Category: Survival Fiction

Letter Re: Advice on Finding a Retreat Operations and Security Manual

Mr. Rawles, I have been working on a retreat that I will be moving to later in the year. Naturally, construction is taking up a large amount of my time. My family is on-board for the retreat. I need help in the area of an Operations and Security Manual. Is there anything that you know of that would be a starting place rather than from the ground up? I know there are a lot of things that I would miss out on if I started [by myself] from the ground up, and not know it until it’s too late. I …


Meet The Economic Collapse Family, by Will in Wyoming

In recent months, as he described America’s incipient economic peril, Jim Rawles has made references in SurvivalBlog.com to “The Mother of All Bailouts.” To illustrate the extent of the disaster that is awaiting us–I’d like to introduce you to the entire Economic Collapse Family’s cast of characters. This family is so large that I’ll use numerous analogies and, with apologies, some mixed metaphors. To include the full Dramatis Personae I’ll have to borrow from both The Addams Family, and The Munsters. My apologies to anyone that never saw these two TV shows from the 1960s. This will seem like gibberish …


Book Review: Michael Z. Williamson’s “Better to Beg Forgiveness”

I just finished reading my review copy of Michael Z. Williamson’s latest science fiction novel “Better to Beg Forgiveness“. This fast-paced novel is set a couple of centuries in the future and follows the adventures of a band of mercenaries sent to guard a national president on a war-torn backwater colony planet. The story has some obvious analogies to the current use of “contractors” in Iraq. And it is obvious that in creating the fictional “Ripple Creek” off-world mercenary company, Williamson drew heavily on the real-life experiences of a few Blackwater types in researching this story. This adds an unmistakable …


“Terminator” and “Jericho”–Science Fiction as a Preparedness Motivational Tool

The new science fiction television show “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” will premiere in the US on Sunday (January 13, 2008) at 8 p.m. (and will be repeated the following evening.) Thenceforth, it will air on Mondays at 9 PM. I watched an early reviewers’ edit of the pilot episode, and I was impressed–particularly with the special effects. Oddly, I found the Terminatrix “Cameron” played by Summer Glau more captivating that the lead characters–Sarah Connor and her son John. (You may remember Summer Glau as “River Tam” from the short-lived but highly-acclaimed “Firefly” television series and its spin-off “Serenity” movie.) …


Letter Re: The Novel “The Last Centurion”

Mr. Rawles, I thought you might be interested in an early preview of “The Last Centurion” a novel about the world after an Avian Flu pandemic. The Author is John Ringo – who writes military and sci-fi – and often combines the two. The language is coarse, and it is written in a blog style, but it has some great observations about society, politicians, money supply and what happens in a real disaster. You can find the early release chapters online. It really gets good in chapter 5 and 6 talking about the responses to the outbreak and how some …


Letter Re: Comments on the Movie “I Am Legend”

JWR, My wife and I saw “I Am Legend” last night at the local theatre. The movie house was packed. Almost every seat was filled. Of the most interest was the end. As the movie faded to black and credits rolled, there were more than several spontaneous bursts of applause throughout the audience and a few cheers. Wow! The last movie that I remember ever getting applause was the last “Star Wars” installment. Something really hit deep with many in the audience… My wife was weird’ed out by the zombies though, as they were quite scary. So viewer beware. As …


Letter Re: LDS Church Offers Food Storage Starter Kit

Jim, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS or comminly called “The Mormons”]. I am also the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for my ward. As you know the leaders of the church constantly speak of preparedness. In April 2007 a talk was offered by Keith B McMullin in the Saturday evening session of conference titled “Lay Up in Store”. This talk proclaimed again all the benefits of preparation. While not every Latter-day Saint is fully prepared, a percentage somewhere in the mid-teens have done at least a 72-Hour Kit (Bug-out Bag). The Church’s preparation …


Letter Re: “Rambo” Actor Sylvester Stallone Talks TEOTWAWKI and Burmese Genocide in Interview

Jim: In the February 2008 issue of Soldier of Fortune magazine, Sylvester Stallone is interviewed in reference to his newest “Rambo” movie (scheduled for release on January 25th) which should shed some light on the ongoing persecution of the Karen [tribe] people by the Burmese government. He is quoted as follows: I really want something heartfelt, that’s about flesh and blood, and about how cruel man really is, if left alone. I believe that we’re not that far removed from being truly uncivilized. We say we’re civilized, but it wouldn’t take much, a breakdown in law enforcement, removal of the …


Letter Re: Thanks for SurvivalBlog!

