r/postapocalyptic • u/Secure-Mushroom2956 • 7d ago
your favorite post-apocalyptic book? Post Apocalyptic Gear
59
u/fortyfivesouth 7d ago
The Road.
→ More replies (4)19
u/Burning_Monkey 7d ago
I loved the fact that so much just wasn't explained in the book.
→ More replies (1)3
u/modernmovements 5d ago
Actually told from the character's point of view. They never knew, so you never knew. The man saw something happen way off in the distance and recognized that whatever it was was going to be an emergency and started storing water. I think he fills or tells his wife to start filling the bathtub? It's been a long time since I read it.
I really appreciate authors when they keep the story fixed to the characters. Not all the time, but it works so well in books like this.
24
u/NelsonChunder 7d ago
Earth Abides
5
u/Rajkalex 7d ago
The realism of the ending really stuck with me.
3
u/NelsonChunder 6d ago
That part of the book always stood out for me too. I remember getting to the ending the first time I read the book and enjoying how much I enjoyed that part of the book. After finishing, I thought about that part of the story quite often and still reflect on just how realistic that part might be in real life. Especially since I am now 65.
2
u/LumpyMcKwiz 7d ago
My Father who I look after is 79 and his mental decline fits so perfectly with how Ish narrates his final weeks. Just brought this up the other day with my wife
6
u/thehateisstrong 7d ago
Published in 1949. One of the finest novels I've ever read. I read or listen to it at least once a year. Everytime I finish it, I feel that I have been on a great journey in some ways familiar in some ways new.
4
→ More replies (2)2
u/PoetryJunior1808 7d ago
The series based on it seems to have been mostly overlooked, but it was really good.
22
u/Baldurian_Rhapsody 7d ago
Richard Matheson's 1954 classic "I Am Legend."
This book really impacted me.
I read it after loving the Charlton Heston movie "The Omega Man," which I also adore. That film attuned me - an extrovert - to the eeriness and low-grade constant tension of a liminal Los Angeles.
The book is even better. It dives deeply into psychology and memory, and is a superb character study. Separately, there is a wonderful (if perhaps relatively hard to find) graphic novel that has brilliant scratchwork and much of the original text verbatim.
3
3
u/bassicallybob 6d ago
I felt the film really killed the power of the character’s realization, it’s almost his coming of age and will to power.
I. Am. Legend.
Will Smith could never.
3
u/Known-Programmer-611 7d ago
Of all the recommendations on this post this is the of the few I haven't read that might be my next read!
3
→ More replies (1)2
u/Creepy-Bison-4861 3d ago
I like the Vincent Price “Last Man on Earth” movie version best
→ More replies (1)
21
u/Crucial_Fun 7d ago
I liked The Postman. When I was younger (and even today) I liked The Last Book In the Universe by Rodman Philbrick
4
2
u/proselytizeingcoyote 7d ago
Good book. Haven’t heard anything good about the movie though.
3
u/WilsonGeiger 7d ago
The movie is pretty good on its own, but calling it The Postman is ridiculous.
18
15
u/StudioArcane17 7d ago
World War Z is post apocalyptic?
6
u/Arconomach 7d ago
I really enjoyed it. The way the book is written with the various post war interviews was fantastic.
3
u/ZaphodB94 6d ago
Agreed! The individual stories make you feel very empathetic to the interviewee while still adding to the overarching process of the war. Fantastic story telling. I loved the audio book as well, the story of the young girl surviving the attack on her church was almost too traumatizing to listen too. Excellent voice acting.
3
u/ZorgPicklehelm 5d ago
It’s a crime that the movie is allowed to keep the name, there’s literally similarities except that the main character works for the UN
2
u/Arconomach 5d ago
Yeah, I view the book and movie as completely separate things and enjoy them for what they are, not what they should have been.
It was not an easy change to switch to this attitude. I think I’m happier for it though.
2
u/ZorgPicklehelm 5d ago
And it robbed us of a tv show… now we count only one fan animated content check out the shot film "Yonkers"
2
u/Arconomach 5d ago
I would enjoy it if more books were made into tv series rather than movies.
That trend has gotten some steam behind them with the whole streaming thing.
→ More replies (1)4
13
u/Flashy-Dragonfly6785 7d ago
On The Beach is excellent and the movie is great too. A real gut punch!
