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Bleak/Post-Apocalyptic Books?

Beady said:
I like "War Day." It's been a while, though, and don't remember the authors.
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Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. Yes, that Whitley Strieber. Apparently he had a few good books under his belt before he went off the deep end. I liked it, too, despite an embarrassing gaffe or two.
 
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Brainache said:
Moonseed - Stephen Baxter. (more of a disaster novel really)

Flood - Stephen Baxter (and the sequel, Ark.)
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Titan - also Stephen Baxter.

The man specializes is dreadful literature. Not "dreadful = badly written", but "full of dread".
 
Buckaroo said:
Titan was pretty bad.
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Mark6 said:
Titan - also Stephen Baxter.

The man specializes is dreadful literature. Not "dreadful = badly written", but "full of dread".
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Titan was not my favourite Baxter, but I wouldn't say it was bad. It certainly was a bit bleak.

"Time", "Space" and "Origin" were interesting and had some quite bleak moments (including the destruction of the entire universe IIRC)
 
One of my favorites in this arena is the novel Down to a Sunless Sea by David Graham. This is a 1st person story told from the perspective of a British jumbo-jet pilot in a world destabilized by the economic collapse of the U.S. About 1/3 of the way into the story, as the protagonist is 1/2 across the Atlantic, the "mushrooms" start blossoming, and since the powers that be in this novel seem to have access to Tzar class nukes, we are talking BIG mushrooms! :eek: As one can guess, this puts our pilot and his 600 passengers in kind of a tight spot...
 
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Brainache said:
Day of The Triffids.

A Canticle For Leibowitz

Moonseed - Stephen Baxter. (more of a disaster novel really)

Flood - Stephen Baxter (and the sequel, Ark.)

Earth Abides - George R. R. Martin.

Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut

Worlds, Worlds Apart and Worlds Enough And Time- A trilogy by Joe Haldeman

A Boy And His Dog - A short story by Harlan Ellison
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Good list. I'd have never thought of including A Boy and His Dog because I think of it on so many other levels. I was getting ready to argue that its setting was the only thing post-apocolyptic about it, but then I think, "Hmmm, talking sentient dogs...." So it qualifies.

I'd add The Postman (the book) and Planet of the Apes (the book). Forget the Costner adventure yarn of a movie they made from The Postman. The book is awesome. And burn all the Planet movies for what they're worth. Pierre Boulle's book is really good.

Another vote, here, also... Canticle for Leibowitz is the bestest of them all.

And for a different kind of apocalypse (the black plague) - try The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. It's more "current apocalypse" but might be the most singly depressing book I've ever read, even if it is quite engrossing and even brilliant.
 
Brainache said:
Titan was not my favourite Baxter, but I wouldn't say it was bad. It certainly was a bit bleak.

"Time", "Space" and "Origin" were interesting and had some quite bleak moments (including the destruction of the entire universe IIRC)
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Yes, minor moments like that!
 
Comsat Angel said:
May I suggest "World War Z" as being sufficiently apocalyptic?

(Plus, it has zombies)
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Supposedly, this is going to be filmed. My fondest hope (aside from a 'The Walking Dead' miniseries on HBO) is that it'll be done a la Ken Burns....
 
Ooh! Ooh! How could I forget! "The Kraken Wakes" by John Wyndham. Very British, and very apocalyptic - 80% of the world's population finished off, IIRC, so not quite the "cosy catastrophe" some people claim (I'm looking at you, Mr. Aldiss!)
 
I thought "Moonseed" by Baxter was pretty bad. If you like repetitive descriptions of how many craters are on the moon, or having years pass by in a page to gloss over the meat of the story, then you may like this book. It starts off promisingly enough, but gets so unbelievable that I lost any respect for it. Not a book I'd recommend.

On the other hand, "Lucifer's Hammer", "A Canticle for Leibowitz", and "The Road" are recommended.
 
All the good books have been named already, but if you have an Xbox 360, play Fallout 3, and Half life 2 (the Orange Box), among others.
For movies there are too many, but District 9 and the Resident Evil Trilogy are recent Blue Ray releases that were pretty fun to watch. I don't know if District 9 qualified as an apocalypse but it was a pretty game changing event for humanity.
For books I liked Lucifer's Hammer and Earth Abides the best. I have book called A Wrinkle in the Skin, but it is not really very good.
 
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