After London by Richard Jefferies

Jefferies' novel can be seen as an early example of "post-apocalyptic fiction." After some sudden and unspecified catastrophe has depopulated England, the countryside reverts to nature, and the few survivors to a quasi-medieval way of life.

The first part of the book, "The Relapse into Barbarism", is the account by some later historian of the fall of civilisation and its consequences, with a loving description of nature reclaiming England. The second part, "Wild England", is an adventure set many years later in the wild landscape and society.

The book is not without its flaws (notably the abrupt and unsatisfying ending) but is redeemed by the quality of the writing, particularly the unnervingly prophetic descriptions of the post-apocalyptic city and countryside.

Listen below, or on Archive.org.

Audio Files	128Kbps MP3	Ogg Vorbis	64Kbps MP3
01 - Part I, Chapter 1: The Great Forest	21.2 MB	13.7 MB	10.6 MB
02 - Part I, Chapter 2: Wild Animals	11.3 MB	7.3 MB	5.7 MB
03 - Part I, Chapter 3: Men of the Woods	24.8 MB	15.8 MB	12.4 MB
04 - Part I, Chapter 4: The Invaders	23.4 MB	14.9 MB	11.7 MB
05 - Part I, Chapter 5: The Lake	23.6 MB	15.0 MB	11.8 MB
06 - Part II, Chapter 1: Sir Felix	16.5 MB	10.7 MB	8.3 MB
07 - Part II, Chapter 2: The House of Aquila	18.4 MB	11.8 MB	9.2 MB
08 - Part II, Chapter 3: The Stockade	16.6 MB	10.7 MB	8.3 MB
09 - Part II, Chapter 4: The Canoe	16.5 MB	10.5 MB	8.3 MB
10 - Part II, Chapter 5: Baron Aquila	17.8 MB	11.4 MB	8.9 MB
11 - Part II, Chapter 6: The Forest Track	20.7 MB	13.0 MB	10.3 MB
12 - Part II, Chapter 7: The Forest Track continued	14.3 MB	9.1 MB	7.2 MB
13 - Part II, Chapter 8: Thyma Castle	20.9 MB	13.2 MB	10.5 MB
14 - Part II, Chapter 9: Superstitions	18.2 MB	11.5 MB	9.1 MB
15 - Part II, Chapter 10: The Feast	13.5 MB	8.6 MB	6.7 MB

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The Last Man by Mary Shelley

The Last Man is an early post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826. The book tells of a future world that has been ravaged by a plague. The plague gradually kills off all people. Lionel Verney, central character, son of a nobleman who gambled himself into poverty, finds himself immune after being attacked by an infected "negro," and copes with a civilization that is gradually dying out around him.

Listen below, or on Archive.org.

Audio Files	128Kbps MP3	Ogg Vorbis	64Kbps MP3
00 Introduction	10.9 MB	6.0 MB	5.4 MB
01 Vol 1, Ch 01	28.4 MB	15.6 MB	14.2 MB
02 Vol 1, Ch 02	32.3 MB	16.2 MB	16.1 MB
03 Vol 1, Ch 03	22.8 MB	11.5 MB	11.4 MB
04 Vol 1, Ch 04 Pt 1	36.5 MB	20.1 MB	18.3 MB
05 Vol 1, Ch 04 Pt 2	36.7 MB	20.1 MB	18.3 MB
06 Vol 1, Ch 05	26.5 MB	14.2 MB	13.2 MB
07 Vol 1, Ch 06	33.9 MB	19.2 MB	16.9 MB
08 Vol 1, Ch 07	32.1 MB	18.3 MB	16.0 MB
09 Vol 1, Ch 08	45.4 MB	24.7 MB	22.7 MB
10 Vol 1, Ch 09	42.1 MB	23.2 MB	21.0 MB
11 Vol 1, Ch 10	25.7 MB	12.1 MB	12.8 MB
12 Vol 2, Ch 01	35.8 MB	21.4 MB	17.9 MB
13 Vol 2, Ch 02	38.7 MB	20.5 MB	19.4 MB
14 Vol 2, Ch 03	27.0 MB	11.1 MB	13.5 MB
15 Vol 2, Ch 04	25.4 MB	13.7 MB	12.7 MB
16 Vol 2, Ch 05	26.2 MB	14.2 MB	13.1 MB
17 Vol 2, Ch 06	28.6 MB	15.0 MB	14.3 MB
18 Vol 2, Ch 07	22.0 MB	12.0 MB	11.0 MB
19 Vol 2, Ch 08	57.6 MB	31.7 MB	28.8 MB
20 Vol 2, Ch 09	41.9 MB	22.7 MB	20.9 MB

