The Books We Read » Post-Apocalyptic

Inside Out a novel by Maria V. Snyder

Clarissa — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 20:07:52 +0000

Snyder throws us blind right into a story that is not like anything I have read before. This far future, dystopian novel has the world split into two groups of people, uppers and lowers. The scrubs live in the lower levels. The two groups are separate and do not mix, or know much about each other. Our main character Trella is a scrub who doesn’t like people much. She spends most of her time in the air vents, only coming out to eat. As we work our way through the story, the mystery of the setting is slowly resolved. We come to understand more about the world Trella lives in at the same time that she does. The pace is great. It kept me glued to the page. Trella’s life tells a nice coming of age story, as she discovers who she is, and who she wants to be. There is a romantic link, but it doesn’t eat up the story. Nice read.

Uglies a novel by Scott Westerfeld

Clarissa — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:12:44 +0000

Uglies is set in the far dystopic future where the cities of the current world have been abandoned. In the new world, children live with their parent’s until they’re twelve, then they leave home and live in dorms. The dorms are in ugly town. Once they turn 16, they get an operation that turns them pretty. At the start of the story, Tally Youngblood is weeks away from turning 16. She is sick of seeing her “ugly” face with it’s lack of perfect symmetry, her nose that’s too long or her squinty, watery, eyes. Her best-friend-for-life, Peris (a boy) turned 16 four months before she did, so that left her alone. Feeling friendless, she finds Shay (a girl) and they become friends. Shay tells her about people that don’t want the operation. Tally can hardly believe anyone would actually want to stay ugly for life. Blah blah blah

So basically, the story had bad pacing, underwhelming world building, unbelievable characters, boring and unbelievable conversations, and plenty of hitting over the head preaching, which frankly, marred the book’s goodness for me, not to mention the head ache it gave. I fought through the first half of the book (since I keep hearing about this series), but thankfully, it picked up in the second half. Overall though, the book was a waste of my time. I like knowing how a story ends and this one is part of series, so I couldn’t resist reading the plot summaries of the other books on wikipedia. I’m glad I won’t have to waste more time reading the other books to know how unresolved it ends.

Patriots by James Wesley Rawles

Cindi — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:03:49 +0000

Patriots, a Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse follows a group of survivalists after an economic, societal, and governmental meltdown in the United States of America. This book left me conflicted. How do you like a book that isn’t very good? I still don’t know, but I do. As a novel it stinks, but as an interesting resource jam packed full of knowledge it was engrossing. Imagine if your chemistry text book in high school had instead been written as a novel, where the characters wander through a convenient story which provide them multiple opportunities to teach. Sign me up for that class! From tactical strategy to blood type compatibility to homemade explosives this book has it all.

While the scenario, characters and events all unfold in a natural sequence, it still seemed manufactured. I was left with no sense of the character’s motivations. At some points there are twelve people living in one house with no mention as to their personal relationships with one another. They are only ever just a group, doing x y z.

Patriots falls quite heavily on the guns n ammo side of the survival equation, and the lengthy, detailed, never ending descriptions of EVERY firearm in the ENTIRE BOOK will wear out your patience. (Unless gun descriptions get you hot, in that case this book is tripple X.) I also recommend preparing in advance for the awkward and cliched dialog so your brain doesn’t get hurt stumbling through it. One of the best reviews I’ve ever read suggested you know you are reading a fantasy book when there is a map at the front. Well, you know you are reading a survival book when there is a six page glossary of military acronyms at the back. I did enjoy the quotes at the beginning of each chapter; I loved seeing Gene Roddenberry in there with Shakespeare and Thomas Jefferson. For your daily survival fix I highly recommend checking out the author’s fantastic blog, survivalblog.com. If you can’t survive after reading this book you just aren’t trying.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

Cindi — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:59:15 +0000

Oh, post apocalyptic novels, how I love thee. What kind of phase is this? I can’t seem to get enough. (I am getting killer tips for prepping and food storage though, ha ha.) One Second After covers the fall of American civilization as we know it after an electromagnetic pulse blast (or EMP.) The book follows John Matherson, an ex military man who currently teaches history at the local college, his family, and their small city in North Carolina. The effects of an EMP blast would fry any electronics in a very large radius including car electronics, home electronics, national power grid, communications, etc etc.

Imagine America suddenly being thrust back into the nineteenth century. Everything is very quickly in short supply as the massively fragile web of distribution across the country goes down. Neighbors turn on neighbors and martial law is enforced. Tough decisions are faced as John increasingly takes on a more prominent roll in the community and tries to navigate crime, punishment, outside threats, starvation, and the increasingly dire prognosis for his diabetic daughter. I found this novel balanced with just the right amount of large scale crisis and drama while dealing with everyday impact and personal choices. Not to sound like a horrible human being, but I found this scenario quite frightening just for the fact that no people are actually killed from the high altitude EMP blast. While most post apocalyptic books wipe out a LARGE percentage of the population in the initial attack, with an EMP everyone survives and will have to struggle through the second stage of the catastrophe and resulting die off. I noticed the film rights were sold to Warner Brothers so I will keep an eye out for the eventual release of the movie.

