Apocalypse Now
After today’s wild ride on Wall Street, I thought an appropriate blog topic would be apocalyptic fiction.
Discover Magazine’s Science not Fiction blog has an interesting post about their top ten post apocalyptic worlds. Interestingly enough, although it’s a genre I enjoy, I agree with almost none of their choices.
My top picks – mixed film, television and print – would be:
- Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle – the masterpiece in the genre, in my opinion.
- The Day After – the most haunting film vision of nuclear apocalypse I’ve seen
- The Road, by Cormac McCarthy – it’s book length poetry.
- The Road Warrior – Mmmmm Mel.
- Battlestar Galactica (21st century version) – this is some of the best television being made. If they’d get on with it!
- Dies the Fire – the trilogy declines a little in quality as it goes, but it’s very well thought out and characterized
- Kalki, by Gore Vidal – I remember this from my teens, although its vision may be dated and clunky now.
- The Zombie Survival Guide, by Max Brooks
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What are your favorite visions of the end of the world?
November 20th, 2008
I really like Lucifer’s Hammer, The Day After, and The Road Warrior, too.
But I really like Titan A.E. Because the idea of naming a planet “Bob” fills me with glee.
November 20th, 2008
Titan A.E. is an enormously underrated film.
And yes, “Bob” would be an awesome name for a planet.
November 21st, 2008
I thought Dies the Fire was good, but yeah, the series kind of petered out in the last two books. Haven’t tried the sequel trilogy yet.
November 21st, 2008
On the Beach by Neville Shute. Not your standard road gyspsy, cannibal, rebuilding civilization or wallowing in the lack or it post-apolcalyptic literature. Maybe that’s why I love it so much. It’s incredibly sad.
November 21st, 2008
Chris beat me to it. On the Beach – what an utterly terrifying story, especially since Shute didn’t give in to the happy ending – extinction was inevitable. Period. For me in particular it was the sub crew’s decision to make one last dive – to keep the ship from rattling around empty inside the 30 fathom line. The vision of an empty and poisoned world, filled with skeletons and the slowly crumbling ruins of man stayed with me for a very long time. And the Armand Assante film was simply outstanding, Assante had the part of a US Navy sub skipper down cold.
Alas, Babylon, Pat Frank. IMO much better than The Day After.
Lucifer’s Hammer is terrific, but I like Footfall better – which is the novel Niven and Pournelle set out to write originally with Hammer.
Cameron’s original Terminator future – Which T3 managed to ruin, but the Sarah Conner Chronicles is fixing.
World out of Time Larry Niven.
Apartness, Conquest by Default, The Whirligig of Time, The Ungoverned, The Peace War, and finally Marooned in Realtime – Vernor Vinge.
Farnham’s Freehold – Robert Heinlein.
I have no mouth and I must scream – Harlan Ellison (“Their last meal was days ago. Worms, thick and ropey.” Gah! Gah! that line has stayed with me for decades. Gah!)
Adam and No Eve – Alfred Bester. Terrifying.
Star Man’s Son and Ad Astra! (the stars are ours) – Andre Norton, God I miss this woman.
Level 7 Mordechai Roshwald.
A Canticle For Liebowitz Walter Miller. Incredible book, incredible.
Emergence – David Palmer.
The Amtrak Wars – Pat Tilley, six books and I wish the old bastard had finished it.
Yeah, I have a thing for post apocalyptic scifi. What’s it to ya?
November 21st, 2008
Like Jim I’m a post-apocalyptic nut, thanks everyone for giving me many new books to add to my Amazon wishlist!
November 21st, 2008
I am too – hence the post. Now that I think about it, both last year and this year’s NaNoWriMo novels were somewhat post-apocalyptic in flavor. I agree, great list of new stuff, thanks!
December 4th, 2008
I just came across a new one that I’m digging so far Go Go Girls of the Apocolypse by Victor Gischler. It’s funny and actiony and after society has fallen apart, the most important establishment in the country is Joey Armageddon’s, a chain of strip clubs/hotels/general stores/you name it. The cover blurb says it’s part Chirstopher Moore, part Quentin Tarentino, and so far that about sums it up.