Novels where civilization is down, but not out.
June 28, 2011 7:45 PM Subscribe
Novels where some superplague kills 99% of the population are pretty common. Can anyone think of some where it's "only" 20-40% dead and civilization struggles to stay afloat with acting mayors, assistant technicians, volunteer garbagemen, etc?
I'm familiar with the White Plague, The Disappearance and Y:The Last Man and that's not quite what I'm looking for. I'm more interested in stuff like John Ringo's The Last Centurion or Ralph Peters' The War in 2020. I'm pretty firmly in the Sci Fi ghetto so maybe people know of other genre (eg action, thriller, whatever) novels with this kind of setting. I guess what I'm most interested in is civilization down but not out. In WWIII fiction terms, think Warday, Dover Beach or Resurrection Day rather than Swan Song, Wolf and Iron or anything with horse barbarians.
The "Free Zone" in The Stand had a lot of the elements I mentioned above the fold but is more extreme than I'm looking for.
I'm familiar with the White Plague, The Disappearance and Y:The Last Man and that's not quite what I'm looking for. I'm more interested in stuff like John Ringo's The Last Centurion or Ralph Peters' The War in 2020. I'm pretty firmly in the Sci Fi ghetto so maybe people know of other genre (eg action, thriller, whatever) novels with this kind of setting. I guess what I'm most interested in is civilization down but not out. In WWIII fiction terms, think Warday, Dover Beach or Resurrection Day rather than Swan Song, Wolf and Iron or anything with horse barbarians.
The "Free Zone" in The Stand had a lot of the elements I mentioned above the fold but is more extreme than I'm looking for.
Check out Daniel Keys Moran's stuff. All his books are set after the UN occupies the US.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:53 PM on June 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:53 PM on June 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Possibly Kim Stanley Robinson's Three Californias trilogy fits your requirements but is still in the science fiction category.
posted by sciencegeek at 7:53 PM on June 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by sciencegeek at 7:53 PM on June 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
This one's an odd match, but Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year is a pretty cool recount (mostly fictional, but presented as true history) of the Great Plague of London - which killed off about 20% of the city.
posted by Paragon at 7:58 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by Paragon at 7:58 PM on June 28, 2011
World Made By Hand - James Howard Kunstler
posted by kimdog at 8:02 PM on June 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by kimdog at 8:02 PM on June 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
A Canticle For Lebowitz might work, though I think it is set further after the apocalypse then you want.
Oh, The Postman by David Brin would be perfect: A large number of people survive and it is about civilization adapting and changing into a new form. However there are lots of towns and each has adapted in a different way.
posted by Canageek at 8:03 PM on June 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
Oh, The Postman by David Brin would be perfect: A large number of people survive and it is about civilization adapting and changing into a new form. However there are lots of towns and each has adapted in a different way.
posted by Canageek at 8:03 PM on June 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
How about One Second After? I'm about 300 pages in. It's pretty ok (not great, but not terrible) and seems to fit your criteria...
posted by Capt.DooDooFace at 8:05 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by Capt.DooDooFace at 8:05 PM on June 28, 2011
Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield's nearly-completed online graphic novel FreakAngels seems to fit. The near-apocalypse is limited to England, but features a broken civilization trying to survive by cobbling together what infrastructure and social cohesion they can.
posted by jeffmshaw at 8:06 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by jeffmshaw at 8:06 PM on June 28, 2011
E. E. Knight's Vampire Earth books fit this. Most of the deaths are caused my invading aliens and they continue to occupy earth, but human civilization is set back, but not gone.
posted by jefftang at 8:45 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by jefftang at 8:45 PM on June 28, 2011
I just finished reading a fictionalised version of what happened in Eyam, Derbyshire: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. Wikipedia lists more novels set here. The plague raged in the village for 14 months and it is stated that it killed at least 260 villagers with only 83 villagers surviving out of a population of 350.
posted by b33j at 8:52 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by b33j at 8:52 PM on June 28, 2011
There is a novel named Without Warning by John Birmingham. The premise is that on the eve of the invasion of Iraq back in 2003, a mysterious event wipes out most of the population of the US (Canada, Mexico, & Cuba too). There is also a sequel named After America.
In the first novel, roughly 500 million people die instantaneously, which is somewhere on the order of 8% of the world's population at the time, which may not quite be the 20-40% dieoff that you're looking for.
I still think it's a good read though. Check your local library or nearest Half Price books (or equivalent).
posted by AMSBoethius at 9:00 PM on June 28, 2011
In the first novel, roughly 500 million people die instantaneously, which is somewhere on the order of 8% of the world's population at the time, which may not quite be the 20-40% dieoff that you're looking for.
