What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I'm trying to a dystopian novel, set in the US, with a strict religious based government. I remember the background for how the society formed was that the US had a series of huge natural disasters in a very short period of time - earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. And the more disasters that happened, more insular and religious the government became - I believe because the disasters were seen punishment by God. As I recall, there was very little contact with other (European) countries.

The one image I remember very vividly was it talking about lines of tornadoes "marching" across the plains states.

For the past few years, I thought I was thinking of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. But I just got through re-reading it, and though it does involve an earthquake and an insular religious government, the passages I remember wasn't part of the book. So, I must have been combining the background and a few passages of some other book with my memory of Atwood's.

Anyone have any clue what book I'm thinking of?

I must have read it at least 5-10 years ago, possibly longer, and the book may be older yet.



Additional things remembered:
Adult, not YA.
Takes place years (or maybe decades) after disasters - new government has been in place for awhile. But not centuries later.
I think the name of the new government started with an F, though I can't swear to that.
Set in the former USA? I think? Might be wrong on this one.

Perhaps Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America

Thank you for the suggestion, but I've never read anything by Wilson, despite my best intentions.

I don't remember the religious portion, but it's been awhile since I read it, but possibly Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

If Tomorrow Comes 2012 Edition (2000) by Glen Robinson?

Margaret Atwood had other dystopic novels, but I don't remember how they got that way.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I don't think Lucifer's Hammer or If Tomorrow Comes are the book I'm thinking of.

The one I'm remembering takes place several years (maybe even a couple of decades) after all of the disasters, not while they were still happening.

Mel, I'll take a look at the rest of Atwood's books, but I don't think I have read anything else by her yet.

The Wind from Nowhere perhaps?

The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake are the ones I'm thinking of.

Year of the Flood is too new but I know I had an audio book of Oryx and Crake years ago. I don't believe I ever got around to listening to it but it's on my list of books to read in the next couple of weeks anyway, so if it is the one, I'll find out soon.

Trilobyte, The Wind from Nowhere doesn't ring a bell, but it certainly sounds interesting!

The Prince in Waiting series possibly?

The Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card

I just finished Oryx and Crake, and while it's a very good book and I enjoyed it, it's not the one I'm thinking of.

Mawgojzeta, I read a short story in the same universe as The Folk of the Fringe just last month and was completely and utterly lost! I think if it'd been that book, the short story would have triggered a few bells.

Ann aka Iftcan, this would have been an adult book, so it couldn't have been The Prince in Waiting.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, once again!


For a completely vague and unhelpful tidbit of information, I want to say that the name of the new government started with an F. But I'm not 100% sure about that...

A few possibilities from my to read list - they all involve storms
Mother of Storms This sounds the most likely but no mention of religion
Time Storm probably not it
Portent sounds like it's more global than the one you're after

If it's not any of those then you might want to try looking through my "post apocalyptic to read" shelf. Good luck!

I just got reminded of this story again so I figured I'd bump this thread up.

Trilobyte - I've went through your to-read shelf and took a look at everything I remember having read and didn't see anything that sounds likely. (You have good tastes, by the way!)

LibraryThing has a list of books tagged "science fiction theocracy", maybe something there would ring a bell. You can view them here.

Hm.

Sherri Tepper is ringing a bell for some reason and I know I read a couple of her books in the time period I think I read this story. I'm pretty sure the book I'm remembering couldn't be Grass, but what I can recall of the plot/writing style does seem like something Tepper could write so I'll have to take a close look at her books.

It also might be one of the stories in Heinlein's Revolt in 2100. What I recall doesn't seem typical of Heinlein but the premise of one of the stories does match and it's highly likely I would have read it back in High School.

So, thanks for two really good possibilities. I'll have to check them out and get back to you.

Melanti wrote: "Sherri Tepper is ringing a bell for some reason and I know I read a couple of her books in the time period I think I read this story. I'm pretty the book I'm remembering couldn't be Grass..."

Grass isn't set on Earth, so it's not that. Maybe Beauty? Or Gibbon's Decline and Fall?

A couple guesses:
A Canticle for Leibowitz

Parable of the Sower

I finally managed to track down copies of the Heinlein and Tepper books.

It's definitely not the Heinlein book.
I just skimmed through parts of Beauty and it looks like that one is due to overpopulation, not natural disasters.
Gibbon's Decline and Fall seems to have several similarities, but I don't believe it's the one I'm thinking of.
I also looked at The Gate to Woman's Country since the blurb mentioned it being a post-holocaust dystopia, but it's definitely not that one.

caracal-eyes wrote: "A couple guesses:
A Canticle for Leibowitz

Parable of the Sower"

Nope, neither of those.


Thanks for all of the suggestions, everyone. I'm still looking for the right book.

Bump

natural disaster fiction
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

Popular Natural Disaster Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

It shouldn't be any of the first since the rules of that listopia are that the disaster has to be part of the plot and this isn't.

