Pretty, Fizzy Paradise

I'm back! And reading! And maybe even blogging! No promises!

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Request for Recs.

I don't know what it says about my current state of mind that I'm really, really in the mood for something post-apocalyptic. Unfortunately, since I tend to avoid things in the genre of "depresses the fuck out of me" I have no idea what's good.

Any recs? Movies/books/comics are all ok.

posted by kalinara @ 1:06 AM  

18 Comments:

  • At August 05, 2009 3:52 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Well, what have you read already? ;-)

    The War of the Worlds, Earth Abides, Lucifer's Hammer, A Canticle for Leibowitz, The Stand, When the Tripods Came, Alas Babylon, The Road?

    "By the Waters of Babylon" by Stephen Vincent Benét and practically every third story by Arthur C. Clarke?

    The 1632 series, where the inhabitants of a middle-class American burg find themselves trapped in the past during the Thirty Years' War, which might as well be a post-apocalyptic wasteland from their POV?

    The Girl Who Owned a City? I liked it when I was a kid, before I realized it was basically "Ayn Rand for children".

     

  • At August 05, 2009 8:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    If you want something kinda goofy, there's always The Tribe. It's a post-apocalyptic teen soap opera from New Zealand.

     

  • At August 05, 2009 9:20 AM, Blogger kalinara said…

    Aridawnia: With your whole list, the only one I'd actually read is War of the Worlds.

    So really, it's probably easiest just to assume I haven't read it. :-)

     

  • At August 05, 2009 10:07 AM, Blogger Matthew E said…

    S.M. Stirling's been doing a bunch of stuff kinda like that recently. Try either Island in the Sea of Time or Dies the Fire (which may be the one closer to what you're looking for); they're the first books in his two serieses like this.

     

  • At August 05, 2009 10:12 AM, Blogger Greg Sanders said…

    World War Z is fairly dark, but not especially depressing as post-apocalyptic goes.

     

  • At August 05, 2009 1:08 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    J.G. Ballard's novel "Hello America" features a future kid who grew up in an American ghetto somewhere in Europe and joins an expedition to desolate and abandoned North America.

    There's always the old "Planet of the Apes" too.

    -eddie

     

  • At August 05, 2009 2:17 PM, Blogger David Tai said…

    This comment has been removed by the author.

     

  • At August 05, 2009 2:22 PM, Blogger David Tai said…

    Postapocalyptic, but not depressing?

    Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

    From Wiki:
    Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō is set in a peaceful, post-cataclysmic world where mankind is in decline after an environmental disaster. Exactly what happened is never explained, but sea levels have risen significantly, inundating coastal cities such as Yokohama, and Mount Fuji erupted in living memory. The reduced human population has reverted to a simpler life, and the reader is told this is the twilight of the human age. Instead of raging against their fate, humans are quietly accepting

    You can find Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou here:

    http://www.onemanga.com/Yokohama_Kaidashi_Kikou/

     

  • At August 05, 2009 7:44 PM, Blogger Centurion said…

    Discovery Channel has a new series called 'The Colony' if you're curious. Basically, people in a social simulation of a post-major disaster trying to recover and rebuild. It's interesting, in a semi-educational way.

     

  • At August 05, 2009 8:22 PM, Blogger Randi Mason said…

    Janni's post-apocalyptic reads (frequently with reviews).

    Of course she leaves out her own Bones of Faerie, but I won't :)

     

  • At August 05, 2009 11:10 PM, Blogger Your Obedient Serpent said…

    KAMANDI!

    ...too bad they haven't come out with a Showcase edition of that yet.

     

  • At August 06, 2009 1:09 AM, Blogger Canton said…

    The Postman, by David Brin, is a good read. The associated film... not so much, even though Tom Petty is in it.

    Mom's been recommending Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban, for years. I keep meaning to read it, because it really does look interesting. I just haven't... gotten to it yet.

     

  • At August 06, 2009 2:52 AM, Blogger LurkerWithout said…

    S.M. Stirling makes me want to punch a Wiccan in the face. This isn't to say you might not like his books, they're decent enough. They just make me want to engage in violence against neo-Pagans and SCAers...

    I recently read Bones of Faerie a nice post magical-apocalypse YA book. Someone already put up Niven's Lucifer's Hammer which is what shows like "Meteor" or movies like "Deep Impact" want to be when they grow up...

    Moviewise you could rent Doomsday which is like getting 30 Days Later PLUS Road Warrior PLUS an exploding gimp...

    For tv series your best bet might be either Jericho or Jeremiah...

    Comics. Hmmm. Isn't there a collection of Kamandi the Last Boy out now?

     

  • At August 06, 2009 3:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Most of the books I mentioned are considered classics of the genre. Earth Abides and Alas, Babylon are probably my favorites.

    In the first, the planet is depopulated by an epidemic. A few scattered communities of humans survive, and the book's hero leads one, but the most magnificent and haunting parts of the book are the descriptions of Nature reclaiming her own. "Men go and come, but Earth abides."

    The second deals with WWIII, the fall of Western Civilization, and citizens of a small Florida town effectively learning how to survive as Third-Worlders.

    Speaking of Babylon, I love the Benét story, which you can probably find online. It has two twists -- one in the story itself and one involving the publication date...

     

  • At August 06, 2009 10:15 AM, Blogger Ragtime said…

    For "Least Depressing Post-Apocolyptic," I'd recommend A Boy and His Dog, starring a young Don Johnson and an always-old Jason Robards. Also, a talking dog.

    For "Most Depressing Post-Apocolyptic," The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, which has the saving grace of being very short, so you will likely finish before you kill yourself.

     

  • At August 06, 2009 10:18 AM, Blogger LurkerWithout said…

    Least depressing = "A Boy & Dog"? Um. Well. Er. Really?

     

  • At August 06, 2009 11:28 AM, Blogger kalinara said…

    I've heard about a Boy and his Dog. ...

    I'm on to your evil scheme to mess with my mind.

     

  • At August 06, 2009 4:27 PM, Blogger LurkerWithout said…

    Also you can watch the movie version of a "A Boy & His Dog". I did that thru Netflix since I hadn't seen it in forever. Turns out to not be a very good movie despite having a teen age Don Johnson and a talking dog. And an underground society who wanted Don's sperm...

    Thats probably a sign your underground society isn't working. That you send people to go and collect the man juice of Nash Bridges...

     

Post a Comment

<< Home