I still think it's a good read though. Check your local library or nearest Half Price books (or equivalent).
posted by AMSBoethius at 9:00 PM on June 28, 2011
There are a couple of stories in Wasteland: Stories of the Apocolypse, but a lot of the stories in it are pretty poor, so I suggest a library instead of buying it.
posted by Canageek at 9:03 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by Canageek at 9:03 PM on June 28, 2011
I enjoyed Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling.
I think it fills the bill you describe above.
posted by stavx at 9:06 PM on June 28, 2011
I think it fills the bill you describe above.
posted by stavx at 9:06 PM on June 28, 2011
Possibly Kim Stanley Robinson's Three Californias trilogy fits your requirements but is still in the science fiction category.
Strictly speaking, only The Wild Shore fits the bill, with The Gold Coast and Pacific Edge being different timelines.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:09 PM on June 28, 2011
Strictly speaking, only The Wild Shore fits the bill, with The Gold Coast and Pacific Edge being different timelines.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:09 PM on June 28, 2011
Response by poster: Some great suggestions.
I've actually read more than a few of them already and they weren't exactly what I was going for. I guess I was looking for something lower key and less APOCALYPTIC!!!!!!! I loved Dies the Fire, for example, but the core event probably killed 99% off and the lights are out for good. One Second After is on my list but I think it's going to be a gun-owner survivalist fantasy. Which is great, but I'm looking for a lower-key more person-orientated story.
Kind of like people struggling to keep the lights on, the stores open-ish and people civil. World Made By Hand is kinda close but that seems to me to be after the end of the world, period. Still, it is a lot like what I'm looking for. Still pretty close; industry and trade still exist even if the local bosses are pretty gangsterish. There was another book I read recently about co-op workers in Minnesota dealing with things unraveling - instead of Mad Max, they got increasing blackouts, sparse store shelves and entrepreneurs planning ice-houses to supply ice year-round. Part of the back story to The Last Centurion had people struggling to keep farms producing and fuel trucks rolling - which seemed pretty positive.
Beyond that it was very much a gun-oriented Rightist fantasy not really up the average MeFite's alley
posted by codswallop at 9:27 PM on June 28, 2011
I've actually read more than a few of them already and they weren't exactly what I was going for. I guess I was looking for something lower key and less APOCALYPTIC!!!!!!! I loved Dies the Fire, for example, but the core event probably killed 99% off and the lights are out for good. One Second After is on my list but I think it's going to be a gun-owner survivalist fantasy. Which is great, but I'm looking for a lower-key more person-orientated story.
Kind of like people struggling to keep the lights on, the stores open-ish and people civil. World Made By Hand is kinda close but that seems to me to be after the end of the world, period. Still, it is a lot like what I'm looking for. Still pretty close; industry and trade still exist even if the local bosses are pretty gangsterish. There was another book I read recently about co-op workers in Minnesota dealing with things unraveling - instead of Mad Max, they got increasing blackouts, sparse store shelves and entrepreneurs planning ice-houses to supply ice year-round. Part of the back story to The Last Centurion had people struggling to keep farms producing and fuel trucks rolling - which seemed pretty positive.
Beyond that it was very much a gun-oriented Rightist fantasy not really up the average MeFite's alley
posted by codswallop at 9:27 PM on June 28, 2011
Saramago's Blindness might have some of what you're looking for.
posted by andoatnp at 9:27 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by andoatnp at 9:27 PM on June 28, 2011
Day of the Triffids? Everyone survives, but most people are blinded. It's less about civilisation adapting, and more about fighting the triffids though. Long time since I've read it, but its a classic.
posted by Joh at 9:48 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by Joh at 9:48 PM on June 28, 2011
Dammit, I knew there was one I was missing, and I was going to feel stupid when someone said it first. Seconding Day of the Triffids, though it is a touch apocalyptic. Man, how did I forget one of my 3 favourite Post-Apoc books?
It is good in that it deals with people and the communities they form. Not to the extent of The Postman, but more then say, Daybreak 2050 by Andre Norton or Dammnation Ally.
posted by Canageek at 10:01 PM on June 28, 2011
It is good in that it deals with people and the communities they form. Not to the extent of The Postman, but more then say, Daybreak 2050 by Andre Norton or Dammnation Ally.
posted by Canageek at 10:01 PM on June 28, 2011
The canonical epidemiology / "How does the city keep functioning in the face of a low-grade epidemic" novel is the pretty obscure I Am Thinking of My Darling, which today is mostly available used. It's an outbreak of happiness/unmotivation, which brings New Cork City to its knees; the novel shows how the city government/public health system tries to keep the city working.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 10:03 PM on June 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 10:03 PM on June 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Octavia Butler's Parable books.
