Good SHTF Survival Fiction Books

[superduty]

I read One Second After, and it really opened my eyes. Finishing book 3 of "Going Home" now, and I'm really enjoying the series. No air support or fire teams available here, but very entertaining.

[RobertNashville]

I just wanted to bump this back up for any updates and/or new suggestions.

 

I completed Book 6 of the Holding their Own" series by Joe Nobody (Bishop's Song) and found it to be right on par with the rest of the series, meaning, imho, excellent.

 

I'm just starting the "Dark Grid" series and the first book looks promising so far.

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Grid-When-Lights-Permanently/dp/1468079158/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389191290&sr=1-3&keywords=dark+grid+series

 

 

Robert:

What do you think of "The Carrington Effect: a novel of hope" by Andrew B. Dill so far?

I'm a little behind although catching up with my reading now.

 

I caught up with all the 299 Days series then went back to "Holding Their Own"...as soon as I finish the current book in "Holding Their Own" I'm going to start the Carrington Effect!

[Jamie Jackson]

Thanks Robert.

 

I recently finished Book 7 of the "Holding Their Own" series. I really like the characters.

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Holding-Their-Own-VII-Phoenix/dp/0615977049/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398328897&sr=1-1&keywords=joe+nobody+books]link[/url]

 

I'm a bit frustrated at how long it's taken the 299 Days series to be doled out...but will finish the series nonetheless as I've invested so darn much time in it LOL... :cool:

 

 

I've preordered "Forsaking Home" by A.American and look forward it reading it as well.

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Forsaking-Home-Survivalist-American/dp/0142181307/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398329179&sr=1-4&keywords=going+home+by+a+american]link[/url]

[jumprun13k]

I just want to say thanks for this thread.

 

I have read "One Second After" several times, but none of the others (unless you count Adrian's Undead Diary). But I know what I will be reading for the next little bit. :)

[tnguy]

I've thoroughly enjoyed all the comments in this thread. Y'all have given me some great ideas for books to read. I went ahead and started with the 299 days series. I just finished the first book and I really enjoyed it. I do agree that it is a fairly good assessment of how things might go down leading up to a shtf moment. The whole time I was reading through the book I kept trying to contemplate whether or not I could get to that level of "prepping." Unfortunately, I probably could not, but you have to start somewhere, right...

 

Every step you take improves your chances and the first steps give the most improvement.

[molonlabetn]

I greatly enjoyed reading the Nightcrawler/So There I Was Again series posted on TheHighroad forum which was then published as the Dead Six series.

[jcluff]

So, I have recently finished a stent of Apocalyptic novels and figured I would write a bit about each of them. Most recents: One second after. - well told story about the effects of an EMP. This book had me thinking a bit which is good. However, after some research I found the premiss to be quite flawed. EMP will likely not destroy transportation. That said, still a good novel - http://standeyo.com/News_Files/NBC/EMP.protection.html - http://jalopnik.com/5937778/how-to-prepare-your-car-to-handle-an-emp-and-why-you-shouldnt-bother I give this book a nod. Two book series - Collapse and Resistance by Richard Stephenson. Decent books. Written by a gun guy who spends to much time on gun descriptions that break the flow of the story. This story is also based on an EMP strike but things decend into chaos in a matter of hours. While I thought the author did a decent job on his characters, his chaos was unbelievable and his bad guys were too cliché. Also, first book ends way to abruptly. I give this series a meh... Two book series - The Persied Collapse and Event Horizon. Another EMP disaster. I give the author props for setting up a perfect storm of events that would decend the country into chaos over time. That said, the overall character development was inconsistent and too many plot devices were relied upon to move the story forward. Half way through the second book I just stopped caring and didnt finish it. I give this series a Nope. I may write a similar set for zombie novels I have read. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

[RobertNashville]

I've heard conflicting information about the EMP effect on a car's system...frankly, considering the amount of computer/electronic circuiterty in modern vehicles I'd be surprised if an EMP wouldn't disable (or at least significantly affect) vehicles.  I would think a solar event as happened with the Carrington Event could do a number on a vehicles' electrical system.

[hipower]

 Just received the first 3 books of Holding Their Own. Will start them tonight.

 

AFTER Game Of Thrones.

