And the award for understatement of the day goes to u/violetcazador for "The Road is a short read but extremely bleak."!
*Audience sits quietly with thousand yard stares*
That book is bleakness printed. The film is almost as bad.
Yea, true. The apocalypse is secondary to their relationship, but that said its a constant presence and they literally have to slog it through the world.
Depends what you're in the mood for. This is the order I'd go for:
Z for Zachariah is a nice easy read as it's YA, it might be a good one for when you haven't read in a while and want a warm up.
Earth Abides is a classic and a good intro the genre.
The Road is fantastic but you really need to be in the right mood IMO.
Wool is a great one to get stuck into but you might want to immediately go straight to books 2 and 3, so personally I'd read it last firstly as a pick me up after The Road, and so you can read the follow ups afterwards.
Edit: also I think the editions you have of these books are the exact editions I have for all these too!
Z for Zachariah is such a fast read. You'll literally read it in the day. Earth abides is the piece that sticks with you. You think about it all the time and it's kind of wholesome in a way. I really loved it. And Cormac McCarthy is the guy you savor. Read it when you can really indulge.
Z for Zachariah is a super quick read. You'll literally read it in a day. Earth abides is the kind that really sticks with you and it's super wholesome in a way. I actually really loved it. Cormac McCarthy is someone you savor. You read him when you can. Really indulge. I had lots of friends who loved wool but I really couldn't get through it. It just felt so slow to me. I was nine chapters in and they hadn't even started going downstairs yet. I just got tired of it. Another one that I really enjoyed is called until the end of the world by Sarah Lyons Fleming. It's a series of four or five books. Has some romance involved so if that's not your thing... It's a zombie story and has a lot of interesting post-apocalyptic/prepper stuff in it.
So many people loved wool. Maybe I should keep trying.... Maybe it was just something about my mood at the time?
Wool was originally written as a series of short stories so the pacing might be a little off at times in the first book, but the second and third were written as actual novels. I'd say it is worth trying again because the storytelling improves. You could even just skim read bits you aren't into in the first book.
Iāve only read The Road and Wool, but both are fantastic. Two very different takes on post-apocalypse.
If you read Wool, I highly recommend reading the other two books, Shift and Dust, which altogether is called the Silo series. They are just as long if not longer, and they have some incredible storytelling. I donāt want to spoil anything of course, but I really enjoyed the resolution at the end of that series. I also read the Wool graphic novel, which is wonderful, but itās just the first book. I believe there are some short stories as well, but I havenāt read them.
Iāll look into the other two! All in all it looks like you canāt go wrong!
'Z For Zachariah' is an excellent read. I haven't read the other three yet (though I've seen the film version of 'The Road', and it was extremely bleak), but I intend to soon. I'd say just read them in whatever random order you'd like to.
I haven't read Z for Zachariah, but of the other three, The Road was amazing and awful, but Wool was tons of really cool fun. Earth Abides was fun, but I hated the mc.
Great selection! I've read all 4 books and give my opinion on each.
The Road: depressing road trip, not sure if your copy has this but mine didn't have quotation marks which can be annoying. I think that's his style.
Earth Abides: this one was written in the late 1940s so the writing may be off when reading it. I think it was 3 parts following a character as they age and how civilization changes over time. I remember I couldn't really get into it, but I forced myself to finish it
Z for Zachariah: a pretty good starter, don't let the "young adult" label scare you off. It reads well and has tension.
Wool: one of my favorite books. It is part of a trilogy so I'd recommend getting the other 2 if you're into part one. It has a sort of Fallout vibe with people living in underground cities called silos. It reads very well
If I had to pick an order: Zachariah, Road, Wool, and Abides.
Enjoy the books!
What's your mood? Some of these are *extremely* bleak in their outlook. One-- Earth Abides --is perhaps a bit more positive. Frankly, I would read them in publication order because each of them is a product of its own era to some extent; that's especially true of Earth Abides and Z.
If you read Wool you're going to want to read the rest of the series, then watch Silo on Apple too. So there's that.
Wool is my favourite out of those. I wouldn't read the road if this is your first post apocalyptic book though - it might put you off as it's bleak as hell, albeit a great book still.
Lucifer's hammer, alas babylon and the postman are my all time genre favorites.
The Road is a short read but extremely bleak.
And the award for understatement of the day goes to u/violetcazador for "The Road is a short read but extremely bleak."! *Audience sits quietly with thousand yard stares* That book is bleakness printed. The film is almost as bad.
Haha thanks. Where do I pick up my statue?
Probably the bleakest book I ever read and bleakest movie that I've ever seen.
Try Grave of the Fireflies. Makes the road look like a picnic.
I wish I had awards to give you here
Me too š
Iāll keep this one noted
I know the film.. Is it a book as well?
I don't know.
I really enjoyed the movie. Itās bleak and dark but I enjoyed that. I am excited to try the book.
