Editor in Chief Bill | 11 Sep 2015 6:33 a.m. PST |
Which post-apocalypse novel(s) would you recommend to wargamers? |
Bushy Run Battlefield | 11 Sep 2015 6:36 a.m. PST |
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. |
John the OFM | 11 Sep 2015 6:57 a.m. PST |
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John the OFM | 11 Sep 2015 7:00 a.m. PST |
Lucifer's Hammer, even though I can't stand the other author whose name is not Larry Niven |
MajorB | 11 Sep 2015 7:04 a.m. PST |
"On the Beach" by Nevil Shute. Downright depressing … |
Frederick | 11 Sep 2015 7:11 a.m. PST |
A blast from the past is Alas Babylon |
jfleisher | 11 Sep 2015 7:12 a.m. PST |
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x42brown | 11 Sep 2015 7:15 a.m. PST |
The Road to Corlay by Richard Cowper. I'm not sure if it counts as it's set a long time after the apocalypse (the polar ice caps melting). x42 |
Meiczyslaw | 11 Sep 2015 7:17 a.m. PST |
That reminds me. I'm overdue to read A Canticle for Leibowitz. It's consistently recommended by people I respect. I don't have my own recommendation for best — none of the ones I've read have stuck with me, particularly. I hadn't even remembered I'd read Lucifer's Hammer or On the Beach until they were mentioned. |
dsfrank | 11 Sep 2015 7:20 a.m. PST |
I hated "The Road" felt it was pointless – I was sure I missed something after seeing the movie so I read the book & went "well that was a waste of time, obviously I didn't miss anything after all" I enjoyed both the Postman and I Am Legend but I also recommend Orson Scott Card's Folk of the Fringe – warning it focuses on Mormons since he is one |
boy wundyr x | 11 Sep 2015 7:29 a.m. PST |
I think Post-Apoc fiction falls in to two camps – serious and fun. I find the serious stuff depressing (plus A Canticle for Leibowitz was required reading in high school, so it suffers from that in memory), so for fun at the end of the world, I'll throw out the Horseclans series (and not just because Editor Bill wrote a GURPS book for it). I also have Damnation Alley in a book pile somewhere, and the novel Planet of the Apes was based on. |
Garand | 11 Sep 2015 7:32 a.m. PST |
The Postman was great! I read it in a marathon session of around 8 hrs. But of course I love most of Brin's other books as well. Also read Canticle as well, good book by all measures IMHO. Damon. |
PJ ONeill | 11 Sep 2015 7:34 a.m. PST |
Another vote for "I am Legend", the novel, NOT the film. |
darthfozzywig | 11 Sep 2015 7:46 a.m. PST |
I haven't read many, but Stephen King's "The Stand" was a good read. "World War Z" was ok. |
Irish Marine | 11 Sep 2015 7:47 a.m. PST |
I really enjoyed the The Guardians Book series from the 80's. I had not joined the Marine Corps yet and was still playing Twilight 2000 so it was a perfect fit. Now that I'm a war gamer there are tons of 20mm figures and armor that you could use to fight some of the battles in the book. The books themselves paint America as being broken before the WW3 even started, gun control, bands of Mad Max style gangs on the roads in the Midwest and so on. So there is a lot you could do. link |
meledward23 | 11 Sep 2015 8:24 a.m. PST |
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. |
nevals | 11 Sep 2015 8:28 a.m. PST |
"The Stand" is my all time favorite. "Swan Song"by Robert R. McCammon has some big battles in it. Justin Cronin's "The Passage" trilogy (2 books out,the remaining one out soon) offers a plenty skirmish ideas ,plus it is a wonderful read. |
RavenscraftCybernetics | 11 Sep 2015 8:29 a.m. PST |
Hiero's Journey might work as a dungeon crawl. |
Mugwump | 11 Sep 2015 8:43 a.m. PST |
Heiros Journey and Starmans Son aka Daybreak 2250 AD. |
skipper John | 11 Sep 2015 8:47 a.m. PST |
"Under a Graveyard Sky" by John Ringo is an excellent read. It has a 4.14 rating at Goodreads.com which is almost unheard of. I've been reading Ringo ever since. "The Road" is a $12 USD kindle book…. good heavens! |
Parzival | 11 Sep 2015 9:20 a.m. PST |
The Tripods series by John Christopher A Canticle for Leibowitz The Postman, up until the ending (Brin has trouble with endings) Rook, by Sharon Cameron, which features a new "French" Revolution and a new "Scarlet Pimpernel." (The author is a dear friend of mine, btw). The Hungry Cities Chronicles by Philip Reeve, staring with Mortal Engines. It has to be the wildest, most imaginative post-apocalyptic society ever dreamed up. |
pvernon | 11 Sep 2015 9:25 a.m. PST |
A second for – Alas Babylon |
Stryderg | 11 Sep 2015 9:32 a.m. PST |
I like John Ringo's Posleen series…if you consider an alien invasion post-apoc. I also liked his council war series (starts with There Will Be Dragons, but the apocalypse is far into the future (nano tech, et al.) and dives quickly into more of a fantasy novel. |
PatrickWR | 11 Sep 2015 9:44 a.m. PST |
"The Passage" – great interlude scene with scraps of newspapers chronicling the collapse of society as the world is overrun. "The Last Ship" – very much a military book, but also an unflinching look at a nuclear exchange from the perspective of a naval vessel. |
