Korean Job Discussion Forums

The Bobster · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

I was just going by the topic of the thread, not particularly sub-genre stuff - if PKD wrote about end-of-the-world stuff, hope someone will tell me.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

It isn't a novel, just a short story, but Stephen Vincent Benet's 'By the Waters of Babylon' is a good end of the world story. In my opinion, one of the best. Here's the first paragraph:

The north and the west and the south are good hunting ground, but it is forbidden to go east. It is forbidden to go to any of the Dead Places except to search for metal and then he who touches the metal must be a priest or the son of a priest. Afterwards, both the man and the metal must be purified. These are the rules and the laws; they are well made. It is forbidden to cross the great river and look upon the place that was the Place of the Gods--this is most strictly forbidden. We do not even say its name though we know its name. It is there that spirits live, and demons--it is there that there are the ashes of the Great Burning. These things are forbidden--they have been forbidden since the beginning of time. (First published in the Saturday Evening Post, 1937)

You can read the whole story online here: http://www.tkinter.smig.net/Outings/RosemountGhosts/Babylon.htm

Young FRANKenstein · Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 5:54 pm Post subject:

HapKi · Joined: 10 Dec 2004 Location: TALL BUILDING-SEOUL

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

trubadour · Joined: 03 Nov 2006

The Cornilieus Chronicles, by Micheal Moorcock.

I've been fascinated by the end of the world thing for a long time and read one or two of these books when I was still in my teens. They made a real impression on me because they are so atmospheric, so trippy and so.. weirdly authentic?

In a way, philosophically/psychologically speaking, they describe an ultimate kind of apocalypse; one that occurs at the level of an individual, who's perceptions and sense of being and place distort and disintegrate until one doesn't really know what the hell is going on as reality loosens its hinges..

As far as a synopsis goes try http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/moorcock/cchron.htm

grainger · Joined: 21 Sep 2006 Location: Wonju, Korea

I have to second Lucifer's Hammer. I couldnt' put it down.

"Lucifer's Hammer is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1977. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1978."

ChopChaeJoe · Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Location: Seoul

Lucifer's Hammer is terrible, mostly because of it's two-dimensional (sometimes one-dimensional) characters and tight racism.

Mick Farren's Citizen Phaid (Phaid the Gambler) and Last Stand of th DNA Cowboys are excellent. King's The Stand was mentioned. Burrough's Nova Express and Ticket that Exploded deserve a mention.

My guilty pleasure favorite though, is a book called Down to a Sunless Sea, by a brit author whose name i have forgotten.

harvid1 · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Location: NY

Admitted, I am a huge zombie apocalypse fan. But it's halloween time, so why not?

But if you can get your hands on it, a pretty entertaining read is "World War Z."

Not a novel persay, but a bunch of interlinking experiences and interviews about how the world would have dealt with a large zombie outbreak.

Anyone else read this?

The Bobster · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

I've been reading McCormac's The Road because of someone's recommendation here. Thanks. It's dark and depressing, but it manages to sing, regardless.