# Apocalyptic Science Fiction



## burnitdown (Dec 6, 2006)

Apocalyptic science fiction predicts that humankind's lack of control over itself and its technology will result in a wasteland in which characters must struggle to survive against the new environmental threats and other humans. It is both metaphorical and literal, a warning like a siren against the course we're on.

Blade Runner, by Philip K. Dick
Neuromancer, by William Gibson
Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Citizen of the Galaxy, by Robert A. Heinlein

(Romantic art) is an attempt to awaken us from our false dream so that we can avoid this otherwise inevitable future. It is not a cry for help; it is a cry for finding values in ourselves so we have the strength to oppose this most ultimate of outcomes.


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## MrTamborineMan (Dec 7, 2006)

Don't forget Good Omens by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman


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## Magitek Angel (Dec 8, 2006)

Interestingly enough, I'm writing a story that reasons that one good technological apocalypse is just what mankind needs to achieve a stable, sustainable society.  Always the hard way with homo stubbornus.


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## Hodge (Dec 8, 2006)

A Canticle for Lebowitz - Walter Miller


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## red lantern (Dec 20, 2006)

A collection of postapocalyptic short stories called 'Beyond Armageddon', quite a wide variety of perspectives on how humanity would 'survive'. The cover has a big blue car with spikes on it zooming up what remains of a highway, an oldie but good none the less.


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## Zerath (Dec 20, 2006)

Cell by Stephen King is a fun read.


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## wmd (Dec 20, 2006)

Zerath said:
			
		

> Cell by Stephen King is a fun read.


 
Cell was a great book. I read it a couple of weeks ago and zipped right through it. It jumps right into the action and never stops.


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## Scarecrow (Dec 20, 2006)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalyptic_and_post-apocalyptic_fiction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apocalyptic_and_post-apocalyptic_fiction

I've always been a huge fan of this genre. John Wydnham's a master of it - Day of the Triffids, the Kraken Wakes and to a lesser extent The Midwhich Cuckoos were alle xcellent.

John Christopher's "The Death of Grass," depicted a very brutal apocalypse in which all grasses die off (including wheat, rye, barely etc.) resulting in a massve famine, and the main characters have to make their way across England to their brother's potato farm.

Plus I'm writing an apocalypse story of my own, linked in my sig.


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## rboy27 (Dec 21, 2006)

"The Wanting Seed" is a spectacular book, definately my favorite Anthony Burgess novel. "A Clockwork Orange" is great too, but "The Wanting Seed" is so amazingly English that it beats out Alex and his droogs anyday.


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## A Simple Man (Dec 21, 2006)

I wouldn't put "Citizen of the Galaxy" on that list.


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## variousitems (Dec 24, 2006)

"Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank.  I liked that one.  It's listed on Scarecrow's wikipedia link.


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## The Space Cowboy (Dec 24, 2006)

Don't forget about Stephen King's "The Stand"

I'm right in the middle of "Cell". I love it so far, I should finish up within a few days.


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## Tundra Belle (Jan 23, 2007)

Nothing like a good apocalyptic read to make you realize your life isn't so bad, after all. 

_Nature's End_, by Whitley Streiber and James Kunetka. _Warday_ by the same duo wasn't bad, but sadly, not of the same caliber.

Cheers,

Apocalyptia

No, just kidding! I'm really--


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## Mike C (Jan 24, 2007)

What about the oft-ignored (by genre readers) 'On the Beach' by Neville Shute. It's a little more realistic than most - everyone dies - and is one of the saddest, most affecting books I've ever read.


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## Sock (Jan 24, 2007)

The Dark Tower by Stephen King. If that qualifies as science fiction.


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## burnitdown (Jan 24, 2007)

Mike C said:
			
		

> What about the oft-ignored (by genre readers) 'On the Beach' by Neville Shute. It's a little more realistic than most - everyone dies - and is one of the saddest, most affecting books I've ever read.



I'm glad you mentioned that. I've been wanting to hit that one up for awhile. That's why these threads can be very valuable.


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## Anarkos (Jan 26, 2007)

Mike C said:
			
		

> What about the oft-ignored (by genre readers) 'On the Beach' by Neville Shute. It's a little more realistic than most - everyone dies - and is one of the saddest, most affecting books I've ever read.



It is.  If I could get just one tenth of the morbid sense of doom that pervades that book into my work, I would be happy.  The creeping fallout hits the reader like, well, a nuke.  Amazing use of contrast with the gardens etc...

John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar and The Sheep Look Up probably count.


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## Mike C (Jan 26, 2007)

Haven't read Zanzibar, but sheep is a good read.

There's an interesting difference between US and UK apocalyptic fiction. In the US it was all cold war doom and gloom allegory in the 50's and early 60's, evolving into survivalist wet-dreamsfrom 70's onwards.

In the UK it tends to be a lot darker - Wyndham's books, for example, show futures far more bleak.


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## Scarecrow (Jan 26, 2007)

Actually Wydnham had a tendency to finish his books on sudden uplifting, optimistic notes (particularly Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes).


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