I just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and I loved it. But it seemed like the communes in the story used women like slaves, though not explicitly stated. There were a few women in the story who weren't that, though. Some were kept to be eaten later and there was one who was presumably a cannibal herself? And there was also one woman who was I guess part of the leadership of one of the communes.
I just think that, for a long time, the sex slave trope has been the primary characterization of women in post-apocalyptic settings and I wanted something different. I do adnit to not having read a lot of post-apocalyptic novels, which is why I'm here.
Ideally, I'd love for women to be important characters or even some of the protagonists, but, if not, I'll just settle for women not treated like sex slaves in the world building.
One book I can think of that has this is The Last Exodus by Paul Tassi. Asha is one of the main protagonists, but even then, she met the male protagonist as part of a trio with two other men. And later on, they find a fishing village where the women were also chained up and used for breeding.
I also read I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Hartman recently, and I guess you could count that as women having a major role in the story, but it's also a given as women are the only characters lol plus the setting is a little vague. Love that book tho, so GOOD
Anyway, I hope this makes sense. I just wanna read about women surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. TIA
P.S. Apologies for any errors, I'm blind and used dictation for most of this post
by sandstormer622
9 Comments
Station 11. Or The Chrysalids. Or The Hunger Games.
Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling
Maybe the Silo series?
Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw. Apocalypse by grey goo scenario. Women are just regular people.
Book of the unnamed midwife and the other two in the trilogy
Last One At The Party, Bethany Clift.
Severance by Ling Ma
_Dreamsnake_ by Vonda McIntyre is a feminist post apocalyptic novel about a woman who works as a healer, using three snakes which she feeds various chemicals to so that they synthesize various medications instead of venom. The novel follows her as she makes her way across the wasteland attempting to replace her missing extraterrestrial Dreamsnake.
If you’re ok with sex scenes, The Mercenary Librarians series by Kit Richa is about 3 women who are building community in post-apocalyptic Atlanta (I think Atlanta?), USA. They fund their efforts by going after lost books. In the first book they meet a group of super soldiers who have defected and they team up (and fall in love) – but ultimately it’s the three women who drive the stories. The series starts with Dance with the Devil
Sci-fi – I really enjoyed The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei. Maybe not quite post-apocalyptic, but it’s about a group of women sent into outer space to start a new colony on a new world. Something goes wrong though, and the MC has to figure out what.
Fantasy – Riad to Ruin by Hana Lee. It’s the first in a duology set on an earth-like planer. Jun-lu is a magebike courier running love letters between a prince and a princess. The land is always best by storms, but the storm of the century is coming and Jin-lu (with the prince and princess) discover a shattering secret about the inheritability of magic. (Of interest – of the three MCs only the two women have magic)