[Erik88]

I've lost interest in the 299 Days series. I just finished the 6th book I believe. These books provide very little value when you look at the pages and the price. At this point I think the author is just trying to drag it out of fatten his pockets. On top of that, it's boring.

 

6 books in and nothing has happned. Seriously, nothing. They killed one meth head and bugged out to a cabin. Whopped-dee-do. :snore:

 

The Holding Their Own series is leaps and bounds ahead of this.

[RobertNashville]

Perhaps it's just a matter of why folks read these books that impacts how much you like them???

 

Not every book in the 299 Days series has been "blockbuster good" but I've certainly enjoyed them all (and I've now read all eight that are out).  In other words, I think the story is engaging and I would not feel that my time had been wasted even if I was only reading them for enjoyment.

 

On the other hand; if someone is reading the series for "technical/how to survive a collapse of society" details they are probably going to be a bit disappointed because while there is some decent' even good information in them this series is definitely not a "how to" series of books.

[Erik88]

Perhaps it's just a matter of why folks read these books that impacts how much you like them???

 

Not every book in the 299 Days series has been "blockbuster good" but I've certainly enjoyed them all (and I've now read all eight that are out).  In other words, I think the story is engaging and I would not feel that my time had been wasted even if I was only reading them for enjoyment.

 

On the other hand; if someone is reading the series for "technical/how to survive a collapse of society" details they are probably going to be a bit disappointed because while there is some decent' even good information in them this series is definitely not a "how to" series of books.

 

You've lost me with your first sentence. I read these books mainly for entertainment but also for knowledge. I'm just saying the series has definitely lacked much action. I keep waiting for something to happen but the author continues to drag it out to the point I think I will spend my money on other books. 

[Guest sam37015]

I just found this thread!!  I have read 77 days in September & One Second After... I loved both of them.  I am excited to start reading all the other books y'all mentioned in this thread!! 

Thank you!!!

[RobertNashville]

You've lost me with your first sentence. I read these books mainly for entertainment but also for knowledge. I'm just saying the series has definitely lacked much action. I keep waiting for something to happen but the author continues to drag it out to the point I think I will spend my money on other books. 

I wasn't trying to be cryptic. :)  Apparently we both read for the same reason but have different opinions about this particular series.  One of the reasons I've enjoyed 299 Days is because it doesn't rush through the story...for me it makes the story and the scenario more believable than some of the other books I've read in this genre.

[Erik88]

I wasn't trying to be cryptic. :)  Apparently we both read for the same reason but have different opinions about this particular series.  One of the reasons I've enjoyed 299 Days is because it doesn't rush through the story...for me it makes the story and the scenario more believable than some of the other books I've read in this genre.

 

Alright, so humor me. Does anything happen in books 7-8? Number 8 is called The War, does it end there?

[hipower]

I just found this thread!!  I have read 77 days in September & One Second After... I loved both of them.  I am excited to start reading all the other books y'all mentioned in this thread!! 
Thank you!!!

Sam, you'll regret this. I swear. If you try to read all these, you head will implode from all the negativity. LOL

Actually I think if you read One Second After and didn't want to just curl up and forget everything, some of these can be quite entertaining. I have to look at it as entertainment or escapism. If I get to deeply involved in all this fatalistic crap...well, I don't really know what I'd do.

But there are a lot of interesting reads out here. I just started the Holding Their Own Series, and it really is thought provoking. Not really a long jump from reality and current events at all.

Anyway, enjoyed officially meeting you today.

[RobertNashville]

Alright, so humor me. Does anything happen in books 7-8? Number 8 is called The War, does it end there?

7 is a lot of "side" stories; sort of updating on charectors that were introduced before (if I remember correctly; it's been a while now since I read 7).  8 is, I think the next to last book and yes, the "war" has started but overall the book is "slow"...it stops just as the 17th is getting near Olympia.

 

If you didn't like the books leading up to 7 I doubt you'll like 7 or 8.

[hipower]

About halfway through the first Holding Their Own. Not really sure I "like" it. But it is very much a rational and well done story.

 

As in the better books of this genre, it is something I can visualize happening in our current world. Not just another off the wall zombie story. (not that I haven't read some of those as well  :pleased: )

[Whistle4Fly]

Agreed that "One Second After" is a great one. Finished "Going Home" by A. Ameican several weeks ago (loved it) and not about halfway through "Surviving Home". I highly recommend that series.

