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Apocalypse Now 2016 Reading Challenge
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-05-08 11:01 PM (#13517 - in reply to #13473)
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Badseedgirl - 2016-05-05 12:48 PM

I read the first 2 books from Atwood's series but hsve not got to Mad Adam (sp) yet. Dsrk series.


Please pretend I'm an idiot and tell me what "dsrk" means?

Review of Oryx and Crake posted. I liked it a lot. Moving on to Plague Year by Jeff Carlson now.
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2016-05-09 12:01 AM (#13518 - in reply to #13517)
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Location: Middle TN, USA		"Dsrk" means I need to trim my nails, it was also supposed to be "dark". Plague Year is on my reading list also.
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-05-09 10:32 AM (#13519 - in reply to #13518)
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LOL! Been there, and was too tired to figure it out last night, sorry.

Yes, the first one certainly was dark! I put the others aside to pick up from the bookstore I work at and said that I'd buy the whole series if I liked the first book, and I do, so I might end up reading the rest of them as part of the challenge. Plague Year is starting after the plague has already been underway for several months. Pretty brutal stuff so far, and lots of action and very little soul-searching, so that's really refreshing after Margaret Atwood.
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-05-20 1:52 AM (#13589 - in reply to #13139)
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So, resounding meh for "Plague Year" by Jeff Carlson. I seem to have done the first review on it for the site, so if you want to check it out, it's there.
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2016-05-27 9:48 PM (#13636 - in reply to #13139)
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Location: Middle TN, USA		I added not one, but two books for this challenge tonight! The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin, third and final book in "The Passage" series. Excellent book and series. Although this novel occurs 150 some years after the initial vampire outbreak, there is of course a resurgence, so it works.

The second is Hater by David Moody. I thought this was a zombie book, but it was not. It was still quite good, with a caveat. The main character Danny McCoyne is a true anti-hero. He is a bit of a prick even before the outbreak, so this book might not be everyone's cup of tea.

My reviews are posted so check them out.

Edited by Badseedgirl 2016-05-27 9:56 PM
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2016-05-27 10:08 PM (#13637 - in reply to #13589)
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Sable Aradia - 2016-05-20 1:52 AM

So, resounding meh for "Plague Year" by Jeff Carlson. I seem to have done the first review on it for the site, so if you want to check it out, it's there.


I read your review and OMG I thought I was the only person to use the mustache twirling villain reference. My ultimate use of it was for my review of Mira Grant's novel Feed. My review is easy to find it's titled "Mira Grant I hope Zombies Eat Your Brains"

Since you used that description of the governor, I knew exactly what you were going for!
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-06-01 12:13 AM (#13677 - in reply to #13636)
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Badseedgirl - 2016-05-27 7:48 PM

I added not one, but two books for this challenge tonight! The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin, third and final book in "The Passage" series. Excellent book and series. Although this novel occurs 150 some years after the initial vampire outbreak, there is of course a resurgence, so it works.

The second is Hater by David Moody. I thought this was a zombie book, but it was not. It was still quite good, with a caveat. The main character Danny McCoyne is a true anti-hero. He is a bit of a prick even before the outbreak, so this book might not be everyone's cup of tea.

My reviews are posted so check them out.


Someone suggested The Passage to me when I told them about the challenge. So I'm planning on getting there! Might save it for next year at this point; I'll have to see.

Loved your review of The City of Mirrors though! I seriously might have to speed up the timetable on these.
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-06-01 12:24 AM (#13678 - in reply to #13637)
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Badseedgirl - 2016-05-27 8:08 PM
I read your review and OMG I thought I was the only person to use the mustache twirling villain reference. My ultimate use of it was for my review of Mira Grant's novel Feed. My review is easy to find it's titled "Mira Grant I hope Zombies Eat Your Brains"

Since you used that description of the governor, I knew exactly what you were going for!


LMAO! Thank you for pointing me to that review. That was a classic bit of high-quality snark! That book sounds absolutely awful, not only from your review but from the terrible synopsis. Sounds to me like somebody wanted to get in good with all the hip and groovy teens and so they wrote about what they thought teens wanted to read about (ie. zombies and the internetz) but, like most middle-aged people, colossally failed because middle-aged people only guess at what teens like. Also sounds like Grant made the same epic fail they all do; she forgot to write a plot in her quest to be hip and happening.

(I figured that anyone with a username of "Badseedgirl" probably thought something like I do.)
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-06-01 12:29 AM (#13679 - in reply to #13139)
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Congratulations to Weesam! He's managed to read all 12 books already! Great job!

Which begs the question: do you guys want me to expand to a possible total of 24? I considered it but decided against it because it's the first year of the challenge, but I wasn't expecting people to be burning through it this fast (now there's a good expression when writing about post-apocalyptic novels, eh?) But I can change my mind if there's enough interest . . .
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Weesam
Posted 2016-06-01 2:37 AM (#13680 - in reply to #13679)
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Sable Aradia - 2016-06-01 5:29 PM

Congratulations to Weesam! He's managed to read all 12 books already! Great job!.


