Excluding the Dystopian genre like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Neuromancer, The Running Man, etc. (I generally define the difference between Dystopian fiction & Post-Apocalyptic fiction as Dystopian stories are set in a slowly crumbling society or authoritarianship, & Post-Apocalyptic stories are set after a massive disaster with a focus on survival)
I am looking for what could be considered essential reads in the realm of Post-Apocalyptic literature, as so far I have only partly read The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I’ve been wanting to read more into Post-Apocalyptic literature cause the only Post-Apocalyptic media I had experienced was either in gaming or film, like the endless amount of Zombie films/games, Fallout, Metro, Frostpunk, Mad Max, etc.
by Def-C
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Hugh Howey’s **Wool** is set very far after the apocalypse. It’s the first of his *Silo* series.
+ World War Z is a must read. A bit of a strange example as it’s a look back at the Zombie Apocalypse after it has occurred but it it well worth the read (it is very very different from the movie)
+ Lark Ascending by Silas House
+ The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
+ Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler straddles these lines, as it tells the story of a dystopia collapsing on itself and has that focus on survival. Def worth the read.
+ Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
Battle Circle, Anthony
Arguably: The Wheel of Time, Jordan
Dies the Fire, Stirling
Apocalypse happens in the book, with significant story after: Lucifer’s Hammer, Niven and Pournelle
The Stand- Stephen King
Station Eleven- Emily Mandel
_Station Eleven_ is a beautifully written novel following an ensemble cast in the days immediately before the viral apocalypse and the decades that follow. Among the best in the genre, especially if you want something literary.
_A Canticle for Leibowitz_ is a seminal sci-fi novel about a monastic order dedicated to preserving knowledge after a nuclear apocalypse, founded by the newly canonized Saint Leibowitz. It’s a brilliant novel, with a truly epic scope.
*I Who Have Never Known Men* by Jacqueline Harpman
*The End of the Ocean* by Maja Lunde