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larisa2021's review against another edition
3.0
Carrie Vaughn & Elizabeth Bear are always worth the effort to find their stories.
bitterindigo's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure why I didn't find this as wholly enchanting as the first two books in the series - there were stories in those that I've read over half-a-dozen times, and I loved flipping back and forth between books on my Kindle following the threads of the ones that were continued. There were a couple of gems here, but not the same consistent brilliance.
errantdreams's review against another edition
5.0
Book one in the triptych, The End Is Nigh, was a collection of pre-apocalyptic short stories. Book two, The End is Here, took place during the apocalyptic event(s). Now The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych) (Volume 3) takes place after the apocalypse. Most of the stories are also triptychs, with one in each volume, but they’re meant to stand alone and most of them succeed surprisingly well at that. I believe the intro to this volume said that 18 of the 23 stories in here were related to previous stories.
Seanan McGuire’s “Resistance” wraps up her triptych of the fungus that took over the world. Megan is still going, immune to the mold, even though she might have preferred not to outlive her wife and daughter. She’s taken in by the military, who know an awful lot about her and are laying the blame for what happened at her feet. It’s an incredible story of two women sparring verbally and emotionally and what happens from there. I loved it; once again McGuire wrote one of my favorite stories of this volume.
Seanan McGuire has a second story in here under her pen name Mira Grant, and it’s entirely excellent. “The Happiest Place…” takes place in Disneyland. When an epidemic struck, a number of Cast Members didn’t really have anywhere else to go, nor did some customers. Amy, the highest-ranking member of the Guest Relations team still present, ends up in charge as the “mayor.” One of the generators just gave out, and Amy has to figure out how to get more parts to keep things going as long as possible. Yep, I cried at this one.
Carrie Vaughn’s “Bannerless” was an intriguing story of a civilization in which people need permission to have children, and the people who are sent to investigate the situation when a woman becomes pregnant without permission. It’s a surprisingly good story–not at all what I might have expected.
Megan Arkenberg’s “Like All Beautiful Places” takes place on a container ship anchored off of San Francisco, and includes Lena from Arkenberg’s story in volume one, and her attempt to make an immersive VR experience. It was a pretty good story.
Will McIntosh’s “Dancing with a Stranger in the Land of Nod” continues the story of the epidemic that’s paralyzing everyone. I enjoyed this installment more than the previous one. (Installment one was great; the second one just didn’t entirely appeal to me.)
Scott Sigler’s “The Seventh Day of Deer Camp” sees George responsible for ensuring the safety of the alien children. It’s better than the previous two installments; I found it harder to get emotionally invested in those parts of the story.
Sarah Langan’s “Prototype” involves a post-apocalyptic genius who designs suits for those who go above-ground and encounter the deadly sands that blow across the land. He has a pet named Rex. I was genuinely surprised and horrified by where this one went–it was quite good.
Chris Avellone’s “Acts of Creation” involves people called “Sensitives” who were in some way altered to fight a war. Now they seem to be undergoing transformations that make them even deadlier. Agnes is trying to figure out what exactly triggers these transformations. This story really captures the feel of what her subject is like.
Leife Shallcross’s “Wandering Star” is a museum’s thoughts regarding a memento quilt and little flashbacks of the apocalypse to go with it. Interesting, but kind of low-key.
Ben H. Winters brings us back to teenager Pea in “Heaven Come Down.” Pea has developed some very unusual powers, and God, who has finally started speaking to her as well, guides her in remaking her world. Only Pea starts to have questions about what God is really up to. This is an extremely satisfying conclusion to this ongoing story, with some surprises in store.
David Wellington’s “Agent Neutralized” finds CDC field agent Whitman ten years later as he searches for survivors of the apocalypse. One of the little things in this story that I like is that they don’t try to wipe out years of cultural habit of calling mindless, infected attackers “zombies,” even though these zombies are still alive.
Annie Bellet’s “Goodnight Earth” takes place well after her first two connected stories and has little obvious to connect it to them. Karron is a “War Child,” jumped up on nanomachines and used to fight a war. Now she’s hiding what she is. She and her partner Ishim have taken on two children and their parents as passengers to smuggle. Karron ends up having to make some tough decisions.
