Good EOTWAWKI books?

[CS1983]

Looking for more reads in the same vein as James Wesley, Rawles' stuff.

Not really into the Sovereign Citizen nonsense (i.e., name in all caps = invalid birth cert, etc.)

Just want good old solid Constitutionalist propaganda.

Anyone have any recommendations for standouts or things to avoid?

[JohnnyEgo]

This is my last post from the Books thread in the Stickys:


So appropos of the 'Girl with all the Gifts' thread, it occured to me that I have accumulated a whole pile of post/apocalyptic fiction on my bookshelf. Figured I'd provide a list and my very brief thoughts on them, in no particular order:

Oryx & Crake / Year of the Flood / Madd Adam - Margret Atwood. Apocalypse by man-engineered virus. The first book was freaking awesome. The second book sucked. The third one was average. You don't really need to read the later two to enjoy it.
The Post Mortal - Drew Magary - Apocalypse by discovering the key to biological immortality. This is a great book that thought through several downside scenarios to immortality that I hadn't thought of or seen before.
The Leftovers - Tom Perrotta - Apocalypse by rapture. I didn't really like this very much. I didn't care much for the follow-up series on HBO either, although I do think both Liv Tyler and Emily Meade are hot. So there's that going for the TV version.
Robopocalypse - Daniel H Wilson - Apocalypse by sentient robots. Felt like a Terminator rip-off. Would have enjoyed it more as a teenager, I suppose.
The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker - Apocalypse by increasing gravity. Oprah tricked me on this one. I thought she might have some good P/A taste after Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road', but I was wrong. Lot of teenage angst.
The Road - Cormac McCarthy - Apocalypse by unknown, but probably limited nuclear war. Brilliant, dark, and realistic.
Morte - Robert Repino - Apocalypse by sentient ants and other animals. This was ok until about 75% of the way through, when it mostly turned into a screed against religion. Picture putting Richard Dawkins, Animal Farm, and The Hunger Games in a blender.
The Hunger Games - Susan Collins - Apocalypse by economic collapse and rebellion. Read these at the request of my wife before she would give them to our daughter. Just go see the movies. Jennifer Lawrence is hot.
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel - Apocalypse by plague. Nicely written and from a young-ish girl's perspective.
The Pest House - Jim Crace- Apocalypse by plague. Another very well written book that explores life and society after the plague.
The Postman - David Brin - Apocalypse by nuclear disaster. This was a good book in 1990 that didn't age quite as well. Don't see the movie. It sucked.
Earth Abides - George R Stewart. Apocalypse by plague. This book was written in the 1940s and it has aged phenomenally well. One of the best. Takes you through 40-50 years after the plague.
Alas, Babylon - Pat Frank - Apocalypse by nuclear war. Well written book about survival in a small town.
Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven - Apocalypse by asteroid strike. Very much an 80s book. Not bad, not fantastic.
One Second After [b] - William R. Forstchen - Apocalypse by EMF attack. I hated this book and felt like it was a plot-point per plot-point rip-off of Lucifer's Hammer. I am apparently the only gun owner who hates this book.
[b]I am Legend - Richard Matheson - Apocalypse by Vampires. Way better than either movie.
The Passage / The Twelve / City of Mirrors - Justin Cronin - Apocalypse by Vampires. Only the first book is decent. Way, way overrated.
Nod - Adrian Barnes - Apocalypse by Lack of Sleep - Interesting concept, fairly executed. Solid 'B' graded short novel.
The Gone Away World - Nick Harkaway - Apocalypse by void of information - A long, trippy novel that I am still not sure if I like or not. Very fantastical.
The Wind Up Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi - Apocalypse by global warming and genetic engineering. Interesting in it's conception of the use of springs for storage of power.
The Water Knife - Paolo Bacigalupi - Southwestern regional apocalypse due to water rights. Ole' Paolo's becoming a one-note kind of author, but this is a well executed and interesting study of the complexities of water rights in this region.
The Dog Stars - Peter Heller - Apocalypse by plague. Local fiction set in Colorado. I like that he feeds his dog human organs.
Zone One - Colson Whitehead - Apocalypse by zombies. Walking Dead for aspiring Harvard students preparing for the vocabulary portion of the SAT. Pretentious and overrated.
A Canticle for Liebowitcz - Walter M Miller - Apocalypse by nuclear war as it repeats itself through cycles of civilization. "Fallout" long before Fallout existed. Decent.
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson - Apocalypse by aliens. Sort of a large scale version of Steven King's "Under the Dome". Decent.
Wool / Shift / Dust - Hugh Howley - Apocalypse by man-made virus. The first one was awesome. Other two are 'meh'.
The Plague - Albertus Camus - Localized apocalypse by plague. I'm throwing this one in because it is a short novel, and very accessible. A remarkable meditation on disease and quarantine that is easily read and based on the author's real life experience. Plus it will give you a one-up on that pretentious hottie in the Starbucks who is majoring in literature but hasn't actually read anything more than the cliff notes to a Jane Austen novel.
The Girl With All The Gifts - M.R. Carey - Apocalypse by Zombies - currently being discussed in GD. Has an amusing twist on when condescending flower-empowerment goes horribly awry.
Seven Eves - Neal Stephenson - Apocalypse by Aliens blowing up the moon. Interesting in that it shifts the survival of the human race into space. Written by a guy who knows a lot about space. Decent.
The Brief History of the Dead - Kevin Brockmeier - Apocalypse by virus. A trippy meditation on the afterlife combined with the gradual dwindling of the human race to one person struggling to survive in the Arctic.

