Shadow Flutter

Looks a lot more peaceful than it does now

Earth Abides  is a Science Fiction Classic, a post-apocalyptic (not dystopian) novel written in 1949. Isherwood, Ish for short, is living in a bungalow in the desert doing research for his thesis when he is bit by a rattlesnake while picking up an abandoned hammer he finds in the sand. When Ish recovers from the bite, many weeks later, he learns that something like 99% of the world's population has succumbed to a flu-like plague. He returns to his parent's home, but they are nowhere to be found, and neither is anyone else in the neighborhood. Strangely, almost everyone is buried. There are survivors, but they are few and far between, individual grains of sand spread across the countryside and cities. Eventually Ish hooks up with several other survivors and the Tribe is born. I've heard great things about this book from fellow Science Fiction lovers, and there is certainly plenty to chew on here as Stewart puts the tribe through its paces, but I had trouble with the sto...