If you were moved by the quiet devastation and rebuilding of society in Earth Abides, you’ll be drawn in by The Road. McCarthy follows a father and son as they traverse a ruined America, wrestling with survival and the remnants of humanity. Like Ish in Earth Abides, these characters must navigate the moral and practical challenges of a transformed world.

If you appreciated how Earth Abides spans generations and watches society evolve from primitive beginnings, A Canticle for Leibowitz will fascinate you. It follows monks in a post-nuclear future as they work to preserve knowledge through the ages, mirroring Ish’s efforts to shepherd learning and culture after the fall.

If you found the meditations on civilization, meaning, and survival in Earth Abides compelling, Station Eleven explores similar territory. It weaves together the lives of survivors and artists after a pandemic, asking what’s truly essential to humanity beyond mere survival—echoing the existential questions that Ish and his companions face.

If you were captivated by the ecological catastrophe and its impact on humanity in Earth Abides, The Death of Grass offers a stark look at a world devastated by a virus that wipes out all grass species. As civilization unravels, the book probes how people adapt—or fail to adapt—to Earth’s changing face, much like Ish’s journey.

If you enjoyed the gradual, thoughtful pace and the attention to societal transformation in Earth Abides, you’ll appreciate The Chrysalids. Set in a future shaped by an unspecified catastrophe, it follows David as he comes of age in a community shaped by fear and superstition, echoing the slow-burn emergence of new norms and values after the old world ends.