I believe the term preferred is “Post Apocalyptic (Science:optional) Fiction”.
The genre is based on a simple situation – Something bad, a Big Event has happened to Earth as we know it. 99.9% of humanity are dead, or at least, the survivors think that they are 0.1% of the population that is left ( insta-census anyone? ). They have to fend against unknown dangers and a hostile environment. Deal with the after-effects of whatever just happened. Hostility breaking out in the strangest of situations – mostly because they hail from different strata of society, and hence, each would have a distinct mindset about what constitutes a society and what survival has in store for them. And most often – a Big Threat That Looms Large. The climax being how the Big Threat That Looms Large is destroyed, and life comes back to normal – the unknown dangers and the hostile environment being already tamed in the course of the book/movie/series.
I love this particular form of situational fiction. Not just because it pops up from time to time when you least expect it – but because there are an infinite number of possibilities to consider. Different mutations of the scenario, depending on what the scale of the medium is – a short story, a novella, a novel, a movie, a TV series. Look at this way. The writer ( I’ll concentrate on literature, because most of the films I know of this genre are based on books ) has just done away with a lot of humanity. He can concentrate on a very limited number of characters. He can introduce plot twists in every line, having redefined what “danger” is – after all, this is not just a devastated world, this is also a lawless one. On top of it, he is also dealing with the fundamental aspects of society-building. Think of the voyeuristic fun God would have had in the first couple of years after the Great Flood and you get my drift.
Ah, yes. The first of this genre would undoubtedly be the Bible – the Great Flood and Noah’s family being the survivors of the first Holocaust. As a story, that’s a cop-out, because after the Ark comes to rest on Mount Ararat, nothing more is said about Noah’s family, and how they rebuilt the world. Ah,well…..
The first proper work I read, and still the longest, as I remember it, has to be Stephen King’s The Stand. At over a thousand and a half pages, in extremely small print too, The Stand was one whopper of a book. Different interlocking stories, each narrowing down to one epic climax; some extremely well-written characters ( as always), and one scary Villain. King made his book a believable social restructuring and at the same time a spooky showdown between Good and Evil. What I personally enjoyed was the fact that he never gave any explanations about why there were survivors, why it was these particular people who lived through the Super-flu outbreak. Was it something supernatural? Did it have a scientific reason? No one knows, because he does not tell us.
Lucifer’s Hammer by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Nivens was another well-written book of this genre. Here, the reason behind the Big Thing was a Big Bang, brought about by a comet striking the earth, a comet of the name “The Hammer”. ( well, it was originally called Hamner’s comet, after the guy who discovered it, but the name gets mutilated to the more familiar-sounding Hammer by, who else, a newsreader ) As it usually happens with crashing comets, mankind is all but annhilated, and the survivors have to make do in a world devoid of anything called civilization. What do people do when they have no food? They eat other people. What do people do when they are beset by murderous brigands? They form bands, and go on the offensive themselves. The best thing about this book is that it shows people coming together as they would normally do in an alien situation – by status, by culture and by race.
One of the weirdest books I have read in this subcategory is The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Humanity – oh sorry, 99.9 percent of humanity – go blind in a single night, ostensibly because of watching a display of celestial fireworks. This wouldn’t be too much of a bad thing, you think, but the trouble runs deeper. You see, biotechnological engineering had created a new plant species called Triffids which initially serve as a lucrative source of oil. Triffids are carnivorous, they have a poisonous sting that can kill a human adult in seconds if they hit an exposed area, and worst of all, Triffids can move. One of the scientists who are working with Triffids makes an ominous comment at the beginning of the book, something like – “If human beings were blind, Triffids would undoubtedly be the next rulers of this planet.” This prophetic condition rendered true, it remains to see whether the scientist’s prediction is correct, and how the survivors manage to hold their own against the Triffids. Best of all, the book ends in a very open-ended way, in a chapter termed “Strategic Withdrawal”. No, it’s not what you think.
One of the best comic-book series in recent times, Y The Last Man, by Brian K Vaughn and Pia Guerra, deals with an earth where, inexplicably and very violently, all y-chromosome bearing mammals – in short – males, die. With the exception of a young escape artist named Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand. You might wonder if this guy has been singled out just so he had a name that started with Y, which the creators could use – but trust me, this book is good. Every issue leaves you with two simultaneous questions – “What the Hell just happened?” and “Where in the whole wide world is this leading to?”. A lot of sub-questions pop up on the way – you wonder why the sole male survivor has to be this smart-alecky geek, you wonder which woman is going to bed Yorick first, you wonder about who’s good and who’s bad. I was fortunate enough to read 16 issues at one go in a single night, and the remaining four quite recently, again in a night. I eagerly ( and patiently, because I have no choice ) wait for the next instalment.