Susan Beth Pfeffer's trilogy that begins with Life As We Knew It, in which the world copes (badly) with a moon knocked out of orbit. It's YA...but as is often the case with YA these days, that's not an obstacle to enjoyment.
Sarah Hall's Daughters of the North qualifies, but the emphasis is much more on the smaller community the narrator joins than the overall society.
posted by gnomeloaf at 11:04 PM on June 28, 2011
Susan Beth Pfeffer's trilogy that begins with Life As We Knew It, in which the world copes (badly) with a moon knocked out of orbit. It's YA...but as is often the case with YA these days, that's not an obstacle to enjoyment.
Sarah Hall's Daughters of the North qualifies, but the emphasis is much more on the smaller community the narrator joins than the overall society.
posted by gnomeloaf at 11:04 PM on June 28, 2011
I really liked Robert Charles Wilson's Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America. It's set a century or so after climate change and peak oil have crippled modern civilization, leading millions to die of starvation and disease. The United States still exists, but it's a neo-Victorian oligarchy headquartered in a reconstructed Manhattan, with no Supreme Court, a propertyholder-based Senate, and a strict religious/hereditary President at war with German Europe over territories in Canada.
The story's about the adventures of the titular Comstock (modeled after Julian the Apostate), a relative of the president who attempts to confront the powers-that-be and restore some measure of liberty and science to the country.
posted by Rhaomi at 11:08 PM on June 28, 2011
The story's about the adventures of the titular Comstock (modeled after Julian the Apostate), a relative of the president who attempts to confront the powers-that-be and restore some measure of liberty and science to the country.
posted by Rhaomi at 11:08 PM on June 28, 2011
World War Z would seem to fit the bill of "getting by on limited resources/manpower", although I can't remember quite how much of the human race becomes zombified.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 11:09 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by AmbroseChapel at 11:09 PM on June 28, 2011
How about The Stand, the made-for-TV movie? I think it features a town hall meeting and people volunteering to serve as public works staff. Then the whole war of good vs. evil starts, but you'll have a good section about civic infrastructure after the plague and migration stops but before the immoral hordes really get going. IIRC. (It's been awhile.)
posted by salvia at 11:16 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by salvia at 11:16 PM on June 28, 2011
Oh novels! Luckily for my answer The Stand was a book first.
posted by salvia at 11:17 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by salvia at 11:17 PM on June 28, 2011
Sorry, reading your follow-up closely, The Stand isn't a good answer. I'll keep thinking.
What book was this? "another book I read recently about co-op workers in Minnesota dealing with things unraveling"
posted by salvia at 11:20 PM on June 28, 2011
What book was this? "another book I read recently about co-op workers in Minnesota dealing with things unraveling"
posted by salvia at 11:20 PM on June 28, 2011
Oh wow AND you mention The Stand in your question. Sorry! (I obviously need to hit the hay.)
posted by salvia at 11:21 PM on June 28, 2011
posted by salvia at 11:21 PM on June 28, 2011
It might be a bit too much "gun-owner survivalist fantasy" but I found the Deathlands series (at least the first dozen or so) enjoyable in a brain candy sort of way. The books are set a hundred years after post nuclear war America. So massive die off but there are now significant islands of "civilization" floating in a sea of anarchy (and mutants).
posted by Mitheral at 2:29 AM on June 29, 2011
posted by Mitheral at 2:29 AM on June 29, 2011
Warday by Whitley Streiber is exactly this, an account of the changes wrought on the US by a 'limited' (i.e. a few dozen warheads instead of hundreds or thousands) nuclear war. The narrators travel around the country five years after the titular 'warday' to assess how the country has changed. It's a great book.
posted by Happy Dave at 2:45 AM on June 29, 2011
posted by Happy Dave at 2:45 AM on June 29, 2011
Oh, also, it's not a book, but the tv series Jericho is about the US after a nuclear terrorist attack. It starts off as Mom-N-Pop-N-Apple-Pie rightwing disaster survivalist porn in the first series with acres of speeches about the values of Small Town Real America, but it's come full-circle by the last series with full-on corporatist conspiracy theories and plenty of right-wing/libertarian ideas (private military companies etc) completely excoriated. The middle ground is pretty interesting as the inhabitants of the town slowly creep out and try to find out what is happening in the country around them. If you can get past the daft tone of the first ten or so episodes, it's worth watching.
