Different types of apocalyse novels.

Different types of Apocalypse Novels.

There are two basic types of apocalypse novels. One in which everyone is still alive, but we have lost the ability to keep everyone alive. The story ends up with everyone fighting over fewer and fewer resources. The second types are the books in which almost everyone is dead and the few remaining survivors must fight to restore some version of civilization.
Type one (everyone starts out alive)

- “End of Civilization” type novels. Everyone is still alive, but all of the accouterments of civilization such as Electricity, financial markets, respect for law and order have been eliminated. The resulting chaos and how people cope is the heart of the story. Examples include One Second After, Dies the Fire, Survivors
- Another example is the “Alien Invasion” version; we must struggle against the outsider. Usually very strange and otherworldly. Think “Day of the Triffids, Puppet Masters, Footfall, and War of the Worlds.
- Natural disaster destroys our world, again, everyone start out alive, the disaster kills some, but the loss of civilization kills more after the immediate effect. Examples include Lucifer’s Hammer, 2012,
- We destroy ourselves via atomic war, usually because of the evil Military Industrial complex. Such novels as; Alas Babylon, the Day After, and On the Beach.
- We destroy ourselves via a biological Germ, same premise but without the radiation hot spots. Examples include – The Stand, I am legend, the Earth Abides
- Zombie Books. The undead look upon us as their resource, we disagree.

Type Two
- Long after the event, People are trying to cope, examples include –The Road, The book of Eli, the Postman, Mad Max, the Eternal Road, and Time Traveler.
- Future worlds that have experienced a cut off from the past, such as Logan’s Run, The Eternal Road, Time Traveler.

The common item though out these books is that their world is different from ours. The conflict occurs when these people have to adjust to the new rules. They all seem to wish they could go back to the golden days of our world. That should tell you something about how good we have it.