- MEGATØN.com: KILOTØN Shots – Weekly Tweet Digest http://pa-ne.ws/2x
- MEGATØN.com: We’re Alive – The Zombie Podcast http://pa-ne.ws/2z
- I was able to pick up the domain http://www.postapocalyptic.info so all you dash-averse guys can still get your fill of PA news every day.
- Wow, a competitive Jugger league in St Louis. http://pa-ne.ws/35 I've got family there, maybe I'll check them out on my next visit.
- Have $375 to spend? This looks like a pretty awesome set of classic post-apocalyptic novels. http://pa-ne.ws/38 I agree with all the choices
- Got a book for review in the mail today, but am going to buy the ebook version anyway, just because DRM-free ebooks are cool.
Posts Tagged ‘post-apocalyptic’
KILOTØN Shots – Weekly Tweet Digest
Sunday, March 14th, 2010We’re Alive – The Zombie Podcast
Monday, March 8th, 2010After I finished the audiobook of Earth Abides, I needed something to listen to on the commute to work, so I fired up the first episode of the zombie audio drama, We’re Alive.
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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KILOTØN Shots – Weekly Tweet Digest
Sunday, March 7th, 2010- MEGATØN.com: KILOTØN Shots – Weekly Tweet Digest http://pa-ne.ws/2j 07:13:31, 2010-02-28
- If you became the last person on Earth, what would you do? AskReddit http://pa-ne.ws/2l First I'd have to figure how to get off this island 22:23:00, 2010-03-01
- Great review of 80's post-apocalyptic animated film When the Wind Blows, http://pa-ne.ws/2m. He's right, definitely not a feel-good movie. 15:05:11, 2010-03-02
- Colony 2 to film in Katrina-ravaged Chalmette, LA. http://pa-ne.ws/2s Should be more spread out than the warehouse and premier this summer. 23:37:18, 2010-03-03
- Sweet, my kids (6 and 3) are begging not to go up to bed yet, because they want to stay down here to watch Thundarr! 23:01:42, 2010-03-04
- MEGATØN.com: “Men go and come, but earth abides.” – Classic PA Review http://pa-ne.ws/2u 17:33:12, 2010-03-06
KILOTØN Shots – Weekly Tweet Digest
Sunday, February 28th, 2010- MEGATØN.com: KILOTØN Shots – Weekly Digest of MEGATØN’s Tweets http://pa-ne.ws/25 07:41:27, 2010-02-21
- Added a http://pa-ne.ws URL shortener form to http://post-apocalyptic.info to make it easier for people to share stories they find there. 01:01:23, 2010-02-24
- RT @zombietreats: @MEGAT0N This looks right up your alley … http://www.michaeljohngrist.com/ruins-gallery/ Yeah, pretty cool. 21:42:33, 2010-02-25
- RT @aftermathshow: Hey look, another episode so soon! Episode 29 up: http://throughtheaftermath.blogspot.com/2010/02/episode-29.html Sweet! 21:32:59, 2010-02-26
- MEGATØN.com: American Apocalypse: The Beginning http://pa-ne.ws/2h 16:11:40, 2010-02-27
- Interesting list, I think I'll track down that John Christopher series – The 16 Best Dystopian Books Of All Time http://pa-ne.ws/2i 16:36:25, 2010-02-27
KILOTØN Shots – Weekly Digest of MEGATØN’s Tweets
Sunday, February 21st, 2010- MEGATØN.com: KILOTØN Shots – MEGATØN on Twitter http://pa-ne.ws/1q
- Tried to buy domain name http://megaton.net. Guy said $200k. His thoughts on domain prices are about as old as his site content I think.
- RT @quietearthus: PA Book Review: ELEGY BEACH – http://pa-ne.ws/1s
- This week on Upodcasting – Demise of Kevin Costner’s career and our top Post-Apocalyptic and/or Dystopian Future Movies. http://pa-ne.ws/1t
- I should have said "their" not "our" in that last tweet. I don't have anything to do with Upodcasting, just linking to them.
- Interesting review of Earth Abides http://pa-ne.ws/1y Seems to be much easier to just enjoy a story being a "shallow" reader like I am.
- Was able to pick up the domain name megaton.us. Deciding whether to rebrand again or stick with my current funkily spelled domain.
