10 Books That Will Help You Survive An Apocalypse

From zombie apocalypses to asteroids and pandemics, the end of the world has been well documented in literature. Whilst we may not be able to explain why we are so fascinated with the destruction of our planet, we might be able to pick up a few survival tips to prepare us for when the end really is nigh.

1. Station Eleven: Should the apocalypse come, make sure to grab the Collected Works of Shakespeare.

Via picador.com

The story follows a travelling Shakespeare company and charts the unexpected twists of fate that connect six people in a world where 99% of the population has been wiped out by a pandemic.

2. The Hunger Games: Learn how to fire a bow and arrow, trap animals, climb trees and look fabulous in a wedding dress.

Scholastic / Via scholastic.com

In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided between 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games, where only one victor is left standing.

3. The Road: Killing doesn't always make you the bad guy. It’s the only way to survive.

Via panmacmillan.com

A father and his young son walk alone through burned America, heading slowly for the coast. They have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the men who stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food – and each other.

4. Exit Kingdom: When there is nobody left, you may end up saving the one person who is supposed to save you.

Via panmacmillan.com

In a world where the undead outnumber the living, Moses Todd roams the post-apocalyptic plains of America with his brother, Abraham. A chance encounter presents Moses with Vestal Amata, a beguiling and mysterious woman who may hold the key to salvation, if he can save her from the clutches of those who most desire her.

5. Extinction Game: Even if you are the last person on Earth, you might find comfort in the knowledge that there may be an infinite number of apocalyptic Earths in other universes with sole survivors.

Via panmacmillan.com

Jerry Beche is rescued from a desolate Earth where he was the last man alive. He is trained with survivors from alternate Earths to retrieve weapons and data in missions to other apocalyptic versions of our world. But soon Jerry begins to distrust the shadowy organization that rescued him and hunt for the truth.

6. The Bone Clocks: Sometimes the people you least expect are the ones who can do extraordinary things.

Hodder & Stoughton / Via hodder.co.uk

The Bone Clocks follows the twists and turns of Holly Sykes' life as Europe's oil supply dries up – a life not so far out of the ordinary, yet punctuated by flashes of precognition, visits from people who emerge from thin air and brief lapses in the laws of reality. For Holly Sykes is also an unwitting player in a murderous feud played out in the shadows and margins of our world, and may prove to be its decisive weapon.

7. The Walking Dead: Descent: Sometimes humans can be as dangerous as the living dead.

Pan Macmillan

Descent marks the beginning of a new series set in the world of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead. The town of Woodbury, Georgia, is still recovering from its former tyrannical leader The Governor when a new enigmatic preacher named Jeremiah seems like the perfect answer to the dream of a democratic, family-friendly future.

8. Z for Zachariah: Be careful what you wish for. There might be worse things than being the last person on Earth.

Puffin Books / Via penguin.co.uk

In the aftermath of a nuclear war, the only living survivor is sixteen year old Ann Burden. One day she sees smoke rising from a distant campfire and summons up the courage to approach this stranger, with terrifying consequences.

9. Canticle for Liebowitz: Humans are the masters of their own destruction and history has a habit of repeating itself.

Hachette / Via hachette.co.uk

Spanning six centuries after the Earth is devastated by nuclear war, this story begins when Brother Francis Gerard of Leibowitz Abbey uncovers an ancient fallout survival shelter containing puzzling clues into pre-apocalyptic culture. But will this discovery help humankind avoid another self-inflicted catastrophe?

10. Children of Men: Always be prepared. The end of the world might not look exactly how you expect it to.

Faber & Faber / Via faber.co.uk

Not a dramatic and rapid end of the earth like most post-apocalyptic novels, but a slow and steady decline in the population after the human race can no longer reproduce.