In addition to _Ariel_, if one likes fantasy, there's the ``shared world'' _Borderland_ series:
http://bordertownseries.com/
Others from a usenet thread (
http://groups.google.com/group/misc....a5e2eaf70c6566 ):
"Systemic Shock" by Dean Ing and the two sequels. Nasty
nuclear/biological war between the U.S./Russia and China/India with
the political ramifications thereof.
"Farmham's Freehold" by Robert Heinlein is good survival science fiction.
The book is a straight forward in regard to group preparedness/survival
and the importance of solid leadership after a nuclear attack but the
plot swings to the science fiction after the first half.
William