"best post-apoc setting in fiction?" Topic

My favorite is the Hiero books by Sterling Lanier -- tragically the third was never written. The Canadian survivors are under the Catholic Church, whose priests have combat skills as well as spiritual powers. There's an organization of wicked sorcerer types, and their "lemuts" (lethal mutations) of various sorts of monsters.
An eastern-type monarchy whose lancers ride giant jack rabbits. Leonines whose shamans have powerful gas weapons. All sorts of single monsters. The tree-hugger druid-type priests who can control a lot of natural beasts. A reclusive society of elf-women. etc. etc. Hiero leads an expedition to recover computers from an underground installation. The evils seem to have atomic power of some sort. Warfare is MOSTLY swords and spears and such.

So magic plus spiritual warfare plus lots of mutants plus old technology plus pretty much anything you can think of.

I love the Hiero books too. Great stuff!

Must also add Corben's Den comic, but not 100% sure its post-apocalyptic.

A Canticle for Leibowitz

upon discovering a Fallout Shelter:
"He had never seen a "Fallout," and he hoped he'd never see one. A consistent description of the monster had not survived, but Francis had heard the legends."

A series of books "The Guardians", there sort of lite reading but gives some really good background.

I always liked the Nightworld series by David Bishoff. It starts our as fantasy horror and changes to modern sci-fi.

I am reading "The Passage" by Justin Cronin. I am only 320 pages into it(it is a 800+ pages book, part one of the trilogy!).At this stage, the setting is only introduced, but is all captivating. It is a sad book, at least from my point of view. Somebody bought movie rights(3 years before a book was written,so if you are patient you will not need to read the book.

I remember the Den comics.

That movie that someone made, animated, a series of short pieces with different artists . . . HEAVY METAL maybe?

Anyway, there was the paladin chick with the big bird mount. That as post-apoc and seemed very evocative.

I should add a plug for Stu Jones' series:

Through the Fury to the Dawn (Action of Purpose, 1) Paperback
by Stu Jones (Author)
and its sequel. Stu is David's brother-in-law, a cop, and Splintered Light has a series of miniatures based on it:

link

Nevals: be sure to read the second book, The 12

I liked Sterling's Dying of the light series. Premise hard to swallow at first, but makes sense as the series moves forward.

Also liked that it sort of tied in with the Oceans of Time books (which has the CGC Eagle in a starring role---Go Bears!!)

Mike

I also liked … Leibowitz. Great book, great setting.

I was never a huge fan of post-apoc stuff, and some settings can be generic. I did like the premise behind The Postman, though the setting is a bit generic.

It's post-invasion more than post-apocalypse, but John Christopher's Tripod Trilogy is one of my favorites.

And for really, really, post-post-post apocalypse, Phillip Reeve's Hungry Cities Chronicles are both a great read and highly original. The setting is unlike any I've ever encountered, with giant mobile cities chasing each other across the dried up continental shelf of Europe and "consuming" each other for slaves and technology. Amazing stuff, and ripe for all kinds of gaming.

i'll also give a nod to Phil Foglio's Girl Genius webcomic, which is as equally strange a mix of steam-punk, post-apoc, wierd science and humor. No, nothing that happens makes any scientific sense, but it's great fun.

Riddley Walker- hands down.

As a gaming setting, I think that the Mad Max setting is really good; however, Tank Girl is better! It has ninjas and mutant kangaroos; also, Paul Hogan is the president of Australia!

Re: Doc McB

Yes, that was the Heavy Metal movie. The bird-riding woman was called Taarna (character design by Chris Achilleos). Den was written and designed by Richard Corben.

Ron

Also liked S.M. Stirlings's Dying Of The Light series. Great for gamers as each little group of survivors forms it's military along different historical examples; knights, longbowmen, Mongols, Roman legions and more. Goofy premise but the first three are quite entertaining.

The film sucked, but Brin's book, The Postman, is quite good.

The Texas-Israeli War: 1999 as reported by Jake Saunders and Howard Waldorf has to rank up there.

The cover features what I think are Israeli Super Shermans battling it out with mounted, lance armed Native Americans.

I thought the t.v. series Cleopatra 2525 was another look at a post-apocalypse setting. Another recommendation for "A Canticle for Leibowitz".

I like 40K.

not so much post-
but during-

Asimov's: Nightfall

Parzival, thanks for the tip on GIRL GENIUS. I spent an hour reading it and am now hooked.

Daybreak 2250 by Andre Norton
Planet Of The Apes by Pierre Boulle
Horse Clans series by Robert Adams

I also like Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth
Hanna/Barbera's Thundarr the Barbarian
Y: The Last Man On Earth

Why of course "I Am Legend". The book or the Vincent Price version was way better then the latest movie version. I guess the version with Chuck in it was okay.

"A Boy and his dog " had a neat setting.

I've always fancied using James Herbert's 48 as a setting.

One second after:
link
About an EMP taking down the USA. A great book.

Detroit … now …