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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Short stories set in the fairly near future after various kinds of global disasters (bird flu, zombies...). Notable for not pushing any kind of message, but rather exploring human behavior in these new scenarios. Standouts: "Honeymoon", "Special Economics," "Useless Things", and the title story.
This is a series of short stories that take place in timelines where some "event" has occurred to mess up the world. Not all of the stories are strong, but some of them freak you out or have you guessing as to what happens next. Some of the better ones include zombies (very different from what you're expecting), global warming, artificial intelligence, a version of mad cow disease but from chickens, etc.
These are fun little reads and it's hard to rate the book overall since each story is so different, so I would probably give it a 3.5 overall.
The stories read very fast so it's a book you can finish in a couple of days.
These are fun little reads and it's hard to rate the book overall since each story is so different, so I would probably give it a 3.5 overall.
The stories read very fast so it's a book you can finish in a couple of days.
The stories in this collection are all pretty good, but the reason I only gave the book three stars is that I don't feel like most of them were that memorable for me. They're the kind of story I enjoy while reading but forget within days. In fact looking back at the table of contents I already see a couple of stories which I can't quite remember what they're about. I really liked the idea of the collection though, with all the stories being somehow related to a disaster and the aftermath, from zombies to dirty bombs to disease. It's definitely a nice read for fans of post-apocalyptic worlds.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Didn't love this as much as the rest I've read of her so far, but all the stories were good. They just didn't grab me emotionally as much.
The best one to me was the last one, "After the Apocalypse", because I like my dystopian stories to make me uneasy and kick my in the butt.
The best one to me was the last one, "After the Apocalypse", because I like my dystopian stories to make me uneasy and kick my in the butt.
Novellsamlingar är inte vad jag brukar läsa eller framförallt brukar gilla. Tvärt om gillar jag böcker som är tjocka och gärna sträcker sig över flera generationer av karaktärer.
After the Apocalypse har ett par bottennapp men också ett par guldkorn. Titelnovellen är förstås en av de bättre men jag gillar också den med kvinnorna som jobbar sig mer och mer skuldsatta på en teknikföretag.
After the Apocalypse har ett par bottennapp men också ett par guldkorn. Titelnovellen är förstås en av de bättre men jag gillar också den med kvinnorna som jobbar sig mer och mer skuldsatta på en teknikföretag.
McHugh has this amazing ability to write hyper-realistically about societies that are just a shade different from ours. Her characters are fascinating psychological studies but you also care about what become of them. This collection of short stories explores what happens 'after the apocalypse': there aren't just zombies, but 'special economics' and death by chicken nuggets in a non-conventional family unit.
dark
reflective
Pretty good collection of sf short stories set in the near future. A bit creepy and stylistically a bit weird - a number of them basically with beginnings or endings - but a bit what I expect from decent sf short stories. Good to see anything from McHugh - though it looks like I may have missed an earlier collection and don't recall if I've read Nekropolis.