The 11 Best Post Apocalyptic Book Series
Best Post Apocalyptic Books → The 11 Best Post Apocalyptic Book Series
You're totally immersed in an end-of-the-world story - you can virtually smell the decay and hear the shuffling of zombie footsteps - and then you turn the page to discover... the end. The book has finished, the journey is over, and you're left feeling a sense of loss.
Here's my solution: ditch the standalone stories and pick a post-apocalyptic book series, something that sprawls across thousands of pages and multiple books.
To get you started, here's my pick of the best end of the world series:
11 Post-Apocalyptic Book Series
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Number of Books in Series:
8 (The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The taste Lands, Wizard and Glass, The Wind Through the Keyhole, Voles of the Calla, Song of Susannah, The Dark Tower)
Description of Book One:
The Gunslinger is a novel by Stephen King that tells the story of Roland Deschain, a gunslinger on a quest to catch the Man in Black. The novel is set in a post-apocalyptic world where technology has been largely destroyed and society has regressed to a medieval state. Roland is from a noble family and has been trained in the ways of the gun since he was a child: he is an expert marksman and even has the power to draw magical creatures from other worlds into his own. Roland's quest takes him across different worlds and into battle with the forces of evil, mixing elements of western, fantasy, and horror genres along the way.
Silo by Hugh Howey
Number of Books in Series:
3 (Wool, Shift, Dust)
Description of Book One:
Wool is set in a future where the earth's surface has been rendered uninhabitable by some unknown event. The first book follows a group of survivors that live in a giant silo that extends below the earth's surface, with each level containing different amenities and functions. The bookfollows the character of Juliette, who is tasked with maintaining the silo and keeping its inhabitants safe. However, as she begins to uncover the truth about the silo, she realizes that the life she has known is not as it seems.
Maddaddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood
Number of Books in Series:
3 (Year of the Flood, Oryx and Crake, Maddaddam)
Description of Book One:
Margaret Atwood's novel Year of the Flood is a gripping tale of life in a future world that has been devastated by environmental disasters - and a pandemic known as the Waterless Flood. The story follows the lives of two women who have survived the floods, plagues, and famines that have decimated the planet. They are both members of a religious group known as the God's Gardeners, and among the few survivors left in a world that is now ruled by giant corporations and controlled by a powerful elite. The women must struggle to survive in a hostile world that is filled with danger and violence.
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Number of Books in Series:
3 (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Dead-Tossed Waves, The Dark and Hollow Places)
Description of Book One:
The post apocalyptic book series The Forest of Hands and Teeth is set in a world where a deadly virus has turned most of the population into zombies, known as "the unconsecrated." The story follows a group of survivors and a young woman named Mary as they battle their way through hordes of zombies - and the dangerous forest itself, full of treacherous traps and hidden dangers - in an attempt to find safety. The books are full of suspense, action, and horror, and have been praised for their originality and gripping story.
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Number of Books in Series:
4 (Warm Bodies, The New Hunger, The Burning World, The Living)
Description of Book One:
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion is a post apocalyptic book series that follows the story of R, a zombie bestowed with human emotions who falls in love with a human girl named Julie. The series is set in a world where most of humanity has been wiped out by a zombie apocalypse, and follows R and Julie as they try to survive in this new world. The series is unique in that it is told from the perspective of a zombie, and offers an interesting look at what it might be like to be one of the undead.
Newsflesh by Mira Grant
Number of Books in Series:
3 (Feed, Deadline, Blackout)
Description of Book One:
Feed by Mira Grant is set in a future world where the human race has been almost entirely wiped out by a virulent disease. The few remaining survivors are living in a society that is very different from our own. The internet and social media have been replaced by a new form of communication called the "feed." This allows people to share their thoughts and feelings with each other instantaneously, and it also allows them to be constantly connected to the internet. The government is a corporate entity that controls all information, and the citizens are fiercely divided into two factions: the rich and the poor. The story follows the journey of a group of young people who are trying to survive in this hostile environment. Along the way, they must deal with raiders, cannibals, and mutated animals, and grapple with the question of whether or not to trust the government that has lied to them for so long.
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Number of Books in Series:
3 (The Passage, The Twelve, City of Mirrors)
Description of Book One:
The Passage is a novel by Justin Cronin that was published in 2010. The story is set in the near future, and it centers on a government experiment gone wrong. A group of scientists working for the military have developed a virus that they hope will be able to create super soldiers. However, the virus turns out to be much more dangerous than they realized, and it soon spreads beyond their control. The novel follows a group of survivors as they attempt to escape the infected people who are now known as “virals.” The Passage spans hundreds of years with a sprawling, epic story arc more than a little reminiscent of The Stand by Stephen King.
The Three Californias Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
Number of Books in Series:
3 (The Wild Shore, The Gold Coast, Pacific Edge - also known as The Wild Shore Triptych)
Description of Book One:
The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson is a novel set in the future after a nuclear war has destroyed much of civilization. The novel follows the journey of a group of teenagers as they travel along the coast of California, searching for a new home. Along the way, they face many challenges, including starvation, dehydration, and bands of roving raiders. Despite the hardships, they ultimately find a safe haven where they can start to rebuild their lives. The book is notable for its exploration of themes such as environmentalism, technology, and engineering, and widely considered to be one of Robinson's best novels (and one of the most influential works of post-apocalyptic fiction).
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman
Number of Books in Series:
32 (forgive me for not listing them all - starting with Days Gone Bye)
Description of Book One:
Days Gone Bye is the first volume in the graphic novel series The Walking Dead,, and introduces the characters of Rick Grimes, a police officer, and his family: wife Lori, son Carl, and daughter Judith. The story follows Rick as he awakens from a coma to find that the world has been overrun by zombies, or "walkers" as they are called in the book. As he sets out to find his wife and son, he quickly discovers that the living are just as dangerous as the dead, and he must do whatever it takes to survive in this new world.
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolf
Number of Books in Series:
4 (The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, The Citadel of the Autarch)
Description of Book One:
The Shadow of the Torturer is a science fiction novel that follows the journey of Severian, a journeyman torturer who is exiled from his guild after committing a forbidden act of mercy. As he travels across the strange and dangerous world of Urth, Severian meets a variety of characters, some of whom help him on his quest and some of whom hinder him.
The Green Priest by Ryan Law
Number of Books in Series:
2 (The Green Priest, The Death-Marked Pilgrim - and a third book currently being written)
Description of Book One:
The Green Priest follows the story of Halvar, a hunter-in-training that travels the flooded waterways and ruined cities of a world that has been drowned beneath floodwaters. As he and his guildmates delve deep into the mysteries of the drowned world, they stumble upon a curious artefact of the ancients - and attract unwanted attention in the process. When a mysterious religious order called The Green Priests track Halvar down, his life is changed forever, beginning a journey that will take him to the ends of the earth.
Who says the journey ever has to end?
It'll take you a while to work through these 11 book series, and should you reach the end... well, why not check out our master list of the best post apocalyptic books ever written? There's enough for several lifetimes.
