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Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-02 1:08 PM (#13139)
Subject: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Don't you ever just want to watch the world burn? Well, so do I! Let's have a nuclear campfire and read a bunch of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction together! Got your respirators on?

The Rules:

* Any genre of fiction is acceptable, so long as it focuses on the end of the world as we know it.

* Re-reads are okay, but you must have read the book more than five years ago or it must be a new edition.

* Video game and RPG tie ins are absolutely acceptable as long as the Apocalypse is the focus (so Dark Sun novels are perfect, but Shadowrun and Mechwarrior are not; Fallout, Wasteland and The Last of Us are perfect, but Mass Effect is not)
See you in the wastelands; if we survive!

Join me at https://www.worldswithoutend.com/rollyourown.asp?ryo_id=145.

Administrator

Posted 2016-04-02 1:18 PM (#13140 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: RE: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Fantastic challenge banner! I may join this one just for that.

Badseedgirl

Posted 2016-04-02 7:51 PM (#13143 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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How could I let this one pass. It practically has "Badseedgirl" written on it. My problem may be limiting it to only 12!

Weesam

Posted 2016-04-02 10:46 PM (#13146 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Apocalyptic fiction is not my favourite sub-genre, in fact I generally try and avoid it. So I decided to join and see if there is something there I would like after all. Give it a good go before I declare never to read it again!

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-03 2:47 PM (#13149 - in reply to #13140)
Subject: RE: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Administrator - 2016-04-02 11:18 AM

Fantastic challenge banner! I may join this one just for that.

Thanks for the compliment.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-03 10:12 PM (#13150 - in reply to #13143)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Badseedgirl - 2016-04-02 5:51 PM

How could I let this one pass. It practically has "Badseedgirl" written on it. My problem may be limiting it to only 12!

I considered expanding it actually, but decided against it since this was the first one, and I'm already doing a bunch of challenges. But if it turns out to be too easy I'll expand it next year.

Love the handle, btw. I'm kind of a Bad Seed Girl too.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-03 10:14 PM (#13151 - in reply to #13146)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Weesam - 2016-04-02 8:46 PM

Apocalyptic fiction is not my favourite sub-genre, in fact I generally try and avoid it. So I decided to join and see if there is something there I would like after all. Give it a good go before I declare never to read it again!

Now that's an interesting reason to join a challenge, Weesam! What have you read, and why did you hate it? Perhaps some of us can recommend some books that may suit you better.

Weesam

Posted 2016-04-05 5:00 PM (#13168 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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In trying to define what it is I don't like about apocalyptic fiction I have come to the realisation that the only real reason I have is that it is very popular at the moment. Every time I pick up a book it seems to start with 'after the apocalypse...' or variations thereof. I am simply reacting to this with a oh no, not another one jumping on the current bandwagon, and putting it back on the shelf. This may be unfair, and so I want to test myself and see if, in fact, I really don't like it, or I could grow to like it more.

Oddly enough, if you put the word 'zombie' in front of the word 'apocalypse' then I'll buy it right then and there. So I'm trying to read some of the 'classics' of the apocalyptic fiction sub-genre, and avoiding all zombies.

I recently read Station Eleven, which I found dull. And the Southern Reach trilogy, which is sort of a coming apocalypsy feel, which I utterly adored. I quite liked Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain series, it seemed very realistic to me, particularly as I have lived on a small Pacific island which is likely to go under the waves within the next hundred years. I like Mira Grant's zombie trilogy, but was bored with her most recent one, and had to struggle my way through the last book. J.G. Ballard's The Drowning World was good. I didn't care for the Oyrx and Crake books and I disliked The Handmaid's Tale. Couldn't get into Canticle for Leibowitz at all, even though I really wanted to. I do like John Wyndham, particularly The Chrysalids.

So suggest away, I'm willing to give it a good go. Feel free to check which books I have chosen for this challenge and suggest alternatives I might like.

Edited by Weesam 2016-04-05 5:01 PM

Badseedgirl

Posted 2016-04-05 6:56 PM (#13171 - in reply to #13168)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Weesam: Here are a couple suggestions. I strongly feel these three books should be read by anyone interested in post-apoc books.
Swan Song - Robert McCammon
The Stand - Stephen King
Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Especially the last one Lucifer's Hammer is amazing and imo is one of the best ever written.

justifiedsinner

Posted 2016-04-06 7:03 AM (#13174 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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If you haven't read them I would suggest Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, Kate Wilhelm's Where Late the Sweet Birds Sing, Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar and Greag Bear's Blood Music.

DrNefario

Posted 2016-04-06 7:31 AM (#13175 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: RE: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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I love a good apocalypse myself.

We had the End of the World challenge a couple of years ago, which should contain a few ideas. I found it a very enjoyable theme. I'm not completely sure I'm ready to repeat it just yet, although I am about to finish the Wastelands anthology edited by John Joseph Adams.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-06 9:06 PM (#13188 - in reply to #13175)
Subject: RE: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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DrNefario - 2016-04-06 5:31 AM

I love a good apocalypse myself.

