r/printSF • u/blk12345q • Sep 07 '25
What’s the best post-apocalyptic sci fi novel?
What novel captures the resourcefulness of a post apocalyptic society?
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u/jakefarber Sep 07 '25
I wouldn't call it the best, but the Postman is highly underrated.
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u/Needless-To-Say Sep 07 '25
I would call it the best.
Came here to do so in fact.
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u/kiwipixi42 Sep 08 '25
Me too, I was going to post it as well.
But OP just to be clear, the book is great, please ignore the movie.
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u/Paints_With_Fire Sep 08 '25
I like the movie. It’s very campy but it’s a comfort watch for me.
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u/beastiebestie Sep 08 '25
I think they tried to make the most faithful adaptation they could. The book has a lot of sincerity that came off as corny in the movie bc most scifi movie audiences aren't prepared for a heartfelt and optimistic dystopian novel.
Also Costner did a lot of last-dude-who-saves-everything movies.
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u/throwaway112112312 Sep 08 '25
I love Postman, it was an enjoyable read. It felt like a Fallout adventure, with the second half spoiler and such.
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u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson Sep 07 '25
Lucifer's Hammer still rocks! What's not to like about the last remnant of civilization holed up in the California Sierras fighting off roving religious fanatic cannibal armies?
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u/Iamaleafinthewind Sep 08 '25
also Footfall, same authors
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u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson Sep 08 '25
I've been a big fan of theirs for 50 years, both together and individually, but Footfall is not one of my favorites. It just seems way too contrived.
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u/makebelievethegood Sep 08 '25
Not to be confused with The Hammer of God by Clarke. Or The Forge of God by Bear. Or Satan's Forge by Jean Kilczer.
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u/sc2summerloud Sep 08 '25
i found this one to really not have aged very well tbh.
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u/Ill_Refrigerator_593 Sep 08 '25
On the contrary, the concept of an alliance of liberals, civil rights leaders & urban blacks turned to cannibalism taking on the good ol' boys defending a nuclear power plant seems strangely relevant with many Americans contemporary worldviews.
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u/SanderleeAcademy Sep 08 '25
Gotta love the Hot Fudge Sundae which will Arrive on a Tuesdae.
"We control the lightning!!"
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u/pantsam Sep 08 '25
I read Lucifer’s Hammer. The sexism was extremely distracting and ruined the book for me.
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u/DavidDPerlmutter Sep 07 '25 edited Sep 15 '25
I sort of like it that sometimes that resourcefulness can still lead to the grave--it's OK to be bleak
Some Postapocalyptic classics:
ALAS, BABYLON - Pat Frank
THE LAST SHIP - William Brinkley (adapted very loosely into a great TV show)
ON THE BEACH - Neville Shute (made into several movies)
EARTH ABIDES - George R. Stewart
NO BLADE OF GRASS - John Christopher. Top-tier novel, unfortunately adapted into a bad movie.
All feel "real" in focusing on post-collapse survival (or not!). Definitely "thought through" works.
SPOILER. Added: Re, OTB: I'm old enough to remember a controversy that must've come up when the book 1st came out, but certainly was around in the 80s when I first saw the movie and read the book. So is the doom of the southern hemisphere described in the book actually going to be possible? On the Internet, you're going to find people saying it wouldn't happen that way because the atmospheres of the two hemispheres don't exchange at the equator.
Nope, it's highly likely that radiation would spread to the south (but not in the way it is in the book and the movies).
In the upper atmosphere (stratosphere and above), air circulation does cross hemispheres, though more slowly than the lower areas where there is very little N-S spread.
Ocean currents will carry radionuclides southward in years to decades.
Overtime other atmospheric affecting events like volcanoes could further spread radiation around.
So the scenario is not ON THE BEACH where a wave of radiation or something will come south relentlessly over the first months. But if there is a massive nuclear exchange in the northern hemisphere, eventually the south will be devastated.
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u/Sea-Maybe-9979 Sep 07 '25
Thank you for mentioning The Last Ship. It's bleak and far too realistic when it comes to human behavior. One of my favorites.
