Just finished BBC's Survivors

I just finished episode 6 of the 2008 version of BBC's show Survivors, and overall, I really liked it.

At first it didn't seem entirely realistic to how I would think survivors would behave. Everyone seemed to have gotten over the loss of their families and friends too quickly.

But aside from that, I thought it was really good, and it definitely got better as the episodes went along. I heard that BBC has commissioned another six episodes, but I'm not sure when they're going to be done. Hopefully sometime soon.

Now that I've seen this version, I'm really curious to see the original 1970's show. I think it's torrentable but there are 38 episodes so that would take a while. I think I'd be better off catching the DVDs when they come up on Ebay.

After reading about other BBC shows, I did some checking and it turns out the 6 episode mini-series of Day of the Triffids from 1981 is available on the Roku via Netflix. I'll probably start that tonight.

Doomorama has been Twitterized

I just signed up for a Twitter account and added a Twitter feed of the posts over on the right sidebar. I also set up a Twitterfeed so that anything I post here will get sent back over to Twitter.

I know I don't post enough here, but I'm on Twitter a lot, so I figure I'll be able to throw up random, occasional thoughts on books I'm reading or shows I'm watching and such.

Now I just have to find someone to read them...

Finally got to read Day by Day Armageddon

I'd been keeping an eye on the book Day by Day Armegeddon by JL Bourne for a while, but it was really hard to find a copy unless you were willing to pay big bucks for it on Ebay or something

But I guess it was finally reprinted, 'cause I was able to get a copy off Amazon for a normal price. I figured it would be a good vacation book and it was. Finished it in a couple of evenings and really enjoyed it.

It's a story of the zombie apocalypse written as the narrator's journal, with an entry or two per day for a few months. The zombies in this one are pretty much the stereotypical shamblers that most people think of when they think zombies. The narrator is a Naval aviator, but he definitely has knowledge of survival tactics beyond what he learned it flight school. Lots of description of weapons and such.

Overall, it was very entertaining, but it did kind of just stop at the end. I understand the author is working on a sequel so maybe the story get wrapped up there.

It wasn't as good as World War Z, but I'd still definitely recommend it.

Just read The Host

So I just finished reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I hadn't planned on mentioning it here, but it turned out to be post-apocalyptic in the sense that it takes place years after a planet-wide invasion where all but a handful of the population have been turned into mindless "hosts" for centipede-like aliens.

I was a big fan of Ms Meyer's previous books, the Twilight Saga, so I was really looking forward to reading this one. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't anywhere near up to the Twilight standard. I'd recommend it, but only if, like me, you don't go into it expecting a hard sci-fi alien invasion story. It really is much more of a relationship book, rather than an action one.

Good, but not great, would sum it up, I guess.

Finished The Hopkins Manuscript

So I finally finished The Hopkins Manuscript. It turned out to be really good. Over half the book was pre-cataclysm, but even that part was interesting; seeing how people react to and prepare for impending disaster. It takes place in England, and it was funny how the characters were so proper and British. Like on the evening before the world might end, the main character was still worried about social niceties and his maid still came over to make his dinner.

But overall, it was very enjoyable. I'm surprised I had never heard of it before, since it's a great example of a fairly early end of the world story.

For my next read, I'm going to stray away from PA again, and am going to try my first graphic novel, Watchmen. I've heard a lot about it over the years and came across it at the library, so am going to give it a try.

Bailed on Bar Code Tattoo

I tried to read The Bar Code Tattoo but it was so bad I just couldn't finish it. It might have more appeal to a younger audience that wouldn't question how dumb certain aspects of it were. I didn't have that problem at all with the other young adult series I just read, Uglies and Fire-Us.

I'm about 75 pages into The Hopkins Manuscript, and it's pretty good so far. It's definitely old school, but I think I'll be able to get all the way through it without losing interest.

What Else I've Been Reading

I guess it's about time for what have turned out to be semi-annual "what have I been reading" posts.

Since we last spoke, I've read a few PA novels.

First was I Am Legend. I liked it, but I thought the ending was strange. I had seen the Vincent Price movie version recently, so I kind of knew what was going to happen, but the book didn't really explain it better than the movie did. But overall it was ok.