*That* was an awesome line.

There are some great ideas there! Lots of crossovers already.

Just to clarify FYI -- I don't intend to include dystopias, unless they are dystopias that follow the end of the world or society as we know it. For instance, The Handmaid's Tale wouldn't count because it's only the USA that's gone to hell; the rest of the world is doing just fine.

But Wastelands is, of course, perfect.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-06 9:19 PM (#13189 - in reply to #13171)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Badseedgirl - 2016-04-05 4:56 PM

Weesam: Here are a couple suggestions. I strongly feel these three books should be read by anyone interested in post-apoc books.
Swan Song - Robert McCammon
The Stand - Stephen King
Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Especially the last one Lucifer's Hammer is amazing and imo is one of the best ever written.

The Stand was my first ever apocalypse. I was . . . eleven, I think? That, of course, was the original published version, the one that was heavily edited because the publisher didn't believe that a thousand page novel would sell. The re-release was much better IMO.

I have not read either Swan Song or Lucifer's Hammer. I will see if I can track them down and add them to my list.

Because I am doing the SF Masterworks challenge too, I've decided not to read any apocalypse novels that are on that list unless they also happen to fall within the books on the SF Masterworks challenge for the next year. So I think that limits me to The Drowned World and possibly The Dispossessed in this next year (though I don't know yet if The Dispossessed is post-apocalyptic or just a dystopia, and so I won't know until I've read it if it counts for both challenges or not). Wish I could have added I Am Legend, because that, of course, is kind of the alpha zombie apocalypse novel (even though it was vampires), but because I read it last year, I can't count it for this challenge.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-06 10:06 PM (#13190 - in reply to #13188)
Subject: RE: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Note: challenge description is now edited to clarify re: dystopias.

The Rules:

* Any genre of fiction is acceptable, so long as it focuses on the end of the world as we know it.

* Re-reads are okay, but you must have read the book more than five years ago or it must be a new edition.

* Dystopias only count if they follow the end of the world. (So Oryx and Crake counts, but The Handmaid's Tale does not because only the United States went to hell; the rest of the world is doing just fine.)

* Video game and RPG tie ins are absolutely acceptable as long as the Apocalypse is the focus (so Dark Sun novels are perfect, but Shadowrun and Mechwarrior are not; Fallout, Wasteland and The Last of Us are perfect, but Mass Effect is not)

I'm excited by how this is growing! I can't wait to chat about the end of the world!

Edited by Sable Aradia 2016-04-06 10:10 PM

Engelbrecht

Posted 2016-04-07 4:59 AM (#13196 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: RE: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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A few recommendations for books that are aren't read as widely as they should be: Malevil by Robert Merle, Mockingbird by Walter Tevis and The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick.

Another book worth looking at is one I read and enjoyed last month, World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler. Kunstler is probably better know for his blog, Clusterf*ck Nation (stupid forum profanity filter! ), and for his excellent non-fiction The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, in which he indulges in full-throated (and often hysterical) outrage at the bottomless well of stupidity and cupidity that mankind and it's leaders persist in drowning themselves in. In contrast, his fiction is measured, almost quiet.

Badseedgirl

Posted 2016-04-19 9:53 AM (#13285 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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I requested Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry from the library, but now that I have it and started reading it, I don't think this one is going to work for this challenge. It's a little to "post" post-apoc to qualify for the challenge. I'm still going to finish it because it is good and I have had it sitting on my reading list for a couple years now. I think I will try The First Days by Rhiannon Frater next. I want about 1/2 my apoc books to be zombie fiction, my favorite type.

Weesam

Posted 2016-04-19 5:15 PM (#13287 - in reply to #13285)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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I love Rot & Ruin. An excellent zombie book. I really must read the rest of this series.

The First Days should definitely fit the criteria for apocalypse happening now and was a good read as well.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-23 2:19 AM (#13313 - in reply to #13285)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Badseedgirl - 2016-04-19 7:53 AM

I requested Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry from the library, but now that I have it and started reading it, I don't think this one is going to work for this challenge. It's a little to "post" post-apoc to qualify for the challenge. I'm still going to finish it because it is good and I have had it sitting on my reading list for a couple years now. I think I will try The First Days by Rhiannon Frater next. I want about 1/2 my apoc books to be zombie fiction, my favorite type.

I don't know, I haven't read it so can't speak to that. How far "post" is too far? I leave that entirely to your judgment!

I'm finally getting around to reading World War Z so I won't be without zombie apocalypses this year either. I'd love to hear some recommendations for some more; I'm sure you're not alone in wanting to read them!

