Post Apocalyptic Fiction

 

The End of the World as We Know It.
Sometimes bleak, sometimes uplifting these novels focus on what
happens to survivors after the end of the world.

 

Atwood, Margaret - The Year of the Flood
After most of humankind dies Ren and Toby are locked inside their respective places of employment, unsure if others are alive. In a future world populated by gene spliced creations like the liobam (a lion-lamb combination) the two must determine how to survive.

Bacigalupi, Paolo - The Windup Girl
This harrowing, yet literate story portrays a post-oil Bangkok. A cast of fascinating, realistic characters struggle for survival in an era where natural food is extinct and humans can be genetically engineered on a whim. Winner of the Nebula Award.

Forstchen, William - One Second After
An electromagnetic pulse has destroyed America’s power grid. College professor John Matherson attempts to figure out what happened and protect his family as society breaks down.

James, PD - Children of Men
In the year 2021 humans no longer give birth.  England  is ruled by a despotic Warden who encourages the infirm to commit group suicide and subjects immigrants  to semi-legalized slavery. Theo, a quiet man, becomes involved with a group of dissidents.

King, Stephen - The Stand
When nearly all of humanity is wiped out by the Super Flu survivors are pulled in two different directions. One group is trying to rebuild the human race, while the other is trying to destroy it.

McCammon, Robert - Swan Song
Set after a nuclear holocaust this wide sweeping novel is filled with interesting characters in the fight for good and evil.  The focus is on Swan, a young girl who can save humanity.

McCarthy, Cormac - The Road
A man and his son wander a post apocalyptic America, trying to get to the sea. They must battle starvation and roving bands of cannibals to reach their goal. The real story is the relationship between father and son.

Matheson, Richard - I am Legend
Before this was a Will Smith movie, it was a book combining vampires with the end of humanity. After a plague turns survivors into blood thirsty creatures, Robert Neville remains immune. With his trusty dog at his side he tries to find a cure.

Miller, Walter M - A Canticle for Leibowitz
This classic post apocalyptic novel follows a cloister of monks in Utah over several hundred years. Funny, yet bleak , this novel questions whether man can truly avoid repeating the past.

Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry - Lucifer’s Hammer
Earth is struck by a comet resulting in earthquakes, tsunamis, plague, famine, and an Ice Age, just to name a few of the catastrophes faced by the survivors.

O’Brien, Robert C. - Z for Zachariah
Told from the perspective of a 16-year-old girl who survives nuclear war alone in her small town. When a stranger arrives she must determine if he is friend or foe.

Stewart, George R. - Earth Abides
A virus has swept the globe leaving few survivors.  Those who remain attempt to rebuild society. Written in 1949 this novel is especially timely today.
 

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