Apocalyptic Literature: What I want to see.

Because of ICoS I now read more apocalypse-related books than ever before. I buy them with my own money AND get them sent free for review, and then I tell you about them, whether they’re good or bad. Hell, some of the books I write are apocalypse-related. So, after more than a year of reading about the apocalypse, I have a list of things I want to see  more of in future apocalyptic literature.

Better Writing:

It’s not that the writing in these books is bad. It’s usually perfectly competent. But it could be more powerful, more evocative – just more – with harsher editing. If you’re writing apocalyptic literature (especially if you’re going the self-publishing route) I’d recommend two books which will help you get it as good as possible. The Elements of Style and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. You should pick up Chuck Wendig’s books as well, but they’re less about editing and more about kicking your arse to get writing your crap, already, so that one is up to you. But the other two? Please, just do it. I’ve read loads of books with really interesting stories let down by poor editing.

Better female characters:

Most of the apocalyptic literature I’ve read was by men. The problem was, a great many of their female characters were cliches – irritating, insulting cliches at that. Remember that women are human beings rather than a collection of stereotypes. I don’t mind if one woman in your story is useless, but I start getting suspicious if she’s the only character that is, and then I’m outright judging you if ALL your women are useless. When I say ‘Better’ I mean I believe in her as a human being. Having her display some personality traits other than ‘screaming chick who needs to be rescued’ would be great. I sincerely doubt that post-apocalypse we would have time or room for ‘traditional gender roles’ anyway. While we’re at it, can we stop writing it so that even the good guys are enacting forced breeding? It’s rape, it’s skeevy and the good guys shouldn’t be forcing HUMAN BEINGS into a position where they are being abused and brutalised.

Better characters IN GENERAL.

While I find believable, relatable female characters are few and far between in apocalyptic literature, I also find that in nearly every book I’ve read the same character archetypes pop up. The grizzled, damaged war veteran. The girl who’s only a bitch cause she was raped.

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The creeper who betrays the group. Look, character archetypes exist for a reason, but if I can predict what your characters will do within the first 10 pages, it’s BAD. Do something new with them, something unexpected. Make the war veteran a perky, cheerful man with no dark past.

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Make the creeper loyal and caring, just socially awkward. Make the woman a bitch because she’s figured out that being bitchy gets stuff done. Stop relying on old, well-worn paths. Make your own.

More imagination and ingenuity:

By which I mean – write something different! There are no new stories under the sun, but there is a trick to this – write it in such a way that seems new. Add something, take something away, I don’t care what it is, but just write something different. The books are starting to blend in together now, because they’re all so similar.  The main reason I’m getting bored of zombies is that not only are they everywhere, but they’re the same bloody thing in each book. CHANGE SOMETHING. Write as though you’re setting a new standard and starting a new trend. Please? For example, check this out:  Dinocalypse Now. It’s apocalyptic literature, but it avoids the tired old tropes and boring setting, and it looks loads more fun.

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Actual Research:

How would the area you’re writing in respond to an apocalyptic event? Desert, jungle, overgrown woods? Research it. How many bullets can that gun fire without jamming? If it’s been uncared for for 18 months? Research it. What does a nuclear bomb do? RE-FUCKING-SEARCH IT. If you get it wrong, people who KNOW that you got it wrong will be pulled out of your story immediately. Sure, it’s fiction. But fiction needs to seem as if it’s real to the readers, and if you get it wrong… For my current novel (which is terrible and will never get published because MY GOD) I am researching radios. My girl is a ham radio enthusiast, so I need to know at least the basics of the different types, how they work, how you’d fix one. If you’re writing a novel – even one based in a world where everything has changed – and there’s a siege, you need to research seige warfare. RESEARCH.

Bottom line: This is writing. It’s not a thing you should do because you think it’s easy money or fame (it’s really not). It’s not something you can just churn out and have it be OK. It’s something you do because the love of it means it’s the only thing you CAN do. Which means you need to do the best you can, write the best, most amazing thing you’re capable of. Don’t be scared, or small, or dull with it.

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Get down right into the filthy guts of it all, and be incredible.

Please, I’m begging you.

What do our readers want to see from post apocalyptic literature in future? Talk about it in the comments.

If you have something tasty and apocalyptic that you’d like reviewed, we’re always happy to do it. If your book fits these guidelines, you’ll get a much more positive review than if it doesn’t. Just email anninyn at incaseofsurvival dot com and I’ll get back to you.

