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annvsted87's review against another edition
The animal abuse in the second story was hard for me, so I just decided to quit this audiobook.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
civil6512's review against another edition
4.0
[b: Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse|1705697|Wastelands Stories of the Apocalypse|John Joseph Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391343189s/1705697.jpg|2661660] is a collection of short stories, all having in common that they happen after the world as we know it has ceased to exist. The reason of the apocalypse is stated in some of them, and left unmentioned in others, and goes from the typical nuclear holocaust to some deadly virus.
I enjoyed most of the stories, and will leave a brief summary of each of them for future self-reference.
The End of the Whole Mess, by [a: Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg], is an interesting account about how the side-effects of a cure can go terribly wrong. I specially liked the concept and development.
Salvage, by [a: Orson Scott Card|589|Orson Scott Card|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1294099952p2/589.jpg], left me unimpressed: Mormons trying to get something from the bottom of a lake.
The People of Sand and Slag by [a: Paolo Bacigalupi|1226977|Paolo Bacigalupi|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1375566282p2/1226977.jpg], describes genetically modified super-humans with incredible healing capabilities that find an unmodified animal. I found it quite interesting.
Bread and Bombs by [a: M. Rickert|126765|M. Rickert|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1381955473p2/126765.jpg] is a really good short story set in a small town in the United States where some war refugees settle. It covers topics such as trust, prejudices, war, children and vengeance, and had a powerful ending.
How We Got In Town and Out Again, by [a: Jonathan Lethem|6404|Jonathan Lethem|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1431787014p2/6404.jpg]. Two characters join a VR thing touring, in order to get food and shelter for a while.
Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels, by [a: George R. R. Martin|346732|George R.R. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1351944410p2/346732.jpg], is a story where humans colonise the Moon, only to later engage in some nuclear war on the Earth. Many generations later, Moon dwellers manage to go back to the Earth in search for answers, and what they find there is quite disturbing. I really liked the concept and its development.
I didn't like Waiting for the Zephyr, by [a: Tobias S. Buckell|107891|Tobias S. Buckell|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1370963821p2/107891.jpg], too much. In the future described here, communication between cities (or even communities) is no longer viable, roads are almost gone, and some ship-like vehicles using sails are used to go between settlements. The main character is waiting for one of these ships to come, since she wants to enrol into its crew. This could be a good introduction for a bigger book, but in this shape seemed to lack something.
Never Despair by [a: Jack McDevitt|73812|Jack McDevitt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1225722326p2/73812.jpg] displays a nice concept. Two explorers are taking shelter from a storm, in what seems to be some ruins from a collapsed past, and somehow "someone" from that past is able to communicate with them. Quite Fallout-ish!
I found When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth, by [a: Cory Doctorow|12581|Cory Doctorow|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1361468756p2/12581.jpg], quite interesting due to my own background (Software Engineering). Things go quite wrong due to some terrorist attack, and due to how it was arranged, it happens to leave many sysadmins unharmed around the world. Soon after, they start to organise. While the idea and the initial development are quite good, I think it loses interest after a while.
The Last of the O-Forms, by [a: James Van Pelt|645132|James Van Pelt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1276554006p2/645132.jpg], describes one of these futures that don't seem necessarily impossible. In this story, nature has gone wrong (I can't remember if it is stated that we are to blame or not), and most living beings start producing malformed offspring. The idea is sad and scary, and the story makes it look quite plausible.
Still Life With Apocalypse, by [a: Richard Kadrey|37557|Richard Kadrey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1252945001p2/37557.jpg], is more a description of the collapse of the world due to people going on a violent rampage rather than a short story.
I liked Artie’s Angels, by [a: Catherine Wells|528175|Catherine Wells|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. After the world is no longer safe to stay outdoors, some communities exist under "domes" protecting them. However, these domes have a limited capacity, and you have to be valuable somehow to be allowed in. This is a sort of futuristic, cavalry tale, about some of the inhabitants in the dome.
I found Judgment Passed, by [a: Jerry Oltion|12580|Jerry Oltion|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], very, very good. It describes some astronauts coming back to the Earth to find out that God arrived and the Last Judgement took place. Simply brilliant!
Mute, by [a: Gene Wolfe|23069|Gene Wolfe|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207670073p2/23069.jpg], was a disturbing story about two brothers that get home somehow, and find that nobody is there. But somebody was there when they were arriving. Or maybe not. Really unsettling.
