Realistic SHTF novels that set the mind abuzz ...

[CountryGent]

Howdy all. I thought it might be interesting to discuss various realistic SHTF books. By realistic I mean the the plot involves a disaster that could happen in real life. That would include things that have happened (e.g., natural disasters, economic collapse, war, etc.), have happened but not in modern history (e.g., a large comet impact), or at least could plausibly happen with existing technology (e.g., nuclear exchange, EMP, etc.). I'll get us started with a short list, some details, and my own personal rating (one to five stars).

Title: Alas, Babylon
Author: Pat Frank
Date of Publication: 1959
My Rating: ★★★★
Details: This is one of the early nuclear war survival fiction texts. It is about a group of individuals trying to survive in central Florida following an atomic exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. It has a very pro-survivalism theme and a good amount of action. It will get you thinking about "the sum of all fears" that is nuclear war.

Title: Warday
Author: Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka
Date of Publication: 1984
My Rating: ★★
Details: This is a more recent nuclear war fiction book set in the Reagan era. It covers a fictionalized version of the two authors traveling across America, or what is left of it, in the wake of World War III. It is interesting, but a little lacking in action, and it can drag on a bit. Still, it is a good read overall. The two authors had planned on writing a sequel that covered traveling around what was left of the Soviet Union, but they never did so.

Title: First Angel
Author: Ed Mann
Date of Publication: 1989
My Rating: ★★★★★
Details: This is really a fantastic read from a survival standpoint. You wouldn't think so because it was written by an unknown author, it was published under the Soldier of Fortune publishing house, and I doubt many have heard of it. A friend of mine recommend it and I finally read it and I have to say it is, arguably, the best of the nuclear disaster books. It has a very strong pro-preparedness angle and there is a heck of a lot of spills and thrills.

Title: Lucifer's Hammer
Author: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Date of Publication: 1977
My Rating: ★★★★★
Details: This was a book written by two scientists and it covers the complete breakdown of society following a comet impact. The science is solid and it will get you thinking about preparing for an imminent SHTF situation. The characters, both normal folks and bad guys, are pretty diverse and it covers how many different people try to cope in the wake of the end of the world as we know it.

Title: One Second After
Author: William Forstchen
Date of Publication: 2011
My Rating: ★★★★★
Details: Want to start thinking about electromagnetic pulse (EMP) preps? This is the book to read. It was written by someone who knows his stuff in this field and it is a solid book beyond that. The author wrote a follow up called One Year After as well. I have a copy in my library, but have not had a chance to read it is as of yet.

Title: Earth Abides
Author: George Stewart
Date of Publication: 1949
My Rating: ★★★
Details: This one is, well, different, but in a good way. The book is about a sudden, fast acting disease that wipes out most of the population and how the survivors cope with said in the wake. The author was a historian, toponymist, and professor, and that is reflected in this work.

Title: Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse: A Novel
Author: Victor Gischler
Date of Publication: 2008
My Rating: ★★★
Details: I hesitated adding this one for a variety of reasons. While the SHTF events that lead up to the collapse of society are realistic, it is not the most plausible of backstory and it is really more a fun, goofy read than a survival book. It is, however, pretty action packed and madcap. As the title suggests, there is some raunchiness in this book that would make it unsuitable for younger readers or folks who aren't into that kind of material.

Title: Resurrection Day
Author: Brendan DuBois
Date of Publication: 2013
My Rating: ★★★★
Details: This is an odd one in that it is alternative history, with a post-apocalyptic theme. In our real history, the Cuban Missile Crisis ended with cooler heads prevailing. In this novel, well, it didn't end well. As in the US and the USSR went at it. While it, accurately, is classified as alternative history, how those survived in the wake of the event is a large part of the text.

Anyway, those are just a few. I'm sure I've missed some, but those are some that came to mind. How about you; any you recommend? Any you don't? Thanks.

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[Andy54Hawken]

Excellent thread! Thanks for posting.
Alas Babylon is one of my favorite reads.
I would add:
The Stand by Stephen King
Final Blackout by L. Ron Hubbard
Tunnel in the Sky and Farnhams Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein.
While the above titles might be a stretch on the realalistic ... I just couldn't help but mention them.
Andy

 

[Camelfilter]

Yeah nice thread, thanks!

I 2nd Andy's recommendation for Stephen Kings The Stand. Read it a bunch, both versions, and found the mini-series very well done. That was also a book I took with me on my year bike trip.

The Road.

The Postman.

 

[The Heretic]

Excellent thread! Thanks for posting.
Alas Babylon is one of my favorite reads.
I would add:
The Stand by Stephen King
Final Blackout by L. Ron Hubbard
Tunnel in the Sky and Farnhams Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein.
While the above titles might be a stretch on the realalistic ... I just couldn't help but mention them.
Andy

Beware the stobor

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Just remembered another one that is on my shelf.
On the Beach by Nevil Shute.
Andy

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

Just remembered another one that is on my shelf.
On the Beach by Nevil Shute.
Andy

Great flick as well if you can ignore Anthony Perkins bad Aussie accent.

"The Road"
Novel by Cormac McCarthy and movie if you want what it may probably be like in SHTF hell. Hunger, misery dreary depressed monotony. Interspersed with a few scary moments. Not your typical action packed page turner but perhaps more realistic.

Also,
"The Children of Men" by P. D. James. Set in England in 2021, it's about mass infertility. Movie was well done too. A different twist on SHTF but I think it kinda fits. A lot of riots and strange unpredictable activity by people and governments.

