1959 was a landmark year for post-apocalyptic fiction. Two of the greatest novels of the genre were published that year. Last week I wrote about the first, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. and this week I am following up with Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank. Where Leibowitz is a novel of ideas and follows the epic scale of mankind’s long crawl out of (and back into) oblivion, Alas, Babylon is is a novel grounded in stark immediate realities. In fact, Alas, Babylon is widely considered to be the first post-apocalyptic survivalist novel. The story focuses entirely on the events leading up to and immediately after a nuclear holocaust, and what it takes for a small community to survive in the aftermath.

1959 was a landmark year for post-apocalyptic fiction. Two of the greatest novels of the genre were published that year, and so for the next two weeks I am going to discuss them. In fact, the book I am writing about today is not only one of the finest examples of post-apocalyptic literature ever produced, I actually consider it to be one of the greatest American novels of any genre. I have read it several times over the years, and I always discover something new each time.

One of my all-time favorite cult films is this 1998 gem that mashes up Mad Max, The Wizard of Oz, Russian-American Rock and Roll, and 1970’s Hong Kong cinema. I give you: Six-String Samurai

The premise of the movie, as given during the opening credits, is that in 1957 the Russians used nuclear force to invade and conquer the United States. In the vast wasteland that resulted, only one place remained as the last bastion of freedom – a city that became known as Lost Vegas, where Elvis was crowned as King. Forty years later Elvis is dead, and now Vegas needs a new King.

"Kids! Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your own home."
- Caveat to Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

It must have been about the spring of 1991 when I found myself in my favorite book shop at Pike Place Market in Seattle. At the time I was really into signed hardcover copies of genre books, and this particular shop carried some really cool limited edition items. Things like the two volume slipcase edition of The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub, or the really sweet original editions of Clive Barker's Books of Blood. That particular day the thing that caught my eye was a signed British first edition of Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophesies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.

Welcome to the inaugural entry for PostApocalyptica, the new weekly blog for JamesAxler.com dedicated to the post-apocalyptic genre in literature, film, and television. Beginning on July 4th, every Monday morning at 9am Eastern Time I will post a new blog entry on some topic related to Deathlands, Outlanders, Gold Eagle, or the post-apocalyptic genre in general. My hope is that these posts will spur conversation and engage more fully with the JamesAxler.com membership.