The end is near...

Sling, my faithful blog reader, and fav-o-rite blog poster, tagged me in his most recent blog post.

My assignment: Open the book nearest your computer.No fair hunting for something that sounds intellectual and impressive to page 56. Post the 5th sentence,plus one or two thereafter for context.

First let me admit that I cheated a little. The books nearest my computer are my stack of unread books. I really didn't think I could work up anything to add to the post if I chose a book I hadn't read. So, instead I decided I would grab the closest book to my nightstand. (That's where all my finished books end up).

So here is my offering,

We've been over all of this. I didn't bring myself to this. I was brought. And now I'm done. I thought about not even telling you. That would probably have been best. You have two bullets and then what? You can't protect us. You say you would die for us but what good is that? I'd take him with me if it weren't for you. You know I would. It's the right thing to do.

This comes from The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I love a good post apocalyptic novel. My love of this genre started in high school with On the Beach by Nevil Shute. My all time favorite is Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. I have read it twice and will read it again I'm sure. Not sure if The Stand by Stephen King counts as a post apocalyptic novel or a horror novel but it's my list so I can include anything I like. I have read that book five times. Honorable mentions to Alas Babylon by Pat Frank and Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt.

I can't explain the appeal. Maybe my belief that we can take whatever the world has to throw at us and survive. I also love these types of movies too. Red Dawn, 28 Weeks Later, Independence Day, any movie featuring a close call with an asteroid.

I hit the jackpot when I was looking up the names of some of the authors I listed above.

Wikipedia Gold

Now to sort out the winners from the losers. There is nothing worse than bad post apocalyptic fiction except for maybe bad science fiction.

I tag Ms. G-Box and my sister who has yet to start a blog of her own but has been talking about it so this would be a great start.....