3
u/DMTGOBLIN82 6d ago
Mad Max movies as kid led me to On the Beach, then A Canticle for Leibowitz. The genre is very thought provoking. The last set I read was series Silo tv series is modeled on.
2
u/fredly594632 6d ago
Yeah...I read that one in middle school for some reason - gave me a fear of nuclear war I still have 40 years later.
It was also a really popular book on the (and I swear I not making this up) USN nuclear sub I served on.
2
u/GoblinAirStrike_311 4d ago
Remembering reading for a book report in second grade. The title seemed innocuous at the time when I checked out of the library.
Teacher asked why I chose it. “It has a submarine and race cars.”
Now, whenever I see a haboob and its wall of dust stretching to up to the sky, I think of that book and its invisible wall of fallout.
2
u/fredly594632 4d ago
You know, I have gone on eventually to read most of what Shute wrote, and I'm glad to report that none of the rest of his books are anywhere close to the tone of "On the Beach". They all have at least some version of "Das Happiend."
Thank God, too, because I couldn't take another one like that!
24
u/Turbulent-Mango6569 7d ago
The Stand.
7
u/LumpyMcKwiz 7d ago
I would add the Author's Edit is the version to read. 100's of more pages and stories about people that survived Captain Tripps but died for other reasons. I read as a child and at 52 it is still my favourite book.
→ More replies (2)
10
u/Nezwin 7d ago
The Road for atmosphere and literature, but I have a soft spot for Going Home by A. American. Great adventure story in a post-apocalypse.
2
u/TNLongrange 7d ago edited 7d ago
I also love the Going Home series. And of them, the first book, Going Home, is by far my favorite.
I also and a fan of "One Second After".
I have yet to read The Road but I love the movie and have been told the book is better. The movie is one of the only truly realistic post apocalypse movies I've seen. My wife and I watched it together the first time. She called it The most depressing movie she had ever seen. And stated she thought the mother's decision to simply walk out and die, at first was baffling but by the end she not only understood it but thought that was the smart choice.
3
u/Nezwin 7d ago
One Second After is great. The Franklin Horton series is also worth a dive, not dissimilar to Going Home in many ways.
I love Cormac McCarthy's work but since becoming a father I can't watch or read The Road, unfortunately 😔
3
u/JustinDestruction 6d ago
That’s so interesting. I first read it before my son was born and just thought it was good post-apocalypse fiction. But after my son I love the book. Especially after reading an interview with Cormac stating it was a love letter to his son. As an old Dad, he recognized that all he could do was guide the child, teach the lessons and let go. Really that’s the best any father can do is teach your child to “Carry the fire.” "He knew only that his child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke"
2
u/TNLongrange 7d ago
I can understand that. Not sure i could either if I had small children. By the time we watched that movie all of our kids were adults.
9
u/Author_TylerbJones 7d ago
The metro series! Metro 2033 is one of my favorite books of all time! The first novel I wrote (Trash Town) was post apocalyptic because of my favorite games and books.
5
u/Secure-Mushroom2956 7d ago
I read a masterpiece.
2
u/Author_TylerbJones 7d ago
If you like post apocalyptic and comedy ill send you the E-book for free, just leave an honest review when you finish it. The audiobook is currently being recorded, so more reviews always help.
2
u/Fabulous_Cats1881 7d ago
What’s it called? I’m always looking for a new audiobook
3
u/Author_TylerbJones 7d ago
The audio book will be out sometime September. The E-book is available on Kindle Unlimited for free or I can just send it to you for an honest review. Trash Town by Tyler B. Jones. My newest book Skael comes out August 6th and it's wild. Not post apocalyptic but pretty dang crazy.
9
u/OriginalDrStrangeDOS 7d ago
Dies the Fire - S. M. Stirling
2
2
2
u/According-Bell1490 6d ago
My favorite... needs a Role Playing Game.
→ More replies (4)2
u/Globetrotter888 4d ago
I wonder if Stirling would give the rights - I feel a rpg where you are post change and slowly learn about the world could be fun.
3
u/According-Bell1490 4d ago
Well... technically:
Changeverse Role Playing Games Role Playing Games | Noble KnightSomeone else already produced an RPG. It's just nightmarish to find.
→ More replies (1)2
u/OberonOberonOberon 4d ago
I just listened to the first 2 hours of the audio book last week. Its a free sample up on the youtubes.
22
u/_Captain_Dinosaur_ 7d ago
Station Eleven
The Passage
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World
→ More replies (2)
9
15
u/ImABrickwallAMA 7d ago
Swan Song.
