Soft Apocalypse

By: Will McIntosh

Narrated by: Erik Davies

What happens when resources become scarce and society starts to crumble? As the competition for resources pulls America's previously stable society apart, the "New Normal" is a Soft Apocalypse. This is how our world ends; with a whimper instead of a bang.

"It's so hard to believe," Colin said as we crossed the steaming, empty parking lot toward the bowling alley. "What?" "That we're poor. That we're homeless." "I know." "I mean, we have college degrees," he said. "I know," I said.

There was an ancient miniature golf course choked in weeds alongside the bowling alley. The astroturf had completely rotted away in places. The windmill had one spoke. We looked it over for a minute (both of us had once been avid mini golfers), then continued toward the door. "By the way," I added. "We're not homeless, we're nomads. Keep your labels straight."

New social structures and tribal connections spring up across America, as the previous social structures begin to dissolve. Soft Apocalypse follows the journey across the Southeast of a tribe of formerly middle-class Americans as they struggle to find a place for themselves and their children in a new, dangerous world that still carries the ghostly echoes of their previous lives.

©2011 Will McIntosh (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"In this moving debut from Hugo-winner McIntosh, the prosperous world of 2023 ends not with a bang but with a crackle, the sound of genetically engineered bamboo growing overnight and destroying roads and buildings.... McIntosh strongly delineates his characters and makes Jasper's struggles very affecting. Though it may be soft, this apocalypse has plenty of sharp edges." (Publishers Weekly)

"Bottom line: If Soft Apocalypse isn't nominated for a Hugo or Nebula Award, I will eat the entire book page by page." (Paul Goat Allen)

"[McIntosh] has written a first novel that's compelling, credible, and relentless, whose best and most disturbing moments will stay with the reader for a long time." (Locus)

Very good story

This is a coming of age story, set in a possible future, one where none of us would like to visit. The author puts us inside the narrator and we see the world he sees. Since it is his world, he feels no need to fully explain it or try to tell how it came about. I think anyone who is aware of the problems we now have and what is coming slowly to us, will not need to have things explained. We see these things happening all around us.
The story is simple, but effective. And frightening. It comes to us, as all things do, one step at a time.

Takes Lots of Chances

One thing that took me a while to get used to was the deliberate use of an unlikeable protagonist. It always felt like he should step up to the plate and be a better friend, a more authentic person, someone with values, but he just didn't have it in him.

I listened to this quite a while ago, though, and a lot of weird, vivid scenes are flooding back to me as I recall the bizarre hero's journey. So it obviously made an impression.

There was an instance of animal violence that went too far for me, to the point of sullying my overall enjoyment of the book. (And this was not even the grossest part of the story, when the protagonist gets mugged by some insurgents. That, I actually admired in its nastiness.)

If only the bamboo were edible!

Any additional comments?

The end of the world, according to this novel, is not a whimper, but a long series of whimpers punctuated with occasional hope and a final resigned leap. As the ordinary expectations of life slowly drain away into drawn-out misery, revolutionary geniuses construct a scenario that may not be much better. Highly recommended.

Refreshing take

A different view on how society could deteriorate. An easy listen that's not really too far fetched. Sure this book had a few corny parts, but the girlfriend thing wasn't as bad as some reviews make it out to be. It's a decent non-violent (for the most part) apocalyptic story.

Not your typical dystopian story.

This tale revolves around interpersonal relationships more than most stories of the genre. Can an art major learn to recognize threats and deal with them? Does love matter if you live without an expectation of a life together? What does hope look like in a hopeless world? A good read.

What happens when the money runs out

This story is sad, violent, realistic, sad, and sad. In a future where society collapses not because of zombies, or a terrible disease, or a war, but because of economic ruin -- there's not much to be cheery about. But I found "Soft Apocalypse" to be an intriguing take on the sci-fi dystopia. People do things to survive that they are not proud of. Yet they try to cling to the sense of self they had before the collapse, and they strive to find a "normal" life... Somewhere.

Still thinking about it...

What made the experience of listening to Soft Apocalypse the most enjoyable?

I think that listening to this book as the Presidential Election draws nearer really seems to make the storyline plausible... Following the daily news I felt the story actually was pertinent as a warning on the choices we make today...

Who was your favorite character and why?

I did enjoy the Main Character because he wasn't a "Superman" but seems average. I enjoyed the "believability" of his actions and consequences as they related to this story.

What does Erik Davies bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Erik Davies helped the story along by not over-doing the different voices... which can really detract from a great book if not done right.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

"Not with a Bang...but with a whimper..."

Any additional comments?

Its not the Best Book, its not the Best Story...its not even the most plausible storyline. But it is a GOOD book, well written, with solid Characters and more than enough thought provocation on the subjects it touched upon that I still find myself thinking about this book almost daily. To me, that's money well spent.

Interesting concept

This is more of a societal collapse and it’s compelling for sure. How would you live if all the rules changed in a short amount of time?

Apocalypse is gradual, not sudden.

When you have read as many post-apocalypse books as I have, you begin to look for books that do something different. Most apocalyptic events depicted are sudden. EMP, nuclear war, asteroid impact, zombie virus, pandemic that gets out of hand. In this book we get a "soft apocalypse." In other words, it is gradual. A combination of malnutrition, and related viruses, environmental degradation, economic collapse, rising unemployment, and Genetic engineerring gone wrong, cause the eventual apocalypse. Over a period of several years, a group of ordinary people learn to adapt and survive in a gradually declining world. I highly recommend this book to all of my fellow apocalypse fans out there.

Believable Dystopian Adventure

Soft Apocalypse is a good dystopian novel set over a number of years in which a world economic crisis and ensuing depression results in a slow, gradual collapse of civilization. Throw the introduction of some engineered viruses which cause disfigurement, polio-like symptoms, and death, and you have a full-fledged disaster.

The story centers around protagonist Jasper who loses his job and home, and with no income joins with others in his predicament to form a band who try to procure food by selling power from solar power generating gadgets they have. Eventually, the still-employed-with money "haves" turn on the "have-nots" and Jasper and his ilk are shunned and become societal outcasts, even though they are educated, have professional skills, and were previously gainfully employed.

The story takes place in Georgia, mostly Savannah, but also between Savannah and Athens as Jasper and others who are homeless have to keep moving to stay alive as society breaks down and violence and lawlessness settle in, and as the government and law enforcement lose their grip on society. Despite all that is going on around them, Jasper and his band maintain their decency and humanity in as we watch their part of the US collapse.

I thought this was a really believable near-future dystopian novels, more so than many others I've read. I think part of that is how well the author explains how the economy, the energy grid, and social structures collapsed; and, having gone through COVID, us modern folks could buy in to how fast moving viruses more potent than what we dealt with could cause mass casualties and general fear or even hysteria.

Between chapters the novel skips in time, sometimes by months and sometimes by years. I didn't mind this so much but wondered sometimes how Jasper and friends survived over the intervening periods of time with the way things were going out in the world. What caused me to knock my rating of this book down a notch were the hard-to-fathom coincidental bumping in to and rejoining with characters that Jasper was separated or broke up with from earlier in the book, despite having years and (you would think) many miles between them as people were on the move. I won't give any details but one meeting in particular was particularly eye-rolling.

Overall, though, I thought this was a good read. It has a believable plot for the most part, was increasingly dark, and the ending was interesting.