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Posted: 7/29/2021 5:45:54 PM EDT
[#1]
I love these trash books too. One of the better series I've found is The Borrowed World by Franklin Horton. The Going Home series by A. American is worth mentioning too, but it's the inverse of the rest of them, the first book is lame, the rest are really good.
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Posted: 7/29/2021 5:49:24 PM EDT
[#2]
I love apocalypse books but most of the modern survivalist type stuff I've read is poorly written at best and more like gear porn as they describe the models of tier 1 gear these elite tactical operators use.
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Posted: 7/29/2021 6:04:08 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted: It was...abnormally woke. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Neal Stephenson is a fantastic author with a limitless imagination and a great sense of humor. One of the very best fiction writers working today. Seveneves was trash. It was...abnormally woke. Based on recommendations from friends long ago, I read Snow Crash and Diamond Age and then got a decent way into Cryptonomicon before I realized I just don't like his stuff. Shut that book and never opened it again. Not my thing. |
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Posted: 7/30/2021 7:55:35 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Deep winter was great. Well the first two in that series anyway. That, one second after, patriots and a few others were some of the bigger books in the genre when I started. Never did finish patriots. So they got me kind of hooked, then I read all the other stuff… One Second After was great, IMO. Shows how quickly things can go to shit (especially medical and food supplies). The sequels didn't quite hold up (few sequels do) but I still felt compelled to continue the story. Patriots was much the same - when I first read it, the plot felt so far fetched. Now I'm not so sure.  The sequels also went down in quality, but I was still entertained in reading them. Gave me ideas for my preps, and what I could realistically do, and NOT do. (in the book the main characters have closable steel shutters to protect the windows) They weren't quite as bad as the 'Going Home' series where the main character always had the perfect piece of gear, but there were instances of 'luck' - whether it be lucky person showing up or gear. |
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Posted: 7/30/2021 8:04:30 PM EDT
[#5]
Dumb question...is Lucifer's Hammer the same story line as Hammer's Slammers?
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Posted: 7/30/2021 8:10:57 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Dumb question...is Lucifer's Hammer the same story line as Hammer's Slammers? No. Hammer’s Slammers is mercenaries in hover tanks. (more or less) 
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Posted: 7/30/2021 11:43:11 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted: One Second After was great, IMO. Shows how quickly things can go to shit (especially medical and food supplies). The sequels didn't quite hold up (few sequels do) but I still felt compelled to continue the story. Patriots was much the same - when I first read it, the plot felt so far fetched. Now I'm not so sure. The sequels also went down in quality, but I was still entertained in reading them. Gave me ideas for my preps, and what I could realistically do, and NOT do. (in the book the main characters have closable steel shutters to protect the windows) They weren't quite as bad as the 'Going Home' series where the main character always had the perfect piece of gear, but there were instances of 'luck' - whether it be lucky person showing up or gear. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Deep winter was great. Well the first two in that series anyway. That, one second after, patriots and a few others were some of the bigger books in the genre when I started. Never did finish patriots. So they got me kind of hooked, then I read all the other stuff… One Second After was great, IMO. Shows how quickly things can go to shit (especially medical and food supplies). The sequels didn't quite hold up (few sequels do) but I still felt compelled to continue the story. Patriots was much the same - when I first read it, the plot felt so far fetched. Now I'm not so sure. The sequels also went down in quality, but I was still entertained in reading them. Gave me ideas for my preps, and what I could realistically do, and NOT do. (in the book the main characters have closable steel shutters to protect the windows) They weren't quite as bad as the 'Going Home' series where the main character always had the perfect piece of gear, but there were instances of 'luck' - whether it be lucky person showing up or gear. Some of these books seemed to far fechted when I read them also. Now I think I think we are all players. Have to sign off for now, got to go to my rally point |
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Posted: 7/31/2021 9:40:19 AM EDT
[#8]
You mean you don't have passphrases for your group when patrols return? I mean I can understand if the group is large, but for a <10 person retreat I would think visual confirmation would suffice. Guess I'm not gud enough.
