Favorite EOTW books...

R

Racerx2oo3

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Aug 22, 2005
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So I'm interested to hear what books, storys, etc. you guys like that deal with "the end of the world", "the destruction of civilization", "the fall of man", etc. What is it in particular that you like about it?

For me, my favorite book on the subject is probably "Lucifers Hammer" By Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Which deals with the earth being hit by the tail of a comet. It does a good job of showing the potential chaos in any disaster senario. The same authors wrote another disaster novel called "Footfall" which deals with alien invasion, also good, but a little more fanciful than "Lucifers Hammer"

Another favorite of mine is Steven Kings, "The Stand" which captures lonelyness and hopelessness amazingly while also showing the will to survive.

As a kid I really liked a book called "Z for Zachariah" which deals with the last possible survivor from a nuclear war. The book dealt with alot of adult and serious themes for a kids book.

Not an EOTW book, but in the area of wilderness survival, I loved "My Side of the Mountain" as a kid.

I started reading "The Postman", but quit after a couple of chapters, it seemed like some kind of pacifist piece of drivel and seemed to condemn those who attempted to actually survive in more than some sort of social welfare existence.

In terms of movies which deal seriously with the subject (I love the garbage ones too), Miracle Mile, By Dawns Early Light.

Interested to hear what others enjoy...

Sean
 
I loved "The Stand". I read and re-read it until it's practically imprinted on my brain. The DVD's were surprisingly good as well in that they seemed to keep quite true to the feeling of the book. I think Steven King must have had quite an amount of input into the filming.

Not a book, but have you (or anyone) watched the BBC's "Survivors" series from the 70's? It was written by Terry Nation (also guilty of inventing the Daleks). I think it really captured the 'atmosphere' of a Britain devastated by a deadly virus and was about as realistic in its scenarios as possible given its target TV audience. The loneliness, quietness and sometimes seeming hopelessness really come out. It's available on DVD, which I must buy one day to replace my old tapes.

http://www.survivorstvseries.com/

I suppose I should admit, rather guiltily and shame-faced, of once reading Jerry Ahern's "Survivalist" series. Oops, I've grown up a lot since then, honest! (Well, I was only 16 at the time)

I just remembered another EOTW book that I found quite interesting: "Swan Song" by Robert McCammon. Very similar I feel to "The Stand", with some equally good EOTW-type behaviour from people.

Rick.
 
I have most of the Jerry Ahern "Survivalist" series. They are great, fast reads. Lots of gear, gun and knife talk too. I am only missing 2 of the books, and I've looked everywhere for them.
 
I too have to admit that I read the "Survialist" books and the D.B. Drum series "The Traveler".

Both series are more in the "pulp" area of fiction. Which is great for entertainment, but don't expect realism or rationale thinking...

Sean
 
I loevd the 80's and 90's or all those EOTW series!

The Survivalist
The Outrider
The Traveler

Couldn't get enough of them.

For actual good books though, Lucifer's Hammer is hard to beat.
 
I think the first "post-apocalyptic" novel I ever read was "Alas Babylon" by Pat Frank. I was about 16 and it was neat to find something both my dad and I could relate to.

I would never admit to reading such irresponsible and time-wasting drivel as the "Survivalist" series! (I don't know where I got the idea to carry twin Detonics .45s in a custom shoulder rig!)

For a while I loved science fiction series and ate up the "Horseclans" books.

King's "The Stand" was amazing! I can still picture "M-O-O-N and that spells Tom!" Great characters and storytelling. I agree that the recent miniseries with Gary Sinese and Laura San Giacomo was about as faithful to a King novel that it could be.

-- FLIX
 
RacerX, we had a great thread on a related topic -- survival fiction -- a while back here.


One book I just read recently that I would add to the list is The Jericho Iteration by Allen Steele. It was written in the early 1990's but is a must read given what happened post-Katrina.

The story is set in the 2020's and takes place in St. Louis after a massive earthquake on the New Madrid faulty has devastated much of the lower Mississippi Valley. The city is occupied by a FEMA-style agency and the residents have to deal with government neglect and the local predators. A quick read and more of a mystery story than 'classic' sci-fi (except for the setting). I give it 3.5 or 4.0 out of 5.0.
 