This takes place after the disasters are over.

For the second link - I scanned through the list and found mostly the same thing - most of those (judging by the titles and cover) deal directly with the disaster and most are new.

There's a TON of romance novels on the list, by the way. I had no clue earthquakes and tornadoes were so romantic!

And someone has tagged a non-fiction book about Twinkies as being about natural disasters. I question the "natural" portion of that label.

Long shot. The storms are artificial, but they're there.

Fitzpatrick's War

Thank you for the suggestion, but that's not the one I'm looking for.

bump

Melanti wrote: "It shouldn't be any of the first since the rules of that listopia are that the disaster has to be part of the plot and this isn't.

This takes place after the disasters are over.

For the second li..."

Just read your comment about the Twinkies book
and had to laugh!

bump

Beyond the Night?

The Sheep Look Up is environmentally themed, but I don't know if the government is religious.

Also see this one The Road to Corlay

Definitely not Beyond the Night. Not a romance fan at all, so the cover would have scared me off.

It doesn't sound like it could be The Sheep Look Up. What I'm remembering is natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc) rather than ecological disasters (pollution, etc).

Don't think it's The Road to Corlay either. Much too far in the future, and wrong type of disaster (flooding). Also, I'm pretty sure the setting is the former USA, though I can't swear to that.

Thanks for the suggestions, though!

Can you remember anything that happened during the book, not just the setting? Do you know who the characters were? What age? Did they have jobs? Were they fighting against the government? Anything at all about the plot.

Unfortunately not.

It's gotten so mixed up with The Handmaid's Tale in my head that I can't remember anything but the setting.

I doubt it would have been fighting against the government in a militaristic/rebellion type style since that's not generally something I'd find interesting, but other than that, I have no idea.

Well The Chrysalids is as dystopian novel set after what is presumably a nuclear war so it doesn't meet your criteria. But if your recollection of it isn't that good then i might as well suggest it :-) You never know.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've read several of Wyndham's other books, but not that one - though I really want to.

Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents? At the end of the first book a religious government takes over and puts the adults in re-education camps and adopts the children to properly Christian families, and the second book is looking back years later on the events from the perspective of one of the children who was adopted out and is trying to come to terms with her famous mother (who founded Earthseed, a new religion). I would say Butler and these in particular make sense to compare to Atwood and Handmaid's Tale.

There's a fundamentalist government faction in Daybreak Zero, the second Daybreak novel by John Barnes, but I can't remember what it's called and the disasters are man made in that series, not natural, however all encompassing.

Deborah's suggestions:
- Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
- Daybreak Zero by John Barnes

No, sorry those aren't it.

Daybreak Zero is far too new.

I've read Parable of the Sower (though not Parable of the Talents) and it's not that.

I was looking for another book and read the description of this one: A Gift Upon the Shore

"In the Pacific Northwest of the near future, the golden age has ended in apocalypse. Nuclear war has unleashed firestorms and the killing cold of nuclear winter. Earthquakes and tidal waves have ravaged the West Coast of America. Desperate violent looters comb the devastated land. And a horrifying pandemic lays waste to the remaining human population. But one of the few survivors, Mary Hope, is determined to see that some spark of culture survives. Together with her beloved friend Rachel, she sets out to preserve the precious knowledge of the past by saving every book she can in what may very well be the last library - the only record of a world that has perished. But Mary and Rachel are not alone. They are forced to share their small subsistence farm, Amarna, with the Flock, a small band of survivors with fanatical beliefs. And one of those beliefs is that books are blasphemous and should be destroyed."

World Made by Hand

World Made by Hand is recent enough that I should have a record of it if I'd bought a copy, and I don't, so it couldn't be that. Plus it sounds like the apocalypse in that one was primarily running out of energy, and the other disasters just worsened the situation.


A Gift Upon the Shore doesn't sound familiar either, but everything it says about the setting sounds right. With it being so old, it's possible that I have just forgotten all but that. I'll have to get a copy and see. It sounds like could be an interesting book anyway,

this probably isn't it but could it be the life as we knew it series by Susan pfeffer

Sarah's suggestion - Last Survivors series - https://www.goodreads.com/series/4157...
First book is Life As We Knew It.

I've read the first few chapters of A Gift Upon the Shore and it's not that.

It's not Life As We Knew It. either.

I had stumbled upon your post looking for a book since I was reading the Last Survivor's series. I've been stumbling upon other dystopian book and after reading this thread, this book sounds like "The Darkest Path". https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Unfortunately, it can't be that one since it looks like it was published after I started this thread.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Two more that are probably a long shot: Aftermath and The Rift

The Long Tomorrow has the fundamentalist religion theme, it's post-apocalyptic but the apocalypse was nuclear not natural disasters.

The Psalms of Herod maybe?