Quote HistoryQuoted: Some of these books seemed to far fechted when I read them also. Now I think I think we are all players. Have to sign off for now, got to go to my rally point Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: Deep winter was great. Well the first two in that series anyway. That, one second after, patriots and a few others were some of the bigger books in the genre when I started. Never did finish patriots. So they got me kind of hooked, then I read all the other stuff… One Second After was great, IMO. Shows how quickly things can go to shit (especially medical and food supplies). The sequels didn't quite hold up (few sequels do) but I still felt compelled to continue the story. Patriots was much the same - when I first read it, the plot felt so far fetched. Now I'm not so sure. The sequels also went down in quality, but I was still entertained in reading them. Gave me ideas for my preps, and what I could realistically do, and NOT do. (in the book the main characters have closable steel shutters to protect the windows) They weren't quite as bad as the 'Going Home' series where the main character always had the perfect piece of gear, but there were instances of 'luck' - whether it be lucky person showing up or gear. Some of these books seemed to far fechted when I read them also. Now I think I think we are all players. Have to sign off for now, got to go to my rally point |
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Posted: 7/31/2021 12:53:44 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryCheers to you.  I have not read his book in years, but now I am listening to it as I work around the house. 
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Posted: 7/31/2021 1:59:24 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I really enjoyed the Adrian Ring series written by Chris Philbrook. It’s a bit different as it’s a 1st person narrative written in the format of a journal but I found it pretty entertaining. Plus most of the characters aren’t stupid….which is an added bonus. I remember reading it as he updated it, kind of like a blog. I really enjoyed it. On par with the MHI Series by Larry Corriea which is one of my all time faves as well. |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 4:36:51 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: So based on this thread I've added Against the Grain and Hell Divers to my Kindle  Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: This exact thread is why I wrote my own ten years ago. The genre got flooded with some good but mostly even more bad stuff after I published and I haven’t read SHTF/post collapse since. I wrote the guilty pleasure story that I would want to read. A book you can read on the toilet without the good guy getting it all right all the time and a little humor sprinkled throughout. What turned into a trilogy did really well, but never gets mentioned in book recommendation threads like these. That’s not why I wrote my stuff but hard to ignore lol Starts with Against the Grain by Ian Daniels Quoted: Nicholas Sansbury Smith Hell Divers Trackers Extinction Cycle So based on this thread I've added Against the Grain and Hell Divers to my Kindle Vacation is done and I finished book 1 of Helldivers (thanks to @Martlet for the recommendation) and @sefus Against the Grain and Pillars in the Fall. I particularly enjoyed Against the Grain and Pillars of the Fall, and will be leaving positive Amazon reviews  Now I'm working on The Soldier's Son |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 4:49:31 PM EDT
[#12]
I ended up listening to all of Alas Babylon due to the link in this thread...and I had forgotten how good it was. Sure, it's dated in areas, given that it was written over 60 years ago and the ending was a bit meh, but overall, still a very solid read/listen.
And that experience got me excited about audio books, so I downloaded One Second After from my local library and decided to listen to it. I remember really liking it when I read it years ago, but damn, it is far cheesier than I recall. I'm not all the way through yet, but I had forgotten how much time is spent with two-dimensional characters stroking the ego of the protagonist or telling him over (and over and over) that he is great and what he did was not only okay, it was all he could have done...and that he is awesome. If the other two books in the series are not as good, I made the right call by ignoring them all these years. But hell, who knows. If the next one is available when I check this one back in, I'll give it a shot. Kills the time while driving. |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 5:31:08 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Vacation is done and I finished book 1 of Helldivers (thanks to @Martlet for the recommendation) and @sefus Against the Grain and Pillars in the Fall. I particularly enjoyed Against the Grain and Pillars of the Fall, and will be leaving positive Amazon reviews Now I'm working on The Soldier's Son The Soldier's Son is amazing in its own unique way, for sure |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 6:53:43 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Vacation is done and I finished book 1 of Helldivers (thanks to @Martlet for the recommendation) and @sefus Against the Grain and Pillars in the Fall. I particularly enjoyed Against the Grain and Pillars of the Fall, and will be leaving positive Amazon reviews Now I'm working on The Soldier's Son Almost all of Nicholas Sansbury Smith's books are Post-Apoc. They are all a little different, too. Some are told strictly from the view of Soldiers. |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 7:39:27 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Strongly recommend Seveneves. Extremely well written. https://www.amazon.com/Seveneves-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0062334514/ Yeah, that’s as good as it gets. |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 7:46:19 PM EDT
