Good TEOTWAWKI fiction book recommendations? (Vanity)

My own brilliant mind | 11/11/10 | Celtic Cross

[Celtic Cross]

Can anyone recommend some good books of the post-apocolypse-America genre? I read a couple of books that have piqued my interest on the subject.

I'm looking for some books that don't encompass zombies or 26th century steam engine building puritans.

Thanks in advance.

[SwankyC]

I wanted to seek treatment for manic depression after reading "The Road" by Cormack McCarthy. OMG that was dark.

Also, one of my favorites is "Judgement Day" by James F David. Not necessarily TEOTWAWKI, but is about a group that discovers anti-gravity and a dictatorship in America.

[Non-Sequitur]

bump

[stylecouncilor]

ping

[zeebee]

What does TEOTWAWKI stand for?
The End Of The World As We Know It

[Toddsterpatriot]

Lucifer’s Hammer.

[JOAT]

Pretty interesting, although his writing style is a bit clumky.

Agreed. It's really more of a handbook of "how-to's" but the story is okay.

"Lights Out" is also a good read to ponder how quickly we would plunge into Chaos if electricity were to suddenly stop flowing via an EMP event.

Lights Out Book

A free pdf version is floating around the net too.

[sam_paine]

EXACTLY! I couldn’t believe 25 posts WITHOUT mention of LUCIFER’S HAMMER!

[6ppc]

Lots of good suggestions here. I recommend Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

http://www.amazon.com/Lucifers-Hammer-Larry-Niven/dp/0449208133/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289491030&sr=1-1

[Joe Brower]

Second the motion for Matt Bracken's books:

[Psalm 144]

Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse - seriously:
http://www.amazon.com/Go-Go-Girls-Apocalypse-Victor-Gischler/dp/1416552251/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289490045&sr=1-1
Tongue in cheek craziness but underlying plausibility in crazy ways civilization attempts to recover. Southern crackers and Latin cartels struggle for the mantle of civilization’s defenders. Cannibals, bathtub gin, concubinage, guns, trains, souped up Mack truck and Geo war wagons, love, lust and hot air balloons - Good stuff.

Dies the Fire:
http://www.amazon.com/Dies-Fire-S-M-Stirling/dp/0451460413/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289490131&sr=1-4
This is a sci-fi/fantasy based cause of technological collapse in which some but not all laws of physics suddenly change. Basically, everything is thrown back to late medieval limits of technology. Setting that aside, the change in human behavior and adaptability is interesting, and completely changes social structures, religious allegiances and political landscapes. Suffers from occasional PC as the author was nearly run out of publishing after his Draka alternative history series.

Lucifer’s Hammer:
http://www.amazon.com/Lucifers-Hammer-Larry-Niven/dp/0449208133/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289490456&sr=1-1
An oldie, but goodie. Natural causes (meteor strike) and their aftereffects unravel civilization overnight. Somewhat of an outdated and to my mind optimistic happy ending potential, but a very, very good read in the postapoc genre. Published in 1977 and still in print and still convincing - what can I say? A classic.

[Toddsterpatriot]

I started a trend.

[Harold Shea]

Another vote for Lucifers Hammer.

Niven and Pournelle in top form

Great ending too,or at least hope for a new beginning

[Celtic Cross]

Thanks for all the recommendations. I’ll look into all of them.

[6ppc]

I almost forgot...John Birmingham is in the middle of a series of books in this genre.

The first is “Without Warning” and the second is “After America”.

Both are interesting reads.

http://www.amazon.com/Without-Warning-ebook/dp/B001NLKS3O/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289491962&sr=1-5

http://www.amazon.com/After-America-John-Birmingham/dp/0345502914/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289491962&sr=1-1

[Malsua]

John Ringo's The Last Centurion

+1. I just read that a few months ago. Not good to read if you're a liberal. I loved it.

As to a list

Patriots
Lucifer's Hammer (dated but still good)
Farnham's Freehold
Dies the Fire. The first book is a post apoc survival tale...it gets a little fruity in the next books
I've read others, I just wish I could recall them. heh.

[Erasmus]

Well, I'm glad C.C. diffused that situation.

≤};^)

[Teotwawki]

It’s my tag name.

[JackOfVA]

Deep Winter series by Tom Sherry.

He’s started a fourth book on the same events used in the first three books, but from a different prospective.

The fourth book is being posted on line as chapters are written at http://deepwinterstory.blogspot.com/

The earlier three books are available (free, I think) from the author as PDF files or for a reasonable price as printed and bound books. Info is at the site.

These are well worth reading - I read them as each chapter was posted a few years ago and looked forward to reading each installment.

Jack

[ml/nj]

One Second After was interesting. It sort of depends upon what is meant by a TEOTWAWKI book. Does it have to begin with some sort of cataclysmic event? Is Atlas Shrugged a TEOTWAWKI book?

The Camp of the Saints by Jean Raspail is a really great book that hasn't gotten enough attention. It's probably closer to Atlas Shrugged as a TEOTWAWKI book though it does have a cataclysmic event which the reader knows is coming pretty early on.

ML/NJ

[justlurking]

LOL, you win the prize for scariest book. :-)