Inertia, by [a: Nancy Kress|21158|Nancy Kress|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1232323985p2/21158.jpg], tells the story of the inhabitants of a community of diseased people that somehow survive against all odds. When people in the outside join them to study why they still survive and how their society manage their limitations, some struggle happens between the changes proposed by the outsiders and the attitude from the insiders.
And the Deep Blue Sea, by [a: Elizabeth Bear|108173|Elizabeth Bear|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1422586829p2/108173.jpg], talks about a courier that has to deliver a package in a wasted world. I didn't like it too much.
Speech Sounds, by [a: Octavia E. Butler|29535|Octavia E. Butler|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1242244143p2/29535.jpg]: take [a: Saramago|1285555|José Saramago|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1437073728p2/1285555.jpg]'s [b: Blindness|2526|Blindness (Blindness, #1)|José Saramago|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327866409s/2526.jpg|3213039] and replace sight with speech. A nice setting and development, I liked this story.
To me, Killers, by [a: Carol Emshwiller|54462|Carol Emshwiller|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1334335881p2/54462.jpg], was a story about how, even in a post-apocalyptic world, primary instincts like lust or jealously still define everything. A sick and injured person gets to a town, it is helped by one of the residents, and then things get ugly when she introduces him to the rest of the community.
Ginny Sweethips’ Flying Circus, by [a: Neal Barrett, Jr.|7065145|Neal Barrett Jr.|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1383457304p2/7065145.jpg], is a story about a small party that try to earn some money to survive in a wasted world, tricking people using sex as a bait, and their guns as a deterrent. It was OK.
The End of the World as We Know It, by [a: Dale Bailey|91717|Dale Bailey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1335278122p2/91717.jpg], is probably the best one in this collection. It is a reflection on what we expect from end of the world stories, on what the stereotypes are, on how the end of the world already happens every day for people that experience a terrible lost or trauma. With plenty of references to classic books in the genre, this story is a must read.
A Song Before Sunset, by [a: David Grigg|12868490|David Grigg|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], is an example about how priorities would shift if the end would come, about barbarians, about appreciating arts... About how humans could survive but still Civilization could fall.
Episode Seven... by [a: John Langan|7083558|John Langan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is an interesting story about a deadly chase that gets the best out of these survivors, but also the worst, things that even they didn't know about.
I enjoyed most of the stories, and will leave a brief summary of each of them for future self-reference.
The End of the Whole Mess, by [a: Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg], is an interesting account about how the side-effects of a cure can go terribly wrong. I specially liked the concept and development.
Salvage, by [a: Orson Scott Card|589|Orson Scott Card|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1294099952p2/589.jpg], left me unimpressed: Mormons trying to get something from the bottom of a lake.
The People of Sand and Slag by [a: Paolo Bacigalupi|1226977|Paolo Bacigalupi|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1375566282p2/1226977.jpg], describes genetically modified super-humans with incredible healing capabilities that find an unmodified animal. I found it quite interesting.
Bread and Bombs by [a: M. Rickert|126765|M. Rickert|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1381955473p2/126765.jpg] is a really good short story set in a small town in the United States where some war refugees settle. It covers topics such as trust, prejudices, war, children and vengeance, and had a powerful ending.
How We Got In Town and Out Again, by [a: Jonathan Lethem|6404|Jonathan Lethem|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1431787014p2/6404.jpg]. Two characters join a VR thing touring, in order to get food and shelter for a while.
Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels, by [a: George R. R. Martin|346732|George R.R. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1351944410p2/346732.jpg], is a story where humans colonise the Moon, only to later engage in some nuclear war on the Earth. Many generations later, Moon dwellers manage to go back to the Earth in search for answers, and what they find there is quite disturbing. I really liked the concept and its development.
I didn't like Waiting for the Zephyr, by [a: Tobias S. Buckell|107891|Tobias S. Buckell|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1370963821p2/107891.jpg], too much. In the future described here, communication between cities (or even communities) is no longer viable, roads are almost gone, and some ship-like vehicles using sails are used to go between settlements. The main character is waiting for one of these ships to come, since she wants to enrol into its crew. This could be a good introduction for a bigger book, but in this shape seemed to lack something.
Never Despair by [a: Jack McDevitt|73812|Jack McDevitt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1225722326p2/73812.jpg] displays a nice concept. Two explorers are taking shelter from a storm, in what seems to be some ruins from a collapsed past, and somehow "someone" from that past is able to communicate with them. Quite Fallout-ish!