- Cool, @cosycatastrophy also liked The Breaking Of Northwall. http://pa-ne.ws/21
- Just picked up the ebook of The Enclave by Lois Tilton for just $2 on Fictionwise. Looks pretty good. http://pa-ne.ws/23
- MEGATØN.com: Romantically Apocalyptic – Cool Web Comic by Vitaly Alexius http://pa-ne.ws/24
Romantically Apocalyptic – Cool Web Comic by Vitaly Alexius
Saturday, February 20th, 2010I was reading through the news over on Post-Apocalyptic.info today and noticed a story about a web comic called Romantically Apocalyptic, which turns out to be by Vitaly Alexius. You might not recognize the name, but if you’ve ever Googled around for post-apocalyptic wallpapers, you’ve probably seen his work.
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.
KILOTØN Shots – MEGATØN on Twitter
Sunday, February 14th, 2010- MEGATØN.com: Darker Projects Zombie Audio Dramas http://pa-ne.ws/1h 23:01:56, 2010-02-10
- This was pretty interesting: Chernobyl: 5 Things You Didn't Know – http://pa-ne.ws/1l 22:24:26, 2010-02-11
- MEGATØN.com: The Breaking of Northwall, by Paul O. Williams http://pa-ne.ws/1m 02:02:55, 2010-02-12
- Escape from LA coming to Blu-Ray in May, though I'm not sure how many people will care… http://pa-ne.ws/1n 02:10:14, 2010-02-12
- Nova, author of American Apocalypse: The Beginning, was nice enough to send me a review copy. Hope to start it soon. http://pa-ne.ws/1p 15:49:14, 2010-02-13
- Got 7 bks of the Pelbar Cycle today. Ironic since my new ebook reader, Onyx Boox 60, also arrived today. Won't get to use it for a while. 17:11:28, 2010-02-13
The Breaking of Northwall, by Paul O. Williams
Friday, February 12th, 2010I’m sure everyone reading this has a certain book, or series of books, that they first read in their youth, and look back on with great fondness. For me, that series is the Pelbar Cycle, and it starts with The Breaking of Northwall.
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.
Darker Projects Zombie Audio Dramas
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy audio dramas, so I was stoked when someone turned me on to a couple of post-apocalyptic productions on the Darker Projects website. So far I’ve listened to Autumn and the first three-episode arc of Alive Inside.
Autumn is a six-part dramatization based on the novel of the same name by David Moody. The first of a five-book series, Autumn was originally released as a free download, but has now been picked up by an American publisher and is scheduled to be re-released in 2010. There’s also a movie version that also should be available sometime in 2010.
The audio dramatization was very good. It was written and directed by Broken Sea Audio’s Paul Mannering so you know the production values are going to be excellent. The story follows a small band of survivors after a disease of some sort kills the majority of the population in just a few hours, and the “dead” bodies get up and start walking around again. These aren’t your average brain-hunting zombies, and in fact they don’t even call them zombies, but they’re plenty creepy anyway. The plot was a little shallow, and it’s clear that it’s only the opening chapter of a longer story, but it’s definitely worth a listen.
The dramatization of Alive Inside is also based a novel, this one by Eric Busby and Donald Copp. This one also tweaks the standard zombie story just a bit, by allowing for “dead” people who are fully aware and rational, as if the were still alive, except for the fact that their bodily functions have shut down. The “State of Grace” arc that I listened to focused on a secret government facility where they’re trying to study the infected in the hopes of finding a cure, or at least that’s what they say their intentions are.
Again the production values were excellent, and they even through in some music from 28 Days Later during some of the action scenes which really added to the mood. Also very highly recommended.
I listened to the first three episodes of Alive Inside so far, but there are seven available, so I’ll probably do those next. I’m also looking forward to trying out the Darker Projects show called ZomPod, which appears to be zombie short stories, and they’ve got a couple of Star Trek projects that look cool too. If you’re into audio dramas at all, go check them out.
Foreign Post-Apocalyptic Novels
Monday, January 18th, 2010I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m intersted in non-American perspectives of the end of the world, but I haven’t had much luck finding post-apocalyptic novels originally written in something other than English. The only foreign PA novel that I can recall reading is Malevil, and I only know of a few others.
Probably the most notable recent example is the Russian novel Metro 2033 (and its sequel, Metro 2034), which I plan to read as soon as I can get my hands on it. My limited searching has only turned up three others – the French Ravage from 1943 and La Compagnie des Glaces (The Ice Company) from 1980, and Russian novel, The Last War, from 1970.
Does anyone know of any others that would be worth tracking down?