I started Updraft for this challenge because it's award-nominated, current, and written by a female author I'm not familiar with (so qualifies for the Women of Genre Fiction challenge also) but I am finding it a challenge because it is very much YA fiction. I am hoping it's about to improve because it moved to a different stage and location, but it's pretty post-post-apocalypse too. It's clear they no longer have paper, trees, or writing, and for some reason they all live in huge bone towers above the clouds because the clouds are full of mostly invisible monsters called skymouths that eat you. Why all this has occurred has yet to be explained (if it ever will,) but it's also clear from little hints that this world was the Earth we knew or a lot like it at one point.

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-23 10:55 AM (#13319 - in reply to #13190)
Subject: RE: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Sable Aradia - 2016-04-06 8:06 PM

Note: challenge description is now edited to clarify re: dystopias.

The Rules:

* Any genre of fiction is acceptable, so long as it focuses on the end of the world as we know it.

* Re-reads are okay, but you must have read the book more than five years ago or it must be a new edition.

* Dystopias only count if they follow the end of the world. (So Oryx and Crake counts, but The Handmaid's Tale does not because only the United States went to hell; the rest of the world is doing just fine.)

* Video game and RPG tie ins are absolutely acceptable as long as the Apocalypse is the focus (so Dark Sun novels are perfect, but Shadowrun and Mechwarrior are not; Fallout, Wasteland and The Last of Us are perfect, but Mass Effect is not)

I'm excited by how this is growing! I can't wait to chat about the end of the world!

You know what? I've rethought this and I've changed my mind about Shadowrun. I suppose ultimately Shadowrun is about people trying to survive in a technological dystopia following a magical apocalypse. Upon reconsideration, that should definitely qualify. On the other hand, while there were apocalypses in Mass Effect and Mechwarrior, they were really McGuffins to start space wars, and the space war is the focus. So that might change your mind about what qualifies and what doesn't. Sorry for the confusion; this is, of course, the first time I've done the challenge and so I'm still working out the kinks!

Badseedgirl

Posted 2016-04-23 2:37 PM (#13325 - in reply to #13313)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Sable Aradia - 2016-04-23 2:19 AM

It is set 13 years after the zombie outbreak starts. I myself am going to try and stick to a strict interpretation of the rules. I want in the midst or just after the end.

As far as other zombie books. I adored Mark Tufo's Zombie Fallout series. It is not over here but I would put it in if anyone wanted to read it. It is funny and tounge-in-cheek with just the right amount of gore. Now it is pretty low-brow but I still loved it enough that I have read the first 4 books in the series. What can I say, I love me some lowbrow zombie fiction!

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-04-24 8:51 PM (#13337 - in reply to #13325)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Badseedgirl - 2016-04-23 12:37 PM

It is set 13 years after the zombie outbreak starts. I myself am going to try and stick to a strict interpretation of the rules. I want in the midst or just after the end.

As far as other zombie books. I adored Mark Tufo's Zombie Fallout series. It is not over here but I would put it in if anyone wanted to read it. It is funny and tounge-in-cheek with just the right amount of gore. Now it is pretty low-brow but I still loved it enough that I have read the first 4 books in the series. What can I say, I love me some lowbrow zombie fiction!

Thanks for the recommendation!

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-05-02 12:40 AM (#13427 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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I've posted a review for Updraft if anyone cares to read it. Has anyone else posted reviews?

Badseedgirl

Posted 2016-05-03 10:54 AM (#13453 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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I'm sort of ashamed to admit that so far I have not read any books from this challenge. I have a plan, but right now I am reading Justin Cronin's last book City of Mirrors (Yeah) and Well of Ascension by Brandon Sandreson. Both are 600+ page books. After that I am reading Mutated by Joe McKinney which is for this challenge and Wool, which I think will qualify.

Edited by Badseedgirl 2016-05-03 10:55 AM

Sable Aradia

Posted 2016-05-05 2:01 PM (#13470 - in reply to #13453)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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Badseedgirl - 2016-05-03 8:54 AM

I'm sort of ashamed to admit that so far I have not read any books from this challenge. I have a plan, but right now I am reading Justin Cronin's last book City of Mirrors (Yeah) and Well of Ascension by Brandon Sandreson. Both are 600+ page books. After that I am reading Mutated by Joe McKinney which is for this challenge and Wool, which I think will qualify.

It took me a while to start this challenge too, because I had a bunch of other books on the go and a couple challenges I'm doing. I am giving this one priority at the moment though, mostly because most of the books I've chosen to read are library books and so I have a stack of about half a dozen of them right now. I put Wool on my list too, and I skimmed the start of it, and people are living in what used to be grain silos and bomb shelters to avoid going outside, and the protagonist has decided that he wants to go outside, so its seems to fit the bill Currently I'm reading Oryx and Crake, though. Might just read the rest of the trilogy as part of the challenge; it's pretty good. If not, I'll save it for next year's challenge!

Badseedgirl

Posted 2016-05-05 2:48 PM (#13473 - in reply to #13139)
Subject: Re: Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge

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