I found When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth, by [a: Cory Doctorow|12581|Cory Doctorow|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1361468756p2/12581.jpg], quite interesting due to my own background (Software Engineering). Things go quite wrong due to some terrorist attack, and due to how it was arranged, it happens to leave many sysadmins unharmed around the world. Soon after, they start to organise. While the idea and the initial development are quite good, I think it loses interest after a while.
The Last of the O-Forms, by [a: James Van Pelt|645132|James Van Pelt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1276554006p2/645132.jpg], describes one of these futures that don't seem necessarily impossible. In this story, nature has gone wrong (I can't remember if it is stated that we are to blame or not), and most living beings start producing malformed offspring. The idea is sad and scary, and the story makes it look quite plausible.
Still Life With Apocalypse, by [a: Richard Kadrey|37557|Richard Kadrey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1252945001p2/37557.jpg], is more a description of the collapse of the world due to people going on a violent rampage rather than a short story.
I liked Artie’s Angels, by [a: Catherine Wells|528175|Catherine Wells|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. After the world is no longer safe to stay outdoors, some communities exist under "domes" protecting them. However, these domes have a limited capacity, and you have to be valuable somehow to be allowed in. This is a sort of futuristic, cavalry tale, about some of the inhabitants in the dome.
I found Judgment Passed, by [a: Jerry Oltion|12580|Jerry Oltion|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], very, very good. It describes some astronauts coming back to the Earth to find out that God arrived and the Last Judgement took place. Simply brilliant!
Mute, by [a: Gene Wolfe|23069|Gene Wolfe|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207670073p2/23069.jpg], was a disturbing story about two brothers that get home somehow, and find that nobody is there. But somebody was there when they were arriving. Or maybe not. Really unsettling.
Inertia, by [a: Nancy Kress|21158|Nancy Kress|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1232323985p2/21158.jpg], tells the story of the inhabitants of a community of diseased people that somehow survive against all odds. When people in the outside join them to study why they still survive and how their society manage their limitations, some struggle happens between the changes proposed by the outsiders and the attitude from the insiders.
And the Deep Blue Sea, by [a: Elizabeth Bear|108173|Elizabeth Bear|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1422586829p2/108173.jpg], talks about a courier that has to deliver a package in a wasted world. I didn't like it too much.
Speech Sounds, by [a: Octavia E. Butler|29535|Octavia E. Butler|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1242244143p2/29535.jpg]: take [a: Saramago|1285555|José Saramago|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1437073728p2/1285555.jpg]'s [b: Blindness|2526|Blindness (Blindness, #1)|José Saramago|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327866409s/2526.jpg|3213039] and replace sight with speech. A nice setting and development, I liked this story.
To me, Killers, by [a: Carol Emshwiller|54462|Carol Emshwiller|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1334335881p2/54462.jpg], was a story about how, even in a post-apocalyptic world, primary instincts like lust or jealously still define everything. A sick and injured person gets to a town, it is helped by one of the residents, and then things get ugly when she introduces him to the rest of the community.
Ginny Sweethips’ Flying Circus, by [a: Neal Barrett, Jr.|7065145|Neal Barrett Jr.|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1383457304p2/7065145.jpg], is a story about a small party that try to earn some money to survive in a wasted world, tricking people using sex as a bait, and their guns as a deterrent. It was OK.
The End of the World as We Know It, by [a: Dale Bailey|91717|Dale Bailey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1335278122p2/91717.jpg], is probably the best one in this collection. It is a reflection on what we expect from end of the world stories, on what the stereotypes are, on how the end of the world already happens every day for people that experience a terrible lost or trauma. With plenty of references to classic books in the genre, this story is a must read.
A Song Before Sunset, by [a: David Grigg|12868490|David Grigg|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], is an example about how priorities would shift if the end would come, about barbarians, about appreciating arts... About how humans could survive but still Civilization could fall.
Episode Seven... by [a: John Langan|7083558|John Langan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is an interesting story about a deadly chase that gets the best out of these survivors, but also the worst, things that even they didn't know about.
millennial_dandy's review against another edition
4.0
I suppose one could say that going into year three of the Covid-19 pandemic has got me in the mood for a bit of cathartic apocalypse reading. Enter 'Wastelands.'
With stories from 22 different authors, 'Wastelands' as a collection really does have something for everyone: technology and nuclear-warfare run amok, check. Inter-planetary travel, check. Commentary on religion, check. And plague and mutants, of course. We get to see the world end 22 different times, in 22 different ways.
To say that 'cynicism' runs as rampant as some of the viruses in this collection would be a collosal understatement, so no new ground was trod there, yet the stories were picked with enough care that this rather bleak messaging at least didn't feel redundant.
