The world ofFalloutis one of the unique post-apocalyptic worlds in all science fiction, blending cold-war terror with a 1950s nuclear-punk aesthetic in aMad Max-esque landscape. The cinematic influences shine through across the six main titles in the video game series and the handful of spin-offs and DLC content. As any screenwriter, author, or video game writer will say, “To be a great writer you have to be a great reader,” and the literary influences onFallout, although lesser known, are just as important as their cinematic counterparts.
The developers of theFalloutseries have been very public about their influences, with the post-apocalyptic landscape drawing obvious parallels to the aforementionedMad Max, along with lesser-knownmovies likeA Boy and His DogandRadioactive Dreams. The franchise’s creators have also been just as forthcoming about the series' literary influences, and three of those books are essential reading before Prime Video’s series adaptation releases in April 2024.
The Postman Captures Fallout’s Setting and Characters
It’s hard to imagine a video game, film, or any visual medium taking visual cues from a novel, considering the obvious lack of pictorial elements, butThe Postmanby David Brin is cited as a huge influence on the design process ofFallout’siconically unique landscape and the settlements found within.
Set in a decimated landscape, Brin’sThe Postmanfollows a man who stumbles upon a crashed mail truck that has been untouched since the old world fell. Having lost everything after falling victim to a group of raiders, the man decides to wear the uniform, acting as the federal inspector for the “Restored United States of America” to gain entry to the local settlements across the Wasteland.
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Outside the radioactive worldThe Postmanis set in, the increasingly strange settlements found within the novel left a lasting effect on the creators ofFallout. Ranging from small, shanty towns to entire cities, ruled by a sentient super-computer, some of these emerging civilizations can almost be seen verbatim across theFalloutuniverse – with the sentient super-computer drawing striking parallels to Robert House inFallout: New Vegas.
The Postmanwas adapted into a feature film in 1997 and starred Kevin Costner. Sadly, the film is closer toWaterworldthanMad Max, though the movies would make for an entertaining double feature together, to say the least.
A Canticle for Leibowitz Summarizes Fallout’s Humor
The only book of the three yet to be adapted for the big screen,A Canticle for Leibowitzby Walter M. Miller Jr. is perhaps one of the biggest literary influences on the franchise, not in its aesthetic or visuals, but in the franchise’s signature dark humor. One of the core elements that define the franchise, and something theFalloutTV showrunners need to get right, is its perversely comical approach to how its survivors live in the Wasteland. For every single parent trying to keep their kids alive, there’s a group of survivors believing Elvis to be a mythical deity from the old world and worshiping him as a god.
Fallouttakes this cue for dramatic irony fromA Canticle for Leibowitz,in which a Catholic monk undergoes a pilgrimage after finding a note from the old world that simply reads, “Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels - bring home for Emma.” Believing the grocery list to be a missing page of religious scripture, the monk’s comically redundant journey kickstarts the book’s plot, which spans millenniums, as a hopeless civilization attempts to rebuild itself after a nuclear war.
Fallout Owes Its Creatures to I Am Legend
The final literary influence might surprise those who have read the book or only watched the questionable movie adaptation starring Will Smith. Richard Matheson’sI Am Legendfollows Robert Neville, the last survivor in a monster-infested New York, as he attempts to understand the virus using his knowledge as a biologist.
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There are a lot of contextual differences between the novel and theFalloutfranchise that may cause some to question its level of influence, but one parallel between the two is the influence of mutated creatures on the post-apocalyptic world. As well as various settlements of survivors with varying levels of sanity, the Wasteland of theFalloutuniverse is swarming with mutated creatures, from the sentient ghouls and super mutants to the bloodthirsty Deathclaws and Yao Guais (the irradiated bear shown in the first teaser trailer), to name but a few.
In some cases, these creatures are simply a byproduct of thenuclear apocalypseand act as little more as mortal threats to the survivors, but other creatures receive unparalleled levels of narrative and thematic depth, adding sub-textual layers to their existence – much like Matheson does to the vampires that inhabit his fictitious New York.
All three are incredible books in their own rights, but for newcomers to theFalloutfranchise and long-time fans yet to pick up these literary classics, these stories are essential reading material before the series hits Prime Video in April next year.
