Claudia Gray is the New York Times bestselling author of many science fiction and paranormal fantasy books for young adults, including the Defy the Stars series, the Firebird series, the Evernight series, the Spellcaster series, and Fateful.At Tor.com she tagged five essential books about plagues and pandemics, including:
The Stand by Stephen KingRead about another entry on the list.
Other epic plague stories have been written; by now Stephen King’s bibliography must be nearly as long as one of his novels. Yet I don’t think any fictional plague has ever horrified and fascinated more people than CaptainTrips, and at least for me, The Stand may be King’s single greatest work.
In the first scene, a young guard violates quarantine protocol to escape from a military facility with his family. He thinks he can outrun the deadly biological weapon that’s been accidentally unleashed—but instead sets into motion a chain of infections that claims approximately 97% of the world’s population. King’s vision for the devolution of society—from fear to barbarity to silence—is as chilling as it is convincing. As for his descriptions of Captain Trips, aka Tubeneck … I have yet to meet one person who’s read The Stand who didn’t spend the first quarter of the book convinced they were catching a cold.
The Stand is among Michelle Tea's top ten books about the apocalypse.
--Marshal Zeringue
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