There are some big names in 'Wastelands': we start off with Stephen King, we get George R.R. Martin, Octavia Butler, Orson Scott Card, and a slew of others that, based on the brief biographies, seem like fairly heavy-hitters in sci-fi/dystopian fiction.
Were there any standouts? Well, this is where we get subjective. The very stories I found to be the least punchy could easily be someone else's favorite, but I will say that I was personally more impressed by some of the authors I'd never heard of than the ones I had. Not because the more famous names had done less impressive work, just that if you've read one King or Butler story, you kind of know what to expect, and you get it.
My personal favorites, i.e. the ones I found the creepiest, the most uncanny, the ones that really got under my skin, were:
1. The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi -- If you're an animal lover, this one is tough, but Bacigalupi does an amazing job really taking a look at the dark side of things like cloning and hyper-advanced medicine.
2. A Song Before Sunset by David Grigg -- A truly heartbreaking counterpart to the infinitely more optimist 'Station Eleven' by Emily St. John Mandel, this story explores a similar thesis: 'survival is insufficient.'
3. When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow -- This wasn't so much creepy as it was novel in its perspective. The apocalypse itself was your standard 'everyone catches a mysterious illness and dies instantly' fare, but our POV characters are a group of data scientists and programmers who try to keep the internet running post-apocalypse by networking with small groups like theirs around the world. Some of the lingo likely went over my head, as I've limited proximity to that sphere, but it was an interesting thought experiment.
4. Judgment Passed by Jerry Oltion -- What if the Day of Reckoning Comes, but you were off-planet and so you missed it? That's the premise of this short story. A small group of astronauts return to Earth only to discover that in their absense, God or Jesus swooped down and took away all the people, leaving them the sole humans to populate the planet. This sparks discussion among them of whether or not to try to get God's attention and let Him know He missed a few. Though seemingly an on-the-nose examination of religious fanaticism, Oltion does it in such a smart way that it feels fresh.
With stories from 22 different authors, 'Wastelands' as a collection really does have something for everyone: technology and nuclear-warfare run amok, check. Inter-planetary travel, check. Commentary on religion, check. And plague and mutants, of course. We get to see the world end 22 different times, in 22 different ways.
To say that 'cynicism' runs as rampant as some of the viruses in this collection would be a collosal understatement, so no new ground was trod there, yet the stories were picked with enough care that this rather bleak messaging at least didn't feel redundant.
There are some big names in 'Wastelands': we start off with Stephen King, we get George R.R. Martin, Octavia Butler, Orson Scott Card, and a slew of others that, based on the brief biographies, seem like fairly heavy-hitters in sci-fi/dystopian fiction.
Were there any standouts? Well, this is where we get subjective. The very stories I found to be the least punchy could easily be someone else's favorite, but I will say that I was personally more impressed by some of the authors I'd never heard of than the ones I had. Not because the more famous names had done less impressive work, just that if you've read one King or Butler story, you kind of know what to expect, and you get it.
My personal favorites, i.e. the ones I found the creepiest, the most uncanny, the ones that really got under my skin, were:
1. The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi -- If you're an animal lover, this one is tough, but Bacigalupi does an amazing job really taking a look at the dark side of things like cloning and hyper-advanced medicine.
2. A Song Before Sunset by David Grigg -- A truly heartbreaking counterpart to the infinitely more optimist 'Station Eleven' by Emily St. John Mandel, this story explores a similar thesis: 'survival is insufficient.'
3. When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow -- This wasn't so much creepy as it was novel in its perspective. The apocalypse itself was your standard 'everyone catches a mysterious illness and dies instantly' fare, but our POV characters are a group of data scientists and programmers who try to keep the internet running post-apocalypse by networking with small groups like theirs around the world. Some of the lingo likely went over my head, as I've limited proximity to that sphere, but it was an interesting thought experiment.
4. Judgment Passed by Jerry Oltion -- What if the Day of Reckoning Comes, but you were off-planet and so you missed it? That's the premise of this short story. A small group of astronauts return to Earth only to discover that in their absense, God or Jesus swooped down and took away all the people, leaving them the sole humans to populate the planet. This sparks discussion among them of whether or not to try to get God's attention and let Him know He missed a few. Though seemingly an on-the-nose examination of religious fanaticism, Oltion does it in such a smart way that it feels fresh.
danielv64's review against another edition
5.0
Some amazing stories including many set it well established SF universes
suzemo's review against another edition
4.0
If you're looking for a good, solid anthology of post-apocalyptic short stories, then this book is awesome. I've seen complaints that this book is too sci-fi or not sci-fi enough or that the stories aren't well fleshed out, and I think it's unfair. This is a collection of short stories, not a collection of novellas, and to be honest, I like that the stories don't tend to focus on what caused the end of the world; I want the reactions of the people and what happens to the lives in that world.