[Erik88]

I recently finished a book on my kindle and Amazon recommended I try a book called Last Stand:Surviving America's Collapse.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find the story takes place in Knoxville.

 

It was good. I have it 4/5 stars and it's free on your Kindle if you have Amazon Prime.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Stand-Surviving-Americas-Collapse-ebook/dp/B00JZW10HQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1401244033&sr=1-1

[Jamie Jackson]

Thanks Eric.

 

That's interesting. Knoxville huh? :pleased:

 

I added the paperback version to my list for my next order.

[Clod Stomper]

Awesome.  Just bought the Kindle version.  I like reading local fiction.  And non-fiction.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Getting away from recent writings, I recall The Plague by Albert Camus interesting when I read it-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plague

 

Recently re-read A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller. It is one of the best SF books ever done IMO, 1960, and it is basically the only thing Miller ever published-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz

 

The book begins hundreds of years after the SHTF. Long after angry survivors of WWIII killed all scientists and scholars, and burned all the books. An isolated catholic monastery out in the desert is the only place in the world which has books from before the war.

 

The book hoarding monastery had been founded after WWIII, by I. E. Leibowitz, an electronic engineer who had worked in the defense industry before the war. For which an angry populist mob had killed him. A few hundred years later the church is deliberating whether to declare the martyr Saint Leibowitz.

 

Early in the book is the following section, which reads real well for me. A young monk has discovered some of Saint Leibowitz' old electronic design blueprints in an ancient bomb shelter. The monk is permitted to preserve the blueprint for posterity by making hand-copies. Bear in mind that NOBODY in the world anymore knows what the hell is electronics. They just know it is ancient knowledge to preserve--

 

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aa%20canticle%20for%20lebowitz

 

Now, after six centuries of darkness, the monks still preserved this Memorabilia, studied it, copied and recopied it, and patiently waited. At the beginning, in the time of Leibowitz, it had been hoped â€” and even anticipated as probable â€” that the fourth or fifth generation would begin to want its heritage back. But the monks of the earliest days had not counted on the human ability to generate a new cultural inheritance in a couple of generations if an old one is utterly destroyed, to generate it by virtue of lawgivers and prophets, geniuses or maniacs; through a Moses, or through a Hitler, or an ignorant but tyrannical grandfather, a cultural inheritance may be acquired between dusk and dawn, and many have been so acquired. But the new “culture” was an inheritance of darkness, wherein “simpleton” meant the same thing as “citizen” meant the same thing as “slave.” The monks waited. It mattered not at all to them that the knowledge they saved was useless, that much of it was not really knowledge now, was as inscrutable to the monks in some instances as it would be to an illiterate wild-boy from the hills; this knowledge was empty of content, its subject matter long since gone. Still, such knowledge had a symbolic structure that was peculiar to itself, and at least the symbol-interplay could be observed. To observe the way a knowledge-system is knit together is to learn at least a minimum knowledge-of-knowledge, until someday â€” someday, or some century â€” an Integrator would come, and things would be fitted together again. So time mattered not at all. The Memorabilia was there, and it was given to them by duty to preserve, and preserve it they would if the darkness in the world lasted ten more centuries, or even ten thousand years, for they, though born in that darkest of ages, were still the very bookleggers and memorizers of the Beatus Leibowitz; and when they wandered abroad from their abbey, each of them, the professed of the Order â€” whether stable-hand or Lord Abbot â€” carried as part of his habit a book, usually a Breviary these days, tied up in a bindlestiff.

 

Two weeks later, the novice Francis, having perhaps set an endurance record for survival time on desert vigils, left the ranks of the novitiate and, vowing perpetual poverty, chastity, obedience, together with the special pledges peculiar to the community, received blessings and a bindlestiff in the abbey, and became forever a professed monk of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz, chained by chains of his own forging to the foot of the Cross and the rule of the Order. Thrice the ritual inquired of him: “If God calleth thee to be His Booklegger, wilt then suffer death before betraying thy brethren?” And thrice Francis responded: “Aye, Lord.” “Then arise Brother Bookleggers and Brother Memorizers and receive the kiss of brotherhood. Ecce quam bonum, et quam jucundum…” Brother Francis was transferred from the kitchen and assigned to less menial labor. He became apprentice copyist to an aged monk named Horner, and, if things went well for him, he might reasonably look forward to a lifetime in the copyroom, where he would dedicate the rest of his days to such tasks as the hand-copying of algebra texts and illuminating their pages with olive leaves and cheerful cherubim surrounding tables of logarithms.

