Everyone's got a book idea kicking around somewhere in their heads, even though most of us won't admit it. For some time now I've been working on an idea for what I call an inverse post-apocalyptic book, that is, a book that falls squarely in the post-apocalyptic genre in terms of themes and style, but it takes place in humanity's deep past. To put it another way, since post-holocaust novels often feature reversions to a primitive lifestyle, why not view the primitive life of the deep human past (we're talking 20,000+ years ago) as equivalent to a post-apocalyptic setting?

All sorts of ideas can go along with that - instead of the memory of a past holocaust, you can have the inverse - prophecy of a vague holocaust in the future that nonetheless is reflected in the life of the present.

I won't bore you with any more of this, but I do need your help. As part of my research for this book, I'm reading a slew of post-apocalyptic sci-fi, and I'm looking for more.

What are your favorite post-apocalypse sci-fi novels?

Here's what's on my list to read. I'm looking for new suggestions, or votes of confidence (or dislike) for the books on my list. As I work my way through these, I plan on having a little sci-fi corner here on the blog.

J.G. Ballard - The Crystal World, The Drowned World
Richard Matheson - I Am Legend
George R. Stewart - Earth Abides
Walter Miller - A Canticle for Leibowitz
John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids
Denis Johnson - Fiskadoro
Tatyana Tolstoya - The Slynx
H.P. Lovecraft - Till All The Seas
Mary Shelley - The Last Man
Pat Frank - Alas, Babylon
William Hudgson - The Night Land
Aldous Huxley - Ape and Essence
Margaret Atwood - Oryx and Crake
Richard Jeffires - After London
Andre Norton - daybreak 2250 AD
Peter Dickinson - The Devil's Children
Larry Niven&Jerry Pournelle - Lucifer's Hammer
David Brin - The Postman
William Brinkley - The Last Ship

This one is a medieval Arabic piece that appears to fit the genre nicely:

Ibn al-Nafis - Theologus Autodidactus

These are ones that I've read (which I can recall):
Cormac McCarthy - The Road
Stephen King - The Stand
John Wyndham - The Chrysalids
H.G. Wells - The Time Machine
Russel Hoban - Riddley walker
Nevil Shute - On The Beach

I'm currently reading Marcel Theroux's Far North.

You've got my list of great post-apocalyptic sci-fi, now give me yours.


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