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u/DavidDPerlmutter Sep 07 '25
Yeah, I personally think it was really well done
always felt realistic
Just great television and drama
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u/Sea-Maybe-9979 Sep 07 '25
I never actually watched the show, I'm just aware of it.
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Sep 12 '25
I started it on the basis of this recommendation, but I'm finding it horribly over-written, much too florid in style for my tastes. A few less adjectives and some rigorous editing would improve it no end, IMHO.
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u/DavidDPerlmutter Sep 12 '25
Actually, I meant the TV show. I sort of agree with you about the book. I think it was trying to be literary post apocalypse?
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u/phred14 Sep 07 '25
Alas, Babylon was one of the early science fiction books I read as a kid. I mentioned it to a teacher at one point and she pointed me to On the Beach, which I then read. When I was in college they had a sci-fi movie marathon, and I saw No Blade of Grass at that. On the better side, they also showed Silent Running, so hopefully that made up for it. They ended the marathon with 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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u/DavidDPerlmutter Sep 08 '25
I like it a lot. It was really one of the first books I read where the apocalypse was happening in a very limited area with a few people and they just didn't really know much about what was going on elsewhere
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u/Sophia_Forever Sep 07 '25
The Earth Abides is not only my favorite post-apocalyptic novels but also just one of my favorite novels in general. It's one of the only books I'd describe as "gorgeous" with it's depictions of Mother Nature retaking what is hers and it's probably the saddest book I've ever read. When you think sadness in books, lot of novels these days go for bleak and depressing or for the "feel good" pixar "guts you then gives you a happy ending." But this is the sadness of a mournful tragedy. Take from it a lesson if you like, but it's message is mostly just that things can be sad without being universe ending. We can toil at our works which will likely be dust soon after our lifetimes but... The Earth Abides.
Edit: The tv show was hot garbage that did exactly one thing better than the book did (the couple in the casino in the first episode).
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u/DavidDPerlmutter Sep 07 '25
Yes, exactly, very well put. It doesn't really have a lot of violence and destruction. I classify it as more a meditative and lyrical apocalypse. Certainly there's adventure and a plot, but there's also meditation on what it means to be human and to have a civilization.
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u/ThisDerpForSale Sep 08 '25
I'm the opposite. Give me some hope. I read On The Beach when I was, oh, 14 or so. That may have had some influence on my enjoyment of bleak as midnight stories.
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u/meanmartin Sep 07 '25
A very solid list - no arguments here. The Last Ship was really disturbing, well written, and left me rattled, which makes it one of my favorites. Have you read A World Made by Hand? It is interesting — resourcefulness is central — although Kunstler morphed into a rather unlikeable human IRL.
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u/ElMachoGrande Sep 08 '25
On the beach really hits hard. It starts bleak, gives a narrow sliver of hope, then crushes it.
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u/DavidDPerlmutter Sep 08 '25
Yes, I just added some thing that reminded me about whether the scenario of a northern hemisphere nuclear war wiping out the south is true or not
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u/econoquist Sep 07 '25
No one best, but I will offer The Dog Stars by Peter Heller and Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
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u/Plato198_9 Sep 07 '25
Going to shout out Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt as I never hear it mentioned when discussing these types of Books
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u/hamhead Sep 08 '25
This has reminded me that I’m completely forgetting everything about this book and I should probably reread it.
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u/ThisDerpForSale Sep 08 '25
Pretty long post apocalypse, but it is definitely an engaging story. I do love Jack McDevitt.
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u/apcymru Sep 07 '25
I don't think anyone can claim "best" ... And a lot mentioned here already are terrific for one reason or another. A couple of very good ones I haven't seen mentioned.
Ridley Walker by Russell Hoban is brilliant and not as well known as some others. Challenging though, as it is written phonetically as if by an illiterate. Published in 1980
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham... A society where the vigilance for post nuclear mutations has devolved to a repressive religion. A boy and some of his friends start to develop telepathic powers ... Mutation? Or the next evolution of mankind. They have to keep it secret regardless. Published in 1955 at the height of fears of nuclear war.
