Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are said to be the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse—Armageddon, The End of The World. In science fiction, the end of the world is usually triggered by other (or at least more specific) means: nuclear warfare (or disaster), biological warfare (or disaster), ecological/geological disaster, or cosmological disaster. But in the wake of any great cataclysm, there are survivors—and post-apocalyptic SF speculates what life would be like for them.

The first significant post-apocalyptic work is Mary Shelley's The Last Man (1826), which concerns the survivors of a plague that is wiping out the human race. The sub-genre rose to prominence during the 1950s and reached the height of its popularity during Cold War, when the threat of nuclear annihilation was very real. Though the enemies have changed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, life today holds as many threats and so post-apocalyptic tales remain timely and potent. For further reading about the history of the sub-genre, check out the "Holocaust and After" section of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls.

The appeal of post-apocalyptic SF is obvious: it fulfills our taste for adventure, the thrill of discovery, the desire for a new frontier. It also allows us to start over from scratch, to wipe the slate clean and see what the world may have been like if we had known then what we know now.

But perhaps the sub-genre is best summed up by this quote from "The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged)" by John Varley:

"We all love after-the-bomb stories. If we didn't, why would there be so many of them? There's something attractive about all those people being gone, about wandering in a depopulated world, scrounging cans of Campbell's pork and beans, defending one's family from marauders. Sure it's horrible, sure we weep for all those dead people. But some secret part of us thinks it would be good to survive, to start over.

"Secretly, we know we'll survive. All those other folks will die. That's what after-the-bomb stories are all about."

Essential Novels

The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett

Religion rules and technology is disdained in a post-nuclear America where communities of more than 1000 people are forbidden.

The Postman by David Brin

A wandering survivor assumes the role of a long-dead postal worker and helps ignite a movement that sets in motion the restoration of the United States.

No Blade of Grass (a.k.a. The Death of Grass) by John Christopher

A virus destroys the grass and grain supply of the entire world resulting in a lawless, nightmarish future.

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

The residents of a small Florida town struggle to survive in the wake of a nuclear holocaust.

The Committed Men by M. John Harrison

An unlikely group of humans brave the ravaged wasteland to give a mutant child the chance to survive.

Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

A tale told in a pidgin English, set in an iron-age England, 2000 years after a nuclear holocaust.

Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt

1000 years after plague brings on the collapse of civilization, a band of adventurers seeks out the lost books and artifacts of the Roadmakers, the builders of the ancient ruins.

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

A tale of the cyclical rise and fall of civilization, told in three parts, revolving around the monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz who seek the knowledge and truth of the ancients.

Davy by Edgar Pangborn

An adventure story that tells of the coming-of-age of a boy—part Tom Jones, part Huck Finn—named Davy in a post-nuclear feudal society.

The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson

The coming-of-age tale of a boy and a community of survivors in the aftermath of a nuclear attack that leaves the United States crippled and under the heel of U.N. sanctioned watchdogs. [Ed. Note: this is one volume of a trilogy which together plots three different futures for California, only one of which is post-apocalyptic.]

On the Beach by Nevil Shute

Australia initially escapes the affects of the nuclear war, but when the winds carry deadly radiation their way, the survivors face their impending doom.

Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

The tale of Isherwood Williams who is immune to the plague that wipes out most of the human race.

The Long Loud Silence by Wilson Tucker

A man tries to return west to civilization after all land east of the Mississippi River is quarantined in the wake of a nuclear and biological holocaust.

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm

An isolated community of clones attempts to preserve civilization after an ecological and biological catastrophe wipes out most of the life on Earth and renders the survivors sterile.

Re-Birth (a.k.a The Chrysalids) by John Wyndham

A group of telepaths flee the God-fearing, anti-mutant community where they were raised when their "blasphemous" secret is discovered.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Bill Masen wakes up in the hospital to find that a bizarre meteor shower has blinded most of the world's population, leaving them at the mercy of the genetically-engineered killer plants known as triffids.

Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny

Anti-hero Hell Tanner must cross the radioactive wasteland between L.A. and Boston to deliver a case of antiserum to plague victims.

Essential Short Fiction

"The People of Sand and Slag" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Thanks to weeviltech, humans have been modified in so many ways that they're barely recognizable as human at all. In this war-torn far future, a band of warriors discovers one of the oddest creatures they've ever seen: a dog. But now that they've found it, what should they do with it?

"Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler

A global pandemic leaves the survivors totally or partially unable to read, write, or communicate verbally.