Most of these stories are very well written. Yes, some of them have a political bent, but I think that the post-apocalyptic sub-genre is inherently political since much of it involves societies, why they fall, how they react to extreme stress and how they form (or don't).
Like any anthology, this series has its highs and lows. I think that the stories in this book were largely good, off-setting any not-so-great stories.
My favorites were:
"The People of Sand and Slag" by Paolo Bacigalupi
"Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels" George R R Martin
"Judgment Passed" by Jerry Oltion
"Speech Sounds" by Octavia Butler
and
"The End of the World as we Know it" by Dale Bailey (My favorite, perfectly written)
I did not like three stories. Coincidentally, the first two stories ("The End of the Whole Mess" by Stephen King and "Salvage" by Orson Scott Card) were two of the three I did not enjoy, and when I started the book I was really disappointed, thinking that I had made a drastic error in picking up this book. Luckily other stories make up for the bad start quickly. The story I liked the least was one I was really looking forward to after reading the introduction, "Episode Seven..." by John Langan. It was written as a kind of "answer" to Bailey's story, but the style of narration and the stream of consciousness writing did not work for me and distracted greatly from the story.
My only real complaint was that I don't think "Mute," by Gene Wolfe, should have been included. I think the story is absolutely fantastic and loved it, but I don't feel it belongs in this anthology because it is not post-apocalyptic, but pure horror (about Death, not a post apocalyptic world in any way).
Most of these stories are very well written. Yes, some of them have a political bent, but I think that the post-apocalyptic sub-genre is inherently political since much of it involves societies, why they fall, how they react to extreme stress and how they form (or don't).
Like any anthology, this series has its highs and lows. I think that the stories in this book were largely good, off-setting any not-so-great stories.
My favorites were:
"The People of Sand and Slag" by Paolo Bacigalupi
"Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels" George R R Martin
"Judgment Passed" by Jerry Oltion
"Speech Sounds" by Octavia Butler
and
"The End of the World as we Know it" by Dale Bailey (My favorite, perfectly written)
I did not like three stories. Coincidentally, the first two stories ("The End of the Whole Mess" by Stephen King and "Salvage" by Orson Scott Card) were two of the three I did not enjoy, and when I started the book I was really disappointed, thinking that I had made a drastic error in picking up this book. Luckily other stories make up for the bad start quickly. The story I liked the least was one I was really looking forward to after reading the introduction, "Episode Seven..." by John Langan. It was written as a kind of "answer" to Bailey's story, but the style of narration and the stream of consciousness writing did not work for me and distracted greatly from the story.
My only real complaint was that I don't think "Mute," by Gene Wolfe, should have been included. I think the story is absolutely fantastic and loved it, but I don't feel it belongs in this anthology because it is not post-apocalyptic, but pure horror (about Death, not a post apocalyptic world in any way).
bkeving_74's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed stories but not as captivating as I had hoped
This book was abit of hit and miss for me. I am not sure that I like short story form for this genre. I have read The Road, Swan Song, The Stand and others that reached their full potential because their was time and length to do so. I have a couple of other anthologies for this genre to read and perhaps I will change my mind.
This book was abit of hit and miss for me. I am not sure that I like short story form for this genre. I have read The Road, Swan Song, The Stand and others that reached their full potential because their was time and length to do so. I have a couple of other anthologies for this genre to read and perhaps I will change my mind.
mellabella's review against another edition
3.0
After reading the first, few of the stories, I almost didn't go on...
They were weird and not holding my interest. I don't need zombies, other monsters, and special powers to hold my interest. But... I'm glad I kept reading. They got much better as they went on.
3.5 stars.
They were weird and not holding my interest. I don't need zombies, other monsters, and special powers to hold my interest. But... I'm glad I kept reading. They got much better as they went on.
3.5 stars.
jlgadberry0384's review against another edition
5.0
Great collection of short stories. Perfect for Halloween.
scheu's review against another edition
4.0
The selection of stories was surprisingly good. The lead-off Stephen King story, although a great idea, had some totally implausible dialogue (which tends to kill my urge to read Stephen King). I do have the urge to read some James Morrow, though...