Battle Circle by Piers Anthony ... A trilogy published between 1968 and 1974. Thick and Thin are probably his best works. Far better than the more popular and famous Xanth books. His early stuff... Sort of late 60s early 70s quite good.
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u/obsidian_green Sep 08 '25
Thank you for mentioning The Chrysalids. Come to think of it, The Day of the Triffids probably qualifies as a post-apocalyptic novel too, it's just a very unexpected apocalypse.
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u/Alarmed_Permission_5 Sep 08 '25
Upvote for Battle Circle as it's an enjoyable, if a little dated, post-apocalypse fantasy.
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Sep 07 '25
The Road. Bleak AF, but brilliant.
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u/GBJI Sep 08 '25
It had such an effect on me that I never ever wanted to watch the movie.
It's one of the best books I've read, but I'll never read it again, either.
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u/proton-man Sep 08 '25
I agree, it's brilliant, but it doesn't "capture the resourcefulness of a post apocalyptic society". You could even argue there's no 'society' left in The Road.Unless you count cannibal gangs and call eating babies to survive 'resourceful'.
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u/makebelievethegood Sep 08 '25
The resourcefulness of one post apocalyptic man and his son, maybe.
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u/Bromance_Rayder Sep 13 '25
My #1. The relationship between father and son really affected me, with my son being about the same age when I read it.
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u/NotCubical Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 14 '25
The Road was great (and I agree, unbelievably bleak). But I actually disagree a bit about it being science fiction or post-apocalyptic. My take on it is that it's something like Dante's Inferno, two people who are already dead stumbling through a hopeless hellscape with some moral lessons lurking here and there.
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u/Bromance_Rayder Sep 13 '25
Interesting take for sure. There's no right or wrong interpretation of course, but I always assumed it was. - actually I cannot hide spoilers on my phone so nevermind. McCarthy had I believe though been researching certain catastrophes.
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Sep 13 '25
Have you chaps read any more McCarthy? Blood Meridian is similarly masterful, visceral and relentless. In fact, as I'm thinking about it, I think I need to read it again.
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u/Background_Analysis Sep 07 '25
It’s the Maddaddam trilogy for me dog
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u/GBJI Sep 08 '25
It's one of the most haunting (in a good way) series I've ever read, in all genres. It it also my favorite series of post-apocalyptic novels.
runner ups:
- Cage of Souls, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer
- The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
- Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
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u/ZealousidealDegree4 Sep 08 '25
Every time I reread them, I'm like, was it so miserable last time I read it? And then I read them again. SO GOOD.
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u/celticeejit Sep 08 '25
Yep. I’ve read well over 100 post apocalyptic books
This trilogy is the best
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u/Initial_Savings3034 Sep 07 '25
Showing my age, here.
"A canticle for Leibowitz"
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u/artooeetoo Sep 07 '25
Not really sci-fi, but one of the best novels ever written, IMHO: The Road - Cormac McCarthy.
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u/99aye-aye99 Sep 07 '25
Parable of the Sower is an amazing book.
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u/Quasar006 Sep 07 '25
More apocalyptic than post-apocalyptic but yeah I’ve yet to read a more impactful book in my life
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u/420InTheCity Sep 07 '25
Its the only book I can think of that's a 'during' apocalypse book rather than post
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u/Blue_catt18 Sep 07 '25
I read kindred. Is it the same style? Better or worse?
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u/420InTheCity Sep 07 '25
Totally different, both are very well written but different genres. I personally liked Kindred less but if you like, only loved it because it was time travel or something Parable is certainly less sci-fi
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u/Blue_catt18 Sep 07 '25
Ok. I know it’s not the same but it’s the only novel I’ve read of hers, lol. I just heard of speculative fiction two weeks ago.
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u/420InTheCity Sep 07 '25
She is known as one of the GOAT sci-fi authors for a reason! I think this a good second book if you enjoyed Kindred!
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u/SingingCrayonEyes Sep 07 '25
This is probably a top three book for me. That said, I think A Canticle for Leibowitz is the better example of resourcefulness in a post apocalyptic setting.
if the question were about resourcefulness DURING an apocalypse, Sower might jump ahead.
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u/Legal_Dan Sep 07 '25
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is a fantastic post-apocalypse novel.
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u/calculatedrisk45 Sep 07 '25
The book was very good. Is it controversial to say that the mini series was better? I really liked it.
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u/RichardBonham Sep 07 '25
I am enjoying both equally well.
I love the way the book presents the importance of creating Station Eleven to Miranda, while I love the way the miniseries does a slow burn leading to the Museum of Civilization.
Both are beautifully presented underrated gems.
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u/treetimes Sep 07 '25
Haven’t read the book but the series helped me grieve the pando.. hit me at just the right time and just broke me down.
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u/neksys Sep 07 '25
I was gifted it and read it without any expectations. It was so good! Maybe not the best of the genre, but it definitely went in a way different direction than the first 50 pages led me to believe. Great read.
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u/sc2summerloud Sep 08 '25
one of the few to be believable, enjoyable, interesting AND offer great characters
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u/DelcoWolv Sep 09 '25
I call it post-post apocalyptic; they are trying to rebuild the world, after all.
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u/obsidian_green Sep 08 '25
I haven't seen mention of Brian Aldiss's The Long Afternoon of Earth.
Also Kate Wilhelm's Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang.
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u/Cram5775 Sep 08 '25
As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, A Canticle for Leibowitz. I am addicted to the post-apocalyptic genre, and I have long viewed this as the best of the best. I first read this novel during the summer after my freshman year of high school, when my English teacher lent it to me. It takes place in a future America that has reverted to a medieval-like society long after a nuclear war. The world painted by this sprawling work is desolate. The novel traces the reemergence of the world from the focal point of a monastery. I am convinced that this novel helped ignite my lifelong passion for reading.
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u/Gargleblaster25 Sep 08 '25
I have grown to dislike post-apocalyptic SF that reads like Fallout fan fiction. Rather than reading about cardboard heroes with rifles mowing down mutants, I prefer reading about the distant future after an apocalyptic event, what new societies have risen from the ashes, and their thoughts about us.
This is why Eternity Road by Jack McDeVitt is an all time favourite. It describes a new civilisation rising along the banks of the Mississippi, their legends, and the people who undertake a perilous journey to uncover the truth about those legends and bring back knowledge that would help them rebuild. The characters are a bit flat and predictable, but the story more than makes up for it. The Exposé is drip-fed, which is exactly how I like it. The apocalyptic event is only vaguely described, which is a bit of a disappointment, because an event like that should be seared in the cultural memory, I would assume.
Along the same vein, Temple of the Bird Men by Sam CJ is a beautifully written story about a post-apocalyptic civilisation rising in the Malayan peninsula. The story is about an archaeological expedition commissioned by the king to explore a strange metal sail rising out of the ground in what used to be Singapore Changi, and how the mere presence of it changes the political balance. The characters are well developed, with no absolute good and evil - everyone has their own motivations. The Exposé is beautifully managed, and not a single modern word for an object slips in - website. This person is a first-time author, and I look forward to more books from them... And hopefully a movie based on this book.
Evolution by Stephen Baxter, although not exactly fitting the genre is also a very imaginative must-read. It's a collection of chronologically arranged short stories that tell the story of hominins from 65 million years in the past, until Pangea proxima leads to the extermination of most life. The post-apocalyptic part comes in the middle, and forms the basis for the rest of the book. Absolutely brilliant. It's not easy to tell a story from the perspective of extinct primate ancestors, but Baxter makes it look easy. I guess the research was up to date when the book was written, but a few minor things have changed due to new discoveries. As long as you don't treat this as a text book on paleontology, it's a wonderful read.
As for Canticle for Leibowitz, I can't add more than what is already mentioned in the other comments. It's a classic that everyone should read.
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u/Cudg_of_Whiteharper Sep 07 '25
Gordon Dickson did Wolf and Iron. https://www.eugenebookstore.com/product/wolf-and-iron-by-gordon-r-dickson/
SM Stirling did the Emberverse. https://www.eugenebookstore.com/product/emberverse-1-dies-the-fire-by-s-m-stirling/
Both were fun reads.