"West" by Orson Scott Card

Scavenger Jamie Teague guides a group of Mormons west from North Carolina to the new state of Deseret and tries to make a life for himself within their group.

"A Boy and His Dog" by Harlan Ellison

In the aftermath of World War IV, civilization retreats to underground cities but some choose to remain aboveground, like a solo named Vic and his telepathic dog companion, Blood.

"Lot" by Ward Moore

A family flees Los Angeles after the bomb drops.

"A Master of Babylon" by Edgar Pangborn

A musician living in the upper levels of the Museum of Human History in a flooded Manhattan encounters another human for the first time in 25 years.

Essential Collections & Anthologies

The Folk of the Fringe [ToC] by Orson Scott Card

Five stories set in the post-apocalyptic state of Deseret which tell of a Mormon community of survivors trying to build a new civilization.

Vic and Blood by Harlan Ellison & Richard Corben (artist)

Contains three Vic and Blood stories: "Eggsucker," "A Boy and His Dog," and "Run, Spot, Run." The complete text of each story is included, along with comic book adaptations depicted by artist Richard Corben.

Beyond Armageddon: Twenty-One Sermons to the Dead [ToC] edited by Walter M. Miller, Jr. & Martin H. Greenberg

"Best of" anthology complete with a lengthy introduction to the sub-genre and insightful introductions to each of the stories.

Other Recommended Works

• Greybeard by Brian Aldiss
• Twilight World by Poul Anderson
• The Winter of the World by Poul Anderson
• Vault of the Ages by Poul Anderson
• The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
• Through Darkest America (et seq.) by Neal Barrett, Jr.
• Test of Fire by Ben Bova
• The Last Ship by William Brinkley
• The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner
• Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys
• The World in Winter by John Christopher
• Empty World by John Christopher
• A Wrinkle in the Skin by John Christopher
• Engine Summer by John Crowley
• Wolf and Iron by Gordon R. Dickson
• Queen City Jazz (et seq.) by Kathleen Ann Goonan
• The White Plague by Frank Herbert
• Ape & Essence by Aldous Huxley
• Catastrophe Planet by Keith Laumer
• Gather, Darkness! by Fritz Leiber
• Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem
• Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
• Shadow on the Hearth by Judith Merril
• Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
• After Armageddon [ToC] edited by Jerry Pournelle
• Dome by Michael Reaves & Steve Perry
• Aftermath by Charles Sheffield
• Snowfall (et seq.) by Mitchell Smith
• In the Drift by Michael Swanwick
• The Year of the Quiet Sun by Wilson Tucker
• Ice and Iron by Wilson Tucker
• Millennium by John Varley
• The Rift by Walter Jon Williams

• "Tomorrow's Children" by Poul Anderson
• "The Anencephalic Fields" by Dale Bailey
• "Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus" by Neal Barrett, Jr.
• "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
• "Beat Me Daddy (Eight to the Bar)" by Cory Doctorow
• "Patient Zero" by Tananarive Due
• "Eggsucker" by Harlan Ellison
• "Run, Spot, Run" by Harlan Ellison
• "Lot's Daughter" by Ward Moore
• "The Feast of Saint Janis" by Michael Swanwick
• "Eastward Ho!" by William Tenn
• "The Last of the O-Forms" by James Van Pelt
• "A Flock of Birds" by James Van Pelt
• "Mary Margaret Road-Grader" by Howard Waldrop

Additional Info:

The Table of Contents for Beyond Armageddon is as follows:

• "Salvador" by Lucius Shepard
• "The Store of the Worlds" by Robert Sheckley
• "The Big Flash" by Norman Spinrad
• "Lot" by Ward Moore
• "Day at the Beach" by Carol Emshwiller
• "The Wheel" by John Wyndham
• "Jody After the War" by Edward Bryant
• "The Terminal Beach" by J. G. Ballard
• "Tomorrow's Children" by Poul Anderson
• "Heirs Apparent" by Robert Abernathy
• "A Master of Babylon" by Edgar Pangborn
• "Game Preserve" by Rog Phillips
• "By the Waters of Babylon" by Stephen Vincent Benét
• "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
• "To the Chicago Abyss" by Ray Bradbury
• "Lucifer" by Roger Zelazny
• "Eastward Ho!" by William Tenn
• "The Feast of Saint Janis" by Michael Swanwick
• "If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth..." by Arthur C. Clarke
• "A Boy and His Dog" by Harlan Ellison
• "My Life in the Jungle" by Jim Aikin