Category: Survival Fiction

Two Letters Re: Convincing the Unconvinced that TEOTWAWKI is Possible

Good Evening JWR: I am very thankful for you site. It has catapulted our preparedness agenda, leaving 99% of our friends and family lost in a smoke screen of Utopian chatter. We have been in a preparedness state of mind and action since hurricane Andrew. Approximately 3 million had the same experience and are unmoved. Here is my problem: Many of your readers still “don’t get it”. The three primal needs are water, food, and shelter. Now I agree 100% with the ability to defend your home, and family. You will buy the ‘BIG’ gun, the intermediate rifles, the short …


Letter Re: Save Your Fired Cartridge Brass

Dear Jim and Family, In the beginning of a collapse, you carry a concealed weapon, and deal with the police if you have to use it. Gunfights [typically] last 4 rounds or less, and its usually just one attacker. In theory, after the fight and you’ve survived, you get it back, eventually. Use a revolver or automatic, your choice, just be sure its small and light enough you always carry it. As the collapse deepens, you start encountering more and more threats, packs of them. They attack your vehicle, they go after your home, they try to stop you with …


Letter Re: “The Rift” by Walter J. Williams

Jim, I’ve scanned the [poll results for] favorite Survival Book entries and haven’t seen one of mine (unless I’ve missed it). It’s “The Rift” by Walter J. Williams: an edge-of-your seat novel based on the New Madrid earthquake of 1811 occurring again in our time. I highly recommend it to your readers and have enjoyed learning from them of other works that I wasn’t familiar with. Regards, – AdkNoah


Letter Re: Analysis of Poll Data: List Your Top Five Survival Fiction Books and Top Five Survival Movies

Jim: I was bored, so I compiled the “raw data” that you recently provided in SurvivalBlog: TOP 3 SURVIVAL BOOKS (# of votes) Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse by JWR (10) Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (6) Lucifer’s Hammer by Niven & Pournelle (5) HONORABLE MENTIONS (3 votes) Lights Out by David Crawford Earth Abides by George Stewart Malevil by Robert Merle Wolf and Iron by Gordon Dickson Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein TOP 3 SURVIVAL MOVIES Red Dawn (6) Panic In Year Zero (5) The Postman (4) HONORABLE MENTIONS (3 votes) Threads The Road Warrior Testament Regards, …


Forwarded Letter Re: Jericho Shall Return!

The following letter from a CBS executive comes by way of Rourke (Moderator of Yahoo’s Jericho Discussion Group): To the Fans of Jericho: Wow! Over the past few weeks you have put forth an impressive and probably unprecedented display of passion in support of a prime time television series. You got our attention; your emails and collective voice have been heard. As a result, CBS has ordered seven episodes of “Jericho” for mid-season next year. In success, there is the potential for more. But, for there to be more “Jericho,” we will need more viewers. A loyal and passionate community …


Letter Re: Jericho Fans are Going Nuts Over the TV Series Cancellation

Jim: The decision by CBS to simply cancel Jericho was compounded by how much of a cliffhanger the final episode ended on. Reminiscent of Star Trek and Firefly fans, there has been a steady and growing outcry of loyalist fans. In a show which has been loaded with them, the final episode had the homage to the WWII Battling Bastards of Bastogne, where General Anthony McAuliffe, surrounded and outnumbered, responded to the Germans’ order to surrender with the famous one-word reply: “Nuts.” The grass roots nuts online campaign, which I have contributed to myself, is a clever and tasteful protest …


Poll Results: List Your Top Five Survival Fiction Books and Top Five Survival Movies

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Here is the first batch of responses to “OSOM”‘s suggested poll: List your top five fiction books and top five fictional movies that help folks learn something useful for survival. OSOM’s comment: “Jim’s novel Patriots has been called a ‘survival manual fairly neatly dressed as a work of fiction.’ I believe that reading fictional tales is critical to prepare yourself mentally and spiritually for hard times, and helps intellectually to work out the variables in different situations.” You will note that several reader sent only book recommendations (No movies.) It is noteworthy that several respondents mentioned the e-novel “Lights Out” …