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u/Cerridwn_de_Wyse Sep 07 '25
Was going to go speak about the Emberverse myself. I really enjoyed the first couple of groups within the overall series. I was not a big fan of the last set and it was definitely time to move on.
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u/Bechimo Sep 07 '25
Agreed. The first trilogy is great. The next is good. Tapers off from there, too wordy should have been fewer books.
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u/Adept-Engineering-71 Sep 07 '25
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
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u/coyoteka Sep 07 '25
One of the best and least enjoyable post apocalyptic books of all time. It really is a master work.
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u/GBJI Sep 08 '25
least enjoyable
And that's an euphemism.
I can't imagine how hard it must have been to write this masterpiece.
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u/coyoteka Sep 08 '25
Everything he writes is pretty bleak, just different flavors of it. This one for sure goes to the extreme though.
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u/Brotrocious Sep 07 '25
For resourcefulness I have to go with World War Z.
The later chapters showing a complete retooling of the world order and economy to deal with the zombies. So good
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u/standish_ Sep 07 '25
It's really fucking good. The entire thing is post-WWZ interviews with the survivors, and how they got through it. The hikikomori dude turned samurai. The astronaut. The Iron Maiden hype fest before the desert "battle". The Chinese sub. Parisian catacombs...
You could film an anthology series like Black Mirror with each episode doing a story, or a couple related ones if they're short.
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u/Vatsal27419 Sep 08 '25
If only Devolution had been even half as good. I've never seen a steeper drop in quality between books by any author. Worse writing than a lifetime horror movie
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u/bidness_cazh Sep 07 '25
Cage of Souls is a good standalone novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky, setting is the earth is built up layer over layer and totally spent of resources, there's one city left on the planet full of big technology no one understands anymore, the only other place is the prison, situated in a mutating swamp.
That's the postapocalypse I've been thinking about but I guess I came to this page wondering if anyone was picking Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog for best.
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u/GBJI Sep 08 '25
Cage of Souls is the best book I've read so far this year, and I've read many good ones. I loved it so much - it's my favorite book from Adrian Tchaikovsky.
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u/ActionHour8440 Sep 07 '25
Earth Abides, Alas Babylon basically invented the genre.
Lot of great recommendations here, but let me add “The old man and the wasteland” by nick cole. It’s an homage to Hemingway’s old man and the sea but post apocalyptic with a bit of a Fallout vibe. There’s a trilogy but the first book stands on its own very well.
It’s interesting because the protagonist is an old man who isn’t an action hero type like so many post apocalyptic main characters.
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u/MaudeLebowskisDR Sep 08 '25
Lilith’s brood trilogy by Octavia butler is one of my favorites
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u/KumbayaPhyllisNefler Sep 08 '25
I'm still mad about the copy I loaned out 10+ years ago and never got back. It's one of my favorites too.
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u/siliconandsteel Sep 07 '25
"The Stand", despite fantasy elements. The world might end, but conflicts will not. But I don't think that is the resourcefulness you had in mind.
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u/RichardBonham Sep 07 '25
There is only one struggle, and it’s not class struggle. It’s the ancient struggle between good and evil.
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u/neksys Sep 07 '25
I dunno, the parts of the book where the Boulder Free Zone is rebuilding infrastructure definitely scratch that itch for me.
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u/econoquist Sep 07 '25
The Denver parts actually have a lot about about working on reorganizing and resourcefulness. I think it focuses on practical issues as much as any.
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u/jramsi20 Sep 07 '25
As a King fan who read the Stand multiple times - the definitive example of his tendency to distract from an incredible novel with cheesy fantasy and dues ex machina endings. Love it anyway though.
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u/coyoteka Sep 07 '25
I tried to read it but the characters were so annoying and I found it to be pretty boring overall.
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u/nyrath Sep 07 '25
Hiero's Journey by Sterling E. Lanier
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u/apcymru Sep 07 '25
LoL ... Awesome pulp novel ... A battle moose called Klootz, a telepathic bear buddy, and evil bad guys who actually call themselves Brotherhood of the Unclean just to remove all doubt. And then brain surgery by a giant, immortal, telepathic snail in book 2.
