So we have all of these post-apocalyptic novels...

jennarielly

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what about novels that chronicle the actual apocalypse itself? Are there any apocalypse novels? Or do they all take place afterwards?

Just curious because it is something that I would be interested in reading/writing and I don't think I've ever seen any.

What do you guys think?
 

williemeikle

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what about novels that chronicle the actual apocalypse itself? Are there any apocalypse novels? Or do they all take place afterwards?

Just curious because it is something that I would be interested in reading/writing and I don't think I've ever seen any.

What do you guys think?

Not Young Adult, but Lucifer's Hammer chronicles the actual disaster.

And The Stand covers Captain Trips right from the very beginning...
 

Kitty Pryde

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Charlie Higson's zombie series covers what many of the characters were up to at the time society fell. And that one dreadful series...Gone, I think? It too late for me to think of more but there are plenty of others.
 

lastlittlebird

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The only one that springs to mind right now is Children of the Dust (the first third of the book is about the nuclear war, the rest about the aftermath).

Also, there is The Day of the Triffids (John Wyndham) and The Tripods series (by John Christopher) if you are interested in alien apocalypses.
 

maybegenius

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I think the ASHES trilogy by Isla J. Bick is about a apocalypse-in-the-process?

Also, ANGELFALL by Susan Ee is a (very well-done) self-pubbed YA that was picked up by Amazon Publishing that opens six weeks after angels attack Earth, so it sort of fits.
 

kuwisdelu

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Forget apocalypse or post-apocalypse novels.

I'm interested in pre-apocalypse. When everyone knows the world is about to end.

Think Melancholia.
 

Torgo

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what about novels that chronicle the actual apocalypse itself? Are there any apocalypse novels? Or do they all take place afterwards?

Just curious because it is something that I would be interested in reading/writing and I don't think I've ever seen any.

What do you guys think?

World War Z is a good 'oral history' of the zombie apocalypse. Fun stuff.
 

Violeta

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I would consider an alien invasion to be an apocalyptic
event, so POD (pearls of death), by Stephen Wallenfels. It's YA.
 

bertrigby

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The only one that springs to mind right now is Children of the Dust (the first third of the book is about the nuclear war, the rest about the aftermath).

most. terrifying. book. ever.

I seem to rec this series all the time on here, but Jean Ure's Plague series starts off with the apocalypse, then books 1 and 2 are post.

eta: pre-apocalypse - endgame by chris wooding. also scary.
 

frankiebrown

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what about novels that chronicle the actual apocalypse itself? Are there any apocalypse novels? Or do they all take place afterwards?

Just curious because it is something that I would be interested in reading/writing and I don't think I've ever seen any.

What do you guys think?

Working on one now.
 

thothguard51

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Not Young Adult, but Lucifer's Hammer chronicles the actual disaster.

And The Stand covers Captain Trips right from the very beginning...

Lucifers Hammer made me think about a lot of things I had not considered before. Very good book...
 

jennarielly

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Thanks guys! I never realized there were so many! I will definitely have to read some of these.

Forget apocalypse or post-apocalypse novels.

I'm interested in pre-apocalypse. When everyone knows the world is about to end.

This is kind of what I meant! Like a novel that goes through everyone knowing and finding out it is going to happen and then as the climax or whatever being it actually happening. Then maybe one or two other books showing what happens after.

It's like the prequel to a dystopian! lol
 

JustSarah

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I'm actually doing one that's pre apocalyptic, apocalyptic, post apocalyptic, pre evacuation, and evacuation, and post earth evacuation, pre totalitarian wars, totalitarian wars, post totalitarian wars, planet colonization, and post planet colonization all in one novel.
 

Jessica_312

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what about novels that chronicle the actual apocalypse itself? Are there any apocalypse novels? Or do they all take place afterwards?

Just curious because it is something that I would be interested in reading/writing and I don't think I've ever seen any.

What do you guys think?
These are some YA novels that show the "apocalypse" actually happening (all of these deal with a 'zombie' type apocalypse - not actual zombies, but something that affects the way people act). I enjoyed reading all three:

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts
Ashes by Ilsa Bick
Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
 

MttStrn

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Forget apocalypse or post-apocalypse novels.

I'm interested in pre-apocalypse. When everyone knows the world is about to end.

Think Melancholia.

It's not YA but The Last Policeman by Ben Winters is an awesome noir-ish mystery set in a world where an asteroid is going to hit earth in a couple of months. I loved it.
 

kuwisdelu

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My favorite kind of stories are when the end of the world is a metaphor.

It's not YA but The Last Policeman by Ben Winters is an awesome noir-ish mystery set in a world where an asteroid is going to hit earth in a couple of months. I loved it.

Someone else suggested this in a rep, too. I don't generally like crime fiction, but maybe I'll check it out.
 

Rachael_A

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Forget apocalypse or post-apocalypse novels.

I'm interested in pre-apocalypse. When everyone knows the world is about to end.

Think Melancholia.

This. I want to read stuff that exists between Our World and the crazy dystopian, post-apocalyptic world of the future. Stuff that makes the crazy seem eerily possible and way too close to home.


Also, Melancholia is in my Netflix queue and I'm thinking I need to watch it :)
 

blacbird

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The oldest one I can think of dates back to the 19th century: Omega, by Camille Flammarion. He was an astronomer, and wrote this novel based on the idea of a cometary collision disaster. It's actually pretty good, and worth a read, if you can find it.

A half-century ago, at the height of the Cold War, Level-7 by Mordecai Richler provided an unrelentingly bleak account of a nuclear apocalypse. Also too little read today.

And there's always Daphne DuMaurier's delightful little novella, The Birds, which was the basis for the classic Hitchcock movie. Except in DuMaurier's story, the ending isn't quite so nice.

caw
 

lolchemist

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I'd like to read something like that! As long as the romance part of it isn't too hamfisted. I imagine authors just shoving ther characters together like THE WORLD IS ENDING GO FALL IN LOVE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! And the idea just makes me gag. Like if the possible end of the world was happening right now I'm sure my teenaged self could probably get a grip on her hormones and not worry about getting a boyfriend right now. I'd bee too worried about staying alive, my friends, family and pets. Food and shelter, finding information, finding other survivors, etc etc. And don't even get me started on love triangles LOL
 

rwm4768

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I'm actually doing one that's pre apocalyptic, apocalyptic, post apocalyptic, pre evacuation, and evacuation, and post earth evacuation, pre totalitarian wars, totalitarian wars, post totalitarian wars, planet colonization, and post planet colonization all in one novel.


That's impressive! Are you sure that's just one book? It sounds like it would make a great outline for a big series.
 

JustSarah

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I'm definitely leaning toward a series, I'm just being conservative cause of my tendency to underwrite.D: