Since I write post-apocalyptic fiction I’m often asked what are my favorite books in the genre? I’m reluctant to answer because any list would leave some great stories out. However, some books had a profound effect on me. I still have many of those books and their topics and themes often come to mind as I write.

Over the years I’ve seen many post-apocalyptic movies and read many of the books. While vampires and the undead are all the rage right now my personal preference is for realism. With that in mind, I decided to share my top ten list of post-apocalyptic stories.

10. The Stand, by Stephen King.

I don’t enjoy reading or watching horror, so I’ve read only a few of King’s books. Still, I appreciate his writing skills. The Stand is a long post-apocalyptic story that stems from a pandemic flu virus. After the plague burns through the population one group becomes another and its evil leader. There is a supernatural element to this novel written in 1978.

9. The Postman, by David Brin

The book asks the readers many questions including how symbols work to focus society. Also, could a tiny spark provide rebirth to civilization? This 1985 novel has a significant science fiction element that I think detracts from the story. While it is a good story and did receive many awards, I actually prefer the movie with Kevin Costner.

8. The Children of Men, by P.D. James

This 1992 story is the first novel on the list that remains in my library. Just before the turn of the century human sperm rates fall to zero and no more children are born. The British government has been taken over by a tyrant. Only the narrator and a group called the Five Fishes work for reform. Most don’t care and why would they; the human race is slowly dying. As I read this book I pondered what I would do in that situation.

7. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy             

If you find The Children of Men depressing you’ll probably find The Road even more so. This 2006 novel follows a father and son as they journey south across a dead and ash-covered America. Food is scarce and many have resorted to cannibalism. This dark novel received a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. While I found it thought-provoking and engaging, I also found it depressing.

6. Wool by Hugh Howey

This started as a short story and is now the Silo series. Wool follows a man named Holston, the sheriff of a subterranean silo city extending deep underground. The surface world is uninhabitable. The Silo series completes the story. Hugh Howey indie-published Wool in 2011 and his excellent story and resulting success has been an inspiration for my own indie writing career.

5. One Second After, by William Forstchen

Written in 2009 this novel is about one of the more modern apocalyptic threats, electromagnetic pulse. What would happen if every modern electronic device, and the entire electrical grid, failed at the same moment? The novel follows John Matherson, retired Army Colonel, widowed father of two daughters, and a history professor at a small college starting the day of an EMP attack on the United States. With One Year After and The Final Day, I have all three of Forstchen’s EMP Novels. Another EMP story worth reading is Lights Out by David Crawford.

4. On the Beach, by Nevil Shute

Written in 1957 during the height of the cold war, this novel is set in a world slowly dying from the radiation poisoning of World War III. The story follows one of the last American nuclear submarines, USS Scorpion, and its captain, Commander Dwight Towers. This novel haunts my thoughts for days after each reading. A copy of the book has been in my library since I was a youth.

3. Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

In the novel, Tim Hamner discovers a new comet and it’s headed toward Earth.  The idea of a comet or asteroid hitting the Earth receives more attention now than it did when this novel was written in 1977. This classic novel examines a post-impact world.

2. Alas Babylon by Pat Frank

This is another novel from the cold war era. Written in 1959, the novel focuses on Randy Bragg and his directionless life in the small town of Fort Repose, Florida. His life suddenly changes after a brief, but devastating, World War III. Now he must act in order to survive. I first read this classic novel as a youth and always keep a copy in my library.

1. Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

My father gave me a paperback copy of this classic novel when I was young, and I actually read it. This 1949 novel is one of the earlier examples of what we now call the post-apocalyptic genre. It follows Isherwood “Ish” Williams who, alone in the mountains, recuperates from a snake bite. After recovering he returns to a world ravaged by a pandemic. Stephen King has said that Earth Abides inspired The Stand, and so I close with this favorite novel.

Did I miss your favorite post-apocalyptic novel? Let me know in the comments section.

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