Pat Frank and David Brin - Alas, Babylon

Pros: Quick reading, striking classic post-apocalyptic novel...
Cons: Not everybody has read it yet...

There are few books that even today carry with them a distinct message. A message I think about daily; a message that seems all too real today in this era of war and unrest. One particular genre of fiction that speaks to, about, and in turn against the...

Pros: Strong characterization, intriguing premise, not completely "preachy."
Cons: For a 44-year old novel, it holds up surprisingly well.

I had a happy childhood. Two parents, one brother, one sister, one cat, one dog. All the Star Wars ...

Pros: Warm, interesting book about a community surviving by helping each other.
Cons: Impossible scenario sometimes takes away from reader involvement

Alas Babylon is a novel about community above all else. Randy Bragg resides in Fort Repose, Central Florida. He lives on a riverbank, in a fairly well-to-do neighborhood where the greatest concerns are petty local politics and pettier pieces of ...

Pros: Makes you think, good character buildup
Cons: You want to follow the rest of their lives, but can't

When I was bored and finished with my stack of books, my husband handed me this book and told me it was one of his favorites. He had read it numerous times and just knew I would like it. Since I finished, I have also given it to my 14 year old to read,...

Pros: Succinct yet engrossing, Pat Frank depicts the process of recuperating after mass destruction.
Cons: A bit too simplified in parts; easy fix in some areas

Imagine the scenario: a nuclear holocaust shatters America, leaving all major cities and military bases destroyed and contaminated by unimaginable amounts of fallout. You are the makeshift patriarch of a frightened yet determined mixture of family,...

Pros: keeps you interested, makes you think of the world around you.
Cons: none

The main setting for this story is in Fort Repose, Florida.

As children, Mark and Randy Bragg used the words, "Alas Babylon", to indicate disaster. So when, many years later, Mark sends Randy a message by western union telling him that he...

Pros: Vivid description of people enduring nuclear holocaust and it aftermath.
Cons: emotional reactions of characters aren't accurately depicted.

This is one of the most hair raising, vivid and realistic accounts of nuclear conflict between the O ...

Pros: Good detail
Cons: Sometime hard to understand

I first read this in my 12th grade English class and just re-read it again. This is one of my very favorite books. It takes place in a post nuclear war Florida. The author goes deep into detail about how the town prepares for life after the bomb is...

Pros: Very Real and historically accurate.
Cons: very disturbing.

Written during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this book had a huge effect in the 60's and 70's. The author takes this American fear and describes what would happen if we were hit with the worst. Imagine Castro actually bombarding us with nuclear missiles....

Pros: Nuclear War = GREAT
Cons: What? hahah

This book is, simply, the greatest book I've ever read. The main setting is post-nuclear-war Fort Repose, Florida. It's basically about what would happen if nuclear war broke out..tomorrow. I think this is the book that started my obsession with...

Pros: Descriptive, Exciting people
Cons: Few unneeded details

Pat Frank analyzes what most people don't realize they can't live without. Electricity. Amongst this lost resource, a war threatens peoples' lives. I realized this book focuses on the fact that man can't live without our new advances in technology....

Pros: None whatsoever!
Cons: Very boring and poorly written piece of trash!

As a senior in high school, I was required to read this Cold War trash for my English class. My teacher told everyone (and I quote), "This is the book that people who hate reading end up liking." Well, I like reading OK, but this book was an utter piece of crap! About every chapter is literally at least 30 pages full of unnecessary gibberish and kept talking military speak. Alice the librarian hardly contributes anything to the story. It was very obvious that Helen and Dan liked each other without a full blown explanation. If that's not bad enough, it doesn't even tell how Randy and Lib became a couple. It just says they met one day and the next time Randy greets Lib with a kiss. If you people want to read a good book, then this is NOT the book to read!