Tananarive Due’s “Carriers” returns to Nayima now that she’s in her sixties and living in a cabin, living off of the chickens she raises and some items brought by her friend, Raul. Little references give us an idea of what she’s gone through since we saw her last–as an asymptomatic carrier of the disease, she’s been treated very badly and it’s made her paranoid and bitter. This is a very rewarding story.
Robin Wasserman returns to the tale of Isaac leading his followers through the apocalypse in “In the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land.” He’s an old man now, and we see his descendants through his eyes… before we get a fascinating finish in which we see things through the eyes of his sons. This is my favorite of this particular triptych of stories.
Jamie Ford’s “The Uncertainty Machine” hearkens back to that deadly 1910 comet strike, as “accidental prophet” Phineas Kai Pengong waits for rescue in his underground bunker. This one is chilling!
Elizabeth Bear’s “Margin of Survival” is also chilling. Yana is trying to steal supplies to help keep her and her starving sister Yulianna alive. She encounters another woman named Yulianna in the storage room she enters.
“Jingo and the Hammerman,” by Jonathan Maberry, introduces us to the clever ways in which post-apocalyptic society has found to destroy zombies in bulk. Jingo has been reading Tony Robbins’s motivational books, and is convinced things will get better soon. His partner Moose Peters isn’t so sure. I love how quirky this one turns out to be–and yet it manages to be quite dark at the same time!
Charlie Jane Anders brings us back to the tale of wacky “actor” and stuntman Rock Manning in “The Last Movie Ever Made.” It’s almost as bizarre as the previous stories. Rock doesn’t actually want to make another movie, but absolutely everyone insists on one more.
Jake Kerr’s “The Gray Sunrise” sees Don and his son Zack attempting to escape the asteroid impact by boat. Seemingly not a lot happens, but the changes in the characters are fascinating, and I might have shed a tear or two by the end.
Ken Liu’s “The Gods Have Not Died in Vain” introduces Maddie to her online “sister,” “Mist.” In trying to help Mist understand humans, she finds out that Mist already knows a lot more than she thinks–and may not see things the way their father would have wanted.
Hugh Howey’s “In the Woods” finds April and Remy waking up from their cryo-storage unit–the one they weren’t told they were going to be put in–only to find that it’s 500 years later and all they have left is the contents of a trunk that were left for them. It’s hard to see, given what they find inside the bunker they’re in, how the power, lights, and even things like the IVs in their arms continued to function for that long, among other things. Still, it’s an intriguing continuation of the story, and I liked it better than the second part.
Nancy Kress’s “Blessings” picks up a couple generations after the previous story. The “Sweets”–people who are basically incapable of violence on any level–believe that they’ve been blessed, and the least they can do is try to help the alien Dant who did this to them. Then some outsiders come along who aren’t so pacifistic. There are some intriguing twists to this one.
On the whole, I absolutely loved this triptych. If you’re an apocalypse junkie like I am, dive on in!
Content note for a brief rape mention.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2020/08/review-the-end-has-come-ed-john-joseph-adams-hugh-howey/
Seanan McGuire’s “Resistance” wraps up her triptych of the fungus that took over the world. Megan is still going, immune to the mold, even though she might have preferred not to outlive her wife and daughter. She’s taken in by the military, who know an awful lot about her and are laying the blame for what happened at her feet. It’s an incredible story of two women sparring verbally and emotionally and what happens from there. I loved it; once again McGuire wrote one of my favorite stories of this volume.
Seanan McGuire has a second story in here under her pen name Mira Grant, and it’s entirely excellent. “The Happiest Place…” takes place in Disneyland. When an epidemic struck, a number of Cast Members didn’t really have anywhere else to go, nor did some customers. Amy, the highest-ranking member of the Guest Relations team still present, ends up in charge as the “mayor.” One of the generators just gave out, and Amy has to figure out how to get more parts to keep things going as long as possible. Yep, I cried at this one.