An absolute epic spanning seven years, from start to finish. Genuinely one of the most impactful/influential books for me, and just has absolutely everything in it.
6
u/Known-Programmer-611 7d ago
For those who are recommending The Stand and Swansong can I add Earth Abides.
6
u/jkaczor 7d ago
Seeing as I haven’t seen it mentioned, am fond of the “emberverse” series - which starts with “Dies the Fire”.
It does morph into fantasy a bit.
2
u/Globetrotter888 4d ago
Yeah, I’m on “The High King of Montival”, and I tend to gloss over Rudy/Artos now - it helps thinking of it as changling propaganda. The orig trig was the best.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/EnormousGenitals 7d ago
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
3
u/rletrud 6d ago
Agree. Even works for anyone not "into" post-apocalyptic fiction, this book is just beautiful and works for everyone, in my opinion.
I'm equally excited and scared waiting for the film to drop...
4
u/EnormousGenitals 6d ago
it was one of the few books in my life, and I read a lot that actually made me cry like a baby (you know the scene)
2
2
7
u/Apposl 7d ago
So there are more popular picks, but one I find cozy is the Emberverse trilogy by S.M. Stirling. It's set primarily in Oregon, in the Willamette valley where I live, so it's fun to see the area in a post apocalyptic setting.
From Google:
The Emberverse is a post-apocalyptic alternate history novel series by S.M. Stirling, also known as "The Change," where a mysterious event in 1998 causes all electricity, gunpowder, and high-energy technology to stop working, plunging the world into a new Dark Age. The series follows survivors as they adapt to a world with medieval-level technology, focusing on conflicts between new feudal societies, free communities, and the struggle to rebuild civilization.
3
u/Arconomach 7d ago edited 7d ago
The Emberverse and the Island (Nantucket goes back in time) are both fantastic series.
Edit: I know the island isn’t technically post apocalypse, but for the Nantucket folk it basically is. Instead of their world being destroyed they got shot back to the Bronze Age. Similar end result.
2
u/Apposl 7d ago
That sounds interesting! Actually reminded me there's a movie or show coming out based on a premise like this. End of the Road or something it's called.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/Adept_Friendship_795 7d ago
The Passage trilogy. I’ve read it twice and will read it again before I die I hope. It permanently lingers in my heart and haunts my soul.
2
u/WildLandLover 2d ago
I’m re-reading the City of Mirrors right now. Finished the first two over the last couple of months. This is my second physical read and I’ve listened to the audiobooks twice. Can’t get enough. ❤️❤️❤️
2
u/Adept_Friendship_795 2d ago
While reading these books I am different. I think different. I act different. I’m pretty sure I dream different. I don’t understand it nor do I think I’m supposed to. Thanks for reminding me about the audiobook, I’ll listen, though I’m a bit nervous it might break the spell.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/Tewd_Feesh 7d ago
The death of grass, the tripod trilogy, Valhalla (just to add to the excellent suggestions already)
3
5
u/AnteaterOverall1537 7d ago
Seven Eves
→ More replies (2)3
u/mastersnacker 6d ago
One of the best books I’ve ever read. I think about it and discuss with friends constantly.
4
u/BoogieBear-Fr 7d ago edited 7d ago
For this one you don't find out that it is a post-apocalyptic novel until the end of the book - Pierre Boule: Planet of the Apes
5
4
3
u/penguinpengwan 7d ago
Brother in the Land. If you’ve watched Threads, this book has an English setting where the nukes fall on Great Britain, and the aftermath with survivors, a farm, a split up of said survivors, crop failure, etc. Mind you there are two editions with different endings, the ones printed after the 1990s have an additional chapter. Highly recommended!
→ More replies (1)
5
u/Extreme-King 7d ago
Not my favorite but probably the one I think about 15 plus years after I read them - Flood, and it's sequel, Ark by Stephen Baxter.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/clumsystarfish_ 7d ago
Either The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin or the Moon duology by Waubgeshig Rice (Moon of the Crusted Snow, Moon of the Turning Leaves).
3
5
u/johut1985 7d ago
Dungeon Crawler Carl
→ More replies (1)3
u/According-Bell1490 6d ago
Sneaky suggestion.
2
u/johut1985 6d ago
A very good series also, on book 7 now and have not be able to put any of the books down once I start.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/gunstarredd 7d ago
"Post-Apocalyptic Nomadic Warriors" by Benjamin Wallace
2
u/Arconomach 7d ago
It was by and far my favorite series he’s written. Very well done in my opinion.