 

did he summon the courage to venture to the Memorabilia files for the Leibowitz blueprint, nearly a year after beginning his free-time project. The original document had already been subjected to a certain amount of restorative work. Except for the fact that it bore the name of the Beatus, it was disappointingly like most of the others he had redrawn. The Leibowitz print, another abstraction, appealed to nothing, least of all to reason. He studied it until he could see the whole amazing complexity with his eyes closed but knew no more than he had known before. It appeared to be no more than a network of lines connecting a patchwork of doohickii, squiggles, quids, laminulae, and thingumbob. The lines were mostly horizontal or vertical, and crossed each other with either a little jump-mark or a dot; they made right-angle turns to get around doohickii, and they never stopped in mid-space but always terminated at a squiggle, quiggle, quid, or thingumbob. It made so little sense that a long period of staring at it produced a stupefying effect. Nevertheless he began work at duplicating every detail, even to the copying of a central brownish stain which he thought might be the blood of the Blessed Martyr, but which Brother Jeris suggested was only the stain left by a decayed apple core. Brother Jeris, who had joined the apprentice copyroom at the same time as Brother Francis, seemed to enjoy teasing him about the project. “What, pray,” he asked, squinting over Francis” shoulder, “is the meaning of “Transistorized Control System for Unit Six-B,” learned Brother?” “Clearly, it is the title of the document,” said Francis, feeling slightly cross. “Clearly. But what does it mean?” “It is the name of the diagram which lies before your eyes, Brother Simpleton. What does ‘Jeris’ mean?” “Very little, I’m sure,” said Brother Jeris with mock humility. “Forgive my density, please. You have successfully defined the name by pointing to the creature named, which is truly the meaning of the name. But now the creature-diagram itself represents something, does it not? What does the diagram represent?” “The transistorized control system for unit six-B, obviously.” Jeris laughed. “Quite clear! Eloquent! If the creature is the name, then the name is the creature. ‘Equals may be substituted for equals,’ or ‘The order of an equality is reversible,’ but may we proceed to the next axiom? If ‘Quantities equal to the same quantity may substitute for each other’ is true, then is there not some ‘same quantity’ which both name and diagram represent? Or is it a closed system?” Francis reddened. “I would imagine,” he said slowly, after pausing to stifle his annoyance, “that the diagram represents an abstract concept, rather than a concrete thing. Perhaps the ancients had a systematic method for depicting a pure thought. It’s clearly not a recognizable picture of an object.” “Yes, yes, it’s clearlyun recognizable!” Brother Jeris agreed with a chuckle. “On the other hand, perhaps it does depict an object, but only in a very formal stylistic way â€” so that one would need special training or—” “Special eyesight?” “In my opinion, it’s a high abstraction of perhaps transcendental value expressing a thought of the Beatus Leibowitz.” “Bravo! Now what was he thinking about?” “Why â€” ’Circuit Design,’” said Francis, picking the term out of the block of lettering at the lower right. “Hmmm, what discipline does that art pertain to, Brother? What is its genus, species, property, and difference? Or is it only an ‘accident’?” Jeris was becoming pretentious in his sarcasm, Francis thought, and decided to meet it with a soft answer. “Well, observe this column of figures, and its heading: ‘Electronics Parts Numbers.’ There was once, an art or science, called Electronics, which might belong to both Art and Science.” “Uh-huh! Thus settling ‘genus’ and ‘species.’ Now as to ‘difference,’ if I may pursue the line. What was the subject matter of Electronics?” “That too is written,” said Francis, who had searched the Memorabilia from high to low in an attempt to find clues which might make the blueprint slightly more comprehensible â€” but to very small avail. “The subject matter of Electronics was the electron,” he explained. “So it is written, indeed. I am impressed. I know so little of these things. What, pray, was the ‘electron?’“ “Well, there is one fragmentary source which alludes to it as a “Negative Twist of Nothingness.’“ “What! How did they negate a nothingness? Wouldn’t that make it a somethingness?” “Perhaps the negation applies to ‘twist.’“ “Ah! Then we would have on “Untwisted Nothing,” eh? Have you discovered how to untwist a nothingness?” “Net yet,” Francis admitted. “Well keep at it, Brother! How clever they must have been, those ancients â€” to know how to untwist nothing. Keep at it, and you may learn how. Then we’d have the “electron” in our midst, wouldn’t we? Whatever would we do with it? Put it on the altar in the chapel?” “All right,” Francis sighed, “I don’t know. But I have a certain faith that the ‘electron’ existed at one time, although I don’t know how it was constructed or what it might have been used for.”

