Timely Post-Apocalyptic Novels

[MikeT66]

Chatting to a mate in the pub last weekend, we talked a bit about the coronavirus issue, moving on (as you do after a few drinks) to surviving in a world decimated by death/plague. The subject of fiction books then came up - in truth, I couldn't think of any apart from Stephen King's The Stand and Wool (I haven't read the sequels, yet) by Hugh Howey. I did love King's vision of an empty city/country, Howey's vision (based in a silo) was obviously different.

Can anyone recommend any others? Zombie stuff isn't particularly my thing.

[Johnnytheboy]

Day of the Triffids.

[dvb70]

A few I can think of.

The Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
A Wrinkle in the Skin by John Christopher
The Death of Grass by John Christopher
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
Blindness by José Saramago

[NNH]

Dave Huthchinson's "Europe at Midnight" series is set after a bad but non-apocalyptic "Xian Flu" which seems apposite right now. Jack London wrote a short story called "The Scarlet Plague".

But if I had to pick a really timely dystopian novel, I'd go with "The Handmaid's Tale"

[Cocknose]

Johnnytheboy said:

Day of the Triffids.

This is an excellent book, I read it again recently and was just as enthralled as the first time I picked it up.

[Stuart70]

The Road - Cormac McCarthy.

You might want to make sure that you are in a positive, upbeat frame of mind and have some anti depressants to hand during the read.
Chipper it is not.

[MikeT66]

Day Of The Triffids! Forgot about that one!

Thanks for the other suggestions - stuff I haven't heard of, so I'll check them out. The Road sounds familiar - unless I'm thinking of a movie (maybe it's the same story).

[Johnnytheboy]

MikeT66 said:

Day Of The Triffids! Forgot about that one!

Thanks for the other suggestions - stuff I haven't heard of, so I'll check them out. The Road sounds familiar - unless I'm thinking of a movie (maybe it's the same story).

Yes there is a movie starring Viggo Mortensen (SP? Aragorn from LOTR!)

I'm guessing you've read Triffids? If not, then do: it's better than all the TV/film versions, though the BBC ~1981 version is very good.

[MikeT66]

Johnnytheboy said:

Yes there is a movie starring Viggo Mortensen (SP? Aragorn from LOTR!)

I'm guessing you've read Triffids? If not, then do: it's better than all the TV/film versions, though the BBC ~1981 version is very good.

Not read Triffids. The old film was pretty scary as a kid (probably not so good now...), so I'll have a look at that - thanks for the nudge.

[aww999]

I thought "Sea of Rust" was one of the best recent sci-fi novels I've read. AI created, goes wrong, robots inherit the Earth and make a mess of it. Wonderful writing, even if more akin to a computer virus rather than a biological one.

[ElectricSoup]

Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky.

[p1doc]

ElectricSoup said:

Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky.

sequel due out soon!

[ElectricSoup]

p1doc said:

ElectricSoup said:

Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky.

sequel due out soon!

Wahay, thanks for the tip!

[dvb70]

The sequels been out for a while. Children of Ruin is the title.

[Mr E]

From my childhood;
Z for Zachariah
Death of grass
Triffids (obviously)

Loads more recently; some quite subtle (“Anathem” leaps to mind)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/AfterTheEnd...

Stuart70 said:

The Road - Cormac McCarthy.

You might want to make sure that you are in a positive, upbeat frame of mind and have some anti depressants to hand during the read.
Chipper it is not.

Read it in one sitting having just become a father. Decided not to watch the film.

[InitialDave]

Hmm, specifically set in a world where the majority of the population have been taken out by a disease, but not zombie stuff?

I think Empty World, which I read when I was a kid (it's aimed at more of a younger audience) fits.

If it just has to be "apocalypse/post-apocalypse, but no zombies", there's quite a few more. Trying to think of the ones I've read that are maybe less commonly suggested.
Lucifer's Hammer by Niven/Pournelle
The Serious Crimes/strike a match trilogy by Frank Tayell
Flood/Ark by Stephen Baxter (a lot of Baxter's stuff seems to incorporate humanity circling the drain).

[Nezquick]

Stuart70 said:

The Road - Cormac McCarthy.

You might want to make sure that you are in a positive, upbeat frame of mind and have some anti depressants to hand during the read.
Chipper it is not.

Brilliant book but very disturbing.

Other books:

I Am Legend
Children of Men
Swan Song
The Passage (although this may be a bit vampirey)

[Dan_1981]

The Passage by Justin Cronin - it's the first in a trilogy. Really enjoyed it as a stand alone and can't get into the other two.

[Zigster]

Station Eleven

I read it a couple of years ago and keep thinking about it with the current coronavirus developments.

[55palfers]

Hmmm...?

Define apocalypse

1984
War of the worlds
Andromeda Strain
Fahrenheit 451
Hunger Games
Good Omens