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Book Reviews Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: 7 Great Post-Apocalypse Books

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From November 2, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: 7 Great Post-Apocalypse Books.

What does a nuclear war, a plague, zombies, and robots all have in common? They could all lead to the apocalypse and bring about the end of the world. In fact some of the best works of fiction are part of the sub-genre the deals with the aftermath of a disaster that nearly wipes out the human population. In each of these tales the apocalypse serves as the back-drop for a survival story. The best stories don’t spend too much time focusing on the cause of the disaster and instead explain who survived and how they survived. In each story unlikely heroes emerge and try to put back the pieces of the shattered world that they once knew. I always find it fascinating to discover that it’s usually a combination of luck and preparation that keep people alive when the world comes to an end.

With the recent success of NBC’s new show Revolution (Wikipedia | NBC.com), the post-apocalyptic survival genre is reaching a wider and more main stream audience. So for everyone who enjoy Revolution and is looking for more of the same we’ve got plenty of good recommendations for you. At first glance it may not seem like these books could all possibly share anything in common, but in each case the world ends and a select few are left to pick up the pieces.

Post-apocalyptic survival stories are defiantly one of my favourite genres. Any time I hear about a new story in this vein I immediately check it out. More and more of these stories are becoming movies, but in some cases the transition is an apocalypse in and of itself (The Postman, we’re looking at you!). So do yourself a favour and pick up some (or all) of these books before they’re stripped down and streamlined for the big screen.

These are definitely (in my opinion) the best examples of the post-apocalyptic survival genre. This is certainly not an exhaustive list but these are the ones that are most likely to get new readers hooked on the genre. If you’ve got any recommendations of your own please leave them in the comments below.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Legacy of the Crystal Shard (Week 2)

legacy-of-the-crystal-shard-coverAfter spending two days in Bryn Shander during the last session, the PCs decided it was time to leave the largest of the Ten Towns. They’d saved the Barbarian Hengar Aesnvaard from a painful death by exposure to the elements and saw that he was set free. Hengar requested the PCs accompany him back to where the Tribe of the Elk was camped and help his people face the great evil that has best upon them. They agreed.

The party and Hengar left Bryn Shander with Hilda Silverstream, the Dwarven merchant bound for the Dwarven Valley. The PCs agreed to act as guards for Hilda’s caravan and accompany her home before continuing northward with Hengar. Surely nothing bad would happen along the way.

We continue to have enough people to run four tables at Harry T North in Toronto. Unfortunately we were down a DM this week due to illness. However, we did manage to notify her players so they didn’t show up for nothing this week. The two other DMs running the level 1 D&D Next tables were present; one ran a table of six and the other a table of five. At my table I continue running 4e D&D with a level 3 party.

The party consisted of a Revenant (Eladrin) Assassin, Tiefling Paladin, Dragonborn Cavalier, and Halfling Rogue. The party’s Gnoll Barbarian was absent as the ill DM was his ride. One of the players from the table that wasn’t running decided to join our group for the night and even had a level-appropriate PC. So for one week only a Githzerai Swordmage/Artificer accompanied the PCs across the Icewind Dale.