Dear Mr. Rawles: I am a newly-minted reader and fan of SurvivalBlog. I stumbled upon [SurvivalBlog] by doing a web search on what turned out to be one of your “Quote of the Days” from [the late] Jeff Cooper. All that I can say is that I am mega-overwhelmed at what you and the readers have put on-line. I started out by going back through your current threads, and that seemed like a lot. But then I started clicking on the monthly archive links [in the right hand column] and then I started doing searched on particular topics. Wow! I …


Letter Re: Will “Jericho” be Affected by the Current Screenwriter’s Strike?

Hi Mr. Rawles, Do you know if the Hollywood writers strike will effect the filming of the CBS television series Jericho? If the [spilt season] filming has been completed, I guess that maybe the strike could be the best thing for Jericho since it would be an all-new show in a lineup of [other shows that are] repeats. Regards, – Sam JWR Replies: I haven’t heard per se, but it is probably safe to assume that most of the Jericho scripts are written by Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) members. I heard from Rourke–the moderator of the Jericho Discussion Group–that …


Book Excerpt from “The Weapon” by Michael Z. Williamson

That night I left. I had to abandon most of what I had acquired. I took all the baby clothes and formula I could manage. I grabbed the Dr. Seuss book. One bottle of whiskey would work as trade goods. I had the clothes on my back, extra underwear and shirt. The little remaining ID and a few cash cards would have to do me. I was in quandary over the food. If I left it, it might be taken as a bribe, or used as evidence against me. If I burned it, it would be obvious. I couldn’t think …


“The Checkpoint” — An Excerpt from the Novel Enemies Foreign And Domestic by Matthew Bracken

Brad was driving his red pickup with Ranya snuggling against him as they crossed the five mile wide I-664 James River Bridge-Tunnel from Newport News. They covered in only a few minutes the same water which they had sailed upon yesterday at a tenth of their present speed. It was a little past four PM on the warm Sunday afternoon when they passed back onto the northern shore of Suffolk County, almost within sight of the burned ruins of the Edmonds house. Neither one of them spoke of it, although they both stared in that direction. Driving down from Poquoson …


Letter Re: Will Things Get a Bad as Described in “Patriots”?

James: I have been a SurvivalBlog reader for nearly a year. It is my favorite blog, by far. I got a [voluntary] 10 Cent Challenge subscription after about the first month (and I’m about to renew). But it wasn’t until last month that I got around to purchasing a copy of your novel [“Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”]. I had been avoiding it because I’m not the sort that reads novels. They are mostly a waste of time. But I thought that I’d make an exception and get yours, since it had such a high rating on Amazon. It wasn’t …


Book Excerpt–Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse

Geographically distinct units were formed from the Northwest Militia, as planned, late in the April of the fifth year. To avoid confusion amongst the local citizenry that they protected, they designated those at the original retreat as “Todd Gray’s Company” and those at Kevin Lendel’s house as “Michael Nelson’s Company.” The responsibility for patrolling was divided along a line east-west between the retreats. Todd Gray’s Company was to patrol the northern half of the sector, while Michael Nelson’s Company patrolled the southern half. Separate CB channels were assigned to each Company for locals to use to contact either Company. On …


Letter Re: Resurgence of Movies and Television Shows with Survival Themes

JWR, [Regarding the recent mention in SurvivalBlog about the resurgence of movies and television shows with survivalist themes,] I am a more than a bit of a movie buff, and I recently discovered that one of my favorite movies has been re-made. The sci-fi classic novel “I Am Legend” by Richard Matheson finally gets the big budget and big star treatment it deserves in this third adaptation. Due for release in US theaters on December 14, 2007, the movie “I Am Legend” stars Will Smith. This post-apocalyptic thriller may be best remembered by SurvivalBlog readers from it’s earlier incarnations. Namely, …