End Of The World Type Books

[Sister Jennifer]

Tony's comment in the movie, tv thread got me wondering if you have a favourite end of the world type book or books? What would you recommend?

A few favourites off the top of my head are;

Of course, The Hitch Hikers Guide.

The Road.

The Stand.

Day of the Triffids.

World War z.

The Children of Men.

On The Beach.

 

[Tonyblack]

I love On The Beach!

I'd add Arthur C Clark's "Childhood's End" to that list. And, although I am not a fan of the Zombie genre, Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" is pretty good. I haven't read it yet, but Sharlene says that Pat Frank's "Alas, Babylon" is also very good.

If we can include Post Apocalypse books in this, then top of the list for me would be John Wyndham's "The Day of the Triffids".

 

[Sister Jennifer]

Yes, of course. I've got post apocalypse books on my list as well.

So good end of world and post apocalyptic novels.

 

[chris.ph]

check out amazon jen there are loads of freebies for the kindle on there, mostly zombie though :dance:

 

[Molokov]

Definitely give Hugh Howey's Wool Trilogy a go (Wool/Shift/Dust). They're aimed at Young Adults, but are written intelligently and densely for adults too. The world created is amazing

 

[Sister Jennifer]

Cheers, thanks for advice and book recommendations

 

[Quatermass]

A really weird but thought-provoking one is called The Gone-Away World, about a world where the fallout from very special bombs have had some really weird consequences. And no, there's no zombies or mutants as far as I remember. It's weirder than that.

The manga (and the anime series it was based on) Neon Genesis Evangelion is very much a post-apocalyptic story. It starts off as a giant robots versus giant monsters story...and then goes off the deep end, with discussions about the nature of humanity and evolution, as well as making sure that half the bloody cast have more than one skeleton in the closet. Disturbing, but thought-provoking.

You've already mentioned The Stand, SisterJennifer. Bugger, I was gonna mention that...

Oh, I know! Ben Croshaw, AKA Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame, wrote a post-apocalyptic book set in Brisbane called Jam. It's about what happens when the entirety of Brisbane ends up several feet deep in what seems to be carnivorous strawberry jam. While many elements of the book are a dark comedy, it also pulls apart many of the tropes used in post-apocalyptic stories.

 

[Molokov]

Oooh, yes, definitely read The Gone-Away World - and don't let anyone tell you anything about it more than Quatermass has already mentioned. It's best to read that book completely unspoiled and unaware.

Evangelion is also undergoing a movie-reboot. 3 of 4 parts have been released (Evangelion 3:33 will probably hit DVD next year), and they've compressed the entire TV show from the 90s and its two followup movies into 2 movies, with 3.33 covering "what happens next". It's weird as all s**t but highly entertaining. I'd recommend the movie reboots if you don't have time for the TV show. Or, you know, read the manga.

 

[Sister Jennifer]

You've already mentioned The Stand, SisterJennifer. Bugger, I was gonna mention that...

Oh, I know! Ben Croshaw, AKA Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame, wrote a post-apocalyptic book set in Brisbane called Jam. It's about what happens when the entirety of Brisbane ends up several feet deep in what seems to be carnivorous strawberry jam. While many elements of the book are a dark comedy, it also pulls apart many of the tropes used in post-apocalyptic stories.

The Stand is such a great book, it's worth mentioning twice. I will definitely read Jam, thanks for mentioning it. I remember listening to the author on triple j one time.

The Gone-Away World... On my list. Cheers

 

[Quatermass]

Evangelion is also undergoing a movie-reboot. 3 of 4 parts have been released (Evangelion 3:33 will probably hit DVD next year), and they've compressed the entire TV show from the 90s and its two followup movies into 2 movies, with 3.33 covering "what happens next". It's weird as all s**t but highly entertaining. I'd recommend the movie reboots if you don't have time for the TV show. Or, you know, read the manga.

Actually, I will have to correct you, Molokov, or my inner pedant will never give me peace: the second movie (Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance) only goes up to, more or less, the end of episode 19 (out of the 26 TV episodes, plus The End of Evangelion). Then, it's gone in a completely different direction from Evangelion 3.0. I'm not sure whether I want to watch that one, after the synopses I have read.

I personally prefer the manga storyline. It feels like the true refined version of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Actually, I just finished reading another post-apocalyptic book. Now, before I name it, yes, it is a post-apocalyptic book.

The book is...The Adventure Time Encyclopaedia by Martin Olson. *ducks for cover*

 

[raptornx01]

Considering that my favorite at the moment is Fallout: Equestria. I wouldn't hold it against you.

Actually. thinking about it. besides that. the only other book of that type i have is Stephen King's Cell. Which, is basically a twist on the zombie genre.

I do have another that I forget the name of ( i want to say polar shift, but i know thats not right. same basic idea. a ship at sea. the world is ending, or has ended as everything is already screwed up. i know the prologue ends with some woman getting shot in the head, and is told from her perspective) but haven't read it yet.

There is also the Area 51 book series. which does feature another world war later on. but i can't really say its the end of the world.

Its funny as I have many movies of that type. but not so many books.

 

[MongoGutman]

Niven and Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer is pretty good - comet or asteroid strike as I recall...

 

[Sjoerd3000]

I quite like Illium/Olympos by Dan Simmons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilium/Olympos

 

[Penfold]

I quite enjoyed James Herbert's "Domain", the third part of the "Rats" trilogy.

 

[Sister Jennifer]

I've read a few James Herbert but not those ones. He's proper scary.

Lucifer's Hammer - asteroid. I like it.

Thanks all.

 

[chillicamper]

Some great recommendations.

I've liked:

Robopocalypse - Daniel H Wilson - a technology turning against humans story

The Girl With All the Gifts - M R Carey - emotional and quite scary story in a post apocalyptic world - without giving any spoilers its sort of a biological twist on the Frankenstein/zombie plot which features a little girl rather than an horrific monster as the central character

For some good short story collections you could try:

Wastelands - Stories of the Apocalypse (featuring Stephen King, George RR Martin etc)

The Mammoth Book of Post Apocalyptic SF (featuring Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds etc) edited by Mike Ashley

 

[Dotsie]

Just got The Girl With All the Gifts, and really enjoying it so far

 

[Quatermass]

The Girl with All the Gifts is definitely on my to-read list, now.