The Sword and Laser discussion

I was looking at the list for Best Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

I noticed The Stand is currently number one and I haven't read it yet. So I went to my local bookstore to see if I could pick up a copy, it is available but the type face is so damn small I'm afraid I might go blind before finishing the 1000+ pages.

Is the book worth reading or should I just watch the miniseries or neither?

The Stand is one of my favorite books. Here are some others you may like.

One Second After

Ill Wind
Hater
The Unit
Patriots
Tomorrow, When the War Began
Dies the Fire

A Canticle for Leibowitz

Boots wrote: "I was looking at the list for Best Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

I noticed The Stand is currently number one and I haven't read it yet. So I went to my local bookstore to see if I coul..."

The Stand is worth reading; the miniseries is not worth watching.

Thank you for the recommendations, I'll have enough post-apocalyptic fiction to read until the apocalypse.

Get the ebook if the print is too small. :)

This is one of my absolute favorite sub-genres, and I've been methodically going through the list of novels provided in the back of Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (which is a great compilation of post-ap short stories, and I'd also recommend).

My favorites have included Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and the other parable book(s), Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, and probably The Hunger Games.

I've noticed that I really seem to prefer post-apocalyptic novels that focus on the societal implications - the development of new religions and classes, the rebuilding of infrastructure, and how they let the demise of what came before inform those things. That is why the books that focus on the apocalyptic event itself, or on a lot of combat, aren't as interesting to me.

I highly recommend Swan Song. It's definitely a product of the 80's but it flows well and has some good surprises. I'd never heard of it until recently but many people compare it to The Stand. A bit depressing but it pays off if you stick with it.

aldenoneil wrote: "Cross-thread follow-up here, but you really should read Red Mars if that stuff floats your boat. It gets all societal up in there.

Similar to post-apocalyptic is dystopian fiction..."

I do have Red Mars on my to-read list!!

I tend to group dystopian fiction together with post-apocalyptic, at least in GoodReads they go on the same "shelf." Love that stuff too. That's just general downward spiral, not related to a specific event, but can be just as devastating.

Tamahome wrote: "Get the ebook if the print is too small. :)"

I don't have an ebook reader and reading an entire novel at my desktop is not appealing to me.

Thanks for all the suggestions, at this point I'm going to wait before I add anymore to my 'to read' shelf though. I'm a fan of the genre and I don't want to overdose on post-apocalyptic novels. I'm not sure I'd like to see that. "Doctor, What's wrong with our son?""Well Mr. and Mrs.Boots, your son seems to have overdosed on post-apocalyptic fiction, It doesn't look good."

nobody has mention my favorite post-apocalyptic book Earth Abides by George R. Stewart.
and don't forget about The Deathlands Series by James Axler, many of them are quite good. i'd suggest getting the full cast audio from www.graphicaudio.net.
for my favorite fantasy post-apocalyptic books, i'd have to go with Magic Timeby Marc Scott Zicree and it's two sequels, Angelfire and Ghostlands. i've always wished he would write more in the world, he left it open for more at the end, but hasn't done anything with them since.

As I am a particularly avid Stephen King fan, you should consider this a biased opinion. Having said that, I think "The Stand" is among his best work. Certainly in the top three, in my opinion. I don't think I've ever met anyone who read it and didn't like it. As for the TV mini-series... I'd say it's as good an adaptation as has been done to any of Stephen King's stories, with the exception of "Stand by Me." But even a multi-episode series has difficulty doing justice to the book. I wish I could recommend the audiobook version, but it appears that one doesn't exist, at least via "Audible."

Oh, and just in case The Stand doesn't last until the apocolypse, I just recently finished, and very much enjoyed Lucifer's Hammer by Niven/Pournell.

FYI, just heard Marc Zicree has a fourth book for Magic Time planned. He's working on getting the series turned into a TV show, and plans to put out book 4 when that's going. Cool.

Sean wrote: "aldenoneil wrote: "The Road, of course, thought I can't say it's an enjoyable read."

That book left me depressed for about a week. Of course, it didn't help that I had just read
[book..."

I didn't find [book:The Road|6288] all that depressing but I had already seen the movie and knew what to expect, so maybe I was emotionally prepared for it.

Bill wrote: "A Canticle for Leibowitz"
I second that.

aldenoneil wrote: "The Road, of course, thought I can't say it's an enjoyable read."

Listened to the audio book version and so that was pretty much a downer since the narrator was so good.

I agree that The Stand and A Canticle for Leibowitz are really good choices. I would also suggest Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny. The movie based on it (all they kept was the name) was so bad that Zelazny refused to ever let another one of his books be made into a film. The book, however, is a really fun race to deliver medicine from LA to Boston across the World War III devastated American heartland. The main character, Hell Tanner, is a likely inspiration for "Escape from New York"'s Snake Pliskin.

If you're into post-apocalyptic vampires, give The Passage a try.

Another book to try is The New Madrid Run by Michael Reisig. It's a pretty good story. Major earthquake happens, not in Cali like everyone has been predicting, but in the mid-west along the New Madrid fault. It shatters the continent in half.

Children of Morrow and Z for Zachariah are YA but both very good.

Earth Abides should get a mention. It's particularly good for San Francisco residents. Very lame blurb on the link above but the comments are meaningful.

Definitely The Passage- don't let the vampires turn you off, a very good read

Dont forget I Am Legend

Boots wrote: "I was looking at the list for Best Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

I noticed The Stand is currently number one and I haven't read it yet. So I went to my local bookstore to see if I coul..."
Worth the read! I think it is by far King's best work.