Post Apocalypse Sci-Fi Part I
Explore the best post-apocalypse sci-fi books in Part I of our curated list. Discover dystopian worlds, survival tales, and epic adventures in these must-read novels.
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Farnham's Freehold
by Robert A. Heinlein
A nuclear blast sends Hugh Farnham and his family flying two thousand years into the future where humans are forced into slavery as punishment for having nearly destroyed the world.
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Into the Forest
by Jean Hegland
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Set in the near-future, Into the Forest is a powerfully imagined novel that focuses on the relationship between two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home. Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. No single event precedes society's fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found. The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other. Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, Into the Forest is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel of hope and despair set in a frighteningly plausible near-future America. Praise for Into the Forest “[A] beautifully written and often profoundly moving novel.”—San Francisco Chronicle “A work of extraordinary power, insight and lyricism, Into the Forest is both an urgent warning and a passionate celebration of life and love.”—Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade “From the first page, the sense of crisis and the lucid, honest voice of the . . . narrator pull the reader in. . . . A truly admirable addition to a genre defined by the very high standards of George Orwell's 1984.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Beautifully written.”—Kirkus Reviews “This beautifully written story captures the essential nature of the sister bond: the fierce struggle to be true to one’s own self, only to learn that true strength comes from what they are able to share together.”—Carol Saline, co-author of Sisters “Jean Hegland’s sense of character is firm, warm, and wise. . . . [A] fine first novel.”—John Keeble, author of Yellowfish
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The Long Tomorrow
by Leigh Brackett
In the aftermath of a nuclear war, Americans have come to blame technology for the disaster. The population is scattered into small towns. Cities are forbidden by law, as is scientific research.
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Aftermath
by Charles Sheffield
An exploding star causes electromagnetic storms which destroy most of the world's computers. The novel traces the effect of this on various people, from patients undergoing cancer treatment to astronauts stranded in space.
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Dr. Bloodmoney
by Philip K. Dick
Dr. Bloodmoney is a post-nuclear-holocaust masterpiece filled with a host of Dick's most memorable characters. Epic and alluring, this brilliant novel is a mesmerizing depiction of Dick's undying hope in humanity.
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Some Will Not Die
by Algis Budrys
The plague struck, and ninety percent of Earth's population died. Those who survived tried to maintain some sort of civilization...which meant more killing, as it turned out. But bit by bit, generation by generation, people began to succeed. With occasional setbacks.
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Swan Song
by Robert McCammon
An ancient evil roams the desolate landscape of an America ravaged by nuclear war. He is the Man with the Scarlet Eye, a malevolent force that feeds on the dark desires of the countless followers he has gathered into his service. His only desire is to find a special child named Swan -- and destroy her. But those who would protect the girl are determined to fight for what is left of the worldĹ and their souls. In a wasteland born of rage, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, the last survivors on earth have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of humanity....
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Bangs and Whimpers
by James Frenkel
How will the world end? When will the final trumpet sound? And who will be left to tell the story? Nineteen top authors explore a variety of fates, from the tragically sublime to the achingly funny. Book jacket.
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This Is the Way the World Ends
by James Morrow
George Paxton was an ordinary man until something extraordinary happened--nuclear holocaust. Now George Paxton is about to discover what happens after the end of the world. "Astute, highly engaging, and finally moving".--Los Angeles Times.
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On the Beach
by Nevil Shute
A novel about the survivors of an atomic war, who face an inevitable end as radiation poisoning moves toward Australia from the North.
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The Last Ship
by William Brinkley
In the aftermath of nuclear war, the Navy destroyer "Nathan James" and its crew--including twenty-six women--searches the seas for a place where survival would be possible.
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The Rift
by Walter J. Williams
A massive earthquake centered in New Madrid, Missouri, wreaks destruction on America's heartland, leaving a huge fracture in the earth and chaos in its wake, as the terrified survivors struggle to cope with catastrophe and the turmoil that follows. Reprint.
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Lucifer's Hammer
by Larry Niven
“The first satisfying end-of-the-world novel in years . . . an ultimate one . . . massively entertaining.”—Cleveland Plain-Dealer The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival—a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known. . . . “Take your earthquakes, waterlogged condominiums, swarms of bugs, colliding airplanes and flaming what-nots, wrap them up and they wouldn’t match one page of Lucifer’s Hammer for sweaty-palmed suspense.”—Chicago Daily News