Letter Re: Jericho Fans are Going Nuts Over the TV Series Cancellation

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Rawles, I came across this story of Jericho [television series] fans that have sent almost 19,000 pounds of nuts to CBS to protest the show’s cancellation. Borrowing from Jake’s reply of “Nuts” to New Bern[‘s demand for surrender.]. Here is a link to the story. – T.A. From Indiana. . JWR Replies: In their typically resourceful American way, people are expressing themselves in a creative way to be sure that they’ll be heard. If you enjoyed the show, folks might want to at least sign the petition. And if you really love the show, then it …


Reader Poll: List Your Top Five Survival Fiction Books and Top Five Survival Movies

“OSOM” suggested this poll: List your top five fiction books and top five fictional movies that help folks learn something useful for survival. OSOM’s comment: “Jim’s novel Patriots has been called a ‘survival manual fairly neatly dressed as a work of fiction.’ I believe that reading fictional tales is critical to prepare yourself mentally and spiritually for hard times, and helps intellectually to work out the variables in different situations.” I’ll kick off this new poll with my own list. Please send your lists in the same format via e-mail and I will post them anonymously. Thanks! Fiction Books: Lucifer’s …


Letter Re: Where Was That Survivalist “Matchmaking” Service?

Jim, I just thought I would send you a quick note and tell you about Conservative Match. [Their motto is:] “Sweethearts, not bleeding hearts.” My son found himself a wonderful wife there that fits our family like a glove. It was like she came custom made. Maybe he just got lucky, but he managed to find himself a wife, and myself a daughter in law, that I just did not think were being made anymore. She is conservative/libertarian and home schooled. Oh, and did I mention she has the “survivor gene” and likes to hunt, fish, camp, scout and shoot? …


Letter Re: Feedback on JWR’s “Pulling Through” Movie Screenplay

Hello Mr. Rawles, First, let me preface by saying I am not anyone in the movie industry nor am I anyone in the publishing field. I am simply a citizen who happened upon your movie script – “Pulling Through” – and wanted to give you some feedback on what I thought of it. That said, I read it the other day and was totally hooked from the first scene onward. You began it with such an urgency, that to me, it was like the old Lay’s potato chip motto of “ya can’t eat just one”. What I mean by that …


Poll Results: Why are You Preparing to Survive?

Here is the first round of responses to this question: Those who are well educated enough to see a societal collapse of some sort or another in the making fall into two groups, the merrymakers and the preparers. The merrymakers don’t see life worth living post-SHTF, so they live it up now. We on SurvivalBlog are the preparers and have chosen to survive, but why? Our children? To rebuild civilization? Because the collapse will only be temporary? Because we can and we’re stubborn with a stronger than normal will to survive? The following is just the first batch of responses. …


Letter Re: Recent Improvement in the Jericho Television Series

Dear Jim and Family, The latest episode of [the US CBS network television series] Jericho has finally built up into something significant. A battle between towns, using mobility, rifles, mortars, and negotiation. It was actually pretty good. While my faith in the idea of the show is not exactly restored from its initial low opinion, this is a major improvement in direction of the story. CBS offers streaming viewing of the whole season via their web site. If you open the viewer in a proper player via right clicking on the window, you can stop, pause, and select scenes to …


Book Excerpt: Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse

SurvivalBlog reader L.C. recently asked me: “What’s your novel “Patriots” like? Is it like the Jerry Ahern [“The Survivalist”] books?” My novel “Patriots” is hard to describe. It is a fast-paced novel, but it is not at all like Jerry Ahern’s novels. I did my best to weave a lot of practical and tactical information into the storyline. To illustrate, here is an excerpt from one of the later chapters in the novel (titled “Radio Ranch”) that shows the style: Edgar Rhodes had just turned 72 when the Crunch hit. He had lost his wife two years earlier, to cancer. …


Letter Re: The Psychology of Denial in the Information Age

Jim: Good morning. I don’t know that I have seen any discussion on your blog on the psychology of denial–why folks aren’t more prepared. I acknowledge that it may not be the most vital topic, and that you are doing your part to get the word out, but I correspond to you on this topic in sheer frustration. Let me be more specific. I have friends and family members who make serious money in their chosen professions, many of whom are in the finance sector. Yet, when I raise the barest reference to preparation and our fragile infrastructure, it’s like …