Cyclopaedia 2: Post-apocalyptic Wasteland

Welcome to Cyclopaedia 2: Post-apocalyptic Wasteland. Cyclopaedia is a monthly article on the InnRoads Ministries website. For this article, I was inspired by the recent release of Fallout IV in the computer game world and the summer movie blockbuster, Mad Max: Fury Road. I am a huge fan of the Mad Max movies and my gaming was heavily influenced early on by the Gamma World and TMNT: After The Bomb RPGs. While researching this topic, I shared the movie The Book of Eli with my daughters which spawned discussions of the post-apocalyptic genre in film and literature. Ration your water and save your bullets, it is time to enter the Wasteland.

If you have questions about this article or topics you would like me to consider researching for future Cyclopaedia articles, please leave a comment below.

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Overview

Post-Apocalyptic depicts the time following a global catastrophic event. Most often associated with the science fiction or horror genres, the apocalypse event determines the theme of the post-apocalyptic time period.

Post-apocalyptic Themes
There are six major post-apocalyptic themes. Each one has its own unique dynamic and focus. For this article, I have chosen to focus on the Wasteland theme.

• Alien Invasion
• Environmental Disaster
• Fantasy World Birth
• Religious Apocalypse
• Wasteland
• Zombie Apocalypse

For this Cyclopaedia, we will focus on the Wasteland theme often associated with Nuclear, Biological or Chemical warfare.

Memories of the devastation of Word War 1 and 2 struck fear in to the hearts of the world, especially the fear of Nuclear War. H.G. Wells was writing about war-torn post-apocalyptic wastelands in 1933, and the fear carried on strongly in the 1970s and 1980s as the Cold War progressed.

Survivors of the wasteland apocalypse will have to manage empty or devastated landscapes, hot zones, scarce resources, mutations, scavengers, and gangs.

Following are sources of information pertaining to Post-apocalyptic Wastelands to assist prospective game masters, game designers, writers, and storytellers to know where to start their research.

ARTICLES

Between Dystopia and Utopia: The Post-Apocalyptic Discourse of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road
By Safting, Inger-Anne
Source: English Studies, v94 n6 (October 2013): 704-713

Beyond “Mad Max III:” Race, Empire, and Heroism on Post-Apocalyptic Terrain
By Williams, Paul
Source: Science Fiction Studies, v32 n2 (20050701): 301-315

Climatic effects of nuclear war
By Pittock, Barrie
Source: Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, v67 n15 (15 April 1986): 193-194

Imagining the Nightmare: Empathy and Awareness in Post-Apocalyptic Young Adult Fiction
By Jorgenso, Thomas
Source: Word & world. 35, no. 2, (2015): 162-170

Narrating the End: Fables of Survival in the Nuclear Age
By Porter, Jeffrey
Source: Journal of American Culture, v16 n4 (December 1993): 41-47

Post-apocalypse now: Australia as cinema’s dystopia
By Dunks, Glenn
Source: Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine, n184 (Apr 2015): 90-95

Speculative visions and imaginary meals: Food and the environment in (post-apocalyptic) science fiction films
By Retzinger, J.P.
Source: Cultural Studies, v22 n3-4 (2008 05 01): 369-390

World population, human disaster, and nuclear holocaust.
By Giddings, JC
Source: The Bulletin of the atomic scientists, 1973 Sep; 29(7): 45-50

BOOKS

2000 AD – comic series
By various

Be Ready When the Sh*t Goes Down: A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse
By Griffin, Forrest

A Boy and His Dog
By Ellison, Harlan

Brighter Than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists
By Jungk, Robert

A Canticle for Leibowitz
By Miller, Jr., Walter M.

Alas, Babylon
By Frank, Pat

Children of the Dust
By Lawrence, Louise

The City of Ember
By DuPrau, Jeanne

Deathlands: Pilgrimage to Hell
By Lowder, Christopher

Earth Abides
By Steward, George R.

Endworld: The Fox Run
By Robbins, David.

Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse
By Gischler, Victor

The Hunger Games
By Collins, Suzanne

The Last Man
By Shelley, Mary

Le Transperceneige/The Snow-Piercer
By Lob, Jacques and Rochette, Jean-Marc

Lucifer’s Hammer
By Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry

The Maze Runner
By Dashner, James

Mortal Engines
By Reeve, Philip

Out of the Ashes
By Johnstone, William

The Postman
By Brin, David

Ravagers
By Alter, Robert

The Road
By McCarthy, Cormac

The Scarlet Plague
By London, Jack

The Shape of Things to Come
By Wells, H.G.

The Stand
By King, Stephen

Tank Girl – comic series
By Hewlett, Jamie and Martin, Alan

The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past – comic series
By Claremont, Chris and Byrne, John

Wasteland – comic series
By Johnson, Antony

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse
Anthology edited by John Joseph Adams

GAMES

51st State – Tabletop Game
After the Bomb – RPG
Aftermath! – RPG
After the Holocaust – Tabletop Game
Borderlands – Computer Game
Car Wars – Tabletop Game
Darwin’s World – RPG
Fallen Earth – Computer Game
Exodus – RPG
Fallout – Computer Game
Gamma World – RPG
GURPS Autoduel – RPG
Judge Dredd: The Roleplaying-Game – RPG
The Last Of Us – Computer Game
Mad Max – Computer Game
Minion Hunter – Tabletop Game
The Morrow Project – RPG
Necromunda – Tabletop Game
Neuroshima – RPG
Neuroshima: Convoy – Tabletop Game
Neuroshima Hex – Tabletop Game
Outlander – Computer Game
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – Computer Game
Thunder Road – Tabletop Game
Twilight: 2000 – RPG
Wasteland – Computer Game
Wreckage – Tabletop Game

CINEMA

9
12 Monkeys
Akira
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
A Boy and His Dog
The Book of Eli
The Blood of Heroes/Salute to the Jugger
Children of Men
The City of Ember
Damnation Alley
Dark City
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Day After
Deathsport
Def-con 4
Dredd
Equilibrium
Escape from N.Y.
Escape from L.A.
Exterminators of the Year 3000
Fist of the North Star – TV
The Hunger Games
Jericho – TV
Jerimiah – TV
Judge Dredd
The Last Man on Earth
Logan’s Run
Mad Max series (Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, Fury Road)
The Matrix Trilogy
The Maze Runner
The Postman
The Quiet Earth
Ravagers
Revolution – TV
The Road
Six-String Samurai
Snowpiercer
Solarbabies
The Stand – TV
Steel Dawn
Tank Girl
Terminator Salvation
Things to Come
Threads – TV
The Ultimate Warrior
Warriors of the Wasteland
Waterworld

LOCATIONS

Atomic Tourism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_tourism

Bradbury Science Museum – Los Alamos
http://www.lanl.gov/museum/

Chernobyl National Museum
http://chornobylmuseum.kiev.ua/en/mainpage/

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum – Enola Gay Display
http://airandspace.si.edu/

Fukushima
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html

Hunger Games: The Exhibition
http://www.thehungergamesexhibition.com/#home

Mad Max Museum
http://silverton.org.au/madmaxmuseum.html

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
http://nagasakipeace.jp/english.html

National Museum of the US Air Force – Bockscar Display
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

PEOPLE

Niels Bohr
Albert Einstein
Enrico Fermi
Richard Feynman
Leslie R. Groves
Otto Hahn
Werner Heisenberg
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Fritz Strassmann
H.G. Wells

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I hope you find these resources informative and inspiring for your adventures, storytelling, or game design.

Stay Creative!

T.R. Knight

( If you would like to save this list of resources as a convenient PDF for later reference, you can find that HERE )

WHO IS T.R. KNIGHT?
He is a freelance editor, proofreader, and writer in the game industry. He is also a Husband and Caregiver to his wife Angie, Father of Twins Emily and Rachel, Gardner and Hobby Chef, and Director of Academic Technology and User Services at Taylor University. You can learn more about T.R. at his blog http://www.thomasrknight.com.