Beyond Armageddon - Böcker

This book may change your life. It may save it. It is one of the most important—and most shocking—books ever written. Tomorrow! is a story of average, nice Americans living in the neighboring cities of Green Prairie and River City in Middle America. It is—until the sudden blitz—the story of the girl next door and her boyfriend; of the accountant who saw what was coming, and the rich old lady who didn't; of engaging young kids, babies, "hoods," a bank official who "borrowed" from a customer's account. Then, at the height of the Christmas shopping season, Condition Red is sounded, and this down-to-earth story of America's Main Street becomes a shattering, vivid experience of the nightmare that human beings have cooked up for themselves. Tomorrow! can be read as a novel of pure suspense—if you dare. It is a thriller in which the apocalyptic technology of today is superimposed on the future. But the novel is also designed to show Philip Wylie's conclusions about America's dangerous vulnerability to dread, hysteria, and panic, as well as his recommendations about what must be done.

In The End of the Dream, venerated science-fiction author Philip Wylie trains his sights on the ultimate catastrophe – the destruction of the world through human beings' unheeding and willful poisoning of the atmosphere, the land, the seas and rivers, and finally of the human race itself. The End of the Dream describes a horrific future when toxic chemicals, mutated creatures, and noxious gases all contribute to the eventual death of the human race and of the earth itself through a choking, painful, and pitiless exposure to foul air, disease, and the eruptions of outraged nature. Shortly before his death in 1971, Wylie wrote this warning on the dangers of pollution in the hope that constructive action against environmental disasters might yet be possible. Although many positive changes have taken place in the intervening forty years, Wylie's haunting tale still points out many unaddressed abuses – abuses that still have the potential to cause enormous damage to the ecosystem and humanity. The End of the Dream is still relevant today – its dire tableau highlights now as earlier the problems and choices we continue to face.

In the world's upper hemisphere, only one small group has survived World War III: fourteen people, sheltered deep within a limestone mountain in Connecticut and with enough supplies and equipment to maintain their subsistence for upwards of two years. The group includes a forward-thinking millionaire and his family, a levelheaded Jewish scientist, a playboy, an aging African American servant and his daughter, a gigolo and the glamorous woman who has been his mistress, a beautiful Chinese girl, a young meter reader, two children, and a Japanese engineer. Fully aware of the outcome of the war that had raged briefly above them, the survivors seethe with hatred, fall into depression over their losses, rise to moments of superhuman bravery, and lapse into behavior that reflects their human weaknesses. Philip Wylie mercilessly predicts the inevitable end of a world that continues to function as selfishly and as barbarously as our own.

Taken from an ancient text found abandoned in a cave, The Last Man ends in 2100, "the last year of the world." A devastating worldwide plague has annihilated all of humanity except for one man, who chronicles the world's demise. This novel of apocalyptic horror, originally published in 1826, was rejected in its time and was out of print from 1833 to 1965, when the first Bison Books edition appeared.

Twenty years after the great battle at Northwall, the disparate warring tribes are moving toward a peaceful unity for the first time since before the Time of the Fire. With the comfort of peace, the running bands of nomadic Shumai Axemen are settling down and forgoing their traditional ways. So Tor, last of the great Shumai Axemen, takes his nephew Tristal on a last run to teach the boy the Way of the Axeman. But Tristal will have to survive deadly encounters, endure a seductive captivity, and even suffer enslavement before he learns that there is more to the Axeman's skill than just a sound arm and a handy opponent. The Song of the Axe is the sixth book in the classic series of postapocalyptic novels about the people of Pelbar. Paul O. Williams's fascinating and optimistic vision of an America long after a series of cataclysmic events has enthralled readers for decades.

After eleven hundred years of struggle, the warring tribes that survived the apocalyptic destruction of the United States have finally united, forming the peaceful Heart River Federation. But three eastern cities remain outside the federation. Led by Innanigani forces, these last rogue tribes seek western victories and rich lands from the Heart River Federation. In their desire for land, the tribes unleash yet another war. Yet this war is different, for Innanigan is the last renegade state in North America. If a just peace can be negotiated, the continent might be united again for the first time in a millennium. But if the conflict continues, civilization might be lost forever. The Sword of Forbearance is the seventh and final book in the classic series of postapocalyptic novels about the people of Pelbar. Paul O. Williams's fascinating and optimistic vision of an America long after a series of cataclysmic events has enthralled readers for decades.

Eleven hundred years after the apocalyptic destruction of the United States of America, peace between the remaining warring tribes has finally been achieved. Despite this peace, the Pelbar stronghold Threerivers retains its secretive and reclusive ways, keeping its distance from the other remaining tribes and guarding against change. A strict matriarchy, Threerivers remains the most conservative Pelbar community under the unquestioned and unyielding rule of its leader, Udge. Life in Threerivers continues without change until two young twin brothers, Brudoer and Gamwyn, accidentally initiate events that threaten the established order. The resulting chain of consequences sends Gamwyn on a quest to the far reaches of this postapocalyptic world. Within Threerivers, Brudoer's imprisonment threatens the long-established matriarchal rule of the Pelbar stronghold. The Fall of the Shell is the fourth book in the classic series of postapocalyptic novels about the people of Pelbar

One thousand years after "the time of fire," a gentle craftsman and flute player forsakes both his true love and birthright to seek the fabled Shining Sea. Stel, born of proud but rigid Pelbar culture, embarks on an epic quest across an America dramatically changed by a long-ago nuclear war. Following him is his beloved wife, Ahroe, equally determined to find Stel, avoid disgrace, and share her own precious secret. The Ends of the Circle is the second novel in the highly praised Pelbar Cycle, a classic series of postapocalyptic novels about the people of the Pelbar. Imaginative and reflective, this rousing tale introduces Stel—engineer and poet, adventurer and musician—one of the most memorable characters in modern postapocalyptic fiction.

More than one thousand years in the future, the conservative borders of Pelbar society continue to crumble as the people of Pelbar conduct trade, form friendships, and intermarry with members of the tribes now settled peacefully around the citadel of Northwall. Not all agree with the changes, however, and long instead for the old times of conflict and rigid order. Igniting the tension is the discovery of a mysterious subterranean shelter, where the descendants of survivors of the long-ago nuclear war live. A young woman from the shelter and the shocking revelations she brings precipitate a crisis that will profoundly affect the futures of plainsmen and citadelfolk alike. The Dome in the Forest is the third volume and one of the most exciting tales in the Pelbar Cycle, a classic series of seven postapocalyptic novels about the people of Pelbar.

One thousand years after a devastating and chaotic series of nuclear exchanges, all that is left of the United States of America are scattered, warring tribes and small city-states. One of the latter is Pelbar—proud, civilized, and intolerant of change and new ideas. Rebels and troublemakers are sentenced to a year of exile at the massive midwestern fortress of Northwall, defending Pelbar against the fierce Shumai and Sentani tribes. Restless and brilliant Jestak is a visionary who has seen and learned too much in his distant travels to be content with life in Pelbarigan. During his exile at Northwall, he makes contact with Pelbar's age-old enemies and risks all to rescue his beloved Tia from nomads armed with long-lost weapons from before the atomic holocaust. Jestak's daring quest for love brings profound changes to his world. The Breaking of Northwall is the first in a series of seven classic postapocalyptic novels about the Pelbar people. Williams's fascinating and uniquely optimistic vision of an America long after a nuclear war has enthralled readers for decades.