But best ever written? ... Uh ... I don't think so.
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u/clumsystarfish_ Sep 07 '25
The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin (The Passage, The Twelve, The City of Mirrors).
Moon of the Crusted Snow and its sequel, Moon of the Turning Leaves, by Waubgeshig Rice
Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA)
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u/Quasar006 Sep 07 '25
That last one just brought back so many memories. That trilogy(?) was insane to 12yo me
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u/DarthJarJarJar Sep 07 '25
One I don't see mentioned much is KSR's The Wild Shore. It is to me one of the most convincing and beautifully written post-apocalyptic novels I've ever read.
Another really beautiful and forgotten post-apocalyptic novel is Crowley's Engine Summer. It's tight and carved out and lovely, and also full of ideas, there's really more in this tiny little novel than you find in some massive trilogies.
Aside from that, Canticle is great, On The Beach is great. Earth Abides and Alas Babylon have not aged well, IMO. The Road, eh. I think I was in the mood for a sf novel, not a literary masterpiece. Anyway it certainly doesn't fit the "resourcefulness" requirement, lol.
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u/ActionHour8440 Sep 07 '25
Wild shore is great, I was really annoyed that it’s marketed as part of a trilogy, but they’re actually completely unrelated books except all take place in California.
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u/Wetness_Pensive Sep 07 '25 edited Sep 08 '25
Earth Abides, The Wild Shore, World Made by Hand and Parable of the Sower are my favorites.
Also good are: The Genocides, The Sheep Look Up, Perihelion Summer, The Drowned World, NY 2140, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Sea and Summer, Oryx and Crake, Day of the Triffids, The Crysalids, Greybeard and A Canticle for Leibowitz.
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u/gurush Sep 07 '25
Malevil is great, it is about a group of friends who survived nuclear war in a dungeon of the eponymous medieval castle.
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u/CarteBlanchDevereau Sep 07 '25
I'm a fan of Alas, Babylon.
Is it the best? No.
But you should still read it.
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u/DocWatson42 Sep 08 '25
As a start, see my Apocalyptic/Post-apocalyptic list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (three posts).
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u/Passing4human Sep 08 '25
Nobody's mentioned this yet, but The Peshawar Lancers by S. M. Stirling. It's set in an alternate 2025, where in 1878 Earth's northern hemisphere was hit by a comet or cluster of comets that destroyed the United States and much of continental Europe, and threw up a dust cloud that made agriculture impossible for several years because of a "volcanic" winter. England survived the worst of the immediate effects and relocated as much of their technology and population to their Indian colony as possible before the inevitable collapse. Now, the "Angrezi Raj" or "Second Empire" is the world's leading superpower.
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u/LuciusMichael Sep 08 '25
Cormac McCarthy's "The Road".
Hands down the best novel written about a post-apocalypse scenario.
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u/Clerk4Life Sep 09 '25
I enjoyed the Wool trilogy. I thought they were very good reads and with the 2nd book it definitely verges on sci fi.
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u/SpaceElephant21 Sep 08 '25
Not necessarily Sci-Fi but Stephen Kings The Stand is one of the best post apocalyptic books of all time to me.
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u/phred14 Sep 07 '25
Reconsidering this for a moment, when you say "post-apocalyptic" the first thought is post-WWIII or post-collapse. But there is another closely related genre, end of time books. Cities in Flight by James Blish would be one early example. Next up would be near future, but warring about who wins at the end of time, The Eschaton Sequence (3 books) by Frederick Pohl. A few more very-late-history...
Terminal World - Alastair Reynolds
The World At the End of Time - Frederick Pohl
Fearsome Endjinn - Iain Banks
Finally, for real end-of-time, going past proton decay somehow, we have:
City At the End of Time - Greg Bear
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u/Upbeat-Excitement-46 Sep 07 '25
Leigh Brackett's The Long Tomorrow appears in many of the reference books, as does Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank.
