List of the Best Apocalyptic Novels

There is a lot of buzz about the first novel, Dog Stars, by well regarded nonfiction author Peter Heller.  It came out this week and is already being considered one of the best apocalyptic novels ever.  Those are some strong claims, bit I am willing to give it a try since apocalyptic novels are among my absolute favorites

It appears I am not the only one who loves reading about the end of humanity as we know it.  The Atlantic looked into the subgenre and had this annotated list of the top 10 apocalyptic novels.

Click through to see the list.  I find it hard to argue with the list since The Stand and The Road are both there, but what about one of the best books of 2011 whose sequel is coming out in a few months?  That's right, I am talking about The Passage.  Yes, I am glad A Canticle for Leibowitz made The Atlantic list, but serious, no Cronin.  I can only think they did not include it because it is part one of three and ends with a cliff hanger.  I can only hope that is why.

I would argue that there is a horror bias, but World War Z is rightly representing the genre on the list.

What about you? Do you have a favorite apocalyptic novel to add to the mix?  What would you remove from The Atlantic's list to make it fit?

To fit The Passage I would probably remove The Age of Reason (my review, pending).  It was very good, but as a first novel that just came out, we need some distance to see if it stands the test of time.  Also, while The Age of Reason will make many end of the year best lists, I doubt it will be as widely heralded as The Passage was in 2011 when it was near or at the top of just about every list.