More recently, I read through the a couple of "young adult" trilogies, both of which I really liked.

The first was the Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. I also read the fourth related book, Extras. If you can suspend belief about the hoverboards, then the rest of the story is pretty good.

The other one was the Fire-Us Trilogy. This one was meant for slightly younger readers than Uglies, but it takes place in the very near PA-future, which is the sub-genere of PA fiction that I really love. The story is just 5 years after the Fire-Us has killed everyone older than the onset of puberty, and it's really interesting to see how children would grow up and how much they would know about the world if it ended when they were only eight or nine years old.

It even had escapes from religious whackjobs, which is enough to make any PA story great. Overall, highly recommended.

I'm currently reading Starcross
, which isn't PA, but it is by Philip Reeve, who wrote the Mortal Engines series. That one is PA, but I've only read the first one so far. I liked it, so I'll definitely get to the rest sometime.

Next on my list I think will be Darkness and Dawn by Andre Norton. I've got it on loan from the library, and mean to read it if I don't run out of time. I may start it and see if it's worth renewing.

I also picked up a copy of The Hopkins Manuscript on Ebay. I don't really know how good it's supposed to be, but it was written in 1939, and I tend to like that old style of writing. We'll see how it goes.

Doomorama - Discussing Books About The End Of The World As We Know It

Response to a Comment
Dave posted the following:
"Hey there - attempted to send ya an email on this - I've been looking for the name of a book that was read to me in my youth at school. This would have been around or before 1984 or maybe 1985. The basic premise is that everyone over a certain age has died from a plague or disease. There are only kids left. This focuses on probably one boy and 2 girls. I can't really remember all of it, but I've been looking for a while. The boy is starting to get feelings for one of the girls and the other girl gets jealous and I think comes after him or possibly the other girl with a butcher knife. :) That's about it for remembering. Maybe you've read it or have some other ideas on where to look - I've checked all of your links and have been searching other internet databases for a while.
Thanks,
Chris"

I'm wondering if he might be thinking of The Girl Who Owned a City by OT Nelson. It was written in 1975, which would fit Chris' recollection, and Wikipedia says it was often used in schools.

I hadn't ever heard of it, but it does sound interesting, so I think I'm going to track it down and give it a read.

ps If anyone has any other ideas for the book Chris is looking for, please leave a comment.

Some Recent Reads

So it's been a while since the last post again. Here are some of the books I've read over the last few months.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Absolutely fantastic. When I saw that it was an Oprah Book Club pick, I almost skipped it, but that would have been a huge mistake. This book is great; probably one of the most realistic-feeling post-apocalyptic books I've ever read. It's just a story of a man trying to keep his son alive in the aftermath of an un-named apocalypse, but as the father of two myself, I kept wondering how I'd handle those situations. A must read for an fan of post-apocalyptic literature.

Also very enjoyable was World War Z, by Max Brooks. I haven't read too many zombie books yet, but if you're a fan of the genre, then this is another must read. Each chapter is a separate account of how a particular individual survived the recently concluded zombie war. But the accounts are in roughly chronological order, so you can get a good idea of exactly how the war played out. Very authentic-feeling and very interesting. It definitely got me in the mood for more zombie adventures.

Then one that I can't believe I never came across before (because it was written in like 1915) is The Scarlet Plague, by Jack London (yes, that Jack London.) It's a very quick read; I finished it in one Sunday evening, but it's pretty good. I was going to say it fits the formula of the elderly survivor telling stories of the before-times to those around him who were born after the apocalypse, but then now that I think about it, this book is probably the originator of that formula itself.

More recently, I read Plague Year, by Jeff Carlson. This one was just okay to me. The premise was interesting, a world-wide nanoplague that kills everyone who's below a certain altitude. But it never really paid off. I was never really into any of the characters, and the ending felt like it was just a setup for a sequel.

I'm now halfway through Earth Abides, by George Stewart. This one's a classic that I've read before, but I was in the mood for that kind of story so picked it up off my shelf.

I have I am Legend, which I've never read before, on reserve at the library, so that will be my next read, I think.