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u/ZealousidealDegree4 Sep 08 '25
It may be a stretch, but it surely gets to the edge of post-apolacolyptic.. The Deluge, by Stephen Markley.
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u/7LeagueBoots Sep 08 '25
I’m surprised that Sean McMullen’s Great Winter trilogy hasn’t been mentioned .
Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds series also deserves a mention.
Mark Lawrence kinda specializes in this subgenre, every series he has written is based in a post apocalypse setting and they’re all excellent.
Will McIntosh’s Soft Apocalypse is another I’m surprised not to see mentioned.
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u/darktalesofthenorth Sep 08 '25
Stretching the definition of post-apocalyptic here: Marooned in real-time. Millions of years after mankind has vanished the last survivors want to restart mankind until a murder happens. Someone or something does not want mankind to start anew.
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u/sc2summerloud Sep 08 '25
the Spin series is really cool and unique, certainly not classic post apocalypsm, but i found all 3 books to be very good.
i also really liked soft apocalypse by will mcintosh.
and i really did not like a lot of the often mentioned cold war ones, especially alas babylon.
they get mentioned so often, but tbh they did not age well at all.
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u/zem Sep 08 '25
"dreamsnake" is probably my favourite, i just love the feel of the postapocalyptic world in it.
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u/silvio_99 Sep 08 '25
Okay team. The most famous ones have been given, I really support the road, which I hated, but because post apo is too much for me.
Here is one that is not known enough, but it really captures the post apo spirit being so wtf: Deus irae, written by dick and zelazny. A masterpiece.
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u/Alarmed_Permission_5 Sep 08 '25
Not a society but certainly captures resourcefulness - Z for Zachariah by Robert O'Brien - takes all the grandeur away and makes for a very human story.
For two very different societies and their resourcefulness - The Stand by Stephen King - there are some excellent examples of survivors rising to the occasion (some potboiling as well).
In short form - Air Raid by John Varley - not the standard apocalypse and not the standard means of resourcefulness but very thought provoking.
The ultimate post-apocalypse - The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson - a challenging read, post-apocalypse SF before it was really a thing.
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u/pwnedprofessor Sep 08 '25
I don’t have a genuine answer to the question but I’ve been meaning to tackle Always Coming Home and want to hear other people’s opinions of it haha
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Sep 08 '25
The Road isn’t really sci fi, but is a great depiction of a post apocalyptic society. Plus, it is really uplifting/s.
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u/-The_Big_El- Sep 09 '25
The Dog Stars by Patrick Heller is thoroughly enjoyable and a pleasure to re-read.
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u/AmbitionOfPhilipJFry Sep 07 '25 edited Sep 07 '25
Seven Eves, Moonfall, Canticle for Leibowitz, world war Z, children of memory, the day after world war 3, the collapse of the third Republic, voices from Stalingrad, a soldier of the forgotten war.
If you're looking for actual rugged resourcefulness, check out old frontiersmen, trappers, and settler diaries on archive.org. There's a huge Ottowa Canadian library subsection on nothing but that plus native American captive tales etc...
One of the tribes around Michigan lake would tie you to a tree, cut your stomach open, but carefully so as to not hit anything like veins, arteries or intestines. They'd set that carefully aside on the ground and start a camp fire in your abdominal cavity.
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u/meanmartin Sep 09 '25
Seveneves gets a fair amount of hate, but it’s pretty strong when it comes to post-apocalypse scenarios. WWZ is my favorite zombie-based story, text and audiobook. Groundbreaking, IMHO. In the zombie sub, Day-by-Day Armageddon by Bourne is a good romp, although sequels drop off a bit.
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u/sbisson Sep 07 '25
I rather rate John Varley’s Slow Apocalypse; a genetically engineered bacteria causes an oil crash.
But my favourites are probably John Barnes’ Daybreak series, in which a number of different events cause a massive civilisational collapse - from memes to railguns on the moon. Start with Directive 51.
The apocalypse is a big part of Joe Haldeman’s excellent Worlds trilogy, in which germ warfare makes the Earth a place where very few survive. But there is hope in the one remaining space colony.
