SHTF novels?

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I know it has been mentioned and I have not read any other SHTF books, but Alas Babylon was an excellent read. I actually had to read it in high school for a literature class. It is a dated book now, but what makes it so neat is how it reflects many of the personal trials and tribulations of various types of individuals as they come into contact with the core players in the book as well as how the core players deal with hardships. Things I remember as being immediately problematic aspects were diabetics dying due to insulin supplies no longer able to be stored cold and so insulin went bad. Of course, the supply was cut off as well and it was only a matter of time. Next were the roving bands of drug addicts trying to raid doctor's offices and pharmacies for drugs to get their fixes. Sewing needles became a needed commodity as clothing repair was mandatory. Money fell by the wayside and bartering returned as the primary form of commerce. A person with vision problems who lost their glasses was just screwed.

Red Dawn documentary? !!!! I just about spewed leftover X-mas dinner reading that!!!! bwahahahahahahaha!
 
more

Couple more for you...but these require the old SF 'willing suspension of disbelief' to read; they are sorta strange (as is most of Keith Laumer's stuff!)
The Breaking Earth
Night of the Trolls

Also there is a series edited by Jerry Pournelle titled There will be War;
last count I have is 9 books. Collections of short stories and most are
SHTF types. EXCELLENT stories.

Would not surprise me to find that Pournelle is a member here.

Speaking of weapons: in most of these and probably in the real situation your weapons are going to be whatever you can lay hands on.
 
nordaim
What about the documentary "Red Dawn"?
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Ah! I see you listen to V-Rock? Is that you Laslow?

"Lucifer's Hammer" is a definite must read.
Another vote for "The White Plague" by Frank Herbert

"The Postman"......never read the book, but I'm one of the three people who actually liked the movie!
 
TEOTWAWKI:

Good Omens, by Neil gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Rolicking good laugh at the end times.

SHTF:

Lord of the Flies
 
A SHTF novel I really enjoyed was "The Devil's Playground" by J. Gregory Garrison. Greg Garrison is a conservative talkshow host in Indianapolis (who also happens to be the prosecutor who put Mike Tyson away for rape). His novel deals with what might happen if terrorists decided to knock out America's powergrid. It hits pretty close to home now since we've seen what happens with a relatively minor malfunction in the grid (compared to people blowing up substations as they do in the book). His scenario is even more astounding since it was publishing in 1999.

It might be a little hard to find if you don't live in central Indiana, but I think you can still get copies from the publisher, Cumberland House Publishing.

JediSoth
 
here are three of my favorites i haven't seen listed here. good thread i been looking for more reading material.



The Herald
by Michael. Shaara

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_2/002-8268571-6965610?v=glance&s=books

Imagine a genetically-selective weapon of mass destruction in the hands of people with the will to purge the earth and begin civilization anew. Drawing heavily on Nietzche ("the herald of the lightning") a group of university professors nd their various protoges devise a method of cleansing the earth of mankind's evil and waste. It's a gripping story, and one that could prove all too real in years to come. Maybe. Definitely worth a read.




Long Voyage Back: A Novel
by Luke Rhinehart

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/002-8268571-6965610?v=glance&s=books

Using the topic of sailing away from a nuclear war, Luke Rhinehart creates a moving yarn of radiation clouds, near escapes, refugee centers, pirates, famine, plague, and survival. Insights into life in the Caribbean and South America after the war are prophetic


Power Play
by Kenneth M. Cameron

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...=sr_1_31/002-8268571-6965610?v=glance&s=books

Story of an ordinary man thrust into extraordinary circumstances by a massive, protracted power outage in the Northeastern U.S. Fascinating glimpse of average Joe turned into tough-as-nails survivalist; riveting story.
 
Patriots by Rawles is great.

I also like Invasion by Eric Harry

Transfer by Jerry Furland is ok.

UC is by far the best.

Hope, by Zelman, while not a SHTF senario, is good too.
 
Perfesser,

I also enjoyed Keith Laumer's Bolo books. Some other authors have taken up the Bolo scenarios and run with them; perhaps the best post-apocalyptic Bolo story I've yet seen is "A Time to Kill" in one of the more recent Bolo anthologies. (My favorite Bolo story has to be "Miles to Go" by David Weber, in Bolos Book 3, but it's not post-apocalyptic.)
 
