My Favorite Post-Apocalyptic Books

Discover the best post-apocalyptic books with our curated list of favorites. Explore thrilling tales of survival, dystopian worlds, and epic adventures in these must-read novels.

The Stand Cover
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The Stand

by Stephen King

Horrific disaster as a plague virus sweeps the U.S., leaving only a handful of survivors.
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Alas, Babylon Cover
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Alas, Babylon

by Pat Frank

The classic apocalyptic novel that stunned the world.
One Second After Cover
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One Second After

by William R. Forstchen

Book 1 in the "John Matherson" trilogy.
Lucifer's Hammer Cover
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Lucifer's Hammer

by Larry Niven

“The first satisfying end-of-the-world novel in years . . . an ultimate one . . . massively entertaining.”—Cleveland Plain-Dealer The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival—a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known. . . . “Take your earthquakes, waterlogged condominiums, swarms of bugs, colliding airplanes and flaming what-nots, wrap them up and they wouldn’t match one page of Lucifer’s Hammer for sweaty-palmed suspense.”—Chicago Daily News
Footfall Cover
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Footfall

by Larry Niven

"NOBODY DOES IT BETTER THAN NIVEN AND POURNELLE. --Tom Clancy They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star. The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. The first contact is hostile: the invaders blast a Soviet space station, seize the survivors, and then destroy every dam and installation on Earth with a hail of asteriods. Now the conquerors are descending on the American heartland, demanding servile surrender--or death for all humans. "ROUSING . . . THE BEST OF THE GENRE." --The New York Times Book Review "From the Paperback edition.
Earth Abides Cover
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Earth Abides

by George Rippey Stewart

Returning from a field trip, Isherwood Williams discovers that a mysterious plague has destroyed human civilization during his absence and makes his way to San Francisco, where he finds a few survivors who build a small community, living like their pioneer ancestors. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.
The War of the Worlds Cover
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The War of the Worlds

by H. G. Wells

The Night After A Shooting Star Is Seen Streaking Through The Sky From Mars, A Cylinder Is Discovered On Horsell Common In London. At First, NaĂŻve Locals Approach The Cylinder Armed Just With A White Flag Only To Be Quickly Killed By An All-Destroying Heat-Ray, As Terrifying Tentacled Invaders Emerge. Soon The Whole Of Human Civilisation Is Under Threat, As Powerful Martians Build Gigantic Killing Machines, Destroy All In Their Path With Black Gas And Burning Rays, And Feast On The Warm Blood Of Trapped, Still-Living Human Prey. The Forces Of The Earth, However, May Prove Harder To Beat Than They At First Appear.
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Mother of storms Cover
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Mother of storms

 

No summary available.
The Mist Cover
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The Mist

by Stephen King

A group of neighbors trapped in a grocery store by a supernatural mist--which may have been unintentionally unleashed by a nearby military base--must fight the horrific monsters that live within it.
Cat's Cradle Cover
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Cat's Cradle

by Kurt Vonnegut

“A free-wheeling vehicle . . . an unforgettable ride!”—The New York Times Cat’s Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best. “[Vonnegut is] an unimitative and inimitable social satirist.”—Harper’s Magazine “Our finest black-humorist . . . We laugh in self-defense.”—Atlantic Monthly
On the Beach Cover
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On the Beach

by Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute’s most powerful novel—a bestseller for decades after its 1957 publication—is an unforgettable vision of a post-apocalyptic world. After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cloud that is heading their way and bringing certain death to everyone in its path. Among them is an American submarine captain struggling to resist the knowledge that his wife and children in the United States must be dead. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from somewhere near Seattle, and Captain Towers must lead his submarine crew on a bleak tour of the ruined world in a desperate search for signs of life. Both terrifying and intensely moving, On the Beach is a remarkably convincing portrait of how ordinary people might face the most unimaginable nightmare.
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It's Only Temporary Cover
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It's Only Temporary

 

No summary available.
The Rift Cover
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The Rift

by Walter J. Williams

A massive earthquake centered in New Madrid, Missouri, wreaks destruction on America's heartland, leaving a huge fracture in the earth and chaos in its wake, as the terrified survivors struggle to cope with catastrophe and the turmoil that follows. Reprint.
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ID: 0330376233
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