Modern Good Reads discussion

I know these are two different subgenres, but due to overlap, I'm lumping them together for now. Feel free to stick up your favorite books in these genres in the thread--along with a couple of reasons why they're your favorites!

Gone - This was kind of a scary one for me as a parent. What happens when there are no more adults? I have only read this one in the series, but I liked it.

Hollowland- This is a great zombie series.

Divergent - Good book!

So many to mention! Lots of great classics. Here's 3 for you:

Fahrenheit 451
I Am Legend
Inter Ice Age 4

I've got to mention Seed by Rob Zieger. My review of it can be found here http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... . This book is not for everyone, I admit, and it takes at least five chapters to really get into it, but I have to say that it is one of my favorite modern post-apoc/dystopic books.

Some of my other faves include The Old Man and the Wasteland , Oryx and Crake, and The Road.

These look great! I love 'The Apocalypse Survival Guide' as well; it is a guide to movie apocalypses and is a goofy, short read peppered with humour.

Does anyone know of humorous apocalyptic books?

I haven't read many books in the dystopian/apocalypse era but I have watched plenty of movies and I would love to read in written form a movie called, "Steel Dawn" it starred Patrick Swayze. Wasn't a epic movie and a lot of people have either never heard of it or seen it but if it's written somewhere as a novel, I would love to read it.

Tell us more about this movie!

Patrick (Nomad) was a swordsman that wandered the post-apocalyptic desert searching for an assasin, who killed his mentor.

He's a good guy until he pulls out this bad-ass sword.(Patrick was pretty good with it)

He comes to this settlement that is being plagued by crimminals and helps the pretty lady and her little town.

It came out in the 80's when he was at his finest and I would love to read this as a novel one day. I'm sure someone wrote a fan-book but I've never seen it.

Did someone say Patrick Swayze? Found the trailer on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inRk_Q...

Couldn't find any mention of a print/book version.

C.E. wrote: "Did someone say Patrick Swayze? Found the trailer on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inRk_Q...

Couldn't find any mention of a print/book version."

Yea! That's what I'm talking about! I'd try to write it myself but I'm too imtimidated to try it.

Partials, Uglies, Unwind are a few that come to mind.

Yelle wrote:

Yea! That's what I'm talking about! I'd try to write it myself but I'm too imtimidated to try it. "

DO IT!!! Don't worry about the quality or whatever it is that's holding you back. Just write the book you wish you could read! You can get beta readers, join a writing group, whatever, once you've got the first draft to work with, and they will help you with whatever the book needs to be its best. But that book is in you. Clearly it's meaningful to you. WRITE IT.

Michelle wrote: "These look great! I love 'The Apocalypse Survival Guide' as well; it is a guide to movie apocalypses and is a goofy, short read peppered with humour.

Does anyone know of humorous apocalyptic books?"

Excellent! Thanks. Didn't know about this one. I'll check it out.

Oh, and my favorite dystopian has to be 1984. I think it's largely coming true.

I really love 1984. I wouldn't say it is coming true but it really stuck to my brain.

1984 is an important novel. It is also an infuriating novel as I really can't stand the pessimistic conclusions Orwell comes to. I will always be thankful to him for making me that angry though, as I started writing thanks to him, in part just to prove him wrong, in part agreeing with him in his overall loathing of the totalitarian systems and what they do with the human spirit and thought.

The one novel I want to mention on the sidelines of this discussion is Logan's Run - just such a fun piece of work! Enjoyed the whole trilogy that had it all - dystopian future! aliens! time travel! you name it - Logan experienced it!

Victimized by Richard Thomas
"'Victimized' is one of the best pieces of bad-ass, hard-core apocalyptic noir I've read in a while." --Scott Phillips, author of THE ICE HARVEST

Fight Club on meth with the guilty in one corner and the innocent in the other.
It’s dark and grim this story, with some nice payoff of revenge.
Short but written in a style of his own and no word wasted. He has really left me with a lot to look forward to in his novels.

I loved Divergant and its sequel! I also loved the book Birthmarked and its sequel Prized. And we can't forget Hunger Games.

Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy. I read it a long time ago but I remember finding it thought provoking on so many levels - and an intriguing story.

I think Harry Harrison deserves a mention, a lot of the Stainless Steel Rat books he wrote are actually post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, albeit set on a different planet and in a different time but always with direct references to the realities of the present.

I want to read all of these! Aaaaah!

What keeps a dystopian future fresh and interesting to you? Many authors repeat 1984...tell me more about the books that explore other kinds of catastrophes and dark settings!

