I just finished listening to "The Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham. I was really intrigued by the first few chapters, especially by the idea of a society where all but a very lucky few suddenly go blind, and the implications of that and how humanity would adapt. I didn't enjoy the Triffids plot line very much, it all felt a bit unrealistic and pulled me out of the story. This book was also really showing it's age at certain points, and the female characters were very poorly written.
I'm looking for Post-Apocalyptic books that have some kind of unique aspect like this. I'm on board with alien invasions, or mutant things escaping from labs and things like that as long as it's done well. I just want the characters to make reasonable choices. Basically anything where a global event happens and society adapts to the new norm.
Here are some more things I've enjoyed when I think about this genre:
"Commune" by Joshua Gayou
"Flash Forward" by Robert J. Sawyer
"The Simpsons Movie"
"Pluribus" (show) by Vince Gilligan
by HuntingNemo
11 Comments
You could try Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice.
It’s definitely more rooted in realism in its post-apocalyptic premise, so you’ll find characters making mostly reasonable choices. (But don’t expect any aliens lol)
I’m going to say The Earth Abides by George Stewart.
There’s not really anything unique about the apocalypse in the story itself, I think it’s just a generic superflu or something.
But the book is unique in the sense that it’s the only post apocalyptic book I’ve ever read that doesn’t have the author imagining a man as some sort of action hero after. It’s really just a study of how the earth and what we’ve done to it would react to the sudden disappearance of humans, and how society changes when we’re forced to become more close-knit
A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter F. Miller, Jr.
Station eleven – Emily st John Mandel.
Flu takes over and kills off civilization. A girl is apart of a traveling orchestra in the apocalypse kinda.
*The Road* by Cormac McCarthy
J.G. Ballard has some strange post-apocalyptic stories: for example, see The Crystal World and The Drowned World.
Hugh Howey’s ***Wool***. It’s the first in his Silo series.
The Girl with all the Gifts
The Stand by Stephen King is a must read. Follow this with Swan Song by Robert McCammon
Might be TOO similar to what you just read but I loved Jose Saramago’s *Blindness* – it follows an epidemic of blindness and a group of people who get quarantined and how their mini society (unsurprisingly) starts to unravel.
NK Jemisons Broken Earth Trilogy is wonderful, starts with the Fifth Season. A bit heavy at times but realistic depictions of trauma, dash of magic but definitely fits society finding a way to survive during the apocalypse. Won the Hugo Awards for each book too – loved the characters, very well rounded!