematics but then has to find his way in this new and dangerous world by using his intellect and ultimately finding his inner survivor. Oh and he befriends a wolf.

Also, A Canticle For Liebowitz by Walter M Miller Jr. It looks at how we are doomed to repeat our mistakes. I read it ages ago and it really stayed with me.

The Road. It's terrible and brilliant at the same time.

@DustOffYourHigherHopes was that YA book about a plague that caused premature aging? And the young fella that roamed round by himself met a guy in a Rolls Royce who nicked the jewellery that reminded him of his mother? Plus there was someone else who survived for a while and released balloons with his address, but the protagonist found him too late?

I read that one about 30 years ago and can't for the life of me remember the title or author, if anyone else knows, can you tell me?

I recently finished Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. It's a picaresque ramble round post-apocalyptic Kent narrated by a 12 year old boy in garbled/phonetic English. It is hard going but brilliant! One of my favourite quotes is 'sharna pax and hed on a poal when the ardship of Cambry come out of his hoal'. I found that I had to read it in chunks otherwise my head hurt.

I like a lot of the books mentioned above, especially the Wool series. I also like the Zombie Fallout series (earlier books better than the later ones) by Mark Tufo, I don't generally like zombie books but this one has engaging characters and even some humour.

One of my favourite as a child was Children of the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl, it's several generations post apocalyptic so the society is stable but circumstances mean it operates in an 'odd' way.

The Fireman by Joe Hill

@Whatthefoxgoingon I have been trying to remember the name of Swan Song and its author for about 20 years!!! thanks to you i have just sent it to my Kindle!!! thank you so much!!
Cant wait to re read this as an adult :-)

@littlewoollypervert Empty World, by John Christopher

Fooferella - "A Canticle For Liebowitz by Walter M Miller Jr. It looks at how we are doomed to repeat our mistakes."

Please read Cloud Atlas, if you haven't already. You will love it.

You’re very welcome Acurlywurly! Hope you enjoy your second read.

I recommend Swan Song to fans of The Stand. Not quite the same but a good read nonetheless.

Loved cloud atlas as well.

Another vote for The Stand. Currently re- 'reading' courtesy of Audible.

Survivors as mentioned upthread.

Will read World War Z after this. I enjoyed the first part of the film. I also loved Day of the Triffids show as a child so will try the book.

I did start Surviving the Evacuation series and Dark Tower series but didn't progress very far.

God, I loved Hyperion. Such a clever book. Shame the sequels weren't as good.

The Passage is being made into a telly programme. How exciting is that?!

Thanks @Dubdoor !

littlewoolly and dubdoor YES thank you! That’s the one!

Googling it has led me to the Tripods series by John christopher - I remember some parts of those stories so vividly.

John Christopher is wonderful, my copy is lost somewhere in my messy house, I've been hunting it for ages. Also great to see so many John Wyndham fans. I would add Octavia Butler's 'Parable of the Seeds' and the sequel 'Parable of the Talents' set in a world blighted by greed and environmental devastation, the heroine Lauren works to rebuild her community. Also Marlen Haushofer 'The Wall' about a woman left alone after an unknown catastrophe sets her apart from the world.

Thanks @CoteDAzur, I've never been drawn to Cloud Atlas but I'll check it out.

I'm so excited to start reading some of these!

The Undead Series by R.R. Haywood 22 books in the series.

I do love a good apocalypse novel. In fact though, better than an apocalypse imo is a post-apocalypse. John Wyndham, John Christopher obviously. Brother in the Land is wonderful.

My favourite currently is one called The Dog Stars by Peter Heller - it's set in Utah or somewhere in a post-mass-flu-death world, with a bloke who has a small plane and a dog. It's beautiful.

Great thread! My reading list has just grown mahoosively!

Another vote for the Stand. My absolute favourite book.

I'm reading Justin Cronin The City of Mirrors which I thinks the best of the trilogy.

And Cloud Atlas - another long winded but fabulously weird read!

Robopocalyse - bloody good read. About the Uprising of AI. It reminded me a lot of World War Z, but with robots.
I tried station 11, but I found it very sanitised for apocalyptic/dystopian fiction.

If anyone is planning to read World War Z and has an Audible account then I recommend the Audible version over the written version. Some of the accents are a mite dodgy but in general it's more immersive, as though you're listening to the actual interview.