Actually, I'm a she not a he! Funny, everyone seems to make that mistake. Must be the 'sam' part of the name.

I might be willing to join again next year (or an expanded one this year), but only if it was able to include more post-apocalyptic stuff. The apocalypse 'now' bit of the challenge made it difficult for me to find books that fit that I actually wanted to read.
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justifiedsinner
Posted 2016-06-01 9:08 AM (#13683 - in reply to #13139)
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Louise (Weesam) is a superstar, she is is a prodigious reader of many challenges. I think the rest of us are probably happy if we can do all 12.
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-06-01 10:07 AM (#13687 - in reply to #13680)
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Weesam - 2016-06-01 12:37 AM

Actually, I'm a she not a he! Funny, everyone seems to make that mistake. Must be the 'sam' part of the name.

I might be willing to join again next year (or an expanded one this year), but only if it was able to include more post-apocalyptic stuff. The apocalypse 'now' bit of the challenge made it difficult for me to find books that fit that I actually wanted to read.


Oops! So hard to tell with internet handles! Yeah, you're right, it's the "sam" part that made me assume. Sorry!

You know, the name was intended to be a catchy reference to the classic movie; it was *not* intended to limit things to a current, happening-right-now apocalypse. I think post-apocalyptica is just fine, but I wanted to differentiate apocalyptica from dystopia. Often literature has a dystopia following an apocalypse, but I didn't want dystopian literature *without* the apocalypse, if you see what I mean.

That's why I used Margaret Atwood as my example. The Handmaid's Tale is about a dystopia that resulted from religious gender politics, but there was no apocalypse; the world sucked only because of the dystopian political situation (and it wasn't even the whole world; and it's a good lesson because that's basically what happened to Afghanistan; they were a modern progressive country not that long ago). Oryx and Crake, however, is a dystopia partially due to politics (or rather, political support of rampant corporatism; yet another good lesson for us) but mostly because the world was on the verge of ecological collapse and then there was a major genetically-engineered plague.

In one of the novels I read, Plague Day, the world has already experienced the apocalypse (although just recently) and the world is now dealing with the aftermath and attempting to cure a nanotech plague. In Wool, the one I'm currently reading, the apocalypse happened gods only know how many years ago, and the survivors are living in underground silos and trying to reconstruct the past that their leadership is keeping from them.

On a separate but related topic, I have to say, one thing I really enjoy about this site is how many women are here! I'm used to being the only girl at a mostly-boys club. It's downright refreshing!
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2016-06-01 3:06 PM (#13690 - in reply to #13139)
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Location: Middle TN, USA		I just signed up for the tor short story challenge so that makes my challenges for the year 15, I'm probably good with 12 books for this challenge.

@Weesam - I think we, myself included, are interpreting the parameters of this challenge to narrowly. after looking at the actual parameters, it only says the apoc. should be the focus. So I have decided Rot & Ruin would qualify, but with my interpretation Station Eleven would not. Because in Rot & Ruin even though it had been years, the zombies who were the cause of the apoc. were still the focus, where in Station Eleven, it was more about rebuilding several years after the virus had decimated the population. Sable your thoughts on this interpretation?
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2016-06-01 3:13 PM (#13691 - in reply to #13677)
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Sable Aradia - 2016-06-01 12:13 AM

Badseedgirl - 2016-05-27 7:48 PM

I added not one, but two books for this challenge tonight! The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin, third and final book in "The Passage" series. Excellent book and series. Although this novel occurs 150 some years after the initial vampire outbreak, there is of course a resurgence, so it works.

The second is Hater by David Moody. I thought this was a zombie book, but it was not. It was still quite good, with a caveat. The main character Danny McCoyne is a true anti-hero. He is a bit of a prick even before the outbreak, so this book might not be everyone's cup of tea.

My reviews are posted so check them out.


Someone suggested The Passage to me when I told them about the challenge. So I'm planning on getting there! Might save it for next year at this point; I'll have to see


Just beware that The Passage series is a commitment. The first book, The Passage is 766 pages, the second The Twelve is 568 and the third The City of Mirrors is 624. Don't let that dissuade you because it totally worth the effort, but I might not take the series until you have some time. Probably not "summer read" material!
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Weesam
Posted 2016-06-01 4:28 PM (#13693 - in reply to #13139)
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Location: New Zealand		Looks like I was defining the challenge a little too tightly. Given the new understanding I now have, I could find more books. If you run this challenge again next year I'll join. Plenty of zombie apocalypse series that need to be finished. I am happy with the 12 books this year. Still got to really sink my teeth into that Pick & Mix challenge - I'm running a little behind on it.
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-06-02 9:15 PM (#13701 - in reply to #13690)
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Badseedgirl - 2016-06-01 1:06 PM
@Weesam - I think we, myself included, are interpreting the parameters of this challenge to narrowly. after looking at the actual parameters, it only says the apoc. should be the focus. So I have decided Rot & Ruin would qualify, but with my interpretation Station Eleven would not. Because in Rot & Ruin even though it had been years, the zombies who were the cause of the apoc. were still the focus, where in Station Eleven, it was more about rebuilding several years after the virus had decimated the population. Sable your thoughts on this interpretation?