Adding to my "want to read" list

Want to get to this one soon, Plague of the Dead by Z.A. Recht, another zombie novel.

On a Zombie kick

Reading Monster Nation by David Wellington. It's the second in a series, but first chronologically, so reading this one first.

Pretty good so far.

Doomorama - Discussing Books About The End Of The World As We Know It

Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfield,
Young adult, similar to Logan's Run, sounds good.

Doomorama - Discussing Books About The End Of The World As We Know It

Sun of Suns, Karl Schroeder, http://www.boingboing.net/2006/12/04/sun_of_suns_novel_of.html

Karl Schroeder's new novel, Sun of Suns is the first book in a thrilling new steampunk/ post-singularity/ space-opera trilogy that is the finest and weirdest worldbuilding I can remember reading.

Have been out of the post-apocalyptic genre for a while

I put Contest on hold for a while, but only because I thought I had lost the book and moved on to something else.

I started The Big Empty, but it was really bad, even for young adult fiction.

So I looked around the house and came across a book that I grabbed at a used-book store a while back, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. It's turning out to be really good, though I had some family in town from the mainland, so didn't have much time to read over the last few weeks. I should finish it this week, I think.

Then unless I can find something that piques my interest, I think I'll give the Buck Rogers book a try.

It's been a while since my last post, and I've gone through a couple of books in that time.

First of all, I received and read 12 Monkeys, which was pretty good. I've always been a fan of the movie, and the book explained a couple of things that I hadn't caught before.

I also picked up a copy of Armegeddon 2149 AD: The Seminal Buck Rogers Novel on eBay, which I'll get around to eventually.

Then I forgot that I had bought The Big Empty and instead moved on to Shadow & Claw: The First Half of the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, which is vaguely post-apocalyptic in that it takes place on a far future earth. Or at least I think it does; the book is pretty cryptic.

I started it a couple times before, but I was never able to get through it. This time I fared better, as I just finished it today. Unfortunately, it's the first of a many book series, which itself is part of a series of series. At the rate I read the first one, it will take the better part of the year to get through them all.

Especially, if, as is the case, I don't immediately start the next book in the series. Instead, I'm moving out of the post-apocalyptic genre for just a while, and giving Contest by Matthew Reilly a try.

It's turning out to be pretty entertainining, and fast reading, too; I read about 130 pages of it today at Starbucks.

Found Another List

I came across another good list of post-apocalyptic books at the Internet Book List. The first book on the alphabetical list was 12 Monkeys, which I never knew had been novelized.

I loved the movie (I considered 13thmonkey.com for this site, but it was already taken,) so I jumped on Ebay and picked up a used copy for 30 cents plus shipping. I'll let you know in a few weeks how it is.

Got Another Book Already

I got a Borders gift card for Christmas, so even though I'm still reading Batman, I went looking for a book to read next. I ended up grabbing The Big Empty, but J.B. Stephens. It's written for a 7th grade and up audience, but a lot of good post-apocalyptic novels are kids' books (Z for Zachariah and the Lois Lowry books come to mind.)

It follows a group of teens through a near-future dystopian society one year after a plague wipes out 2/3s of the population; sounds promising. I didn't realize it when I bought it, but it's the first of a set of four books, each of which got decent, but not steller reviews on Amazon.

I really like those kinds of books though, and I'm looking forward to a quick read, so I think I'm going to like it. We'll see...

Batman: No Man's Land is Fantastic

I'm about 2/3s through Batman: No Man's Land, and I know I'll finish this one; it's excellent, way above what I was expecting. I've collected comics off and on throughout my life, but I've never read any Batman titles, so what I knew about the character I learned from watching the recent movies. The book is great because it doesn't just deal with the surface level of the considerable amounts of action, but really goes deep into the motivations of each of the extremely varied characters, while at the same time, staying true to its comic book roots.

If you're interested in comic books or Batman at all, you should check it out.

Giving Up on Dies the Fire For Now

Even though I've been reading it for a month, I'm only about 2/3s through Dies the Fire, and I'm struggling to finish it. Having a two-year old at home, most of my reading is done in 20 minute blocks during my lunch hour each day, so it takes me a while to get through books these days.