Carrie Vaughn’s “Bannerless” was an intriguing story of a civilization in which people need permission to have children, and the people who are sent to investigate the situation when a woman becomes pregnant without permission. It’s a surprisingly good story–not at all what I might have expected.
Megan Arkenberg’s “Like All Beautiful Places” takes place on a container ship anchored off of San Francisco, and includes Lena from Arkenberg’s story in volume one, and her attempt to make an immersive VR experience. It was a pretty good story.
Will McIntosh’s “Dancing with a Stranger in the Land of Nod” continues the story of the epidemic that’s paralyzing everyone. I enjoyed this installment more than the previous one. (Installment one was great; the second one just didn’t entirely appeal to me.)
Scott Sigler’s “The Seventh Day of Deer Camp” sees George responsible for ensuring the safety of the alien children. It’s better than the previous two installments; I found it harder to get emotionally invested in those parts of the story.
Sarah Langan’s “Prototype” involves a post-apocalyptic genius who designs suits for those who go above-ground and encounter the deadly sands that blow across the land. He has a pet named Rex. I was genuinely surprised and horrified by where this one went–it was quite good.
Chris Avellone’s “Acts of Creation” involves people called “Sensitives” who were in some way altered to fight a war. Now they seem to be undergoing transformations that make them even deadlier. Agnes is trying to figure out what exactly triggers these transformations. This story really captures the feel of what her subject is like.
Leife Shallcross’s “Wandering Star” is a museum’s thoughts regarding a memento quilt and little flashbacks of the apocalypse to go with it. Interesting, but kind of low-key.
Ben H. Winters brings us back to teenager Pea in “Heaven Come Down.” Pea has developed some very unusual powers, and God, who has finally started speaking to her as well, guides her in remaking her world. Only Pea starts to have questions about what God is really up to. This is an extremely satisfying conclusion to this ongoing story, with some surprises in store.
David Wellington’s “Agent Neutralized” finds CDC field agent Whitman ten years later as he searches for survivors of the apocalypse. One of the little things in this story that I like is that they don’t try to wipe out years of cultural habit of calling mindless, infected attackers “zombies,” even though these zombies are still alive.
Annie Bellet’s “Goodnight Earth” takes place well after her first two connected stories and has little obvious to connect it to them. Karron is a “War Child,” jumped up on nanomachines and used to fight a war. Now she’s hiding what she is. She and her partner Ishim have taken on two children and their parents as passengers to smuggle. Karron ends up having to make some tough decisions.
Tananarive Due’s “Carriers” returns to Nayima now that she’s in her sixties and living in a cabin, living off of the chickens she raises and some items brought by her friend, Raul. Little references give us an idea of what she’s gone through since we saw her last–as an asymptomatic carrier of the disease, she’s been treated very badly and it’s made her paranoid and bitter. This is a very rewarding story.
Robin Wasserman returns to the tale of Isaac leading his followers through the apocalypse in “In the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land.” He’s an old man now, and we see his descendants through his eyes… before we get a fascinating finish in which we see things through the eyes of his sons. This is my favorite of this particular triptych of stories.
Jamie Ford’s “The Uncertainty Machine” hearkens back to that deadly 1910 comet strike, as “accidental prophet” Phineas Kai Pengong waits for rescue in his underground bunker. This one is chilling!
Elizabeth Bear’s “Margin of Survival” is also chilling. Yana is trying to steal supplies to help keep her and her starving sister Yulianna alive. She encounters another woman named Yulianna in the storage room she enters.
“Jingo and the Hammerman,” by Jonathan Maberry, introduces us to the clever ways in which post-apocalyptic society has found to destroy zombies in bulk. Jingo has been reading Tony Robbins’s motivational books, and is convinced things will get better soon. His partner Moose Peters isn’t so sure. I love how quirky this one turns out to be–and yet it manages to be quite dark at the same time!
Charlie Jane Anders brings us back to the tale of wacky “actor” and stuntman Rock Manning in “The Last Movie Ever Made.” It’s almost as bizarre as the previous stories. Rock doesn’t actually want to make another movie, but absolutely everyone insists on one more.
