'End of the World' Novels, what are your favourites?

[sarahsbloke]

I love 'End of the World' novels, two of my favourites are 'Lucifer's Hammer' and 'Footfall' by Larry Niven.
I also enjoyed 'The Kraken Wakes' and 'The Chrysalids' by John Wyndham

What other books of this kind have you enjoyed or you can recommend for me please?

[Borislava Borissova]

What about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams?

[typo]

"On the Beach" by Nevil Shute.

[Tony Richards]

Not a novel, but Arthur C. Clarke's 'The Nine Billion Names of God.'

[Harry Shannon]

Lucifer's Hammer Niven & Pournelle
Alas Babylon by Pat Frank
On the Beach by Neville Shute
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Stand by Stephen King
Swan Song by Robert McCammon
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny

Just to name a few 

[Geoffrey]

There's a great thread listing bazillions of the apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic books:  Apocalyptic Fiction.  Personally, I love the genre and love everything from the serious to the foolish -  so here are a few recommendations of mine to add to the list:

A Land of Ash
Anti-Christ: A Satirical End of Days
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse
Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change
Parable of the Sower



       

[nogdog~6op6ou]

Geoffrey, you left out A Canticle for Leibowitz! (To be fair, though, I don't think it's been enKindled yet. )

[Geoffrey]

oopsies.  I thought it was in Harry's list ....

I have an ecopy of Canticle but I don't think its available anymore.  It was a large-print version available on ebookmall.com that I then ran through Calibre to resize the font.  I assume it was a legal copy as I paid for it ....

[Todd Trumpet]

You picked a good time to be in love with end-of-the-world storytelling...

...as every other movie and/or video game description seems to begin with "In a post-apocalyptic world..."

Todd

P.S.  That said, "Lucifer's Hammer" is a pretty cool title.

[sarahsbloke]

Nothing new suggested so far
'Canticle' must have been one of the dullest books ever, closely followed by 'on the beach'.
'Hitchhikers guide', I enjoyed the radio show, but more of a comedy than a serious EotW.
'The Stand' and 'Swan Song' drifted into fantasy, too much good and evil with a bit of magic thrown in, not keen on fantasy.
'Damnation Alley' a bit like 'Mad Max'

I enjoyed 'Earth Abides' and will have to re-read that one.

I recently read 'Afterlight' and 'Last Light' by Alex Scarrow, they were good, about what happens when oil runs out.

I have 'Patriots' and 'Survivors' by James Wesley Rawles loaded and ready to read.

[nogdog~6op6ou]

...'Canticle' must have been one of the dullest books ever...

Guess I won't bother making any other suggestions then, since our tastes are apparently diametrically opposed.

[DH_Sayer]

It's a standard answer, but for me The Road was pretty unforgettable, which is both good and bad.

[Colin Taber]

My first three suggestions would have been:

1) The Stand
2) World War Z
3) Lucifer's Hammer

All fun, all full of drama, and all suitable reads for 2012!

[Geoffrey]

Guess I won't bother making any other suggestions then, since our tastes are apparently diametrically opposed.

Agreed.  I think I've read Canticle 4 or 5 times and I think it's brilliant.

[biblioeditor]

I like
The Rift by Walter Jon Williams
Ashfall by Mike Mullin
Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts
Into the Shadows by Karly Kirkpatrick

[flipside]

The Stories of Ibis by Hiroshi Yamamoto

[jumbojohnny]

Hoping that end of the world means post-apocalyptic? If so, then for me, the Philip Reeve's WOME / Fever Crumb series is an absolute must. There are no formulaic heroes or heroines, no-one is all good, but some are all bad, and all are part of the battle between cities that roll across the parched plains, fighting other cities doing the same, or coming together to fight the rebels who chose to stay firmly on terra firma. It really is A1 stuff, funny and tragic and this can change from one to the other in less than a paragraph. It's not fantasy in the most common sense, no crossed swords at the city gates with 'thou shalt not pass' uttered every 3 pages, but it is sort-of steam punk, and well worth a read.

John

[Iain Edward Henn]

You mentioned two of John Wyndham's novels. Have you also read Wyndham's 'The Day Of The Triffids,' certainly one of my all-time favorite apocalyptic novels.

[Beatriz]

I love 'End of the World' novels, two of my favourites are 'Lucifer's Hammer' and 'Footfall' by Larry Niven.
I also enjoyed 'The Kraken Wakes' and 'The Chrysalids' by John Wyndham

What other books of this kind have you enjoyed or you can recommend for me please?

I would have to say the old, lovely sentimental "Waterloo Bridge" with Vivien Leigh.

[sarahsbloke]

You mentioned two of John Wyndham's novels. Have you also read Wyndham's 'The Day Of The Triffids,' certainly one of my all-time favorite apocalyptic novels.

I love all of his SF books, including 'Trouble with Lichen', I think 'The Kraken Wakes' was his best EotW book, closely followed by 'The Chrysalids', next is 'The Day of the Triffids'

[acellis]

My favorite is I am Legend, by Richard Matheson. The read was much better than any of the three movies made of it, although the best of the lot was the first one, The Last Man on Earth (1963) starring Vincent Price.

The book is a fantastic read.

The eBook version can be found at
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Legend-Richard-Matheson-ebook/dp/B00514HDNW/ref=kinw_dp_ke?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

[Geoffrey]

My favorite is I am Legend, by Richard Matheson. The read was much better than any of the three movies made of it, although the best of the lot was the first one, The Last Man on Earth (1963) starring Vincent Price.

The book is a fantastic read.

The eBook version can be found at
http://www.amazon.com/Am-Legend-Richard-Matheson-ebook/dp/B00514HDNW/ref=kinw_dp_ke?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

I've always had a soft spot for 'Omega Man' with all it's cheesy glory.

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

Nothing new suggested so far
'Canticle' must have been one of the dullest books ever, closely followed by 'on the beach'.
'Hitchhikers guide', I enjoyed the radio show, but more of a comedy than a serious EotW.
'The Stand' and 'Swan Song' drifted into fantasy, too much good and evil with a bit of magic thrown in, not keen on fantasy.
'Damnation Alley' a bit like 'Mad Max'

I enjoyed 'Earth Abides' and will have to re-read that one.

I recently read 'Afterlight' and 'Last Light' by Alex Scarrow, they were good, about what happens when oil runs out.

I have 'Patriots' and 'Survivors' by James Wesley Rawles loaded and ready to read.

Patriots is excellent and if you like it straight and realistic, you'll like it. I hope you like guns because you'll get more details than you'd believe.

I loved The Stand..all time fav book, and Swan Song. I also dislike fantasy but it was secondary in the books I thought and both could have stood alone without it IMO.

I'll look for the Alex Scarrow books, thanks!

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

My first three suggestions would have been:

1) The Stand
2) World War Z
3) Lucifer's Hammer

All fun, all full of drama, and all suitable reads for 2012!

All 3 excellent! I'm not into zombies but WWZ was great.

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

Just looked, unfortunately the Scarrow books arent available for Kindle.

Has anyone found Damnation Alley for K?  It seems to be a classic that I've missed.