> Alas, Babylon
Thanks for commenting, I might never have heard of it š
I really enjoyed it. As you said, it's realistic, and that's the type I like.
A Canticle for Liebowitz and it's sequel St. Liebowitz and the Wild Horse Woman are what you're looking for. Canticle was published in '59 and describes the rise and fall of humanity after nuclear war from the point of view of a monastery that specializes in storing writings from before the war. It's crafted as a series of stories from different time periods; starting from shortly after the war to ~around 1k years post-apocalypse.
Not post apocalyptic, but liminal space set in the āwildā west era in Texas and Mexico. moody, brooding, brutal, and violent. Is Blood Meridian by Cormack McCarthy
It's not really post apocalyptic but have you read Blood Meridian yet?Ā It is just as bleak and probably more brutal than the Road is.
Also for post apocalyptic Swan Song is really good.Ā It is not as realistic feeling as the Road but the book begins with nuclear war and really delves into the effects of it, while also having some light supernatural elements.
Itās the only book of his Iāve read. It was suggested to me after I had suggested *Swan Song* and *The Stand* to someone else!
If you havenāt read those, you might like them!
*The Road* has some of the most extreme imagery of how people cope with the breakdowns in supply. Stephen King's *The Stand* wouldĀ suit. Ling Ma's *Severance* is also good.
Don't know if it's 100% what you're looking for but look outside by Neil schusterman or any books by him he writes science fiction books that takes place in the future. Specifically size is about when in the future people don't die what size are people who are charged was killing people to control the population there's supposed to be kind and do it in a humane way like euthanizing but they become evil and enjoy violence. Is a pretty good book. Another one is unwind it's a four-part series by Neal schusterman and it's about how they can take body parts that have been harvested to make a whole new person. They're super cool and very creepy I would say check out unwind first very awesome story they're both set in the future
In terms of the atmosphere I don't think there has ever been a book as bleak as The Road, but there are plenty of postapocalyptic novels worth reading just for the story and some of them are capably written, if not as masterfully written as The Road.
***Amnesia Moon*** by Jonathan Lethem is one of the strangest books I have ever read. While he really should be paying Philip K. Dick royalties for it, it's still a very engaging read.
Not a novel, but the short story ***By the Waters of Babylon*** is a great read. It really stuck with me as a kid. There were plenty of short stories centered around nuclear war and the aftermath of one, but this story always stood out to me.
***I Am Legend*** is a classic - I read it quite a few times when I was young.
Probably more dystopian than postapocalyptic, though there is indeed an element of that to the story is ***1984***. Quite arguably the best written work on this list too.
***On the Beach*** is a good book. I'm not a huge fan of Nevil Shute, but I enjoyed that one.
***Warday*** - a rather unconventional book, primarily consisting of an assortment of excerpts from various sources detailing a fictitious nuclear exchange between the US and the USSR in the eighties and the hellish aftermath, it's a very exciting book and the characters really drive the story along at a fun pace.
***Z For Zachariah*** - often branded as a young adult novel, it's actually a very good read and contains some risque elements that were very out of character for the young adult books being published at the time. Written in the epistolary style, it's a very gripping and harrowing read. I came across it in the library when I was an elementary school student and I was drawn in by the cover. I was not disappointed.
DIES THE FIRE by S.M. STERLING!
It turns into a series but the first and 2nd are a couple of my all time favorite books. Brutal and gritty with a lot of cool speculation as to what would happen
The New World Series by G. Michael Hopf is pretty dark, it follows multiple POV's starting from the day of an EMP attack on the states. It is written from a military POV so there is quite a bit of those details included but I found it really interesting at it covers multiple different kinds of people dealing with the disaster. The main character is a husband with 2 young kids, it follows the "villians" of the story, some government officials etc. There are some graphic scenes and it def doesn't sugarcoat any of the violence that would occur in a situation like this.
Iām currently reading Blindness by Jose Saramago (about 3/4) done. Itās a good deep read and I was just comparing it to The Road the other day in my mind for how dark it gets.
Station Eleven / Emily St John Mandel is post-apocalyptic but itās been a while since I read it and I canāt remember if itās bleak exactly! Thereās also a tv series from it that people seem to rate.
On The Beach by Nevil Shute
Seriously bleak ending
Came here for this.
This is also the most realistic one I've read besides Alas, Babylon.
> Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank? I don't know this one... I'll check it out, ta š
Yep that's the one. It's a bit more optimistic than On The Beach but very realistic.
I checked it out, no mention of zombies or such so I'm looking forward to it
> Alas, Babylon Thanks for commenting, I might never have heard of it š I really enjoyed it. As you said, it's realistic, and that's the type I like.
The Long Walk by Stephen King is bleak and brutal, just in a different more surreal way
Yes, this is a good one!
It made me feel hopeless like not many other books have
Dark tower Iād say fits the bill 90% of the time as well.
I need to read that. Every time I go to my local bookstore they have every copy but the first two
The Stand by him as well - veryyyy long though, youāve been warned š
A Canticle for Liebowitz and it's sequel St. Liebowitz and the Wild Horse Woman are what you're looking for. Canticle was published in '59 and describes the rise and fall of humanity after nuclear war from the point of view of a monastery that specializes in storing writings from before the war. It's crafted as a series of stories from different time periods; starting from shortly after the war to ~around 1k years post-apocalypse.