There are probably some more on the bookshelf that I missed, but that makes a good start for JohnnyEgo's Post-Apocalyptic Reading List.

[CS1983]

Thank you sir.

Any others, anyone?

[Martinjmpr]

+1 for Earth Abides and Lucifer's Hammer.

Don't forget The Stand. Typical Stephen King mystical mumbo jumbo but a well written account of what the collapse of civilization might look like for those left behind.

There's an Orson Scott Card book called "Folk of the Fringe." It's not a single novel, rather it is a set of interconnected stories with a common set of characters that tells what happens to the Mormon survivors of an apocalypse as they reestablish a kind of civilization - albeit Mormon civilization - in the American West. The first story in the series is called "West" and it's one of my all time favorite short stories.

Interesting aspect is if you are expecting Mormon "propaganda" you would be surprised. He's actually rather hard on the Mormon church although it is obviously written from a sympathetic viewpoint.

https://www.amazon.com/Folk-Fringe-Orson-Scott-Card/dp/0312876637/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484685714&sr=8-1&keywords=the+folk+of+the+fringe

Orson Scott Card is a Mormon sci-fi writer probably best known for writing "Enders game."

[Aloha_Shooter]

I had a better opinion of Lucifer's Hammer than JohnnyEgo. Yes, the tech is 80s but the thinking is timeless.

John Ringo has a series out called Black Tide Rising. It's a zombie apocalypse story by an author who hates zombie apocalypse stories but is well-versed in military tech (I believe he's good friends with fellow Baen author Larry Correia). Some good stuff in there thinking about how to arm up, how to organize a post-apocalyptic societal group, etc.

[funkymonkey1111]

have you read the 299 days books?

or, the "enemies" books by Matt Braken?

[CS1983]

have you read the 299 days books?

or, the "enemies" books by Matt Braken?

I've read James Wesley, Rawles' series and Forstchen's "One Second After". The latter was alright, but frankly I thought he wasn't as good at character development and some of the subplots were frankly just sappy. He was also less technical than Rawles.

[Batteriesnare]

"Day of Wrath" by Forstchen is a good, short read.

[GilpinGuy]

Day of Wrath is excellent and frigging scary that it hasn't happened (yet).

Check out The Bonner Incident. Not EOTWAWKI, but certainly Constitutionalist.

