Go Back  DVD Talk Forum > Entertainment Discussions > Book Talk
Reload this Page >

Good 'end of the world' books

Book Talk A Place To Discuss Books and Audiobooks

Good 'end of the world' books

Old 12-22-08, 01:08 PM
  #1  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,147
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Good 'end of the world' books

I'm in the process of rereading The Stand. It deals with the end of the world as we know it. Any other books dealing with this type of scenario? Almost everyone being wiped out from disease, disasters, nuclear war, etc? Have it actually happen, not one of those stories where they stop it at the last second.
Old 12-22-08, 01:19 PM
  #2  
Cool New Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: on the couch
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
"Swan Song" by Robert R. McCammon -- great book

Also, "100 Years of Solitude" is somewhat similar, if only in the fictional geographic locations specific to the novel
Old 12-22-08, 01:33 PM
  #3  
DVD Talk Reviewer
 
Pointyskull's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Formerly known as "12thmonkey"/Frankfort, IL
Posts: 7,790
Received 35 Likes on 31 Posts
Originally Posted by monsiourde...
"Swan Song" by Robert R. McCammon -- great book
A hearty second for Swan Song. Just an outstanding read all the way around...

How about The Road by Cormac McCarthy?
Old 12-22-08, 02:46 PM
  #4  
Cool New Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: on the couch
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by 12thmonkey

How about The Road by Cormac McCarthy?
I was thinking that, too, but it's more "post-apocalyptic," in which case a book like "Emergence" by David R Palmer would also qualify. Still all worth reading, tho, def!
Old 12-22-08, 07:32 PM
  #5  
DVD Talk Legend
 
AGuyNamedMike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: (formerly known as Inglenook Hampendick) Fairbanks, Alaska!
Posts: 17,295
Received 504 Likes on 349 Posts
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/book-talk/5...ry-series.html

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/book-talk/1...ld-novels.html

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/book-talk/1...out-there.html
Old 12-23-08, 09:36 AM
  #6  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 2,160
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
besides The Stand I like Lucifer's Hammer by Niven & Pournelle
Old 12-23-08, 10:33 AM
  #7  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Sean O'Hara's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Vichy America
Posts: 13,533
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Day of the Trifids by John Wyndham -- first a mysterious comet (or perhaps a malfunctioning orbital weapons platform) causes everyone to go blind, save a few people who didn't go outside to see the pretty lights in the sky; then predatory plants begin to take over the countryside, finding easy pickings in the blind while the few sighted survivors build holdfasts.

If you've seen 28 Days Later, you should know that Danny Boyle ripped off this book extensively, just changing the predatory plants to zombies. The opening scene is straight out of the novel.
Old 12-23-08, 02:39 PM
  #8  
DVD Talk Hero
 
CRM114's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 42,731
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
On The Beach by Nevil Shute
Old 12-23-08, 09:53 PM
  #9  
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: TX
Posts: 245
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The Last Ship by William Brinkley was an excellent read.
It is a bit dated being written in 1988 but the story plays out the psychology of survivors of a nuclear winter.

Don't judge it by the movie but L. Ron Hubbards Battlefield Earth is another good read.
Old 12-24-08, 02:37 AM
  #10  
Mod Emeritus
 
benedict's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Outside of the U.S.A.
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Originally Posted by AGuyNamedMike
Right after seeing the title of this thread I came very close to merging with that earlier thread you've cited but decided instead that someone might care to update the list I made there and post it here. I'll do it myself if I get the opportunity over the holidays.

There is also a link from one of my posts in that earlier thread to a mega list from rec.sf.arts.sf.written that was saved in DejaGoogle.
Old 12-24-08, 10:42 AM
  #11  
DVD Talk Legend
 
spainlinx0's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: NJ
Posts: 18,673
Received 487 Likes on 286 Posts
Loved Swan Song.
Old 12-24-08, 05:11 PM
  #12  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Iowa
Posts: 1,344
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'll second "Day of the Triffids" and "On the Beach."
Old 12-25-08, 05:02 AM
  #13  
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 90
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
"The Forge of God" by Greg Bear
"Moonseed" by Stephen Baxter
Old 12-25-08, 09:02 AM
  #14  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
dhmac's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Kissimmee, Florida
Posts: 7,422
Received 67 Likes on 58 Posts
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

.
Old 12-25-08, 09:10 AM
  #15  
Cool New Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Navarre, FL
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Old 12-25-08, 11:30 AM
  #16  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 697
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller. A true classic, with very intriguing religious themes.
Old 12-25-08, 08:29 PM
  #17  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Nick Danger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 30,529
Received 1,433 Likes on 913 Posts
Cat's Cradle.
Old 02-11-09, 02:34 AM
  #18  
New Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Good 'end of the world' books

Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon is a great book.
Old 02-11-09, 03:16 AM
  #19  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
Baron Of Hell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Seattle and sometimes hell
Posts: 6,270
Likes: 0
Received 15 Likes on 14 Posts
Re: Good 'end of the world' books

I read this one book that ended with these guy dying on a row boat. They just come from a sub. If I recall correctly a nuclear cloud drifted over the Earth and killed everyone. Read it when I was like 9 so details aren't real clear.
Old 02-11-09, 03:41 AM
  #20  
Mod Emeritus
 
benedict's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Outside of the U.S.A.
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Re: Good 'end of the world' books

Sounds to me like Nevil Shute's "On The Beach".
Old 02-11-09, 07:04 AM
  #21  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
Baron Of Hell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Seattle and sometimes hell
Posts: 6,270
Likes: 0
Received 15 Likes on 14 Posts
Re: Good 'end of the world' books

Originally Posted by benedict
Sounds to me like Nevil Shute's "On The Beach".
Yep that is the one.
Old 02-11-09, 11:37 AM
  #22  
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Unknown
Posts: 4,091
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Good 'end of the world' books

Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito is an excellent (and humorous) book.
Old 02-25-09, 04:22 PM
  #23  
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
 
funkyryno's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,361
Received 188 Likes on 105 Posts
Re: Good 'end of the world' books

"World War Z" -- Zombie apocalypse
"Dies the Fire" -- Technology stops working
"The Postman" -- post-nuclear holocaust
"Monster Island -- Zombie apocalypse
"Children of Men" -- mankind becomes sterile
"Year Zero" -- killer virus from biblical times
Old 02-27-09, 03:48 PM
  #24  
DVD Talk Special Edition
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 1,299
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Good 'end of the world' books

Originally Posted by resinrats
Almost everyone being wiped out from disease, disasters, nuclear war, etc? Have it actually happen, not one of those stories where they stop it at the last second.
How about where it ends before halfway through the novel?

You must read the classic The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel. http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/pro...ud,672245.aspx

It's been an influence on every "last man on earth" scenario. The first half of the book is an amazingly haunting journey through an earth littered with corpses. "I was used to the silence of the ice; and I was used to the silence of the sea; but I was afraid of the silence of Europe."

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.