Jake Kerr’s “The Gray Sunrise” sees Don and his son Zack attempting to escape the asteroid impact by boat. Seemingly not a lot happens, but the changes in the characters are fascinating, and I might have shed a tear or two by the end.
Ken Liu’s “The Gods Have Not Died in Vain” introduces Maddie to her online “sister,” “Mist.” In trying to help Mist understand humans, she finds out that Mist already knows a lot more than she thinks–and may not see things the way their father would have wanted.
Hugh Howey’s “In the Woods” finds April and Remy waking up from their cryo-storage unit–the one they weren’t told they were going to be put in–only to find that it’s 500 years later and all they have left is the contents of a trunk that were left for them. It’s hard to see, given what they find inside the bunker they’re in, how the power, lights, and even things like the IVs in their arms continued to function for that long, among other things. Still, it’s an intriguing continuation of the story, and I liked it better than the second part.
Nancy Kress’s “Blessings” picks up a couple generations after the previous story. The “Sweets”–people who are basically incapable of violence on any level–believe that they’ve been blessed, and the least they can do is try to help the alien Dant who did this to them. Then some outsiders come along who aren’t so pacifistic. There are some intriguing twists to this one.
On the whole, I absolutely loved this triptych. If you’re an apocalypse junkie like I am, dive on in!
Content note for a brief rape mention.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2020/08/review-the-end-has-come-ed-john-joseph-adams-hugh-howey/
birano's review against another edition
3.0
I agree with a couple of others here about it running out of steam. It really felt like it was an incomplete ending to the series. I really wanted to like it but the stories sometimes fell flat and I do understand these are short stories but many were so far from being the story after the end (more so the end of the "during apocalypse") that there was no sense of closure (again understood that that should not always be the case), whether good, bad or indifferent.
ghostmuppet's review against another edition
3.0
This instalment JUST managed to get three stars. I do not know why the quality seemed to dip for me in this instalment compared to the previous 2. A lot of the stories were just dull.
Highlights:
THE GODS HAVE NOT DIED IN VAIN—Ken Liu
IN THE WOODS—Hugh Howey
Too many lows to mention.
Highlights:
THE GODS HAVE NOT DIED IN VAIN—Ken Liu
IN THE WOODS—Hugh Howey
Too many lows to mention.
brucemri's review against another edition
5.0
Good heavens, this is astonishingly great stuff.
John Joseph Adams is a really good anthologist - he has a knack for selecting themes that invite very diverse contributions and for choosing some excellent reprints, for volumes where that's appropriate. I've never been less than satisfied by a volume he's put together. And I already read and enjoyed The End is Nigh already, and was intrigued by his explanation of it being the first of a trio of volumes in which authors would be free to carry on their stories from impending apocalypse to apocalypse present to aftermath. This is the second volume of that trio, with apocalypses going off all around the characters.
Every single story in this volume is excellent. To begin with, they're all working with fresh apocalypses. The one more or less classic zombie apocalypse story approaches it from an angle just touched on a little in World War Z (and some more in The Strain), and in very few other zombie stories I can think. There's an alien invasion story that brings the human characters face to face with aliens who have nothing to do with the invasion, and sticks them with hard choices. Several of the stories work with medical calamities, including animal-consuming fungi and a global wave of genetic tweaks, not necessarily "defects", that shift human mental development in some tight but immensely significant ways. There's...heck, there's all kinds of things here, up to and including what may be the voice of God in the minds of human settlers on an alien world.
Every single story here presents characters I was interested in. I might not like some of them, but none were dull and none left me just wishing they'd all get eaten or whatever. Put that together with fascinating ways to push civilizations and species over, and you get - well, at least I got - a really, really rewarding read.
John Joseph Adams is a really good anthologist - he has a knack for selecting themes that invite very diverse contributions and for choosing some excellent reprints, for volumes where that's appropriate. I've never been less than satisfied by a volume he's put together. And I already read and enjoyed The End is Nigh already, and was intrigued by his explanation of it being the first of a trio of volumes in which authors would be free to carry on their stories from impending apocalypse to apocalypse present to aftermath. This is the second volume of that trio, with apocalypses going off all around the characters.