 

[JeremyK]

"The remaining" by D.J. Molles. Not the most realistic scenario, it involves a plague that burns out parts of the human brain, and it pretty much turns a person into a psycho cannibal. The book itself is written by a cop, so the gun details are spot on (which is important to me in this kind of book).

 

[The Heretic]

Various prepper/survivalist forums/sites have some decent amateur posted PAW fiction, and some of it is crap.

Personally, I prefer the ones where the protagonist is either not prepared at all, or ill prepared. Some of the stories read like a prepper's list of what they would buy/do if they won the lottery.

There are also some of the real life stories of survival - I especially like the "primitive" ones, like Hugh Glass.

 

[Timbertodd]

"The remaining" by D.J. Molles. Not the most realistic scenario, it involves a plague that burns out parts of the human brain, and it pretty much turns a person into a psycho cannibal. The book itself is written by a cop, so the gun details are spot on (which is important to me in this kind of book).

I really liked this series.

 

[JeremyK]

I really liked this series.

Yup, I loved every second of the series. Excellent writing.

 

[USMC-03]

Among others I recommend the Enemies Foreign and Domestic series by Matt Bracken. In these novels he hits on several very possible scenarios and training problems. Bracken is also very active in the blogosphere and has some interesting ideas.

Any others here read Bracken's work or follow him?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Speaking of Hugh Glass ( Thank you The Heretic )
Lord Grizzly by Frederick Manfred is a excellent read.
Another novel about Glass is : The Revenant by Michael Punke.
Andy

 

[OutlawHoss]

Anyone read 'Unintended Consequences'? It's practically impossible to get, and apparently very controversial. A internet search pretty much looks like a de facto ban is in effect, and Amazon used to list it for sale at $400. I know little about it, but been told to keep an eye out for it.

 

[The Heretic]

Anyone read 'Unintended Consequences'? It's practically impossible to get, and apparently very controversial. A internet search pretty much looks like a de facto ban is in effect, and Amazon used to list it for sale at $400. I know little about it, but been told to keep an eye out for it.

I got and read it back when they first published it.

I agree it is indeed controversial. I did not like the premise of taking the law into your own hands and shooting/killing public officials because you don't agree with them. I said as much to the SAF (I had friends inside and lived about a mile from their offices at the time) and gave them the book to read - apparently they had no problems with the premise as they had it on their table at the WAC show some months later.

I would compare the premise of the actions in the book with the actions of BLM (Black Lives Matter) currently - i.e, going out and ambushing cops/etc.

It isn't PAW fiction.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I read this as well, and My conclusions mirror The Heretic I can certainly under stand why it is impossible to find, and while I do not agree with it's premise, it is a good read!
I always get a kick out of a good Tom Clancy Story! Change the dates, or one or two details, and these stories could be today's headline's!

 

[OutlawHoss]

I got and read it back when they first published it.

I agree it is indeed controversial. I did not like the premise of taking the law into your own hands and shooting/killing public officials because you don't agree with them. I said as much to the SAF (I had friends inside and lived about a mile from their offices at the time) and gave them the book to read - apparently they had no problems with the premise as they had it on their table at the WAC show some months later.

I would compare the premise of the actions in the book with the actions of BLM (Black Lives Matter) currently - i.e, going out and ambushing cops/etc.

It isn't PAW fiction.

Yeah, I was taking a stab in the dark; I was under the impression it had more to do with militant patriot type culture that lead to some PAW scenario; but not having read it I obviously was off target.
PAW fiction, which could be also called creative informed speculation, is a huge genre in itself now, especially in Hollywood. As such, it kind of has turned it into a contemporary (liberal?) morality play with some noble messaging about how humans should transcend their 'base' nature to avoid the evils that are projected to happen in an apocalyptic world, sans the rule of law while people regress into some opportunist form of sub humans. I really question that fatalistic fear and black and white thinking; in my own imagination of such a world or time, I think the potential for some incredibly positive things to happen is equally possible.

 

[Brutus57]

Just remembered another one that is on my shelf.
On the Beach by Nevil Shute.
Andy

I bought this book through the Scholastic Book Club in 6th grade and read it. Pretty intense for an 11 year old. I would also count Farhenheit 451 by Bradbury...

Brutus Out

 

[BlackRyder]

I really question that fatalistic fear and black and white thinking; in my own imagination of such a world or time, I think the potential for some incredibly positive things to happen is equally possible

I enjoy watching the walking dead, but it's take on human nature really depresses me- basically that we should be afraid of the base nature that we would inevitably revert to without the trappings of civilization, the law, and the rat race. Things which, according to the writers of that show, are the only things keeping our society from collapsing into a Hobbesian nightmare. I just don't agree with this idea, and actually find it kind of offensive. I think that there very well could be a positive result after a collapse....

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book called The Passage, by Michael Cronin. It's kind of hard to explain the plot, and it's not super realistic, but it is basically about compounds of people trying to survive in a PAW that has been taken over by psychically connected hive mind zombie vampire type creatures, that were created by the government, of course. Great plot, great post apocalyptic survival action.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

The Passage is great as are the two other novels in that series.
Andy

 

[Camelfilter]

...Also,
"The Children of Men" by P. D. James. Set in England in 2021, it's about mass infertility. Movie was well done too. A different twist on SHTF but I think it kinda fits. A lot of riots and strange unpredictable activity by people and governments.

Thanks for that, hadn't read the book, but saw the movie. I'll give the book a go.

...Not too far fetched of a scenario if you logarithmically expand Zika virus pathogenesis & it's vector.

That would actually make for decent SHTF fiction rite there. Massively overwhelmed first world healthcare system, causes economic collapse, resultant social disorder. Followed by generational population decline.