To make matters worse, I stopped by Borders today and came across Batman: No Man's Land, and it looked good enough that I'm going to take break from Dies the Fire for a while.

This particular Batman story is a novelization based on a series of graphic novels from the last couple of years, by the same author. It's vaguely post-apocalyptic-ish as it takes place in a Gotham City devestatad by a disease and a major earthquake. A la Escape from New York, the entire city is quarantined from the rest of the country, and the remaining residents are left to fend for themselves.

Hopefully, I can get through this one a bit faster and then get back to finish the last one.

Found Some More Titles to Add to My List

Another pretty cool list is at http://www.crowbold.com/homepage/nukebib.htm. It's a list of post-apocalyptic books for young adults, but contains some of the standards of the genre that wouldn't be considered kids' books.

I recognize a lot of the titles, but there are a few listed that I've never heard of before.

Zombie Apocalypse Serialized Novels

I actually haven't read too many books about a zombie apocalypse. I guess '48 might qualify, but I can't remember too many others.

I just came across a trilogy of zombie books by Dave Wellington. They were originally published in serialized installments, and can still be read for free on his site, but the full printed novels are supposed to come out around April of '06. They're supposed to be pretty good, so I'll have to check them out.

Welcome fans of Destructomundo!

I'd like to offer a hearty welcome to all of you who found my humble site by way of the mention on this week's episode of Destructomundo. If you're a fan of stories of any of the various apocalypses that make up the Doomorama, feel free to browse through the books I've added to my list, and to suggest ones that I don't have yet.

I'd be particularly interested in hearing about foreign language books translated into English, like Malevil or Level 7.

Of course, only after I received this bump in traffic did I realize that the service I use to populate the list in the left pane is not working exactly as I thought it would. It's supposed to be showing all the books that I've added to my list, mostly ones I've read, but a few on my "to read" list, but actually, it's only showing the ones I added most recently.

To browse through my complete list, check out my user page on Reader2.com.

Thundarr is Still Way Cool

A few days ago I recieved a set of Thundarr the Barbarian DVDs I bought off of Ebay. Thundarr was never officially released on DVD, so what you can find now days are VHS transfers, but the quality of the ones I got is absolutely amazing. Full menus for each episode, synopses, and great video quality.

If you're looking for some old fashioned post-apocalyptic fun, pick up a set for yourself.

Starting a New Book

I finally finished the book I was reading (the first spinoff novel from the tv series 24; was really lame), and now will be starting Dies the Fire, by S.M. Stirling. Seems to take place in the present day, after some sort of magical event happens and electricity and gunpowder simply stop working.

I've always wondered how long it would take for society to collapse from something as simple as an extended lack of electricity. We'll see what Mr. Stirling thinks.

Added a Link

I added Post-Nuke Online Graphic Novel to the links section. I haven't read it yet, but it looks pretty cool.

Got My Own Hosting

It won't matter to most of my readers (since no one has seen the site yet anyway,) but I moved from the free Blogspot hosting to hosting of my own.

My own hosting lets me get rid of the Blogger toolbar that comes with the free account, and also to play around with favicons (the little icon that appears in the addressbar next to the URL.)

Less than $3 bucks a month with GoDaddy.com; can't beat that.

Another great list is the one put together by Paul Brians, Professor of English at Washington State University, Pullman, as the bibliography for a five-chapter dissertation he wrote on atomic war in fiction. The list itself is several pages long with descriptions and other information for each book.

Doomorama

For a good complete list of post-apocalyptic books, films and tv series, take a look at the Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction page on Wikipedia. It's got a good long list with links to more info.

I'll be limiting my Reader2.com list to books I've already read or that are on my personal wishlist.

Online Book Lists

I came across a site the other day, Reader2.com, that allows you to keep lists of books that you've read or want to read.

You can tag your submissions with whatever terms you think would best allow others looking for similar books to find them. The cool thing is that you can subscribe to RSS feeds of other user's lists with interests close to yours. You can even have an RSS feed of your own lists appear on your own website or blog.