[#16]
Fire From the Sky: The Sanders Saga Kindle Editionby N.C. Reed
Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Clayton Sanders left home the minute he had his high school diploma in hand. He waited that long only because the Army wouldn't accept him without one. Now, ten years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone ten years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside. A secret that has pushed him to the brink, forcing him to become a criminal in order to be where his family needs him to be, even though they don't realize it yet. Because Clayton knows something they don't. Something that hasn't happened, but will. Something that will burn everything it touches. And change the face of the world forever.  |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 7:47:23 PM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I ended up listening to all of Alas Babylon due to the link in this thread...and I had forgotten how good it was. Sure, it's dated in areas, given that it was written over 60 years ago and the ending was a bit meh, but overall, still a very solid read/listen. And that experience got me excited about audio books, so I a downloaded One Second After from my local library and decided to listen to it. I remember really liking it when I read it years ago, but damn, it is far cheesier than I recall. I'm not all the way through yet, but I had forgotten how much time is spent with two-dimensional characters stroking the ego of the protagonist or telling him over (and over and over) that he is great and what he did was not only okay, it was all he could have done...and that he is awesome. If the other two books in the series are not as good, I made the right call by ignoring them all these years. But hell, who knows. If the next one is available when I check this one back in, I'll give it a shot. Kills the time while driving. Alas Babylon is probably the best there is IMO |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 8:00:06 PM EDT
[#18]
Zombie Fallout by Mark Tufo.....
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Posted: 8/9/2021 8:30:19 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Vacation is done and I finished book 1 of Helldivers (thanks to @Martlet for the recommendation) and @sefus Against the Grain and Pillars in the Fall. I particularly enjoyed Against the Grain and Pillars of the Fall, and will be leaving positive Amazon reviews Now I'm working on The Soldier's Son Great man! I think the third one - Crossing Blurred Lines - is probably the best of all of them. Or at least it’s a little more refined just though having written the others first. Plus I made fun of like everyone and everything in it lol. |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 8:43:45 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I ended up listening to all of Alas Babylon due to the link in this thread...and I had forgotten how good it was. Sure, it's dated in areas, given that it was written over 60 years ago and the ending was a bit meh, but overall, still a very solid read/listen. And that experience got me excited about audio books, so I downloaded One Second After from my local library and decided to listen to it. I remember really liking it when I read it years ago, but damn, it is far cheesier than I recall. I'm not all the way through yet, but I had forgotten how much time is spent with two-dimensional characters stroking the ego of the protagonist or telling him over (and over and over) that he is great and what he did was not only okay, it was all he could have done...and that he is awesome. If the other two books in the series are not as good, I made the right call by ignoring them all these years. But hell, who knows. If the next one is available when I check this one back in, I'll give it a shot. Kills the time while driving. Agreed on Alas, Babylon. One Second After was okay, but not great. Some of the southern accents on the audiobook were terrible. Story was interesting at times with the town organization and the easy conditions they set for survivalists in the area (pragmatic from the town POV - survivalists could keep their own supplies, but could not take any town resources). The two following books are worse by comparison IMO. More adventure. More military gear errors. It still had flaws but I somewhat enjoyed his recent book 48 Hours. It is about a response to a coronal mass ejections that will hit earth. Local people seeing government roaches running to shelters... |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 9:02:53 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Agreed on Alas, Babylon. One Second After was okay, but not great. Some of the southern accents on the audiobook were terrible. Story was interesting at times with the town organization and the easy conditions they set for survivalists in the area (pragmatic from the town POV - survivalists could keep their own supplies, but could not take any town resources). The two following books are worse by comparison IMO. More adventure. More military gear errors. It still had flaws but I somewhat enjoyed his recent book 48 Hours. It is about a response to a coronal mass ejections that will hit earth. Local people seeing government roaches running to shelters... Cool. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll try to get 48 Hours next. And I completely agree about the audiobook. The accents were horrible. The combination the narrator's accent for John's youngest daughter and the horrible dialogue written for her was just cringe-worthy. |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 9:04:16 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Cheers to you. I have not read his book in years, but now I am listening to it as I work around the house. Quote HistoryQuoted: Cheers to you. I have not read his book in years, but now I am listening to it as I work around the house. 
