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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
medium-paced
Just finished my most recent book club book, "After the Apocalypse". As can be told from the title, it is a collection of post-apocalyptic short stories (only one contains zombies). I'm not really big into short stories- I want to know what happens afterwards! I have problems with unanswered questions. This is especially a problem with science fiction short stores- as soon as you understand the world, the story is over! That being said, it was pretty good. There were several stories that were quite thought provoking. Unfortunately there were also one or two stories that I really didn't get that left me confused and hanging. Definitely worth your time if you are into short stories- I wish Maureen McHugh would expand on a few of them and make them into novels!
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Moody collection of near-future stories about life -- sometimes very everyday, sometimes more fantastical -- after the apocalypse. _Which_ apocalypse, precisely, varies from story to story. I found the first story ("The Naturalist") the strongest; the rest didn't entirely grab me, and the presentation was unfortunately marred by poor editing leaving scattered typos throughout the book.
As with many short story collections, this one was hit-or-miss for me. The stories that resonated were fantastic, even though several of the other stories felt very much like half-completed stories (Going to France, in particular). That said, the entire book is worth the two best stories (Honeymoon, The Kingdom of the Blind)--one of which is a sort of first-contact story about communicating with an accidentally human-built A.I., which was just fantastic.
I liked this one more than I usually like collections of short stories, but it does suffer from lacks of conclusion/resolution and an absence of overall arc. I still liked the stories though. They were compelling.