A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller Jr. (1960)

Set centuries after a nuclear holocaust, monks in a desert monastery preserve scraps of lost scientific knowledge — blueprints treated like holy relics. The book spans a thousand years, showing humanity’s endless cycle of ignorance and rediscovery.
It’s funny, bleak, and profoundly moving. The idea that faith and reason might both save and doom us still feels terrifyingly modern.

Rating: 4 / 5