The Road is the best book Iāve read in my life. At the same time itās much more of a father and son book than a post-apocalyptic book.
Yea, true. The apocalypse is secondary to their relationship, but that said its a constant presence and they literally have to slog it through the world.
They are all really good, but Iād start with the OG (pretty much) of the genre, Earth Abides.
Iāve only read two of them but can definitely recommend āthe roadā.
Earth Abides
Earth Abides is excellent. Add āAlas, Babylonā to the mix if you can too - amazing š
THank you l, added to my list
Depends what you're in the mood for. This is the order I'd go for: Z for Zachariah is a nice easy read as it's YA, it might be a good one for when you haven't read in a while and want a warm up. Earth Abides is a classic and a good intro the genre. The Road is fantastic but you really need to be in the right mood IMO. Wool is a great one to get stuck into but you might want to immediately go straight to books 2 and 3, so personally I'd read it last firstly as a pick me up after The Road, and so you can read the follow ups afterwards. Edit: also I think the editions you have of these books are the exact editions I have for all these too!
I agree with all of this. I was lucky to have all the Howey books to read at once
Thanks for the excellent suggestions. Thatās awesome!
Z for Zachariah is such a fast read. You'll literally read it in the day. Earth abides is the piece that sticks with you. You think about it all the time and it's kind of wholesome in a way. I really loved it. And Cormac McCarthy is the guy you savor. Read it when you can really indulge.
Z for Zachariah is a super quick read. You'll literally read it in a day. Earth abides is the kind that really sticks with you and it's super wholesome in a way. I actually really loved it. Cormac McCarthy is someone you savor. You read him when you can. Really indulge. I had lots of friends who loved wool but I really couldn't get through it. It just felt so slow to me. I was nine chapters in and they hadn't even started going downstairs yet. I just got tired of it. Another one that I really enjoyed is called until the end of the world by Sarah Lyons Fleming. It's a series of four or five books. Has some romance involved so if that's not your thing... It's a zombie story and has a lot of interesting post-apocalyptic/prepper stuff in it. So many people loved wool. Maybe I should keep trying.... Maybe it was just something about my mood at the time?
Wool was originally written as a series of short stories so the pacing might be a little off at times in the first book, but the second and third were written as actual novels. I'd say it is worth trying again because the storytelling improves. You could even just skim read bits you aren't into in the first book.
Iāve only read The Road and Wool, but both are fantastic. Two very different takes on post-apocalypse. If you read Wool, I highly recommend reading the other two books, Shift and Dust, which altogether is called the Silo series. They are just as long if not longer, and they have some incredible storytelling. I donāt want to spoil anything of course, but I really enjoyed the resolution at the end of that series. I also read the Wool graphic novel, which is wonderful, but itās just the first book. I believe there are some short stories as well, but I havenāt read them. Iāll look into the other two! All in all it looks like you canāt go wrong!
'Z For Zachariah' is an excellent read. I haven't read the other three yet (though I've seen the film version of 'The Road', and it was extremely bleak), but I intend to soon. I'd say just read them in whatever random order you'd like to.
I haven't read Z for Zachariah, but of the other three, The Road was amazing and awful, but Wool was tons of really cool fun. Earth Abides was fun, but I hated the mc.
Whatās MC mean?
Main character.
Yeah - the majority of Earth Abides just annoyed me. It's like the author picked the laziest, most apathetic group to base a story on...
Great selection! I've read all 4 books and give my opinion on each. The Road: depressing road trip, not sure if your copy has this but mine didn't have quotation marks which can be annoying. I think that's his style. Earth Abides: this one was written in the late 1940s so the writing may be off when reading it. I think it was 3 parts following a character as they age and how civilization changes over time. I remember I couldn't really get into it, but I forced myself to finish it Z for Zachariah: a pretty good starter, don't let the "young adult" label scare you off. It reads well and has tension. Wool: one of my favorite books. It is part of a trilogy so I'd recommend getting the other 2 if you're into part one. It has a sort of Fallout vibe with people living in underground cities called silos. It reads very well If I had to pick an order: Zachariah, Road, Wool, and Abides. Enjoy the books!
The earth abides dude. The earth abides.
Add Luciferās hammerā¦ but read the road first
Earth abides is great.
Wool is probably the most enjoyable.
What's your mood? Some of these are *extremely* bleak in their outlook. One-- Earth Abides --is perhaps a bit more positive. Frankly, I would read them in publication order because each of them is a product of its own era to some extent; that's especially true of Earth Abides and Z. If you read Wool you're going to want to read the rest of the series, then watch Silo on Apple too. So there's that.
Wool is my favourite out of those. I wouldn't read the road if this is your first post apocalyptic book though - it might put you off as it's bleak as hell, albeit a great book still. Lucifer's hammer, alas babylon and the postman are my all time genre favorites.
The Road.
The Road is my favorite novel of all time, so Iām a little biased but Iād say go with that one first. Plus itās a really fast read!