During 2020 I’ve found apocalyptic fiction strangely comforting. Here’s my top five for the year:
1. “World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War” by Max Brooks. It’s zombies and not COVID-19, but the opening chapters are eerily similar to the opening stages of the pandemic. The outbreak even begins in China before spreading quickly to the rest of the world. The short sections describing isolated incidents that quickly spread to become regional outbreaks are chilling.
2. “The Martian Chronicles” by Ray Bradbury. A story of exploration, colonization, and an ancient culture that’s quickly destroyed when humans and their diseases make it to Mars. Short but beautiful and terribly sad.
3. “On the Beach” by Neville Shute. The people of Australia have a final few months before the winds shift and the fallout from a nuclear war reaches the continent. Some choose to drink and party away their last few days, while others complete the relationships with their loved ones or try to fulfill their chosen commitments.
4. “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson. Hiro Protagonist fights his way through the internet and an almost-apocalyptic, hyper-capitalist North America trying to stop a virus from destroying the world. Fast, fun, eerily prophetic, and still one of my favorite books.
5. “Galapagos” by Kurt Vonnegut. A small group of mostly strangers accidentally survive the end humanity. I’m still not certain whether or not they were the lucky ones, but no one writes like Vonnegut.
Blake P.