White Plague by Frank Herbert of Dune fame, the detail in the characters and his attention to loose ends, (he creates entire political and socio-economic models that are complete in every aspect).

The basis is about a scientist who's family are killed during an IRA bombing, it just so happens that this man's forte is creating gene specific viruses.

After the death of his wife and daughter he sets loose a virus that kills all women, well after that you wind up with a lot of hostile horny men, of course you know some women survive which create a heck of a lot of tension.

Oh yea, a good portion of the story takes place in the UK IIRC.
 
racerx2003, i have been hunting for the name of that movie you linked to miracle mile for only about 5 years:eek:

thanks a million!
 
MG_Saldivar said:
RacerX, we had a great thread on a related topic -- survival fiction -- a while back here.


One book I just read recently that I would add to the list is The Jericho Iteration by Allen Steele. It was written in the early 1990's but is a must read given what happened post-Katrina.

The story is set in the 2020's and takes place in St. Louis after a massive earthquake on the New Madrid faulty has devastated much of the lower Mississippi Valley. The city is occupied by a FEMA-style agency and the residents have to deal with government neglect and the local predators. A quick read and more of a mystery story than 'classic' sci-fi (except for the setting). I give it 3.5 or 4.0 out of 5.0.
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I'll have to take a look at that thread. I've actually read The Jericho Iteration, good read. One of the scenes in the book that happens early on has always stuck in my mind, it decribes a home owner sitting on the steps of his ruined home with a shotgun across his lap....living in the SF Bay Area the topic of that story hits home...

Sean
 
The Road by Cormac MacArthy. It just came out in the past year or so.

It is about a man and his young son traveling south on foot with a shopping cart of provisions about a decade after some sort of nuclear war, when there is really nothing left in the world for survivors to scavenge.

This is the most singularly, profoundly sad and disturbing book I have ever read, one that is hard to stop thinking about - I'm talking waking up in the middle of the night in cold sweats. Maybe because I read it not long after becoming a father myself and I couldn't help imagining being in that nightmarish position.
 
Foilist said:
The Road by Cormac MacArthy. It just came out in the past year or so.

It is about a man and his young son traveling south on foot with a shopping cart of provisions about a decade after some sort of nuclear war, when there is really nothing left in the world for survivors to scavenge.

This is the most singularly, profoundly sad and disturbing book I have ever read, one that is hard to stop thinking about - I'm talking waking up in the middle of the night in cold sweats. Maybe because I read it not long after becoming a father myself and I couldn't help imagining being in that nightmarish position.
Click to expand...

I read a synopsis and a few reviews of "The Road" and I'm not sure I can bring myself to read it. It sounds way too hard hitting and close to home. However, it sounds like an excellent book. Like you, being a father with young children, it sounds like a chilling read. It is too difficult to imagine my children having to deal with the type of hardships detailed in that book.

Sean
 
An old classic is A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. It spans centuries in the form of several shorter stories strung together. Most have a strong EOTW theme. The overall cycle of civilization concept presented is fairly grim.

Don't give up on the Postman - the main character gives up on his pacifist ideas reluctantly, but thoroughly.
 
In the Rift by Walter Jon Williams deals with the aftermath of a major earthquake in the Mississippi Valley. Sort of a localized EOTW. It is an entertaining read.

Rick
 
Racerx, I just started reading some Niven but haven't picked up Lucifer's Hammer or Footfall yet. Will probably do so soon.

I'm also a big fan of The Stand, and T. Erdelyi I've read The White Plague too. . . A very scary story IMHO.

My addition to the list is Still I Persist In Wondering, by Edgar Pangborn. It's a great collection of short stories set in what's left of New England after a nuclear war and plague. The stories progress from just a few years after the disasters through a couple of hundred years of civilization rebuilding itself.
 
In previous threads such as this I have recommended this book heavily. I promise you that if you enjoy survival fiction and have not read this book , you are truly cheating yourself. IMO it is the definitive survival fiction book , Lucifer's Hammer cannot begin to compare.

Patriots
 
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