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The World Set Free by H. G. Wells

The World Set Free is a novel published in 1914 by H. G. Wells. The book is considered a prophetical novel foretelling the advent of nuclear weapons.

A constant theme in Wells's work, such as his 1901 nonfiction book Anticipations, was the role of energy and technological advance as a determinant of human progress. The novel opens: "The history of mankind is the history of the attainment of external power. Man is the tool-using, fire-making animal."

Scientists of the day were well aware that the slow natural radioactive decay of elements like radium continues for thousands of years, and that while the rate of energy release is negligible, the total amount released is huge. Wells used this as the basis for his story.

Listen below, or on Archive.org.

Audio Files	128Kbps MP3	Ogg Vorbis	64Kbps MP3
00 - Prelude	51.2 MB	32.9 MB	25.6 MB
01 - Ch 1, The Sun Snarers, sections 1-4	36.2 MB	22.6 MB	18.1 MB
02 - Ch 1, The Sun Snarers, sections 5-8	34.8 MB	21.5 MB	17.4 MB
03 - Ch 2, The Last War, sections 1-4	42.1 MB	26.6 MB	21.0 MB
04 - Ch 2, The Last War, sections 5-10	47.0 MB	29.7 MB	23.5 MB
05 - Ch 3, The Ending of War, sections 1-5	54.0 MB	34.1 MB	27.0 MB
06 - Ch 3, The Ending of War, sections 6-8	36.1 MB	22.7 MB	18.1 MB
07 - Ch 4, The New Phase, sections 1-8	50.4 MB	34.2 MB	25.2 MB
08 - Ch 4, The New Phase, sections 9-12	33.1 MB	22.5 MB	16.5 MB
09 - Ch 5, The Last Days of Marcus Karenin, sections 1-5	33.1 MB	20.7 MB	16.5 MB
10 - Ch 5, The Last Days of Marcus Karenin, sections 6-10	31.1 MB	19.4 MB	15.5 MB

Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson

“Mr. Benson sees the world, four or five generations hence, free at last from all minor quarrels, and ranged against itself in two camps, Humanitarianism for those who believe in no divinity but that of man, Catholicism for those who believe in no divinity but that of God.”

This apocalyptic novel from the early 1900's is sometimes deemed one of the first modern dystopias.

Listen below, or on Archive.org.

Audio Files	128Kbps MP3	Ogg Vorbis	64Kbps MP3
00 - Preface and Prologue	24.0 MB	14.2 MB	12.0 MB
01 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 1, Part 1	13.3 MB	8.4 MB	6.7 MB
02 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 1, Part 2	11.6 MB	7.1 MB	5.8 MB
03 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 1, Part 3	8.2 MB	4.7 MB	4.1 MB
04 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 2, Part 1	13.0 MB	7.8 MB	6.5 MB
05 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 2, Part 2	10.4 MB	6.2 MB	5.2 MB
06 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 2, Part 3	15.5 MB	9.1 MB	7.7 MB
07 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 3, Part 1	8.8 MB	5.3 MB	4.4 MB
08 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 3, Part 2	10.1 MB	6.4 MB	5.1 MB
09 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 3, Part 3	9.4 MB	6.0 MB	4.7 MB
10 - Book 1 - The Advent: Chapter 4, Part 1	7.8 MB	5.0 MB	3.9 MB

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The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

The Time Machine is a novel by H. G. Wells, first published in 1895, later made into two films of the same title. This novel is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively.

Listen below, or on Archive.org.