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

Cindi — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:01:14 +0000

Alas Babylon follows a group of survivors in a small town in Florida after the USA and USSR launch their nukes in a MAD war. I liked this book. On one hand I thought it felt dated, and on the other hand I really enjoyed peeking into the mindset of 1960 and the cold war era. I like post-apocalyptic books in general and this was no exception. I will give the writing a 3 out of 5 and the accuracy a 3 out of 5, but the story as a whole worked quite well. It follows the situations which might start a nuclear war, through the effects of the war, and how the survivors make due, come together, and manage to survive (or not survive in some cases). I thought it had a lot of practical information without being boring, and I liked some of the creative ways the survivors solved their problems. There are a few themes dealing with race and gender roles, but it was published in 1959 and I was expecting that. I also liked how the characters grew and discovered new purpose to their lives, and also the realization that after a nuclear event on this scale it wouldn’t really matter who had won the war.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Cindi — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:41:34 +0000

I enjoyed this book. The Hunger Games is a very quick read and a real page turner. Set in a near future dystopia after the fall of the United States of America, a young girl and boy from the 12th district in the nation of Panem must compete in a death match type game where the last one standing wins.

Is the concept original? Um, no. Was the romance good? Yes, in a young adult sort of way. The writing is great, the characters are fine, and the pacing is crisp. There is plenty of action and enough soul searching and moral dilemmas to keep it interesting past the surface. My main problem with the book is the author’s view of the future, especially surrounding the politics and government in the book’s post apocalyptic time and place. I know it is a work of imaginative science fiction, I just felt it lacked substance and credibility. (As a pet peeve there was one part right near the beginning where Katniss puts on her boots, and then pulls on her pants. ??? How often do you put your shoes on before getting dressed? Sorry to point this out; I don’t know why I noticed this.) Also, you don’t have to give everyone funky names because your book is set in the future. Most names in circulation today predate the bible. Now that I’m done complaining, feel free to check it out. I found it very entertaining and the end will leave you wanting more.

Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

Cindi — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:24:57 +0000

This book follows two sisters as their lives change through tragedy and the decline of the world as we know it. Have I mentioned before I’m an apocalypse junkie? This book is a fairly easy read. It isn’t split into traditional chapters but flows more as a diary. I think the author did a great job of building the relationship between the sisters; allowing them to be separate people while tying them with an inseparable bond. The challenges faced are both common and uncommon for a book with apocalyptic undertones. Their demise of civilization is more of the slow, solitary, isolated kind. I really enjoyed the descriptions of saving and keeping and finding it hard to let go as everything dwindles and eventually runs out. I enjoyed where the author was leading the book, as the material things we come to depend on seem less and less important. However, I wasn’t totally convinced or in love with the ending. It wasn’t horrible, or unexpected, but I wasn’t crazy about it. I think the ‘what if’ hoarder in me could never take that leap. There were some brief love scenes that were fairly tame, and one small love scene between the sisters (which sounds more racy than it was).

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Cindi — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:58:07 +0000

Wow. This book has a lot of impact. This is a story about the love between a father and son in a post-apocalyptic world. They only have each other and must keep moving on the road. I have seldom read a book that more perfectly combines raw terror and simple heart wrenching beauty. The writing style was different; very short and direct with an absence of comas and apostrophes. It was a little disconcerting at first, but by the end of the first chapter I didn’t really notice it anymore.

The book draws you in very quickly and won’t let go. I couldn’t put it down and ended up reading it in one sitting. Some parts were very disturbing and they keep replaying themselves in my imagination. After I read it it took a little bit of time to digest it. I was so completely wrapped in the characters and their struggle I didn’t realize until the end that not much happened in the book. ha ha. Don’t get me wrong, there is action, but the book isn’t really set around a traditional plot. I am a little bit nervous to see how the movie turns out. I really hope they don’t add more action for action’s sake and miss the whole point. If you want to read a book about desperation and love in a world without hope, check it out.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Cindi — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:18:25 +0000

A frightening dystopian novel. The story is compelling and the characters are well developed. You don’t have to be a feminist to relate to the themes of women’s rights. Thankfully we can stop reading and say, I’m glad we don’t live in a world like that today. Oh, wait, yes we do. There are lots of places in the world today where women have no rights and are completely controlled in a patriarchal society. (One example is Iran’s monotheocracy. The thing that scares me most about women’s rights in Iran is that the state they are in happened AFTER a long period of modernization, prosperity, increased women’s rights, entry to the workforce and education. In one revolution women lost most of their rights. It is foolish to think it couldn’t happen again, it couldn’t happen quickly, and it couldn’t happen here.)

The book uses fear, isolation, and severe restrictions on knowledge and literacy to control the women. I found it very interesting when the author shows how the women could not be controlled without help from the other women. While understanding the importance of building this alternate world as a religiously based government, I am glad the author did not paint all religions with the same brush.

I think the author does a fantastic job of describing what it is like to wait. Only revealing the story from the narrator’s perspective is done very well; it gives the reader a sense of frustration and anticipation that build suspense and remain true to the character’s experience of the situation. I also like the way the book ends. It isn’t totally happy and it doesn’t wrap up all the loose ends, but I don’t think it should. I wouldn’t call the book lighthearted fun, but I would definitely recommend it.

Lots of themes of sex and fertility, but no overly graphic scenes. Almost no bad language. Some scenes of violence and references to torture. The author is Canadian and the book was written during the anti-feminist backlash of the 1980s.