Let's be honest. Contemplating the end of the world is something of a guilty pleasure, and it has been for thousands of years. Post-Apocalyptic fiction is a popular and growing genre, led in large part by some talented Indie publishers and bloggers. Of course, most of us (most of us) don't actually want the world to end. No sane person wishes for the death of hundreds of millions, or even billions, of people. Nor would many of us want to be one of those casualties - which we almost surely would be. And no one wants to see our beautiful, lush planet transformed into an inhospitable sphere of fire and ash. Why, then, should any of us read or write apocalyptic fiction? In a word: Possibilities. An apocalyptic world is one in which the old rules don't apply. National borders? Gone. Credit ratings? Gone. Mortgage payments? Bills? Regulations? Taxes? Social media? Television? Student debt? Gone, gone, gone, gone... "End of the World" (EOTWH or SHTF) stories give writers and readers a blank slate on which they can impress their own hopes and fears. They allow us to throw off all the baggage hoisted on us by modern society and to ponder what we might do if our only purpose in life was to live and to protect the ones we love. They allow us to recreate the world in ways both terrifying and hopeful. In short, the allow us to imagine the ultimate "fresh start." True, that start might not be that fresh, particularly if zombies are involved, or biological weapons, or radiation, or starvation, or...well, you get the idea. But it would be a world in which all the old and tedious challenges have been replaced with new and terrifying challenges. And as a purely mental exercise, we can have a lot of fun with that. ApocalypseScript.Com has two aims: First, to review quality indie books with a post-apocalyptic theme. Second, to explore the real apocalyptic dangers our civilization faces, via occasional updates on the Home page. Let's hope the fiction remains fiction. Enjoy! SF
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