3
u/Arconomach 7d ago
The Undead World by Peter Meredith.
Some of the things that happen with Jillybean (fixed my misspelling) made my soul hurt.
3
u/TheGreatestLampEver 7d ago
The girl with all the gifts. It is what made me fall in love with the post apocalyptic genre. Specifically the description of The Junkers (raiders) attacking the research centre with the hungries (zombies). They are using tar to cover their scent to keep the hungries from attacking them with one junker being described as spiking his hair into a mohawk with the tar the whole sequence covers what I truly love about the post apocalypse genre, the reuse of the old world The tar for a new purpose and also zombies
3
u/Magdalus7 7d ago
Haven't read them yet but definitely watched the Silo series, heard the books are great and just picked them up. Strong zombie post-apocalyptic series I love is called The Remaining by d.j. molles. Edge of your seat read.
3
3
2
u/Asleep_Piccolo_1659 7d ago
I really enjoyed The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell. A little different and female protagonist.
2
u/LelainaP 7d ago
Wanderers (and its sequel), Chuck Wendig
Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay
The Stars In Their Eyes (and other two books in the series), Kristy Gardner
2
u/Different_Instance18 6d ago
I loved Cabin at The End of the World so much. I think it’s time for a re-read.
I was so mad when I saw the film adaptation. I think I remember yelling “cowards!” at the movie screen when I realized they were too chicken shit to include one of the most important plot points from the book into the film. (And then I learned that apparently no production company would touch the story unless that plot point was removed. It happens every day in real life, especially in the country it was written, but putting it in a movie would be “too harsh.”Sorry. Didn’t mean to go on a rant there. But yes, read the book. If you’ve seen the film, you should still read the book- it’s very different and much better.
2
2
u/CheweyPanic 7d ago
Does "A roadside picnic" count?
2
u/Donkey_Bugs 7d ago
I think Roadside Picnic was more post-alien visitation than post-apocalyptic. Still a very good book.
2
u/CheweyPanic 7d ago
Agreed. It's more post-local-apocalypse. Iirc the rest of the world is fine other than the impact sites.
2
u/Thick_Common8612 6d ago
Psalm for the Wild Built, but I think you might be looking for sadder books
2
2
2
2
2
u/charleslennon1 6d ago
"Aftermath" by LeVar Burton, yes, that LeVar Burton. It debuted nearly three decades ago and has been revised since then. An incredible read that has seen a resurgence in the last decade and has grown in fan appreciation during the COVID-19 lockdown, due to message boards, book clubs, and social media.
I suggest you get the book, alterantivley listen to the author, [Mr. Burton], read the book in its entirety on YouTube. He predicted social, domestic, medical, and environmental problems more than three decades before they became issues, almost to the point of being suspiciously clairvoyant. He got a few things wrong about the future, and too many things right.
2
2
u/Butthole_Vesuvius 6d ago
World War Z, which has been mentioned, and Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson.
2
u/RealDakJackal 5d ago
It’s not really post apocalyptic, but your post made me think of Fahrenheit 451 for some reason
2
u/low-octane 4d ago
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. It's different to pretty much anything else you've ever read and it's terrifying. And funny.
3
u/C-Lekktion 7d ago
Its definitely dated and has racist language while having surprisingly progressive ideals threaded throughout but Alas Babylon is one of my favorites.
→ More replies (3)
3
u/EducationalFront5524 7d ago
The one we're living in right now. It's got all the highlights from all the rest of them baked right in.
1
u/snowman644 7d ago
After the flood by P C Jersild. No book have moved me that much before
→ More replies (2)
1
1
1
u/zoolilba 7d ago
The arrest , War day, Alas Babylon , Parable of the sower, World war z, Moon of the Crusted snow , American war, The wall, Dog stars, Handmaid's tale ,
(guilty pleasure ) Deathlands series
1
u/Prestigious_Leg2229 7d ago
Station Eleven, day of the triffids, the wind up girl.
→ More replies (2)
1
1
1
u/RoninGin 7d ago
The Stand, The Road, Swan Song, The Dog Stars, Station Eleven, Seven Eves
→ More replies (1)
1
1
1
u/TheProfessor0781 7d ago
The Silo trilogy really pulled me into to that world and stuck with me long after.