Having not yet read it myself, so only guessing based on what I've heard and the synopsis, I'd let it pass. The apocalypse was the cause of all the events that are happening, right? And none of the events would have happened without it? Then I would count it, sure. 1984 doesn't count though, because people allowed a dystopia without any apocalyptic impetus. See what I'm saying?
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-06-02 9:18 PM (#13702 - in reply to #13691)
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Badseedgirl - 2016-05-27 7:48 PM
Just beware that The Passage series is a commitment. The first book, The Passage is 766 pages, the second The Twelve is 568 and the third The City of Mirrors is 624. Don't let that dissuade you because it totally worth the effort, but I might not take the series until you have some time. Probably not "summer read" material!


PAH! That doesn't care me! I read the first edition of The Stand when I was eleven. I will wait a while, though, because yes, I've got a lot on my plate at the moment, and a stack of things that are ahead in the queue. Thanks!
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2016-06-04 5:13 PM (#13732 - in reply to #13702)
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Location: Middle TN, USA		I think I'm going to reread The Stand. I have not read it since Jr High and that has been way way w-w-w-a-a-a-a-a-y-y longer than five years ago. I am doing a library summer reading challenge, and reread is one of the goals.

Also if anyone is looking for another excellent post- apoc novel "The Reapers Are The Angels" by Alden Bell. One of the best zombie novels I have ever read. Think "To Kill A Mockingbird" meets the zombie genre.
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2016-06-05 5:24 PM (#13739 - in reply to #13732)
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Badseedgirl - 2016-06-04 3:13 PM

I think I'm going to reread The Stand. I have not read it since Jr High and that has been way way w-w-w-a-a-a-a-a-y-y longer than five years ago. I am doing a library summer reading challenge, and reread is one of the goals.

Also if anyone is looking for another excellent post- apoc novel "The Reapers Are The Angels" by Alden Bell. One of the best zombie novels I have ever read. Think "To Kill A Mockingbird" meets the zombie genre.


Sounds good! Might have to check that one out too.
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2016-06-06 12:49 AM (#13740 - in reply to #13739)
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Sable Aradia - 2016-06-05 5:24 PM

Badseedgirl - 2016-06-04 3:13 PM

I think I'm going to reread The Stand. I have not read it since Jr High and that has been way way w-w-w-a-a-a-a-a-y-y longer than five years ago. I am doing a library summer reading challenge, and reread is one of the goals.

Also if anyone is looking for another excellent post- apoc novel "The Reapers Are The Angels" by Alden Bell. One of the best zombie novels I have ever read. Think "To Kill A Mockingbird" meets the zombie genre.


Sounds good! Might have to check that one out too.


I enjoyed so much I hunted down the second book in the series and bought a copy for myself and our local library.
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2016-06-08 10:51 PM (#13761 - in reply to #13139)
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Location: Middle TN, USA		If anyone's interested there are lots of apoc/post apoc and just plain fun reads over at the tor.com challenge. Even if you don't sign up for the challenge the stories are good!
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kabouter
Posted 2016-07-06 8:24 AM (#13933 - in reply to #13139)
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Location: Belgium		Just finished book 8 for this challenge which was 'I Am Legend', although 'The Mist' by Stephen King is probably a borderline case as per the rules (because it's not really certain that the whole world is gone). Now starting with 'The Girl With All the Gifts'.
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Badseedgirl
Posted 2016-11-08 10:09 AM (#14540 - in reply to #13139)
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Location: Middle TN, USA		I have put "The Screwfly Solution" on my challenge, I normally would not put a short story into a challenge, except for the Tor.com challenge obviously, but this little gem packs such a wallop in a small package that I could not help but add it.

I also realized S.M. Stirling was not on my list, how could I have an apoc reading list and not include the master of the sword and shield post apoc world created in his series "Emberverse." I had to start with book 5 (or book 2 of Emberverse II) because I have already read the first ones. The series is a delicious romp into the post apoc world, highly recommend the series for it's entertainment value, not its literary merits, which are admittedly thin!!
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dalex
Posted 2017-12-27 6:43 AM (#16569 - in reply to #13139)
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Location: behind the 4th wall		I read 18 books for the Apocalypse Now challenge. These were my favorites.

The Chimes by Anna Smaill
The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife and The Book of Etta by Meg Elison
The Power by Naomi Alderman
A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh

(I probably violated the whole no dystopia rule of the challenge. I just categorize all these types of books as "end of the world". Sorry!)
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Sable Aradia
Posted 2018-01-03 11:19 AM (#16645 - in reply to #13139)
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Welcome back to this year's Apocalypse Now! Challenge! I'm looking forward to watching the end of the world repeatedly with all of you. What are you starting with?
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