Every single story in this volume is excellent. To begin with, they're all working with fresh apocalypses. The one more or less classic zombie apocalypse story approaches it from an angle just touched on a little in World War Z (and some more in The Strain), and in very few other zombie stories I can think. There's an alien invasion story that brings the human characters face to face with aliens who have nothing to do with the invasion, and sticks them with hard choices. Several of the stories work with medical calamities, including animal-consuming fungi and a global wave of genetic tweaks, not necessarily "defects", that shift human mental development in some tight but immensely significant ways. There's...heck, there's all kinds of things here, up to and including what may be the voice of God in the minds of human settlers on an alien world.
Every single story here presents characters I was interested in. I might not like some of them, but none were dull and none left me just wishing they'd all get eaten or whatever. Put that together with fascinating ways to push civilizations and species over, and you get - well, at least I got - a really, really rewarding read.
carol26388's review against another edition
4.0
Review from the blog at https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2015/07/25/the-end-has-come/ where it's about 42 times easier to post links, highlights and general text embellishments (as well as a link to an REM song).
Let’s be clear: the title “The End Has Come” implies that the stories center upon the events as the apocalypse is upon us. Little did I know when I bought it that per publisher, [b:The End Has Come|18870662|The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3)|John Joseph Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392378625s/18870662.jpg|26869779] is about what will arrive from the ashes.”
Nevertheless, once I dealt with grief caused by unmet expectations of disease, destruction and horror, I enjoyed this collection.
Though I have a fascination with The End of the World (as we know it), I tend to avoid thematic collections of short stories. Too much like a box of chocolates, and, man–do I ever hate the coconut ones disguised as vanilla creme. But the contributing authors have more than the average share of credibility: Hugh Howey (Wool), Seanan McGuire (Incryptid series), Ken Liu (a million short story award noms), Carrie Vaughn (former classmate), Mira Grant (Newsfeed series), Jonathan Maberry (one of the best zombie series I’ve read), Nancy Kress (I’ve always meant to read her), Elizabeth Bear (loved “Bone and Jewel Creatures”), Ben H. Winters (The Last Policeman triology), and others.
There’s great stuff here with interesting worlds and stories. Maberry’s contribution is a short related to the Rot&Ruin world (finally, zombies!) that was a bit more of socio-political bent, and Howey's is about two people who wake up alone in a silo in the world of Wool. I actually liked that less, as I got stuck on the biology in his scenario. Honestly, I didn’t care for plot of Arkenberg’s “Like All Beautiful Places.” Set in a carrier ship off lovely San Francisco, it was a well written attempt to recapture the past, but I enjoyed the prose: “A sky that seemed too big for itself, too solid blue for too many miles, almost threatening to collapse.” Lagan’s “Prototype” was captivating and eerie, centering on a scientist working in isolation to improve the protective suits people need to wear: “What he lacks in social graces he makes up for in creepiness. Most of us add a little personality to our suits… He looks like a six-foot-tall, man-shaped oil slick.” Her sense of humor amused me, and I think she’d be an author I’d enjoy: “I laugh, and decide I’ll spend the rest of the trip needling him. At least one of us will be entertained.”
Sander’s “The Last Movie Ever Made” envisions a post-apocalypse deaf population, but one still deep in the movie craze: “Some of the film geeks wanted us to make a movie about the fact that everyone was deaf, but that seemed like the opposite of escapism to me–which I guess would be trapism, or maybe claustrophilia.” In fact, Sanders is a very interesting writer, and while I wouldn’t say that I loved the story, she got the bulk of my text highlights: “This not-talking thing meant you really had to watch people, and maybe you could see people more clearly when you couldn’t hear them.” I’ll definitely keep an eye out for her. Bear’s “Margin of Survival” was extremely satisfying: a young woman seeking to provide food for her weaker sister by sneaking into a protected facility. It had a horror twist at the end that I didn’t particularly enjoy–it smacked of gimmick–but was well-told and interesting world-building.
