Quick Book Review - Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
Earth Abides is a fascinating and exciting book that offers something very good to the post-apocalyptic genre. The book was written in 1949 and does hold some of the that's times wording and language. However, delving deeper than the old fashion language it is a good read.
The story is that humanity has been all but wiped out on a rapid time scale by a virus. This is, of course, the cliche of the genre, but given this book is now 68 years old, the cliche can be forgiven.
The main character is a chap called Ish who is from an Academic background and missed the tragedy while in the Californian mountains doing research and is laid low with a snake bite.
He then returns to the world to find towns abandoned and roads empty. Think the Walking Dead opening episode but lacking zombies.
What sets this book apart from others in the genre to my taste is one, the lack of violence and two, the anthropology and biology that is told by the main character, as the world and civilization change.
The timescale is set over a 60-plus year period and offers a fascinating and thought-provoking set of questions, about morals, man, love, biology, books and the state.
I do not want to go into great detail about the story, but if you have only ever read one book set in post-apocalyptic America this is the one you should read.