[ClangClang]

Great list above. "The Road" is probably the single most archetypal, defining book of the entire genre. It's nothing but despair, sadness, and pain. I started reading it after dinner on a camping trip and literally stayed up in my tent, reading by red headlamp, until I finished the book at 4am. I couldn't put it down.

[funkymonkey1111]

Great list above. "The Road" is probably the single most archetypal, defining book of the entire genre. It's nothing but despair, sadness, and pain. I started reading it after dinner on a camping trip and literally stayed up in my tent, reading by red headlamp, until I finished the book at 4am. I couldn't put it down.


I tried to read "blood meridian" by cormac mccarthy and it was literally dogshit. I mean, one of the worst books if ever read--so shitty I stopped torturing myself. If anyone has read that, and "the road," are they written in a similar fashion?

[Great-Kazoo]

I had a better opinion of Lucifer's Hammer than JohnnyEgo. Yes, the tech is 80s but the thinking is timeless.

John Ringo has a series out called Black Tide Rising. It's a zombie apocalypse story by an author who hates zombie apocalypse stories but is well-versed in military tech (I believe he's good friends with fellow Baen author Larry Correia). Some good stuff in there thinking about how to arm up, how to organize a post-apocalyptic societal group, etc.


Baen Book is a great place for free and $$ downloads


have you read the 299 days books?

or, the "enemies" books by Matt Braken?

I'm probably odd man out with the Enemies books by Bracken. Other than the 3rd in the series Foreign Enemies & Traitors. The other 2 were terrible

This recommendation isn't TEOTWAWKI BUT............................ it's a good read. It's still referenced in Bio-hazard training & security

I suggest a 1995 ish printed book .

The Hot Zone.
They made a semi boring (Loosely based) movie with Dustin Hoffman from it. However the book, if you're in to this sort of thing, moves. Factor in it's based off an incident @ the Reston VA lab involving NHP's

[Wulf202]

Lights out

[Irving]

This is my last post from the Books thread in the Stickys:
The Post Mortal - Drew Magary - Apocalypse by discovering the key to biological immortality. This is a great book that thought through several downside scenarios to immortality that I hadn't thought of or seen before.


Like each new wife having more rights than the last one? What a nightmare.

[JohnnyEgo]

A lot of amusing thoughts on marriage. Like, now that 'Until Death' is no longer applicable, the rest of the contract should be voided.
Also, the contract marriage. As in, being immortal, we can be married for 50 years, but after that, I will be bored with your shit and in desperate need of some strange.
And some creepy unintended consequences, such as the woman who injects her baby with the stuff, so that he will be an infant forever.

[Irving]

That's just down right realistic. Just because one is immortal, does not mean they are full of wisdom. Probably a lot of procrastination as well.

[DireWolf]

Day of Wrath is excellent and frigging scary that it hasn't happened (yet).

That book is what got me worked up on the truck/backpack rifle project...

I thought the "Going Home" series (by A. American) was also really good...


On a (somewhat) unrelated note, I have an extra copy each of the Leadership and Survival books by Lt. Gen. Honore, if anyone wants them (and willing to pick them up in the N. metro area)...

[spqrzilla]

John Ringo has a series out called Black Tide Rising. It's a zombie apocalypse story by an author who hates zombie apocalypse stories but is well-versed in military tech (I believe he's good friends with fellow Baen author Larry Correia).

Well, yes, they are friends since each is writing stories in the others' series. And a friend of mine is writing stories in both Ringo's Black Tide Rising series and Larry's MHI series.

[TheGrey]

"Emergence" by David Palmer. 1980s, lots of scifi/fantasy aspects, but some excellent ideas and points. A very entertaining read!

[SAnd]

Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein was first published in mid '60s. It's about group of people are blasted into by a nuclear bomb.

[BushMasterBoy]

I was made aware of this novel because it is mentioned in a book about defending against a space alien invasion. That book is "An Introduction To Planetary Defense." Interesting because story is based in Colorado.

