Story faves: full apocalypse, dystopia, micropocalypse? > Likes and Comments

For the stories you choose, do you tend to prefer certain types more? Do you prefer a story where most of the planet is a wasteland and only a small fraction of survivors are there? Or a decimated planet which leaves 9/10 alive but the world is changed? Or perhaps a mini/micro-pocalypse where a defined area smaller than the planet is affected, such as an isolated city? Then there are the dystopias, which could be the result of an apocalypse, and in a way their own quiet devastation.

Trying to see if I can answer the question I've asked, haha! I suppose for me as long as the characters are faced with the same challenge of survival in a changed world, and a life that looks nothing like what they'd expected... I dunno, I am not sure if I have a preference. Though I have really enjoyed the occasional minipocalypse. Those feel a bit more hopeful to me because the rest of the planet lives on... and in fact that's part of what makes it poignant. I love a good dystopian story too, regardless of whether it was caused by an apocalyptic event.

Gertie wrote: "For the stories you choose, do you tend to prefer certain types more? Do you prefer a story where most of the planet is a wasteland and only a small fraction of survivors are there? Or a decimated ..."

I find I like mini-apocalypses. There's the one in Freaks' Amour for instance, or the many times Great Britain has been wiped out by this, that or the other disaster, a la The Day of the Triffids, and it's so bad there you don't even know how the rest of the world is doing.

I suppose there are also times when it seems like a full apocalypse and it's not, and when it seems like it's a mini but you don't know what it's like in the rest of the world.

Fishface wrote: "so bad there you don't even know how the rest of the world is doing..."

If feel like that's a pretty important ingredient. When it's so bad people are just trying to get through it and don't even know how bad it is for others. Can apply to any size apocalypse.

Gertie wrote: "Fishface wrote: "so bad there you don't even know how the rest of the world is doing..."

If feel like that's a pretty important ingredient. When it's so bad people are just trying to get through i..."

Then the Late Bronze Age Collapse was an apocalypse, even though it set the stage for the rise of the Greek city states and Western Civilization.

I like big, honking disastrously epics of apocalypses. Lucifer’s Hammer is an all time favorite of mine. But I’ll read anything. Cereal boxes if that’s all that’s near by.

I love'em all. Any kind of apocalypse. And I'm always looking for something fresh and new. Then again, I can never get enough good zombie content.

A rec for a mini-apocalypse: Between Two Fires. Takes place during the great plague in Europe. Very strange and surreal.

Gertie wrote: "For the stories you choose, do you tend to prefer certain types more? Do you prefer a story where most of the planet is a wasteland and only a small fraction of survivors are there? Or a decimated ..."

I am like Ozsaur, I like most any type though give me an alien invasion or a plague and i'm happy. By the way, we read Between Two Fires that as a group, didn't we? I read it back in 2022 and I think it was here with us.

I am pretty much like any kind of apocalypse, but I do love those unique ones that stand out from others.

Kay wrote: "I like big, honking disastrously epics of apocalypses. Lucifer’s Hammer is an all time favorite of mine. But I’ll read anything. Cereal boxes if that’s all that’s near by."

That's a very sound attitude!

Dystopia- 1a, full apocalypse-1b. Micropocalypse? Oxymoron much. Can't see how something apocalyptic can be micro.

Can you suggest another term that is technically accurate?

The basic description is that it's "the end of the world as we know it" for a sizable group of people, even if that group size is small compared to the world as a whole.

Something suitable for books like Under the Dome which puts its characters through the same struggles as an apocalypse, only it does not affect the entire world.

Another example of a micropocalypese is Between Two Fires which takes place during the black plague in Europe.

The plague didn't effect the entire world but did engulf an entire continent, and a few other regions.

Sarah wrote: "I am pretty much like any kind of apocalypse, but I do love those unique ones that stand out from others."

If you like most, how about a series filled with hope and rebuilding?
Set in 2195. My Train Hoppers Trilogy is complete at three books. This is the first.
Switching Tracks: Out of the Trash

As something of a railroad man, Switching Tracks is intriguing. I'll be looking for it.

Lawrence wrote: "As something of a railroad man, Switching Tracks is intriguing. I'll be looking for it."

Let me know if you need help finding it. It's on Amazon as paperback, ebook, and audiobook, as well as on Kindle Unlimited.

Interesting question. For dystopia, I tend to like thriving societies that have gone wrong from our perspective. 1984, Brave New World, and The Handmaid's Tale are all excellent stories for me. Society works and it holds up the mirror to us.

As for apocalyptic, I tend to enjoy the apocalypse of disease killing almost everyone and the rest trying to figure it out as best they can.

That being said, mostly I want a great story well written. I tend to sit within reality and try to avoid dragons, orcs and such. Not there is anything wrong with the sub-genre, jus t not my cup of tea. Although I have read a few very good stories.