I second the mention of McCammon's Swan Song. Great book.

Also, I have a book, I got from the Military Book Club years ago titled: USA vs. Militia. The title pretty much says it all, and is also a good read.
 
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I am surprised Lee N. Field hasn't mentioned "A Canticle For Leibowitz", by Walter Miller, the best SHTF novel ever, and one of the best SF books I have ever read. It takes place a thousand years after a nuclear war or so.
 
"Canticle" is a worthy read for a number of reasons... sorry I had forgotten it.

"Swan Song" wasn't bad, but its on the the lines of S. King or Dean Koontz, you either like the author or you don't.
 
I add my name to those who have enjoyed Unintended Consequences and I can't believe I'm the first to remind the assembled choir that the author, John Ross, freqents THR.

Regarding movies, I've considered The Patriot as a decent SHTF movie, even if the setting is The American Revolution. Simple, decent farmer with a military background takes up arms in a guerilla war after the standing government tramples his property, and executes a son. What could be more SHTF than that? As an aside, Mrs. AZLib likes to look at Mel Gibson, so we both enjoy the movie.

Also in reference to movies, I still get a kick out of the codename the Army used in the operation that captured Saddam. Operation Red Dawn...Target Names= Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2. SonofAZLib caught the joke too, but it was too "SHTF" for Wife and Daughters to get it.

Lots of good suggestions for my '04 reading list.
 
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Turner Diaries :rolleyes: :barf:
and yes, that's what I really think. Of course, it's only my opinion,
but aside from the obvious racism in it, it's poorly written as well.

I have read alot of the books mentioned so far, but was happy to find
six or seven new ones to look for!
 
Another (Garand-)Thumb's Up for 'Lucifer's Hammer' (another great book by Niven & Pournelle, and being very familiar with all the geography of the story, it was doubly enjoyable).
 
One that I read that wasn't posted...

Dust

Which is more TEOTWAWKI, and I can't recall if it has any guns in it. But it'll make you think twice about begrudging bugs some space for a couple weeks after reading it. Starts slow, but ramps up pretty well.

as for SHTF, you can try the folk of the fringe by orson scott card. It's a collection of post apocalypse short stories. Takes place in utah with lots of mormans.
 
badgerrr-

No one mentioned 'The Turner Diaries' because it's a poorly written, idiotic screed that doesn't even have a decent story, let alone any semblance of proper grammatical use.

When I read a book, I want to be entertained, enlightened, or both. Not beaten over the head with a moronic ideology that has been responsible for causing more damage to the RKBA movement than all the Sarah Brady, Rosie O'Donnell, and Tom Diaz types combined.

:scrutiny:
 
No one mentioned 'The Turner Diaries' because it's a poorly written, idiotic screed that doesn't even have a decent story, let alone any semblance of proper grammatical use.
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Justin, you are far too kind.
 
Agree with many of the above choices.

I'm approaching the halfway point in M. Bracken's novel, Enemies Foreign and Domestic, which my wife gave me for Christmas. She'd referred me to a web site where I could sample the first several chapters, but I'd never taken time to read it on line.

I'm now glad she went ahead and ordered the book for me. I'm quite happy to say it far exceeds my expectations. If the pace and plot hold up in the second half, I'll enthusiastically recommend the book to others. :D

The Pournelle/Niven team's book Footfall is one of my favorites. Okay, I'll admit that I kinda enjoyed the movie "The Postman," and, more surprisingly, I liked the novelization pretty well.

Best,
Johnny
 
Johnny Guest
I'm now glad she went ahead and ordered the book for me. I'm quite happy to say it far exceeds my expectations. If the pace and plot hold up in the second half, I'll enthusiastically recommend the book to others.
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It holds up pretty well in the second half of the book too. You won't be disappointed.
 
The real life version:

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch.

The most horrifying book I have ever read and I've read a few of them.

800,000 people killed, mostly hacked to death with machetes, in the course of several weeks, in the 1990s.

In one case, they rounded up school children, took them to a gas station, locked them inside and set it on fire.

If this book doesn't make someone understand the importance of the right to self-defense, nothing else is going to do it.
 
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