Books like “The Postman”

What to read after “The Postman” by David Brin: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Becky Chambers · 2021
Similar atmosphere: “Hopepunk”
- Hopepunk
- Quest
A tea monk who serves travellers on a distant moon meets a robot that has spent centuries in the wild. The two travel together while the monk tries to answer a question the robot asks: what do people need?
2
The Road
Cormac McCarthy · 2006
Same genre: “Post-apocalyptic fiction”
- Post-Apocalyptic World
- Survival
A father and his young son walk through a burned America, pushing a cart of scavenged supplies and hiding from bands of survivors who hunt people for food. Their only aim is to keep moving south and stay alive while holding on to decency.
3
Wool
Hugh Howey · 2011
Same genre: “Post-apocalyptic fiction”
- Post-Apocalyptic World
- Survival
In a future where the air outside is deadly, people live in a buried silo and are told that anyone who asks to go outside will be sent there to die. When a sheriff starts asking questions about the world beyond the walls, the silo's careful order begins to crack.
4
Parable of the Sower
Octavia E. Butler · 1993
Same genre: “Post-apocalyptic fiction”
In a near-future California wrecked by drought and lawlessness, a teenage girl who feels the pain of others builds a new belief while her walled neighbourhood falls apart. She leads a small group north, looking for land and for something to hold on to.
5
Severance
Ling Ma · 2018
Same genre: “Post-apocalyptic fiction”
- Post-Apocalyptic World
- Survival
A millennial office worker in New York keeps showing up to her publishing job as a fever turns people into repetitive, wandering shells. Her account of the collapse moves between satire of work and the quiet end of the world.
6
Earth Abides
George R. Stewart · 1949
Same genre: “Post-apocalyptic fiction” and “Science fiction”
- Post-Apocalyptic World
- Survival
A plague kills nearly everyone on Earth. An ecologist emerges from the mountains to find empty cities and a few survivors, and spends the rest of his life watching a new, smaller society take shape without the old world's machinery.
7
All Systems Red
Martha Wells · 2017
Same genre: “Science fiction”
- Reluctant Hero
- Survival
A security android that has quietly hacked its own governor module would rather watch soap operas than protect the survey team it is assigned to. When the planet turns hostile, it must choose between staying hidden and risking everything for the humans in its care.
8
The Day of the Triffids
John Wyndham · 1951
Same genre: “Post-apocalyptic fiction” and “Science fiction”
- Post-Apocalyptic World
- Survival
A meteor shower blinds most of humanity, leaving a few sighted survivors in a world where walking, venomous plants have escaped from farms. A young man and a small group try to reach safety and decide what kind of society can be rebuilt.
9
Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel · 2014
Same genre: “Post-apocalyptic fiction”
- Post-Apocalyptic World
- Survival
After a flu wipes out most of humanity, a travelling theatre troupe moves between the small settlements that remain, performing Shakespeare. The story follows survivors across decades and asks what of civilization is worth carrying forward.
10
The Year of the Flood
Margaret Atwood · 2009
Same genre: “Post-apocalyptic fiction”
- Post-Apocalyptic World
- Survival
A religious sect called God's Gardeners expects a coming catastrophe and tries to live apart from the corrupt world around it. Two women, Toby and Ren, tell how they reached the group and what happened to them after the disaster they predicted.
11
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
Same genre: “Science fiction”
- Mistaken Identity
- Survival
Cara earns her living travelling to parallel worlds where her other selves have died. When a traversal goes wrong, she is thrown into a revolution in the wasteland and uncovers a secret about the multiverse that threatens the powerful people who rely on her.
12
The 5th Wave
Rick Yancey · 2013
Same genre: “Post-apocalyptic fiction”
- Post-Apocalyptic World
- Survival
After a series of waves wipes out most of humanity, sixteen-year-old Cassie is alone and running from an enemy that could look like anyone. To find her little brother she will have to trust a stranger, even as she learns how the invasion really works.