What I am seeking is novels about survival, or post-apocolyptic stories. Novels about living after civilization has basically ended.
Wolf and Iron, by Gordon R. Dickson was a great book. The "...in the Ashes" series was a little cheesy, but can be enjoyable if you're in the right mood. "The Protectors War" by SM Stirling I found to be barely readable. I don't know if any of the others in the series were at all better, but that one was too awful for me to try.
Not sure this is entirely the same vein, but The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell is fantastic. More or less, sci-fi survival wherein a fleet is nearly destroyed deep in enemy territory, and has to make it back to the safety of their own safe part of the galaxy. Large space fleet battles taking into account relativistic effects and real world physics ensue. VERY entertaining read spanning 6 books (Starting with Dauntless), and a very fast read as well.
That was my obsession before starting Pandora's Star, which is a much heavier sci-fi novel in a very different style... I can't really do it justice in description, but it's definitely not a survival type book, so probably not what you're looking for, but DAMN good for any sci-fi fans out there!
Also: I cannot recommend Ready Player One enough, even if it's not what you're after =P
Last two book I read were nonfiction. Meditations on Violence, and Facing Violence, both by Rory Miller. Both are very good books on the reasons for violence, and how to handle it if you are a victim.
I just finished a book called "PostMortal" by Drew Magary. It's basically about a guy and what happens to him once the "cure for aging" is discovered. Its not total "Fallout" the world is ending, but it was an entertaining read.
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson who has a PhD in robotics and The Passage by Justin Cronin
The inner Machinations of my mind are an Enigma - Patrick Star
A steel fist in a Velvet glove, the force is there but it's concealed just below the surface.
Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller. Older is better here, no one does post-apocalypse better than back when they really thought it was going to happen.
City by Cliff Simak is another personal favorite, although not quite the same vein.
I just finished a book called "PostMortal" by Drew Magary. It's basically about a guy and what happens to him once the "cure for aging" is discovered. Its not total "Fallout" the world is ending, but it was an entertaining read.
Also, Im with Teannin, Ready Player One! now.
Have you read "Outnumbering the Dead" by Frederick Pohl? It's the story of a man upon whom the immortality procedure didn't work living in a world of immortals.
And I second The Road, but be prepared to become depressed after reading.
Stephen King's latest - 11/22/63 - is really good. I'm having problems putting it down at night.
It's not a horror story. There's a time travel element involved, but it has very strict rules. Basically there's just a doorway into a certain town in 1958. If you go there and come back to current day (where only 2 minutes have passed no matter what), and then go back to 1958 again, you've just "Reset" any changes you made during your first trip. Also.. the past doesn't want to be changed. There will be obstacles.
So... can the main character stop some tragedies from happening, one of them being JFK's assassination in 1963? He'd have to live in the past for 5 years to reach that point, and if he botches that attempt, that's 5 years down the drain as far as his body goes, but only 2 minutes down the drain back in his timeline. The majority of the book is actually the relationships the protagonist makes in the past, it's not solely focused on JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald.
It's a damn good book so far. It's a long read, though. I think it's 800 pages or so and I'm just 2/3 the way through.
Stephen King's latest - 11/22/63 - is really good. I'm having problems putting it down at night.
It's not a horror story. There's a time travel element involved, but it has very strict rules. Basically there's just a doorway into a certain town in 1958. If you go there and come back to current day (where only 2 minutes have passed no matter what), and then go back to 1958 again, you've just "Reset" any changes you made during your first trip. Also.. the past doesn't want to be changed. There will be obstacles.
So... can the main character stop some tragedies from happening, one of them being JFK's assassination in 1963? He'd have to live in the past for 5 years to reach that point, and if he botches that attempt, that's 5 years down the drain as far as his body goes, but only 2 minutes down the drain back in his timeline. The majority of the book is actually the relationships the protagonist makes in the past, it's not solely focused on JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald.
It's a damn good book so far. It's a long read, though. I think it's 800 pages or so and I'm just 2/3 the way through.
I audiobooked it. It took me most of a month to get through it, but excellent book.
Have you read "Outnumbering the Dead" by Frederick Pohl? It's the story of a man upon whom the immortality procedure didn't work living in a world of immortals.
I havent. I found Postmortals I think through Amazon's "If you liked this, try this" feature, it was a truly blind buy. But Ill keep an eye out for it.
11/23/63 was seriously a gut punch for me. It was a really good book, I couldnt put it down either. Not like a usual King novel at all, but geez, did it punch me in the gut multiple times.
