It turns out that was a good choice; the first three-part episode was pretty awesome. On the production side of things, the audio effects and the voice actors are top notch; everything sounded natural, and I didn’t feel like they were reading from a script. I like my audio dramas to feel like I’m listening to a movie, and most of the time, this one did.

I’ve only listened to the first full episode, but I like the story so far too. It’s the standard zombie outbreak scenario, but there’s lots of action, and the characters seem interesting.

From what I read on their Facebook page, they’re coming up to their season finale, episode 11, which gives me about 10 hours of zombie killing and post-apocalyptic survival to catch up on.

Check out their promo video below:

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Written in 1949, Earth Abides, is probably the earliest “modern” example of a pandemic post-apocalyptic novel. It follows Isherwood Williams, known as just Ish, for a period of about 50 or 60 years, starting after The Great Disaster, an unknown plague that wipes out all but just a few pockets of survivors. We see The Tribe, as they call themselves, started from just seven survivors, as it develops into a group of over a hundred people in the hills of San Francisco.

There are hundreds of reviews of the book around the web, so I’ll just stick with a few thoughts. It’ definitely a good book (it won several awards and is credited by Stephen King as an inspiration for The Stand), and I really enjoyed it myself, but I can see how if you’re not a super-fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, you might think it’s a little slow in places. The first third or so feels like watching Tom Hanks in Cast Away; there’s basically zero dialog as Ish travels around the country looking for other survivors. Even when a few of them gather to start a community, the writing style is mostly descriptive, without a lot of talk.

But the material that’s covered is perfect for anyone who wonders about how civilization would fare after an apocalypse. Would the children born into the new world be curious about the old one? Would they care to learn to read or to carry on the knowledge of the “Old Ones”? Would they view the Old Ones as people like themselves, or would they look on them as gods who created all the indecipherable wonders they see around them?

Ish struggles with the answers to these kinds of questions as he tries to preserve and pass on enough knowledge to keep some semblance of civilization, if not simply his people, alive. They face actual dangers, such as wanderers bearing disease, but the greatest threat to the future of The Tribe is their apathy. The few from Before are comfortable enough in their current existence to not want to bother reclaiming the comforts of the old world, and those born after don’t know enough about what they’re missing to care either. So they live off the corpse of the old world, eating wild animals or out of cans for decades, not bothering to learn how to plant their own crops or keep their own farms.

So, if you’re looking for a primer on how to keep a small community alive in an urban environment after the collapse of civilization, this isn’t it. This is almost an anthropological study, seen as it’s happening, of the recreation of society from scratch, and as it goes on, we’re not sure if that society will turn out to be recognizable to those of us left behind or not.

So like I said before, if you’re not a fan of the genre, or are looking for a more action-oriented story, this might not be for you. But for a true fan, Earth Abides is one of the “Big Ones”, on most every list of the best post-apocalyptic novels ever written, so if you haven’t read it yet, you really should.

American Apocalypse: The Beginning sets its story in a near-future United States where the current economic problems continue to worsen until the ties that hold our society together begin to unravel. Businesses are failing, unemployment is rising, parks and parking lots are filling with the homeless, governments can no longer afford to provide even the most basic services.

The descent has not yet turned into full-fledged collapse when we meet our main character, Gardener. That’s not his real name though, it’s a nick-name he earns after (justifiably) killing a man with a garden trowel. It’s clear Gardener doesn’t have many qualms about killing when after getting beat up by a group of men camping in a park, he buys a sword on Craigslist, and hacks them to death as they sleep.

I wasn’t thrilled with his thirst for vengeance or his methods, but more I didn’t like the way he was already resorting to murder when the societal situation was still mostly normal. I could see if there was general lawlessness by then, but there wasn’t, that’s just how Gardener is; he says it himself many times in the book, he just doesn’t care about anything. But I stuck with it, and Gardener started to grow on me a bit. He’s not very likable, but he’s honest to himself and what you see is what you get.

I also had issues with some basic plot lines that I thought were a bit implausible, and the fact that the economic factors contributing to the collapse of society were never fully explained. It’s just kind of assumed that things are getting worse, but we never really know exactly what’s going on. For example at one point, it’s explained that when purchasing goods, there is a cash price and a gold price, but that’s the first time we ever see anyone pay gold for anything. I’ve since found a time line of the major aspects of the economic collapse on the author’s site, but I wish more of that explanation had been in the book.

The book started as a series of posts on the economics blog, Calculated Risk, and was later expanded and edited into a novel, and in terms of technical composition, you can really tell it didn’t go through the standard writing and editing process. Even in the bound version I read, I found an error in grammar or punctuation every few pages, and once even an entire paragraph out of place.

But even with it’s flaws, I’m still glad I finished it. As long as you don’t expect it to be entirely realistic, it’s a quick, but fairly enjoyable read, and if you really get into it, the sequel is in the process of being re-written and should be available soon.

Note: This review was originally posted on QuietEarth.us.

With 16 pages up so far, Romantically Apocalyptic follows two gas-masked characters through a shattered world, 20+ years after the apocalypse. The story is pretty funny, but the real draw is the visuals, which are a blend of photography and Photoshop. Lots of potential wallpapers in there. I’m using this one on my laptop now.

Reading through the forum, it seems like they’re trying to make a video version of the comic. I hope they’re able to do it, especially if they keep that same visual style.

Originally published in 1981, and written by Paul O. Williams, The Breaking of Northwall is the first of seven books set about 1000 years after a world-wide apocalypse that has reduced the peoples of the mid-western United States into roaming bands of warring tribes, and the people known as the Pelbar, who live in great walled cities on what they call the Heart River.

Book One tells the story of Jestak, a Pelbar who, through various adventures, forms strong friendships with members of the Pelbars’ enemies, the Sentani, and the Shumai. Those relationships become the seed on which much broader ties grow between the groups, particularly when confronted with a common enemy.

I don’t know what the literary term is, but you’ll all recognize the cliche of the seemingly-meek character, thought a coward because they’re not overly aggressive and would prefer to avoid a fight if they’re able, but who when forced, can more than defend themselves. Well, this book is chock-full of those types of situations, mostly in regard to Jestak, but also the entire Pelbar people as well. If you get off on those kinds of things, like I do, you’ll like this book.

On the post-apocalyptic side of things, there aren’t a lot of ruins and such, but it is interesting to hear the names of the people and places and try to figure out how they relate to our current time. (If I remember right, there’s a glossary at the end of book two that explains a lot of the backstory.) The characters know little about the “time of fire” but through Jestak’s travels, they start to assemble clues that show that all of the tribes in the area were originally one people. In this book, gunpowder is rediscovered, and in the later books, there are other advances like the rediscovery of the steam engine.

With the possible exception of The Stand, the books of the Pelbar Cycle probably did more to cultivate my love of post-apocalyptic fiction than any other book. I’ll always remember them as one of my favorites, and I’m glad I decided to give them another read. I think that if I read it for the first time now, I’d still think it was a great book, and if you’re able to track down a copy, I hope that you’ll think so too.

ps I only decided to read this book again after a post on Cosy Catastrophe said he was going to read it, so be sure to head over there to read his review when it’s up. I’ll be curious to see what he thinks of it, with a perspective that’s not clouded by nostalgia like mine is.