Post-Apocalyptic Fiction?

[Shalimar]

The Dies the Fire trilogy by S.M. Stirling is a good read.

Seconded. I'd also suggest the Island on the Sea of Time Trilogy which has the same starting point as Dies the Fire but goes in a vastly different direction. Its a thrill to read characters in one trilogy make references to the characters in the other.

 

[jonesy]

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Everyone has been infected with a vampirism-like disease. Except one man, who fights against them.

 

[Umbran]

The Postman by David Brin

World War Z by Max Brooks

I know a whole list of fiction that isn't exactly post-apocalyptic, in that it deals as much or more with the coming or the during of the apocalypse as it does with the time afterwards.

 

[Enforcer]

Lots of really interesting-sounding books mentioned so far. Thanks and keep 'em coming! I'll be referring back to this thread for months to come.

 

[Dioltach]

I'll second Hand of Evil's suggestion of Hiero's Journey (and the sequel, The Unforesaken Hiero) by Sterling Lanier. Great books. I've been wanting to run a D20 Modern game in that setting for years.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

David Gemmell's Jon Shannow books (Stones of Power v 3-5) are very much postapocalyptic, set on the floor of the Atlantic basin after a massive geological shift, with a regression of technology to early Victorian era levels.

His Drenai novels have an apocalypse in the deep background, in that there are machines and such that survived the demise of the Ancients, but it's more window dressing.

Brad

 

[Mycanid]

One of my personal favorites.

I agree! A Canticle for Leibowitz was a great book.

Also might try the other famous dystopian novels of the 40's and 50's, like Walden 2 and Brave New World. They paved the way for current sci-fi.

 

[jhallum]

The Postman by David Brin

World War Z by Max Brooks

I know a whole list of fiction that isn't exactly post-apocalyptic, in that it deals as much or more with the coming or the during of the apocalypse as it does with the time afterwards.

Two good calls. How could I have forgotten World War Z on my list? It's one of the best books I've read this year.

 

[Kesh]

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Everyone has been infected with a vampirism-like disease. Except one man, who fights against them.

QFT. This story has been made into 2 (soon to be 3) films, none of which really capture the story well but can be entertaining in their own right.

Also, the second half of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds is classic post-apoc, written well before such a genre existed. Again, the movies don't do it justice.

For a small-scale post-apoc feel, Lord of the Flies is an old favorite. While only skirting the genre, it handily covers the concept of "what happens when you take modern society and its rules away?"

 

[Mistwell]

The Postman by David Brin

I agree. Great book.