Hence, the list to the left. For now, it's just a jumble of read books and my wishlist, but eventually, I'll figure out how sort the feed and keep them separate.

And hopefully, by the time you read this, the cover images will be aligning properly.

My first "Make a note to read this book some day" post

Finally, a post that fulfills the purpose of why I set up this site.

I came across an article yesterday talking about a new book, How to Survive a Robot Uprising. Sounds pretty interesting.

I'll have to pick up a copy sometime.

My Categorization of Post-Apocalyptic Books

When I think of post-apocalyptic stories, I break them down into a few different categories, mostly depending on the timeframe in which it takes place.

Generally, there are stories that take place during the apocalypse, those set thereafter, but with the apocalypse having taken place in the living memory of at least some of the survivors (usually portrayed as very old by that point), and finally, those set so far in the future that the apocalypse is barely remembered or legend.

For the two latter timeframes, the cause of the doomsday is less important. For the books taking place during the apocalypse, you can further break them down by type of catastrophe. Usually the "living through the disaster" books tend to be sickness related.

My favorite books are the short term ones, taking place within a generation or two of the end of the world. When reading stories that take place further out, like the Pelbar cycle, I like reading about what they think when they discover bits or our history or technology.

Of the possible doomsday scenarios, my favorite books are those about a world-wide plage or other sickness, since war of any sort tends to ruin the resources available to the characters. I like seeing them head to WalMart to stock up on survival necessities before striking out to find other survivors or that kind of thing.

Anyway, as I mention the books I've read, I'll try to mention whether they're pre-doom, short-term post, or long-term post, and the type of apocalypse.

Another Favorite Series

At the opposite end of the spectrum from the Pelbar Cycle is the Ashes series by William W Johnstone, another one of my favorites. It's more men's adventure than sci-fi, and takes place in the years right after a limited nuclear and biological war, and the ensuing "aftershocks" of plagues and invading armies. Lots of gun talk and "look, a criminal" bang, dead.

I started reading this one back in the mid-80's as a teenager, and I have to confess that I only got through the first 14 or so books. From what I understand, it's up to about 33 books now days.

A review of the series is at http://www.lostbooks.org/reviews/2002-06-28-2.html

Credit to a Source

Hat tip to the guys at Destructomundo.com. As I was listing the various doomsdays that make up the Doomorama, I couldn't help but use most of the same subjects that are listed on the Destructomundo website.

If you're a fan of The End of Civilization As We Know It, check out their podcast.

One of my favorite series

One of my favorite series of all time is the Pelbar Cycle by Paul O. Williams.
1. The Breaking of Northwall (1980)
2. The Ends of the Circle (1981)
3. The Dome In the Forest (1981)
4. The Fall of the Shell (1982)
5. An Ambush of Shadows (1983)
6. The Song of the Axe (1984)
7. The Sword of Forbearance (1985)

It takes place about 1000 years after the fall of civilization (I forget what the disaster was exactly), and it's very interesting to see how the societies of that time descended from the survivors of the cataclysm.

Read a long time ago

Ariel by Steven R. Boyett
Copyright 1983

I remember reading Ariel sometime around the 8th grade. I re-read books all the time, and especially like to revisit books from my younger days.

So, I'll try to pick up a copy of this one when I can.

Welcome to Doomorama.com!

Welcome to the inaugural post on Doomorama.com. I'd be surprised if anyone other than me ever reads this, but that's all according to plan. I'm setting it up as place for me to just keep some notes about books that I've read and that I'd like to get to someday; a set of online notes.

If you are reading this, then welcome and I hope you enjoy your visit. If you're a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, as I am, and you have a favorite book that I haven't noted yet, please leave a comment or drop me an email and let me know about it.

Most PA fiction fans have read the standards, The Earth Abides, Alas, Babylon, The Stand, etc..., but I'm hoping to find the more obscure, but still worthwhile stories.

As I come across titles that I think I'd like to get to someday, I'll be posting them here so that I don't forget about them.

I suppose a database-based table format would be the best for keeping track of read/not-read etc..., but I'm not sure how to do that yet, so we'll start with this.