posted by Happy Dave at 2:50 AM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Happy Dave at 2:50 AM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
How about Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale?"
posted by Yavsy at 4:54 AM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Yavsy at 4:54 AM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
What about The Children of Men by P.D. James - not the death of 20% of the population but a catastrophic drop in birth rate.
posted by mskyle at 6:47 AM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mskyle at 6:47 AM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Vanishing Point by Michaela Roessner might fit the bill: about 10% of the world's population vanishes. Definitely more about relationships than the actual "science" but worth a look.
posted by methroach at 6:56 AM on June 29, 2011
posted by methroach at 6:56 AM on June 29, 2011
Alas, Babylon hits most of your requirements.
The Years of Rice and Salt is a massive alternate history based on most of Europe being taken out by the plague.
posted by mikepop at 8:06 AM on June 29, 2011
The Years of Rice and Salt is a massive alternate history based on most of Europe being taken out by the plague.
posted by mikepop at 8:06 AM on June 29, 2011
Are you interested in non-fiction? There should be a ton of stuff to read and research about the Black Death if you get really keen.
posted by 6550 at 8:15 AM on June 29, 2011
posted by 6550 at 8:15 AM on June 29, 2011
The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham? Although perhaps it's too pre-catastrophe.
posted by plonkee at 9:54 AM on June 29, 2011
posted by plonkee at 9:54 AM on June 29, 2011
Also in real life Belarus (in WW2) and Ireland (potato famine) suffered 20%-25% population drops. Perhaps they might be interesting to read about.
posted by plonkee at 10:09 AM on June 29, 2011
posted by plonkee at 10:09 AM on June 29, 2011
Response by poster: More great suggestions. Unfortunately, I've already read the vast majority and they aren't exactly what I'm looking for. Leads me to believe that it may not exist. Warday, The Last Centurion and certain facets of The Stand all have elements that I'm looking for (and mentioned in the question).
I should've mentioned Life As We Knew It - I've read the trilogy, loved it, and it def. fits the bill.
Think I'll try I Am Thinking of My Darling, the Parable series, and maybe Daughters of the North. Year of Wonders, too - not much of an infrastructure being maintained but the social aspects are there.
Children of Men would be more what I was looking for if it was set much later after the end of human fertility. But then it would be Greybeard by Brian Aldiss :)
posted by codswallop at 10:14 AM on June 29, 2011
I should've mentioned Life As We Knew It - I've read the trilogy, loved it, and it def. fits the bill.
Think I'll try I Am Thinking of My Darling, the Parable series, and maybe Daughters of the North. Year of Wonders, too - not much of an infrastructure being maintained but the social aspects are there.
Children of Men would be more what I was looking for if it was set much later after the end of human fertility. But then it would be Greybeard by Brian Aldiss :)
posted by codswallop at 10:14 AM on June 29, 2011
Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh just came out in March and is getting good notices.
posted by dgeiser13 at 10:28 AM on June 29, 2011
posted by dgeiser13 at 10:28 AM on June 29, 2011
On a much smaller scale; Under the Dome by King seems to fit most of your description. It doesn't deal with a whole-earth type disaster, just one town.
posted by banshee at 10:38 AM on June 29, 2011
posted by banshee at 10:38 AM on June 29, 2011
There was another book I read recently about co-op workers in Minnesota dealing with things unraveling - instead of Mad Max, they got increasing blackouts, sparse store shelves and entrepreneurs planning ice-houses to supply ice year-round.
Seconding I'd love to know what book this is.
posted by Happy Dave at 11:05 AM on June 29, 2011
Seconding I'd love to know what book this is.
posted by Happy Dave at 11:05 AM on June 29, 2011
Ooh, think I found it. Codswallop, was it Minnesota Cold?
posted by Happy Dave at 11:13 AM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Happy Dave at 11:13 AM on June 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
The Company Man by Joe Clifford Faust
posted by Confess, Fletch at 2:46 PM on June 29, 2011
posted by Confess, Fletch at 2:46 PM on June 29, 2011
Shockwave Rider, The Sheep Look Up, Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner.
posted by theora55 at 4:29 PM on June 29, 2011
posted by theora55 at 4:29 PM on June 29, 2011
Not a novel, but And The Band Played On is a page-turner, a truly gripping story of the early years of the AIDS crisis.
