Reddit reviews The Postman

• Lights Out by David Crawford
  
• Going Home by A. American (and the whole Survivalist series that follows)
  
• Patriots by James Wesley, Rawles
  
• Enemies Foreign and Domestic by Matthew Bracken
  
• The Postman by David Brin
  
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
  
• Breakers by Edward W. Robertson (and the rest of the series; good deals on Kindle bundles)
  
  

Not stupid, just lucky enough to get to enjoy this literary gem for the first time.

These are books which I have read twice or more and would read again and again on the topic of post-collapse:

Alas Babylon

On the Beach

The Postman - not like the movie with Kevin Costner (just based upon and quite different)

One Second After - currently the most realistic and scariest of the bunch I think.

Earth Abides

Lucifer's Hammer - this one I wouldn't read without many years between as the start is sooooo slow but the second half is good.

Gordon Krantz survived the Doomwar only to spend years crossing a post-apocalypse United States looking for something or someone he could believe in again. Ironically, when he's inadvertently forced to assume the made-up role of a "Restored United States" postal inspector, he becomes the very thing he's been seeking: a symbol of hope and rebirth for a desperate nation. Gordon goes through the motions of establishing a new postal route in the Pacific Northwest, uniting secluded towns and enclaves that are starved for communication with the rest of the world. And even though inside he feels like a fraud, eventually he will have to stand up for the new society he's helping to build or see it destroyed by fanatic survivalists.

Here ya go

Kim Stanley Robinson's Gold Coast trilogy begins in near future and then becomes dystopia (The Wild Shore) and then the third novel is a sort of eco utopia (though in a world still with challenges). It's set in California through those eras.

Children of Men, I've seen but not read, but it's a dystopia where people stop giving birth. Good movie, dunno about the book.

I thought Never Let Me Go, was a pretty good book though it is definitely telegraphed. I don't think you can really spoil it. It begins in an almost timeless world where these 'orphans' are raised and taught that they are special, for a reason.

David Brin's The Postman was made into an amazingly bad Kevin Costner movie. But despite that, I like the book and his central idea that his postmen could bring order to an apocalyptic world. I guess that's probably too fantastical from what you want.

Ups for everyone who mentioned "The Disposessed" and "A Handmaid's Tale". I'm not a big fan of "Oryx and Crake".

Obligatory wiki links: Dystopian Literature. Although, some of the titles listed don't seem to fit (The Dispossessed?). Nuclear holocaust fiction, and your general apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction.

Some of the better/more popular ones:

• Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang Kate Wilhelm.
  
  
• Eternity Road Jack McDevitt. Well written, but not very insightful.
  
  
• The Postman David Brin.
  
  
• Mockingbird Walter Tevis. Great read. Think Idiocracy, with a serious take. Humanity's totally run by robots, everyone's forgotten how to read and think for themselves, and the world population's dropped to almost nothing.
  
  
• We Yevgeny Zamyatin. The inspiration for George Orwell's 1984. Not the best read IMO, but some people claim it's better than 1984. It's possible I read a poor translation.
  
  
• Island Aldous Huxley. It's a utopian island surrounded by a dystopian world. Might not fit in this list, but it's a good read if you like Huxley. I think it was his last novel.
  
  
• 1984 George Orwell. One of my favorite novels. I have a bumper sticker with the quote "War is Peace, Ignorance is Strength, Freedom is Slavery", which is a slogan from the book. (Also, a sticker on my mirror with "Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me"). The link points to Animal Farm and 1984.
  
  
• Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury. Another must read. Very well written, thought-provoking novel. Is it still required reading in schools?
  
  
• Earth Abides George Stewart.
  
  
• Alas, Babylon Pat Frank. Lucifer's Hammer Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle. I'm grouping these two together because they're very similar, both in setting and politics. I didn't really enjoy either. The politics were not at all subtle, and the characters fit too neatly into stereotypes, and too obviously the writer's hero fantasy. Still, they're pretty popular, so try them out and feel free to disagree with me.
  
  
• Brave New World Aldous Huxley. Really just a utopia that's rough around the edges, if I'm remembering it correctly (also called an anti-utopia, thank you wikipedia). Another must read.
  
  
• A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter Miller.
  
  
• Memoirs Found in a Bathtub Stanislaw Lem. Another favorite. I once created a text adventure based on this book. It was about as frustrating as that Hitchhiker's Guide game.
  
  
• The Road Cormac McCarthy.
  
  
• Philip K. Dick It's hard to keep track of PKD's novels, but some of them are dystopian, all of them worth reading. Favorites: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (also known as/inspired Blade Runner), Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, The Man in the High Castle.
  
  
• The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood.
  
  
• Y: The Last Man A graphical novel/comic collection. Decent art, great story.
  
  Zombies: World War Z, Raise the Dead, Marvel Zombies, Zombie Survival Guide, Day By Day Armageddon, I Am Legend.
  
  Also, just for kicks, some of my favorite dystopian movies:
  Brazil, Soylent Green, 12 Monkeys, Blade Runner, Akira, Children of Men, Dark City, A Boy and His Dog, Logan's Run, Idiocracy, Equillibrium.

From your description, I immediately thought of What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson. I think some might call it dated, because it's obviously set in the seventies, but then, most books written today will be considered dated in twenty years if anyone's even still reading them! Anyway, this is a book that had a profound impact on me when I first read it.

I'd also suggest Emergence by David Palmer, if you can find a copy. Or perhaps The Postman by David Brin -- haven't read that particular book by him but it seems to fit the bill and he's a very good author.

I don't know if any of these qualify as extremely dark, even though they do deal with mature subjects and events. I'm big on hope.

The Postman - David Brin

Dies the Fire- SM Stirling

I just finished reading Patriots, it was alright.

The Postman is a good read though its more dystopian future than hard core survival. Still a great book.