Grant’s short is set in Disneyland, and the efforts of a marketing specialist to maintain the Disney spirit. It worked well for Grant’s writing, but again, an idiot end twist. Seanan McGuire’s “Resistance” is the one that really hit home–it was a character piece about an OCD scientist set in a world that covered with a fungus. Brilliant and powerful–that woman does good people. Wellingtons’ “Agent Neutralized” was a bureaucratic Mad-Max type piece. I enjoyed his writing and wouldn’t mind spending some time in the world he created. Likewise Bellet’s “Goodnight Earth,” which reminded me of a cross between Paolo Bacigalupi and the tv series “Dark Angel” as a couple take an unusual family on their boat up the Missip. Another book I’d read. Kerr’s “The Gray Sunrise” is story about a man who has sacrificed much of his life for his dream sailboat, which becomes an escape for him and his son. I liked the ornery independence of an older woman in Due's "Carriers," and wouldn't mind seeing more from her as well.
There were a few misses. Winter’s “Heaven Come Down” didn’t gel; it was an infirm parallel to the re-creation of the world coupled with aliens. I ended up skipping Wasserman’s “In the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land” because I couldn’t cope with the Old Testament/religion parallels, and while I like Liu, I found “The Gods Have Not Died in Vain” initial [chat text] format off-putting, A.I. kind of [yawn] and was never able to really immerse in the story. Avellone's "Acts of Creation" is a woman interviewing a person(?) and feels like it needs more context. I did like Shallcross' quilted/story idea; comparing pieces in a patchwork quilt to the scene featuring that material, but it was a little jumpy. Still, a sweet story about preparing for the apocalypse.
Overall, it is an extremely satisfying collection. I’ll say this for it–there’s weren’t any stinkers, just ones that worked less well for my taste. Since The End Has Come is the last collection in a three-volume “triptych,” it appears I’ll be heading back to catch the other two collections. The Introduction notes that some of these stories are capstones to stories in the first two. Honestly, they stood well on their own, but now I’m interested to read more.
Even with the lack of zombies.
Let’s be clear: the title “The End Has Come” implies that the stories center upon the events as the apocalypse is upon us. Little did I know when I bought it that per publisher, [b:The End Has Come|18870662|The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3)|John Joseph Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392378625s/18870662.jpg|26869779] is about what will arrive from the ashes.”
Nevertheless, once I dealt with grief caused by unmet expectations of disease, destruction and horror, I enjoyed this collection.
Though I have a fascination with The End of the World (as we know it), I tend to avoid thematic collections of short stories. Too much like a box of chocolates, and, man–do I ever hate the coconut ones disguised as vanilla creme. But the contributing authors have more than the average share of credibility: Hugh Howey (Wool), Seanan McGuire (Incryptid series), Ken Liu (a million short story award noms), Carrie Vaughn (former classmate), Mira Grant (Newsfeed series), Jonathan Maberry (one of the best zombie series I’ve read), Nancy Kress (I’ve always meant to read her), Elizabeth Bear (loved “Bone and Jewel Creatures”), Ben H. Winters (The Last Policeman triology), and others.
There’s great stuff here with interesting worlds and stories. Maberry’s contribution is a short related to the Rot&Ruin world (finally, zombies!) that was a bit more of socio-political bent, and Howey's is about two people who wake up alone in a silo in the world of Wool. I actually liked that less, as I got stuck on the biology in his scenario. Honestly, I didn’t care for plot of Arkenberg’s “Like All Beautiful Places.” Set in a carrier ship off lovely San Francisco, it was a well written attempt to recapture the past, but I enjoyed the prose: “A sky that seemed too big for itself, too solid blue for too many miles, almost threatening to collapse.” Lagan’s “Prototype” was captivating and eerie, centering on a scientist working in isolation to improve the protective suits people need to wear: “What he lacks in social graces he makes up for in creepiness. Most of us add a little personality to our suits… He looks like a six-foot-tall, man-shaped oil slick.” Her sense of humor amused me, and I think she’d be an author I’d enjoy: “I laugh, and decide I’ll spend the rest of the trip needling him. At least one of us will be entertained.”
