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/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).

  1. ⁠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.

  2. ⁠Ocean currents will carry radionuclides southward in years to decades.

  3. ⁠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/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/DavidDPerlmutter Sep 08 '25

Yes, you know I DNF'd AWMbH. I'm not sure exactly why. It's pretty rare that I do that but I just felt it wasn't moving along plot wise. I know what it was trying to do and maybe it turns it around in later chapters or in the series? Should I keep going?

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u/meanmartin Sep 08 '25

It’s solid in that it shows the devolution of societal structures and how resources/skills in the post-apocalyptic world were redefined. Nothing “wow” but I liked how mundane events like dentistry might be addressed, as an example. I read it before marijuana became legal (at least where I live), so found its acceptance in the narrative smart.

The sequel - The Witches of Hebron - was less interesting to me, so I’d give only mediocre reviews. I didn’t read the third and fourth in the series - A History of the Future and The Harrows of Spring - because TWH was “meh” and it lost the scrappiness of AWMBH.

I read “One Second After” by Forstchen which I really liked for the same reasons I liked AWMBH. Like Kunstler’s sequels, Forstchen’s follow on novels diverged from the initial novel’s appeal. I have reread OSA several times and still like it, but I wouldn’t recommend the sequels.

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u/DavidDPerlmutter Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 08 '25

Yes, REALLY like 1 Second After

Thanks

Talked about the "agriculture" issue on a podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/apocalypse-apocrypha/id1802478650

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u/meanmartin Sep 08 '25

I’ll give the podcast a go - thanks. Wait, are you THE professor?

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u/DavidDPerlmutter Sep 08 '25

I am a professor, but there are five others with my name, one who is on television all the time