Audio Files	128Kbps MP3	Ogg Vorbis	64Kbps MP3
Chapter 01	17.9 MB	13.0 MB	8.9 MB
Chapter 01	22.3 MB	12.5 MB	11.2 MB
Chapter 02	13.8 MB	7.7 MB	6.9 MB
Chapter 03	15.6 MB	9.2 MB	7.8 MB
Chapter 04	29.1 MB	16.9 MB	14.5 MB
Chapter 05	36.5 MB	25.4 MB	18.3 MB
Chapter 06	11.8 MB	8.3 MB	5.9 MB
Chapter 07	14.2 MB	8.5 MB	7.1 MB
Chapter 08	15.7 MB	8.3 MB	7.8 MB
Chapter 09	19.5 MB	10.6 MB	9.7 MB
Chapter 10	7.0 MB	3.9 MB	3.5 MB
Chapter 11	12.1 MB	6.5 MB	6.1 MB
Chapter 12	13.0 MB	9.4 MB	6.5 MB

The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle

Three years after the events that took place in The Lost World, Professor Challenger urgently summons his fellow explorers (Professor Summerlee, Lord John Roxton, and reporter E.D. Malone) to a meeting. Oddly, he requires each to bring an oxygen cylinder with him.

What he soon informs them is that from astronomical data and just-received telegraphs of strange accidents on the other side of the world, he has deduced that the Earth is starting to move through a region of space containing something poisonous to humankind.

Shutting themselves tightly up in Challenger's house, they start to consider what may be done. But as their countrymen start to drop, will their oxygen last long enough to determine and implement a solution?

Listen below, or on Archive.org.

Audio Files	128Kbps MP3	Ogg Vorbis	64Kbps MP3
1 - The Blurring of Lines	35.5 MB	26.7 MB	17.8 MB
2 - The Tide of Death	35.0 MB	27.3 MB	17.5 MB
3 - Submerged	34.6 MB	26.7 MB	17.3 MB
4 - A Diary of the Dying	25.3 MB	18.3 MB	12.7 MB
5 - The Dead World	31.5 MB	23.0 MB	15.8 MB
6 - The Great Awakening	19.8 MB	14.7 MB	9.9 MB

Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The novel, set in the year 2137, was heavily influenced by the events of World War I. In the future world depicted in the novel, Europe has descended into barbarism while an isolationist Western Hemisphere remains sheltered from the destruction. The title Beyond Thirty refers to the degree of longitude that inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere are forbidden to pass.

Listen below, or on Archive.org.

Audio Files	128Kbps MP3	Ogg Vorbis	64Kbps MP3
Chapter 1	41.7 MB	23.2 MB	20.9 MB
Chapter 2	15.1 MB	8.4 MB	7.5 MB
Chapter 3	22.2 MB	12.3 MB	11.1 MB
Chapter 4	55.6 MB	31.2 MB	27.8 MB
Chapter 5	25.1 MB	13.9 MB	12.6 MB
Chapter 6	24.0 MB	13.5 MB	12.0 MB
Chapter 7	10.5 MB	5.9 MB	5.2 MB
Chapter 8	28.7 MB	16.1 MB	14.4 MB
Chapter 9	23.7 MB	13.2 MB	11.8 MB

The Scarlet Plague by Jack London

Known mainly for his tales of adventure, this work of science fiction by Jack London is set in a post-apocalyptic future.

It’s 2072, sixty years after the scarlet plague has depopulated the planet. James Howard Smith is one of the few survivors of the pre-plague era left alive in the San Francisco area, and as he realizes his time grows short, he tries to impart the value of knowledge and wisdom to his grandsons. Through his narrative, we learn how the plague spread throughout the world and of the struggles of the handful of survivors it left in its wake.

The Scarlet Plague was originally published in London Magazine in 1912.

Listen below, or on Archive.org.

Audio Files	128Kbps MP3	Ogg Vorbis	64Kbps MP3
01 - Section 01	20.6 MB	13.5 MB	10.3 MB
02 - Section 02	17.0 MB	10.9 MB	8.5 MB
03 - Section 03	19.1 MB	12.5 MB	9.5 MB
04 - Section 04	18.6 MB	12.2 MB	9.3 MB
05 - Section 05	18.1 MB	11.9 MB	9.0 MB
06 - Section 06	13.0 MB	8.4 MB	6.5 MB