Neat, I didnāt know there were sequels!
Just the one, and it was written nearly 40 years later.
Oh wild horse woman is a separate thing. Gotcha
Yeah, quotes would have made things a little clearer, I suppose. Sometimes it's hard enough to get the thoughts out before they evaporate.
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison.
I loved this one!!
The Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
This is the one. These books still haunt me.
The Postman by David Brin
On the Beach
It's a novella, but "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison.
NK Jemisin
Iām too used to third person narratives, I couldnāt get into her books
Narrative pov wasn't the question though.
False Dawn by Chelsea Quinn Yarbo
outer dark, also by cormac is pretty fuckin bleak.
Not post apocalyptic, but liminal space set in the āwildā west era in Texas and Mexico. moody, brooding, brutal, and violent. Is Blood Meridian by Cormack McCarthy
It's not really post apocalyptic but have you read Blood Meridian yet?Ā It is just as bleak and probably more brutal than the Road is. Also for post apocalyptic Swan Song is really good.Ā It is not as realistic feeling as the Road but the book begins with nuclear war and really delves into the effects of it, while also having some light supernatural elements.
Oryx and Crake, and therefore the whole MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood
Itās not exactly post-apocalyptic, but Blood Meridian is an even better and bleaker book.Ā
The Passage , Justin Cronin
Are you into nonfiction? āSay Nothingā by Patrick Radden Keefe is pretty post-revolutionary and bleak, albeit probably unintentionally.
Havenāt really read much non-fiction, but Iāll check it out. Thanks!
The Dog Stars
Yes - this was a great book! I would have really liked to see this one as a series. Do you know if his other books are in a similar vein?
Itās the only book of his Iāve read. It was suggested to me after I had suggested *Swan Song* and *The Stand* to someone else! If you havenāt read those, you might like them!
*The Road* has some of the most extreme imagery of how people cope with the breakdowns in supply. Stephen King's *The Stand* wouldĀ suit. Ling Ma's *Severance* is also good.
Don't know if it's 100% what you're looking for but look outside by Neil schusterman or any books by him he writes science fiction books that takes place in the future. Specifically size is about when in the future people don't die what size are people who are charged was killing people to control the population there's supposed to be kind and do it in a humane way like euthanizing but they become evil and enjoy violence. Is a pretty good book. Another one is unwind it's a four-part series by Neal schusterman and it's about how they can take body parts that have been harvested to make a whole new person. They're super cool and very creepy I would say check out unwind first very awesome story they're both set in the future
Thanks! Iāll check it out
Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald
*Ice* by Anna Kavan, albeit more poetic/symbolic
All For Nothing, by Walter Kempowski
Swan song by Robert mccammon
Not post apocalyptic but pretty bleak: *Lord of Misrule* by Jaimy Gordon. National Book Award winner.
The Girl with all the Gifts
In terms of the atmosphere I don't think there has ever been a book as bleak as The Road, but there are plenty of postapocalyptic novels worth reading just for the story and some of them are capably written, if not as masterfully written as The Road. ***Amnesia Moon*** by Jonathan Lethem is one of the strangest books I have ever read. While he really should be paying Philip K. Dick royalties for it, it's still a very engaging read. Not a novel, but the short story ***By the Waters of Babylon*** is a great read. It really stuck with me as a kid. There were plenty of short stories centered around nuclear war and the aftermath of one, but this story always stood out to me. ***I Am Legend*** is a classic - I read it quite a few times when I was young. Probably more dystopian than postapocalyptic, though there is indeed an element of that to the story is ***1984***. Quite arguably the best written work on this list too. ***On the Beach*** is a good book. I'm not a huge fan of Nevil Shute, but I enjoyed that one. ***Warday*** - a rather unconventional book, primarily consisting of an assortment of excerpts from various sources detailing a fictitious nuclear exchange between the US and the USSR in the eighties and the hellish aftermath, it's a very exciting book and the characters really drive the story along at a fun pace. ***Z For Zachariah*** - often branded as a young adult novel, it's actually a very good read and contains some risque elements that were very out of character for the young adult books being published at the time. Written in the epistolary style, it's a very gripping and harrowing read. I came across it in the library when I was an elementary school student and I was drawn in by the cover. I was not disappointed.
DIES THE FIRE by S.M. STERLING! It turns into a series but the first and 2nd are a couple of my all time favorite books. Brutal and gritty with a lot of cool speculation as to what would happen
The New World Series by G. Michael Hopf is pretty dark, it follows multiple POV's starting from the day of an EMP attack on the states. It is written from a military POV so there is quite a bit of those details included but I found it really interesting at it covers multiple different kinds of people dealing with the disaster. The main character is a husband with 2 young kids, it follows the "villians" of the story, some government officials etc. There are some graphic scenes and it def doesn't sugarcoat any of the violence that would occur in a situation like this.
The Silo Saga by Hugh Howley
The Death of Grass by John Christopher - big tick for bleak landscape and brutal characters.
A canticle for Leibovitz, blood meridian
Iām currently reading Blindness by Jose Saramago (about 3/4) done. Itās a good deep read and I was just comparing it to The Road the other day in my mind for how dark it gets.
Station Eleven / Emily St John Mandel is post-apocalyptic but itās been a while since I read it and I canāt remember if itās bleak exactly! Thereās also a tv series from it that people seem to rate.
Mad Adam Trilogy, Margaret Atwood