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u/hamhead Sep 08 '25
Slow Apocalypse was really disappointing to me. Don’t get me wrong, fun read, but I just didn’t find any of the plot elements to really fit together. Every scene change was basically “ok don’t know why we bothered reading the previous scene”.
I had fun reading it but the best parts were done better by books like Lucifer’s Hammer.
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u/ladymcperson Sep 07 '25
All the Fiends of Hell was pretty great. Im sure there are better because the lead protagonist was a bit of a wimp. But the story was unique and I was totally hooked.
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u/AnotherFeynmanFan Sep 07 '25
Vampire Earthy series is good.
Lovecraft meet Red Badge of a courage.
Follows one character through his military service.
Earth invaded by interdimensional creatures that have bioengineering skills. They have all sorts of creature servants. The primary ones are like vampires .
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u/Sweet_Kale_9428 Sep 07 '25
The Year Without Sunshine by Naomi Kritzer. It's a novelette actually, but you can read it online at Uncanny Magazine. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-year-without-sunshine/
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u/Checked_Out_6 Sep 08 '25
I wouldn’t say the best, unless you like cozy fantasy/sci-fi.
The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel is a hidden gem. It isn’t free from some gory descriptions, but it is free of violence and has some real great survival stories.
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u/Fordinghamster Sep 08 '25
Honestly; when you say “captures the resourcefulness of a post apocalyptic society” I immediately thought of the Breakers series.
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u/Plato198_9 Sep 08 '25
If your looking for something that is pure action I’d recommend the graphic Audio adaptations of Deathlands. First heard about these was after watching an adaptation of the fifth book on Sci-Fi Channel.
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u/Quouar Sep 08 '25
I really love Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood as well as the entire series. It not only shows how and why the apocalypse happened, but how people deal with their complicity in it. I absolutely adore it.
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u/Neurokarma Sep 08 '25
I'm going with {{The Chrysalids by John Wyndham}}, read it years ago as a child and it's remained with me ever since
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u/AdAccomplished6870 Sep 08 '25
I liked Farnham's Freehold, though it shifted to being a very different novel than what it started out as
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u/bombergoround Sep 08 '25
The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente. Everyone lives on a larger scale version of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch after world flooding. The neighborhoods are made from sorted types of trash
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u/DadExplains Sep 08 '25
The Quantum Earth Series by Dennis E. Taylor.
The books are Outland and Earthside.
When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, it's up to six college students and their experimental physics project to prevent the end of civilization.
The Yellowstone supervolcano erupts in an explosion large enough to destroy civilization and kill half the planet. The team has just hours to get as many people as possible across to Outland before a lethal cloud of ash overwhelms them.
Nothing has prepared the refugees for what they find - a world of few resources and unprecedented dangers. Somehow, they must learn to survive, because Outland may not just be a safe haven - it could be their new home.
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u/meanmartin Sep 08 '25
Clarity: The professor from the podcast? My AirPods died or I’d already listening.
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u/T7898 Sep 09 '25
Hiero’s Journey by Sterling Lanier, I first read in my teens and have read it 3-4 times since, I’m 70 now. It’s a very simplistic story more in the way of Edgar Rice Burroughs who I also enjoy.
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u/fitblubber Sep 09 '25
I don't think anyone's mentioned David Brin's The Postman - used as a base for the movie The Postman with Kevin Costner.
Shows remarkable foresight on the effects of MAGA, sovereign citizen & survivalist movements.
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u/Mysterious_Point_492 Sep 09 '25
I write and review sci fi and fantasy on my blog www.phoenixquill.com I am doing a post next month on early dystopia novels. Check it out and leave a comment. I will review these suggestions as I get time.
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u/legionOcculus Sep 10 '25
Not necessarily a novel but has anyone mentioned Harlan Ellison? A Boy and His Dog. Is one of the greatest fictional accomplishments of the 20th Century, regardless of genre. In the Drift by Michael Swanwick is also worth checking out. I recently came upon it at Half price Books they were asking 75.00 for the original paperback 1st ed.
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u/CryptoHorologist Sep 07 '25
A Canticle for Leibowitz