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Posted: 8/9/2021 10:22:24 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: There are all time greats, for sure Lucifer's Hammer Light's Out One Second After Earth Abides Alas, Babylon The Scarlett Plague The Stand ETC and good mediocre - at least good food for thought Unintended Consequences Patriots by that weirdo James Wesley Rawles and a metric sh*t ton of crap. I wish the genre attracted better writers. 
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Posted: 8/9/2021 10:40:22 PM EDT
[#24]
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Posted: 8/9/2021 10:48:47 PM EDT
[#25]
I think “Unintended Consequences” was the first and the best of the genre.
And we are seeing the whole book play out in real time the last few years. Ross is the modern day Nostradamus. |
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Posted: 8/9/2021 11:31:13 PM EDT
[#26]
I enjoyed Unintended Consequences quite a bit along with One Second After and one that I have not seen mentioned yet but liked alot was The Last Layover series.
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Posted: 8/10/2021 10:52:01 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I think “Unintended Consequences” was the first and the best of the genre. And we are seeing the whole book play out in real time the last few years. Ross is the modern day Nostradamus. I would think Enemies Foreign and Domestic is another rival for the top of that specific genre. Both need an update, but EFAD at least has cell phones in it. Another one in the fighting government line was Absolved by Mike Vanderboegh, available online now. I didn't think it was ever finished, but this has more chapters than I remember. https://archive.org/details/AbsolvedByMikeVanderboegh/page/n213/mode/2up I enjoy Earth Abides very much, for a real pandemic scenario. Very depressing sometimes, though. I know some of the schools around here have Alas, Babylon as an assigned text. I have found dozens of copies in the used bookstore. |
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Posted: 8/10/2021 10:55:31 PM EDT
[#28]
I'll add Robert McCammon's "Swan Song" as well. Think of "The Stand" only done better.
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Posted: 8/10/2021 11:12:40 PM EDT
[#29]
If you can stand reading in the forum format, The Unwelcome Sign was one that I enjoyed.
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Posted: 8/10/2021 11:26:45 PM EDT
[#30]
I liked the Original DJ Molles' Remaining series, Ill have to check out Harden
The Passage series is a bit more fantasticalismity, but in a good way Just realized I've had the stand sitting on the shelf for a long time and never read it |
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Posted: 8/10/2021 11:30:02 PM EDT
[#31]
Quoted: Also, What is with how the standard is to go serial and have a series of 12+ episodes getting weaker and weaker.... Yuck The money. And yes, damn John Ringo. Even though I love his stuff. |
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Posted: 8/10/2021 11:37:39 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'll add Robert McCammon's "Swan Song" as well. Think of "The Stand" only done better. I read that long ago. I liked it. |
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Posted: 8/10/2021 11:37:57 PM EDT
[#33]
Peter Nealen is the best of all the survival/military fiction authors I’ve read (a lot) by far. The American Praetorians series was the first and is excellent, but Brannigan’s Blackhearts is my fav. The newer Maelstrom Rising has a more conventional military feel, even though it’s not, but is also very good.
Kurt Schlictler’s Kelly Turnbull books are by far the most fun. |
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Posted: 8/10/2021 11:39:30 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Fire From the Sky: The Sanders Saga Kindle Editionby N.C. Reed Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Clayton Sanders left home the minute he had his high school diploma in hand. He waited that long only because the Army wouldn't accept him without one. Now, ten years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone ten years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside. A secret that has pushed him to the brink, forcing him to become a criminal in order to be where his family needs him to be, even though they don't realize it yet. Because Clayton knows something they don't. Something that hasn't happened, but will. Something that will burn everything it touches. And change the face of the world forever. https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tmCJMcPYL.jpg Entertaining, no doubt. But typical of the current genre. Ultimately, unrewarding. |
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