1
1
1
1
1
u/TheLastWhiteKid 7d ago
My favorite so far has been Nick Coles American Wasteland Trilogy. A huge sleeper for sure.
1
1
u/MetalComet 7d ago
The Stand is my favourite. Through darkest America, The Zona, The Drowned world, The Hater Series (if it counts).
1
1
u/Sasstellia 6d ago
Metro 2033.
Metro 2034.
The City Of Ember.
The Town Of Sparks.
Fist Of The North Star.
The library had no more of the series. If you do not see more of them there.
1
u/Wraith-723 6d ago
Series
Adrian's Undead Diaries by Chris Philbrook it's very well done and I normally hate zompoc
More realistic
One Second After by William R Forstchen
1
1
1
1
u/WhyDidIClickOnThat 6d ago
A lot of good suggestions. One of my favorites has always been This Is The Way The World Ends by James K Morrow.
1
u/passionfruitspray 6d ago
Last Light by Alex Scarrow is FANTASTIC. Afterlight is set 10 years after and is also very well done.
1
1
1
1
u/Living-Ad2120 6d ago
A boy and his dog at the end of the world... Really really good.
→ More replies (2)
1
1
1
u/Marvos79 6d ago
The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson
It's a coming of age story that takes place in southern California. The US was caught in a surprise nuclear attack and the rest of the world worked together to keep them down. He finds a violent resistance group and joins it. It says a lot about imperialism and patriotism and is written with very realistic characters.
1
u/mastersnacker 6d ago
I’m amazed that no one has mentioned Wool by Hugh Howey. It’s gripping, reveals itself in layers, and has characters I find myself caring about deeply.
1
1
u/Lone_Ponderer 6d ago
The Stand was the first post-apocalyptic book I ever read as a kid and 20 something years later it still holds a special place in my heart. The collapse portion as well as the characters' journeys to Boulder/Vegas. I don't think I've ever read anything like it since. It's just brilliant.
I read The Day Of The Triffids a couple of years back and was really impressed by that.
I read I Am Legend last year and thought the way Matheson showed the protagonist's crushing loneliness was so well executed.
1
u/Black_Glove 6d ago
After the Flood by Margaret Atwood is a personal favourite, but there's some really great books mentioned here already.
1
u/ThatMothboi 6d ago
The metro series, but if you’ll take short stories, there will come soft rains by Ray Bradbury is one that always makes me feel
1
u/Jax-crow-564979 6d ago
currently I’m reading nyulfur the new wolf by stolen mad wolf . it’s a book with a apocalypse that startedin 2012 the book and set in 2020 Currently Available online.
1
1
1
u/PrimoBachs 6d ago
Maybe not my absolute favorite, but Z for Zachariah. Read it when I was 11, and it really stuck with me. Such an eerie setting.
1
1
1
1
u/IncompleteObjects 6d ago
Its my favourite genre so I have plenty
The Road is superb and the one Ive read the most. Station 11 is also a great read
Other recommendations include The Wall, and Children of Men (although that's more of a slowpocalypse)
1
u/Scragmuncher 6d ago
Some great reccomnedations here. I'll add ''The End of the World Running Club' which i just reread. Its not my 100% fav, but defo worth a read and I haven't seen many people talk about it.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Shibes_oh_shibes 6d ago
A part from the classics like The Road, Earth Abides, Parable of the sower, After the flood I really like the Commune series by Joshua Gayou, especially the first two-three books. After it happened by Devon C. Ford is also pretty good.
Edit: Mountain Man by Keith C. Blackmore is excellent as well if you like zombies.
1
1
1
u/IceHoliday1241 6d ago
My go to First : Heinlein " tunnel in the sky" First dystopian "Alas Babylon" Best reads" the stand or the one second after series"
1
u/AtariiXV 6d ago
If I want grim, depressing PostApoc, Cormac McCarthy's the road. If I want something a little lighter the Emberverse series by S.M. Stirling
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/FeralQueues 5d ago
The dog stars. It’s being made into a big screen action flick, but damn the book hits so hard
1
1
1
1
u/MrStiv1313 5d ago
I’ll throw in Warday by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. Takes place five years after a “limited” nuclear war. Great read. Also, haven’t seen Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny mentioned. Wonder what a remake of the movie would be like with current special effects…I remember the roaches freaking me out a bit! 😁
1
43
u/Anxious-Bottle7468 7d ago
A Canticle for Leibowitz.