What's this sci-fi novel i remember?
February 18, 2007 8:07 PM Subscribe
Help me remember the name of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel i read as 10 years or so ago.
When I was in high school, my dad had a pretty large sci-fi novel collection, and I read a few. I have a very vague recollection of one of them, but my description didn't get much response from my dad, so I'll turn to you.
Okay, so, post-apocalyptic novel. A father and son, traveling in the USA, trying to find their way home. I really only remember two or three scenes, but hopefully one of you might remember more.
1) The father and son encounter a group of people and join them for stew. They start eating, but come to realize that the stew is made of HUMAN, when the father sees a ring on one of the bones.
2) When they eventually arrive home, they're excited to find the showers work, and they sit down to eat some dinner, only to be interrupted with gunfire. It's the neighbors, thinking that the father and son are looters.
I know this isn't much to go on, but if any of you have any insight, i'd appreciate it.
When I was in high school, my dad had a pretty large sci-fi novel collection, and I read a few. I have a very vague recollection of one of them, but my description didn't get much response from my dad, so I'll turn to you.
Okay, so, post-apocalyptic novel. A father and son, traveling in the USA, trying to find their way home. I really only remember two or three scenes, but hopefully one of you might remember more.
1) The father and son encounter a group of people and join them for stew. They start eating, but come to realize that the stew is made of HUMAN, when the father sees a ring on one of the bones.
2) When they eventually arrive home, they're excited to find the showers work, and they sit down to eat some dinner, only to be interrupted with gunfire. It's the neighbors, thinking that the father and son are looters.
I know this isn't much to go on, but if any of you have any insight, i'd appreciate it.
Sounds close, but not perfect, to Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Piven and Jerry Pournelle. There is a father and son that are important in the plot, and there is a stew made of humans, and certainly there is gunfire and looters, but not quite in the scene that you describe. Good luck.
posted by nursegracer at 8:40 PM on February 18, 2007
posted by nursegracer at 8:40 PM on February 18, 2007
Yeah, I was thinking fragmented recall of Lucifer's Hammer also.
posted by sourwookie at 10:59 PM on February 18, 2007
posted by sourwookie at 10:59 PM on February 18, 2007
Actually sounds like one of the books in the Earthblood series (there were 3). There was a bit where a father and son return home and they are confronted by their skeletal neighbors. I think Don Pendleton wrote it and it is for people who found the realism and grit of the DeathLands series lacking. *cough*
Can't believe I read that stuff when I was a kid.
posted by codswallop at 6:13 AM on February 19, 2007
Can't believe I read that stuff when I was a kid.
posted by codswallop at 6:13 AM on February 19, 2007
There is no way it could be Lucifers Hammer. No protagonist eats the hu-meat.
I could be "The Rift" I don't specifically remember the scene but I think it has canibals and I know it has a father and son.
Now that I think about it it isn't "The Rift" either.....humff
posted by Megafly at 12:45 PM on February 19, 2007
I could be "The Rift" I don't specifically remember the scene but I think it has canibals and I know it has a father and son.
Now that I think about it it isn't "The Rift" either.....humff
posted by Megafly at 12:45 PM on February 19, 2007
Response by poster: Yeah, it's definately not the Rift or Earthblood, at least not based on what information about them I could find online.
Lucifer's Hammer sounds close, but the wikipedia entry mentions "cannibalistic zealots led by reverend armitage", and the cannibals I recall were just a few guys living under a bridge or something similar.
Anyway, I'd like to thank you guys for trying, it was kind of an obscure question, and my memory of the book is very vague, so i didn't expect even this many answers.
So thanks a lot!
posted by sunimplodes at 11:05 PM on February 19, 2007
Lucifer's Hammer sounds close, but the wikipedia entry mentions "cannibalistic zealots led by reverend armitage", and the cannibals I recall were just a few guys living under a bridge or something similar.
Anyway, I'd like to thank you guys for trying, it was kind of an obscure question, and my memory of the book is very vague, so i didn't expect even this many answers.
So thanks a lot!
posted by sunimplodes at 11:05 PM on February 19, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Ian A.T. at 8:31 PM on February 18, 2007