Based on what you've said you're looking for, I'd suggest exploring accounts of historical crises, the Great Depression, the Irish Potato Famine, the Black Plague, the Polio Epidemic, the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, Mao's Cultural Revolution, the blitz in London, the siege of Stalingrad, etc, etc, etc.
posted by marsha56 at 5:30 PM on June 29, 2011
Based on what you've said you're looking for, I'd suggest exploring accounts of historical crises, the Great Depression, the Irish Potato Famine, the Black Plague, the Polio Epidemic, the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, Mao's Cultural Revolution, the blitz in London, the siege of Stalingrad, etc, etc, etc.
posted by marsha56 at 5:30 PM on June 29, 2011
World Ends in Hickory Hollow by Ardath Mayhew.
posted by maryrussell at 5:47 PM on June 29, 2011
posted by maryrussell at 5:47 PM on June 29, 2011
codswallop: In case you weren't aware...Pfeffer's announced there will be a fourth book in 2012. She's shared some potentially spoilery info about it on her blog.
Remembered another book: Steven Amsterdam's Things We Didn't See Coming, linked short stories in a world where Y2K was much less benign.
posted by gnomeloaf at 9:37 PM on June 29, 2011
Remembered another book: Steven Amsterdam's Things We Didn't See Coming, linked short stories in a world where Y2K was much less benign.
posted by gnomeloaf at 9:37 PM on June 29, 2011
"Earth Abides" by George R Stewart.
After a widespread disease, "the survivors live off the remains of the old world, while learning to adapt to the new. Along the way they are forced to make tough decisions and choose what kind of civilization they will rebuild."
posted by calgirl at 9:41 PM on June 29, 2011
After a widespread disease, "the survivors live off the remains of the old world, while learning to adapt to the new. Along the way they are forced to make tough decisions and choose what kind of civilization they will rebuild."
posted by calgirl at 9:41 PM on June 29, 2011
Curt Gentry's The Last Days of the Late, Great State of California is mostly a book of three essays about California in the late sixties, but the frame narrative is an attempt to realistically (mostly) look at how the world would react to a California-sinking mega-earthquake. Mostly it extolls the virtues and weirdnesses of the Golden State, but the last quarter of the book is basically Warday (which I was also going to mention before I saw it was in the question) for this other scenario.
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 10:35 PM on June 29, 2011
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 10:35 PM on June 29, 2011
Maybe pushing the edges a bit, but what about The Year of the Quiet Sun?
posted by Chrysostom at 8:52 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by Chrysostom at 8:52 AM on June 30, 2011
How about Feed, by Mira Grant? It's a post zombie "apocalypse" story, but the world is in many respects similar to before - the US is still a representative democracy with a President, people still go down to the grocery store to get food, airports and airplanes still exist, etc. The book focuses a lot on journalism and social media (mostly in the form of blogging), but it's a really interesting look at a society where a bunch of its people got sick and became zombies (not really walking dead, just a disease that manifests much like traditional zombie-ism), and how that affected society as a whole.
I'm not sure it fits in with your comment about volunteer garbage men and the like, because the government is still pretty highly functional, but it might be worth a shot anyway. My only caveat is that it's supposed to be part of a trilogy; the second book came out recently and left off at a place where I really didn't want it to stop, so the wait for the third book is going to be a bit painful.
posted by ashirys at 9:49 AM on June 30, 2011
I'm not sure it fits in with your comment about volunteer garbage men and the like, because the government is still pretty highly functional, but it might be worth a shot anyway. My only caveat is that it's supposed to be part of a trilogy; the second book came out recently and left off at a place where I really didn't want it to stop, so the wait for the third book is going to be a bit painful.
posted by ashirys at 9:49 AM on June 30, 2011
There's David Gerrold's unfinished Chtorr series. It's near-futurish SF where Earth has been seeded with an alien ecosystem that is systematically replacing all native life. There's some elements of what you're looking for although a lot of it occurrs before the series starts.
posted by suetanvil at 9:06 AM on July 1, 2011
posted by suetanvil at 9:06 AM on July 1, 2011
I've been really loving by John Michael Greer. It's set about 400 years after the collapse of modern industrial culture, in what is still recognizably America, but much altered. The tone of it is relatively optimistic, with some humor, suspense, and a few sly references to pop culture from our time. I've been really, really enjoying it. It's in serial form, about one chapter or so per month. Right now it seems to be about halfway through its arc.
posted by spacewaitress at 12:36 AM on July 3, 2011
posted by spacewaitress at 12:36 AM on July 3, 2011
Er, first sentence should read, "I've been really loving Star's Reach by John Michael Greer.
posted by spacewaitress at 12:37 AM on July 3, 2011
posted by spacewaitress at 12:37 AM on July 3, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by chmmr at 7:52 PM on June 28, 2011