Sander’s “The Last Movie Ever Made” envisions a post-apocalypse deaf population, but one still deep in the movie craze: “Some of the film geeks wanted us to make a movie about the fact that everyone was deaf, but that seemed like the opposite of escapism to me–which I guess would be trapism, or maybe claustrophilia.” In fact, Sanders is a very interesting writer, and while I wouldn’t say that I loved the story, she got the bulk of my text highlights: “This not-talking thing meant you really had to watch people, and maybe you could see people more clearly when you couldn’t hear them.” I’ll definitely keep an eye out for her. Bear’s “Margin of Survival” was extremely satisfying: a young woman seeking to provide food for her weaker sister by sneaking into a protected facility. It had a horror twist at the end that I didn’t particularly enjoy–it smacked of gimmick–but was well-told and interesting world-building.
Grant’s short is set in Disneyland, and the efforts of a marketing specialist to maintain the Disney spirit. It worked well for Grant’s writing, but again, an idiot end twist. Seanan McGuire’s “Resistance” is the one that really hit home–it was a character piece about an OCD scientist set in a world that covered with a fungus. Brilliant and powerful–that woman does good people. Wellingtons’ “Agent Neutralized” was a bureaucratic Mad-Max type piece. I enjoyed his writing and wouldn’t mind spending some time in the world he created. Likewise Bellet’s “Goodnight Earth,” which reminded me of a cross between Paolo Bacigalupi and the tv series “Dark Angel” as a couple take an unusual family on their boat up the Missip. Another book I’d read. Kerr’s “The Gray Sunrise” is story about a man who has sacrificed much of his life for his dream sailboat, which becomes an escape for him and his son. I liked the ornery independence of an older woman in Due's "Carriers," and wouldn't mind seeing more from her as well.
There were a few misses. Winter’s “Heaven Come Down” didn’t gel; it was an infirm parallel to the re-creation of the world coupled with aliens. I ended up skipping Wasserman’s “In the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land” because I couldn’t cope with the Old Testament/religion parallels, and while I like Liu, I found “The Gods Have Not Died in Vain” initial [chat text] format off-putting, A.I. kind of [yawn] and was never able to really immerse in the story. Avellone's "Acts of Creation" is a woman interviewing a person(?) and feels like it needs more context. I did like Shallcross' quilted/story idea; comparing pieces in a patchwork quilt to the scene featuring that material, but it was a little jumpy. Still, a sweet story about preparing for the apocalypse.
Overall, it is an extremely satisfying collection. I’ll say this for it–there’s weren’t any stinkers, just ones that worked less well for my taste. Since The End Has Come is the last collection in a three-volume “triptych,” it appears I’ll be heading back to catch the other two collections. The Introduction notes that some of these stories are capstones to stories in the first two. Honestly, they stood well on their own, but now I’m interested to read more.
Even with the lack of zombies.
sheerpoetry's review against another edition
2.0
(This review is for "The Happiest Place..." by Mira Grant.)
I have to say that I didn't care for this story at all. I really did enjoy the other two, but this was not a great ending to the set of stories.
Normally, I appreciate Grant's/McGuire's ability to make an "unhappy" ending complete and satisfying. But I could not get over the *SPOILERS* killing of the dog by the main character, especially considering it was repeatedly mentioned. It was not a graphic description and I know it was supposed to be shocking, but I could not get past it. It made a character I had formerly liked completely despicable.
Otherwise, this story seemed more random than a satisfying conclusion. Some of the events from the previous stories are put in context of what's happening in the world at large in the face of the disaster, but it didn't do much to conclude the story, in my opinion.
I have to say that I didn't care for this story at all. I really did enjoy the other two, but this was not a great ending to the set of stories.
Normally, I appreciate Grant's/McGuire's ability to make an "unhappy" ending complete and satisfying. But I could not get over the *SPOILERS* killing of the dog by the main character, especially considering it was repeatedly mentioned. It was not a graphic description and I know it was supposed to be shocking, but I could not get past it. It made a character I had formerly liked completely despicable.
Otherwise, this story seemed more random than a satisfying conclusion. Some of the events from the previous stories are put in context of what's happening in the world at large in the face of the disaster, but it didn't do much to conclude the story, in my opinion.
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