Synopsis below...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Column

[Martinjmpr]

Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein was first published in mid '60s. It's about group of people are blasted into by a nuclear bomb.

The first half of that book is great. The second - yeah, not so great.

[clodhopper]

Malevil by Robert Merle. Survivors in a French castle experience nuclear war and then deal with power/leadership struggles, marauders and more.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein was first published in mid '60s. It's about group of people are blasted into by a nuclear bomb.

I was going to mention this but the story is somewhat dated. There are some good tidbits in terms of how to think about preparing for the fall of civilization but the book itself was more an exploration of different societies using a nuclear exchange as the MacGuffin. Still a good read IMO but perhaps not the kind of material the OP was looking for.

[Martinjmpr]

I was going to mention this but the story is somewhat dated. There are some good tidbits in terms of how to think about preparing for the fall of civilization but the book itself was more an exploration of different societies using a nuclear exchange as the MacGuffin. Still a good read IMO but perhaps not the kind of material the OP was looking for.

As I said above, the first half is a pretty interesting survival tale of suburbanites dealing with nuclear war.

Then it goes off the rails with a magical transportation into a dystopian future where white people are slaves and blacks were their masters - I think the book was written in the early 60's and it was RAH's attempt to make his works relevant to the civil rights struggle.

As with his weird Oedipal complex in "Time Enough for Love" (where the main character goes back in time to have sex with his mother - Not. Even. Kidding. :rolleyes: ) it gets awkward and uncomfortable pretty fast.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge RAH fan and have been for decades but his attempts to be "hip" in the 60's and 70's were kind of squirm-inducing. I tried to read "The Cat who Walks through Walls" but just couldn't get into it.

Funny thing, one of his last books, "Job: A Comedy of Justice" was actually one of his best.

[TheGrey]

As I said above, the first half is a pretty interesting survival tale of suburbanites dealing with nuclear war.

Then it goes off the rails with a magical transportation into a dystopian future where white people are slaves and blacks were their masters - I think the book was written in the early 60's and it was RAH's attempt to make his works relevant to the civil rights struggle. As with his weird Oedipal complex in "Time Enough for Love" (where the main character goes back in time to have sex with his mother) it gets awkward and uncomfortable pretty fast.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge RAH fan and have been for decades but his attempts to be "hip" in the 60's and 70's were kind of squirm-inducing. I tried to read "The Cat who Walks through Walls" but just couldn't get into it.

Funny thing, one of his last books, "Job: A Comedy of Justice" was actually one of his best.

RAH liked to turn society's ingrained beliefs on its ear- and as a result of this, he would be inundated with hippie fans that would stop by his place in Colorado Springs, telling him how glad they were that he 'got it, man.'

Many of RAH's books had the main character/s in a self-sufficient mindset, creating an environment that would allow them to survive or endure the unexpected. In "The Number of the Beast," packing the bug-out-vehicle had some interesting concepts.

Robert McCammon's "Swan Song" was also a good one to read.

[CS1983]

Thanks for the suggestions so far everyone. Starting with Alas, Babylon and The Water Knife.

I'd actually heard a snippet of an interview with Paolo Bacigwhatever about The Water Knife on NPR when it came out. Didn't catch his name or the title of the book, so had been wondering what the heck it was as the bit I heard sounded interesting.

Alas, Babylon starts out describing a scene with which I am very familiar (rural Florida). Looking forward to continuing it.

[JohnTRourke]

I have all the Survivalist books by Jerry Ahern except #1 (dammit, it got lost over the years). Yours for shipping or come pick them up. Let me know.

[CS1983]

I have all the Survivalist books by Jerry Ahern except #1 (dammit, it got lost over the years). Yours for shipping or come pick them up. Let me know.

PM sent

[Mick-Boy]

Another +1 for Black Tide Rising. John Ringo's books certainly won't make you a better person but they're fun to read. Literary trash in the best way.

There was a series I read a few years ago by Joe Nobody called "Holding their Own" that was pretty good. Post-economic collapse Texas.