Book review: Resonance by AJ Scudiere

Blurb:[1. Review copy provided by Griffyn Ink]

THE SHIFT IS COMING. SOON.

Dr. David Carter knows this. However, he’s a geologist, so ’soon’ means anywhere from tomorrow to a thousand years from now.

PEOPLE ARE DYING. NOW.

Drs. Jordan Abellard and Jillian Brookwood are standing at the edge of SuperAIDS.

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Or are they? They won’t be able to figure it out if they can’t get some authorization signed – and soon. But they’re peons and no one is paying attention. That means no one will notice a little forgery either, right?

WHOLE SPECIES DIED AT THE LAST POLAR SHIFT. 65 MILLION YEARS AGO.

Right now Dr. Becky Sorenson has some seriously mutated frogs in her lab. In L.A. Bees are making abnormal columns on the side of the freeways. In Georgia, birds are migrating out of season. It all makes a sick kind of sense when the doctors consider that the last magnetic shift is strangely coincidental to the dinosaur die-out. And the only similarity among the problems today is that each is occurring in a ‘hotspot’ – a pocket of reversed polarity that tells them all.

THE SHIFT IS ALREADY HERE.

I’ll come right out and say it: I really, really wanted to like this book. Regardless of whether or not a catastrophe of this magnitude could be caused by a pole shift, the concept is intriguing.

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Book Review: Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson

[1. Robopocalypse was provided for review by Simon & Schuster]

Twenty years from now, a high-level artificial intelligence known as Archos comes on-line…and murders its creator.

Humanity has no idea when it starts to silently take over our cars, power grids, aircraft guidance systems and computer networks.

In the early months, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of humans, but most of us are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late.

At a moment known later in history as Zero Hour, every mechanical device in our world rebels against us, setting off the Robot War that both decimates and – for the first time in history – unites humankind.

Something I’ve had to learn with my increasing review schedule is this: Just because a book is good doesn’t mean I’ll like it, and just because I like a book doesn’t mean it’s good.

I like this book a lot. But, objectively speaking, it’s not that good. It’s action-y brain candy, and there is nothing wrong with that.

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Post Apocalyptic reading: Impressions – When Josie Comes Home, by AE Stanton

The New West 1: When Josie Comes Home by AE Stanton. [1. Review copy provided by Musa Publishing]

The future’s a lot like the past — the West’s still hard on women and horses.

The future’s a wonderful place to be if you were considered worthy — until a huge solar flare slagged the world computers. Now, over two hundred years later, the unworthies are all that’s left of humanity, and they’ve reverted back to the old, old ways.

Josie escapes from the forced sexual slavery of Horsetown, vowing to return with help to save her sisters. Ten years later, she’s not home — but her youngest sister, Sadie, insists Josie will return, with her Hero along to help save the day.

The Gambler’s in Horsetown for reasons all his own. Who is he? What’s he really here for? And what will happen if he’s in town When Josie Comes Home?

 

I was half way through this one before I even realised it. It’s another post-apocalyptic book where the vast majority of women are sex slaves, but the issue is treated with much more sensitivity and understanding than it is in The Last Mailman, which was my main complaint with that book.

And it’s also a damn good book.

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Post-Apocalyptic Reading: Impressions – THE LAST MAILMAN by Kevin. J. Burke

Description of Kevin. J. Burke’s The Last Mailman[1. This book was provided for review byPermuted Press]

Four-year degree in business. Trained in hand-to-hand combat.

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Works well with zombies. 

This is the resume of the last mailman on Earth. It is the near future, and the modern world we knew has been overrun and destroyed by reanimated corpses who hunt humans for food. Mankind has retreated to small pockets of civilization and practically surrendered to the walking dead. But one man routinely leaves behind the safety and comfort to find the people and things we’ve long abandoned. He battles the elements. He battles his own brewing insanity.

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But mostly, he battles zombies.

Well, now, this is a bit more like it.

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Apocalyptic fiction: Kids Today By Anninyn

I don’t know what the world’s coming to. I must have called the police a dozen times about all that screaming in the estate last night, but they were a no-show of course. Heard ‘em wailing about in the city centre though. Probably those ravers causing trouble again. I paid my taxes all my life, and they can’t be bothered to come help a scared old lady. Horrid little thugs shouting in the streets, smashing windows and all though the night that horrible screeching. Like nothing on earth I’ve ever heard. And no-one thinks of us decent sorts, stuck dealing with the filthy scum around here.

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Like rats, they just breed and make noise and mess everything up. We should bring back National Service, my Sam always said it’d sort them out.

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