A movie that inteleaves this genre with popular horror is 28 Days Later. Alex Garland ( The Beach) wrote the script, and he manages to balance the two subcultures pretty well. On one hand, you sympathize with the protagonists, all of them, even the “bad” ones. You are repulsed by the Infected, and yet, on two occasions, you cannot but pity these mindless ( really? ) creatures – the antithesis of the traditional lumbering zombies. It is never made clear throughout the movie about what the Rage virus does to humans, or what the Infected do to humans ( chew their guts, chomp their brains, lust for blood, WHAT? They just keep flailing their hands about and running at glass windows. ) or what the humans are doing, other than the few protagonists we see onscreen. The second half is brilliant, the first half being limited to hauting shots of an empty city ( was that really London? ) Watch the DVD for maximum effect, it has three alternate endings and a director’s commentary that rocks!
Other books of this genre that I have read, and which come to mind at the moment – Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, which is a neat twist on Survival Theory and vampirism, Philip K Dick’s Dr Bloodmoney, Harlan Ellison – A Boy and His Dog, George R Stewart – Earth Abides. Robert Heinlein’s Farnham’s Freehold and Tunnel in the Sky, the latter of which deals with a motley group of terrans stranded on a remote planet and their struggle to create a society. Again, my prerogative – I included this because it seems like a perfect example of what I was pointing at – a new society being created against insurmountable odds. There is even a Big Threat That Etc here, called Stobors.
A friend tells me Nevil Shute’s On The Beach belongs to the same genre, not read this yet. Someone also pointed out that even The Matrix can be seen as post-apocalyptic sci-fi. I disagree, because The Matrix does not deal with immediate after-effects of the Big Event. Waterworld – maybe, because I have not seen that either, sounds the same as William Brinkley’s The Last Ship. Another unread one is James Morrow’s This is the Way the World Ends.
Anything else that you might suggest?
Very Good synopsis of it all. I have read and liked *Lucifer’s Hammer* and *The day of the Triffids*. The latter was a pretty short book. I had just seen *In the mouth of Madness* and the deserted streets in Triffidsstrangely resembled those of the haunted city. ITMOM still remains my favorite horror movie, largely because of the way Sutter Caine and his mysterious writing prowess was portrayed.
Say, have you seen the movie?
I have seen parts of In the Mouth of…, it was running on some TV channel once, and I started to see it midway through, and as it usually happens with movies I do not see completely, I switched the TV off.
Try and read The Stand someday, if you have the time and the patience.
anyone who can finish Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged can read through any other huge volume especially when written by someone like Stephen King.
Disclaimer: This is solely my opinion. Any resemblance with an existing quote of similar nature is coincidental.
Guess what! The reverse is not true! ;)
though this does not exactly match your definition, but
The War Of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
and also Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (talks about the last man on earth too!!)
both of the above really haunting books.
am also reminded a short run comic strip in Target, though I forget the name.
War of the Worlds does not fit the bill at all. One, the Big Bad Thing that should destroy the earth does not happen – the aliens get destroyed by your friendly-neighbourhood-virus. The book ends with the aliens destruction, and nothing much is changed in the status quo of human society as we know it. Life goes on, etc.
From what I have read about Childhood’s End, there’s nothing there about “The Last Man on earth”. Maybe you could clarify.
War of The Worlds: Like I said it does not exactly fit the bill, but it does talk about Britain as an isolated case, and you do have a significantly fewer number of human beings lucky to be alive trying to rebuild society (or rather dreaming about it)
Childhoods End: ***From what I have read about Childhood’s End, there’s nothing there about “The Last Man on earth”. ***
Read about a book!!
I believe its simply better to read the book itself. Its self clarifying!
But considering that there are too many books on earth to read, i find it better to read about a book first, especially if it’s a wellknown book, figure out whether the premise is to my liking or not, and then read it.
but then arent you submitting the spectrum of your reading to views and reviews- other people’s interpretation of books! where’s the joy of discovery then?
especially if it’s a wellknown book
A book is reviewed only if it’s wellwritten. But a wellwritten book, liked by all and sundry, need not necessarily be something I would like.
How would you go about reading a new writer or a new book, my friend? It has to be on a recommendation by a friend, or someplace where you have read about the book, right? If you just go around a bookshop randomly picking books to read ( “hmm, this one looks interesting, let me buy it”),most probably you would end up reading a lot of good books, true, but you would also end up reading a lot of crap too.
My way of literary exploration is simple. If a book is good, as in acclaimed, liked by many, mightily praised, well, read a little more about it, figure out whether this fits in with the Grand Scheme of THings I am interested in, and then read it.
That is the reason behind why, for instance, I have not read Ayn Rand or Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It’s the content I am interested in, and the content of these writers just does not fit in with what I want to read.
It’s not “other people’s interpretation of books” that I look at in a review, rather, a deeper insight into what’s there in the book itself.
An example – suppose I have never read Agatha Christie in my life. Someone tells me that Christie writes very good mysteries. I am interested. Then I go to a site and try and find out how many books Agatha Christie has written. What she writes about. Ok, so there are two main detectives she has created, one an old English lady, the other an old Belgian chap. Interesting. Now how did it all start? Which was the first book in which this character appears? What’s the correct reading order? Are all the books set in the countryside and are all of them murder mysteries?
A last point. The whole concept of “what to read and what not to” stems from the fact that I already have too many books to read. That’s why I have to be careful about whether to spend my time reading X book while I could have as well read Y book which I would have enjoyed more than X.
Sorry for the long reply.
your reply to my reply to your post deserves to be posted on your lj.
and when you say that its better not to waste time in reading certified crap (and hence the need to refer to reviews, etc) you are bang on. But you probably missed the subtelty of what I said. You dont appreciate the good untill you sample crap. (very true, though cliched as it may be.)
Ignore my first line in the previous comment. I said “A book is reviewed only if it’s well-written. What I meant was, a book stays in print so long as it is well-written, and also earns itself quite a lot of reviews, both good and bad, because a lot of people read it.
Or was this an attempt to get me to read Childhood’s End?
Actually I expected you to have read it.
Asimov and Clarke are two writers whose work will always stay in print. Not read too much of them so far, I can very well read them after I am forty.
‘Swan Song’ by Robert McKammon is solid in this genre. The world ends, people go looking for another and some of them have some weird growth start appearing on their face. If you’ve never read McKammon he’s a straight-up sort of writer like King but sometimes he’s a little more imaginitive than King. McKammon’s good at saving at least one genuinely clever twist for the end.
I read Baal by McCammon very early in life. Looks like I will have to look out for Swan Song then. The reviews look promising, and of course, your thumbs-up tilts the scales in its favour. :)
Dude, you have wayyyy too much time on your hands. :-)
That said… I must also say ‘good one’ ! You have covered some of the stuff I have read, and some that I haven’t. But I can’t really think of any others to add… yet.
Yet? heh heh. I’m waiting.
You could count Planet of the Apes and the Mad Max movies here, too. Also, many zombie movies other than 28 Days Later, especially the latter two Dead movies — Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead.
Mad Max movies – absolutely! my fault, not adding them to the list.
Planet of the Apes – I have read the BOulle book, and seen the Tim Burton movie. Not too sure whether they fall in this category. For one, they deal with something set in the Far Future, the Big Thing has happened quite a long time back, and the Ape society is pretty much stable. This would fit more into the Time Travel/”Where Do We All Land Up In The Future”-genre of fiction, wouldn’t it?
Zombie movies – Aren’t most of them about a particular town/settlement getting hit by zombies? Or is the whole world involved? I really wouldn’t know, haven’t seen too many of them. Resident Evil and Night of the Living Dead ( The remake ) come to mind.
Mad Max movies, and Fallout series of games. Crimson Skies and Freedom Fighters would make the grade too.
Mad Max, absolutely. Don’t know why that escaped my mind, obviously because I haven’t seen any of the movies.
I didn’t really think of games that fall in this genre, thanks for the heads-up!!!
thankee beatzo, did i tell you you are a darling!
and my brother apologises for the serial phone-calling it took to get there
but it was well worth it
the dude hauled in a lot of books both of us have wanted for a long time
and i am thinking of making a hyderabad trip, at which time, i owe you one :-)
What did he buy? What did he buy? List, please.