I'm still trying to find a copy of that Patric Swayze movie >_<

I liked Seed because it took a unique angle on the reason for the fall of society. It had as much to do with environmental collapse as it did with the genetic alteration of food crops. I liked The Children of Men because it had the loss of fertility as being the downfall of society. The Year We Finally Solved Everything used our own accomplishments as a reason for falling into an economic upheaval.

Those three books stood out to me within the commonly used reasons of pure environmental or catastrophic events (meteor, atomic bomb, global warming, etc) that seem to begin many apoc/dys stories,

The forest of hands and teeth.

What makes for a dystopia to you? Is it the catastrophe? The recovery? The human story?

The human story, for sure. I prefer books that try and look at all aspects/types of reactions you would expect. I despise books that have everyone "ultra prepared and ready" when the shizzle hits the fan, or who hold hands and sing kum-by-ya together. That isn't human nature. Yes, some people would certainly ban together and do their best to help their neighbors, but I think the majority of 1st world society would collapse in on itself like a pack of rabid dogs fighting over whatever can of beany-weinies they could find.

I like reading about how those different reactions meet, and most times clash, and how individuals struggle to overcome the basic human instinct to survive in favor of trying to hold some semblance of civilized society together.

Marni: Partials is a good choice. I recommend a story by Harlan Ellison that still child my bones--"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream." Harrowing read that will make you forget about Big Brother.

*chills*

I love that Ellison story! The collection it's in is truly wonderful.

And...After the Fear by Rosanne Rivers. Forget about being hungry.

Michelle: Harlan could write. Absolutely fearless.

It's the dysfunctional social set-up that makes a dystopia, for me. A great example is "The Book of Dave" by Will Self. It also follows a catastrophe - rising sea waters have turned the British Isles into a series of tiny islands, increasingly disconnected from each other, heading back towards barbarism under the religion they have invented, based on a disinterred ranting notebook once buried by a misogynistic London taxi-driver. If you can decipher the dialogue, with everyone trying to speak like London cabbies, it's a great read.

I LOVE The Book of Dave. Good choice!

I just have to say it! Hunger Games is my favorite! I love the human sacrifice and I love how Katniss changes in the course of three books! Plus the world building is top notch!

Oryx and Crake. Atwood has a unique ability to suck you right in from the off. I really need to crack on with the follow up books.

I also really loved Red Rising which I've just recently read via first reads. Excellent world building and the author is a great storyteller.

Tompopaageo wrote: "Oryx and Crake. Atwood has a unique ability to suck you right in from the off. I really need to crack on with the follow up books.

I also really loved Red Rising whi..."
Hi Tom, I'm right there with you, Atwood is fantastic. I'm making my way through The Year of the Flood right now and her ability to draw the reader in with her amazing prose style is hard to find elsewhere.

Josin L. McQuein - Arclight is a very interesting book. Loved it. It's different in a good way :)

'Alas Babylon' by Pat Frank.

Published in 1952, it presented a frightening and realistic portrayal of the aftermath of a thermo-nuclear war and graphically depicts the rapid reversal of thousands of years of social evolution and the most primitive social upheaval imaginable.

Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. A post-apocalyptic novel from 1949. Excellent read.

THE WIND RAIDER - Book One by Richard Finney

Awesome post-apocalyptic which I just finished. Would recommend to all!

I loved Wolf and Iron by Gordon Dickson. It was written quite a few years back but I noticed on Amazon that it's for sale recently as an ebook. Good books don't go out of date.

I just finished George Orwell's "1984," and the idea of the Thought Police is pretty unnerving! It would be horrible to live in a society where nothing was your own....not even your dreams!

Tompopaageo wrote: "Oryx and Crake. Atwood has a unique ability to suck you right in from the off. I really need to crack on with the follow up books.

I also really loved Red Rising whi..."

The whole Atwood trilogy is phenomenal!

Kate wrote: "Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy. I read it a long time ago but I remember finding it thought provoking on so many levels - and an intriguing story."

excellent, underrated book!

This is a great topic. I heard a radio program recently talking about how there used to be far more Utopian books than the deluge of current dystopias, an interesting phenom.

My favorite is only partially dystopic, and I am rereading it for the 7th time: The Four Gated City by Doris Lessing. It starts in the 50s but goes through the future, and it's a mindblower....but dense going if you're not on Lessing's wavelength. It takes time to get there, and is well worth it.

Alas Babylon by Pat Frank. First published in 1959.

This very realistic and quite believable story of a global nuclear war was and remains a stark indictment of the arms race. The cost in physical and emotional suffering is vividly and skillfully portrayed by Mr. Frank.

I really enjoyed (several times) Veronica Rossi's

My all time favourite is Orwell's 1984. Lord of the Flies is good as well. Brave New World is brilliant in its social criticism, but storywise i didn't like it that much.

Red Rising is still on my to-read list, I've heard good things about it.