 

Without mentioning the idea to anyone, Brother Francis began to plan. He found the finest available lambskin and spent several weeks of his spare time at curing it and stretching it and stoning it to a perfect surface, which he eventually bleached to a snowy whiteness and carefully stored away. For months afterward, he spent every available minute of his free time looking through the Memorabilia, again seeking clues to the meaning of the Leibowitz print. He found nothing resembling the squiggles in the drawing, nor anything else to help him interpret its meaning, but after a long time he stumbled across a fragment of a book which contained a partially destroyed page whose subject matter was blueprinting. it seemed to be a piece of an encyclopaedia. The reference was brief and some of the article was missing, but after reading it several times, he began to suspect that he â€” and many earlier copyists â€” had wasted a lot of time and ink. The white-on-dark effect seemed not to have been a particularly desirable feature, but one which resulted from the peculiarities of a certain cheap reproduction process. The original drawing from which the blueprint had been made had been black-on-white. He had to resist a sudden impulse to beat his head against the stone floor. All that ink and labor to copy an accident! The knowledge that the color scheme of blueprints was an accidental feature of those ancient drawings lent impetus to his plan. A glorified copy of the Leibowitz print could be made without incorporating the accidental feature. With the color scheme reversed, no one would recognize the drawing at first. Certain other features could obviously be modified. He dared change nothing that he did not understand, but surely the parts tables and the block-lettered information could be spread symmetrically around the diagram on scrolls and shields. Because the meaning of the diagram itself was obscure, he dared not alter its shape or plan by a hair; but since its color scheme was unimportant, it might as well be beautiful. He considered gold inlay for the squiggles and doohickii, but the thingumbob was too intricate for goldwork, and a gold quid would seem ostentatious. The quiggles just had to be done jet black, but that meant that the lines should be off-black, to assert the quiggles. While the unsymmetrical design would have to stay as it was, he could think of no reason why its meaning would be altered by using it as a trellis for a climbing vine, whose branches (carefully dodging the quiggles) might be made to furnish an impression of symmetry or render asymmetry natural. When Brother Horner illuminated a capital M, transmuting it into a wonderful jungle of leaves, berries, branches, and perhaps a wily serpent, it nevertheless remained legible as M. Brother Francis saw no reason for supposing that the same would not apply to the diagram. The general shape, over-all, with a scrolled border, might well become a shield, rather than the stark rectangle which enclosed the drawing in the print. He made dozens of preliminary sketches. At the very top of the parchment would be a representation of the Triune God, and at the very bottom â€” the coat of arms of the Albertian Order, with, just above it the image of the Beatus.

Walter M. Miller (2012-12-04T08:03:03.520381+00:00). A Canticle For Leibowitz

 

[hipower]

Thaks, Lester, for the sampling. I have never read it. Strange...as much as I have read, I just seemed to miss this.

The writing style seems very good to me. It's descriptive and easy to follow, in a style that I like.

Guess that's another to add to the list.

[RobertNashville]

I recently finished a book on my kindle and Amazon recommended I try a book called Last Stand:Surviving America's Collapse.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find the story takes place in Knoxville.

 

It was good. I have it 4/5 stars and it's free on your Kindle if you have Amazon Prime.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Stand-Surviving-Americas-Collapse-ebook/dp/B00JZW10HQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1401244033&sr=1-1

I need to go back and check but I'm pretty sure I just saw a post on FB from the author that is doing "299 Days" recommending that book!