Keelhauled | 11 Sep 2015 10:08 a.m. PST |
The Survivalist series by Jerry Ahern has some good battles. anything from bikers to Soviet Motorized troops. Another one is THE ZONE a WW3 romp across Europe. |
Bashytubits | 11 Sep 2015 10:24 a.m. PST |
Damnation Alley by Zelazney. |
Cosmic Reset | 11 Sep 2015 10:28 a.m. PST |
I asked a similar question a few years ago, whch resulted in an incredible reading list: TMP link My Fav's have already mostly been mentioned (in no particular order): A Canticle for Leibowitz The Road Earth Abides Alas Babalon The Texas Israeli War |
Hades wolf | 11 Sep 2015 10:45 a.m. PST |
Z for Zachariah Day of the Triffids When the Kraken Wakes The Tripods The Amtrak Wars Quatermass Most of which show that by far the most scary things are man! |
Xintao | 11 Sep 2015 10:54 a.m. PST |
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jpattern2 | 11 Sep 2015 11:06 a.m. PST |
Lots of great suggestions so far. I've been an avid consumer of post-apoc stories, books, movies, and games since the '60s, and there have only been a few I didn't like for one reason or another. I still love "A Boy and His Dog" by Harlan Ellison (the original short story, the prequel and sequels, the graphic novel, and the movie are all good): link Chalk me up as one more big fan of The Stand. Dsfrank, The Road just didn't do it for me, either. Like Parzival, I really liked The Postman, right up until the superpowers at the end. Huh? Like Keelhauled said, the Survivalist series was pretty good, in a popcorn sort of way, right up until the cryonics deus ex machina. Huh? But that didn't occur until something like the 20th book. I also enjoyed the Outrider series by Richard Harding. Haven't re-read them in literally decades, though, so I don't know how well they've held up. The Dark Sun series is set in an interesting post-apocalyptic fantasy world. The books are based on the AD&D game setting of the same name. |
Patrick Sexton | 11 Sep 2015 11:06 a.m. PST |
The classic is Alas Babylon and Earth Abides got me a job years ago (interviewer saw that I was reading it while in the lobby). There really are some fantastic books in the genre and they can run the gauntlet from 'doomed as doomed can be' to 'OK, how do we get back on our feet'. |
Mute Bystander | 11 Sep 2015 11:15 a.m. PST |
"Best" … "Post-Apocalypse" That took a second for the brain to unlock after that "logic freeze" occurred. Seriously, anything without Zombies and mutants. Man is still the most dangerous creature… Edit: Damn, my reading list just grew a lot! |
Stealth1000 | 11 Sep 2015 11:40 a.m. PST |
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McKinstry | 11 Sep 2015 12:14 p.m. PST |
I have a certain fondness for the S.M.Stirling Sunrise Lands/Nantucket stuff. I've tried very hard to like "The Road" and while it is well written, I just can't get there. |
leidang | 11 Sep 2015 12:22 p.m. PST |
Heirs of Babylon by Glen Cook |
TNE2300 | 11 Sep 2015 1:53 p.m. PST |
add another Canticle for Leibowitz vote |
lloydthegamer | 11 Sep 2015 2:04 p.m. PST |
Earth Abides and A Boy and His Dog, both great books. |
Craig Woodfield | 11 Sep 2015 2:26 p.m. PST |
The Road. One of the late 20th centuries great writers at his peak. |
etotheipi | 11 Sep 2015 2:35 p.m. PST |
Lord of the Flies Brave New World |
Fried Flintstone | 11 Sep 2015 3:39 p.m. PST |
I've tried very hard to like "The Road" and while it is well written, I just can't get there. Try "All the Pretty Horses" – that got me reading him … |
John Treadaway | 11 Sep 2015 3:49 p.m. PST |
Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald in 1959. I wanted to slit my wrists after I read it. Gosh it's so depressing! The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Superb. John T |
DalyDR | 11 Sep 2015 4:31 p.m. PST |
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Hlaven | 11 Sep 2015 5:00 p.m. PST |
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20thmaine | 11 Sep 2015 5:04 p.m. PST |
A canticle for Leibowitz – I also took a long time (many years) to get around to reading this – but it is a masterpiece of SF. |
Athelwulf | 11 Sep 2015 5:59 p.m. PST |
I enjoyed "Dies the Fire" by SM Stirling. |
Redroom | 11 Sep 2015 6:39 p.m. PST |
I like the Vampire Earth series by EE Knight |
john lacour | 11 Sep 2015 7:12 p.m. PST |
world war z???terrible payoff. mean to say, the zombies could'nt walk up a stair case. that was bad… |
War Monkey | 11 Sep 2015 8:10 p.m. PST |
There was a series of paperback books "The Guardians" Cover of the first book
Basically nukes were thrown from all around and now the need to rebuild quickly to save as many people as they can and a four man team goes out to find the best people that can help do it. Doug |
The G Dog | 11 Sep 2015 8:56 p.m. PST |
Ahearn's Survivalist series – enjoyed it. Gun porn before it had a name. Some of the Bolo stories had quite the post apocalyptic vibe. |
Black Cavalier | 11 Sep 2015 9:24 p.m. PST |
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