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angengea's review
4.0
I was given a copy of [b:After the Fall - Tales of the Apocalypse|18583321|After the Fall - Tales of the Apocalypse|Robert Holtom|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1380027338s/18583321.jpg|26319577] by the publisher in exchange for writing a review, so here's that review:
This collection of short stories contains apocalyptic fiction of an unusual (for me, anyway) sort: one that doesn't focus on the means that have caused the apocalypse so much as the immediate after-effects. This provided for not only a wide range of imagined post-civilization landscapes, but also a wide range of hinted-at apocalyptic agents. The variety is probably the greatest strength of the book, and provides a testament to the different ways that humans imagine their eventual destruction.
I had two main criticisms, and one of them isn't even really a criticism so much as a whine. Number one: I wanted MORE. There are a LOT of stories in this book, and most of them are quite short. On the one hand, this creates a rich array of microstories but also means that many stories feel like they end as soon as they begin. There were several that I wanted to see more of, especially more character development. So many of the stories focused on setting and describing the scenery of post-apocalyptic life that it felt like I was looking at someone else's holiday photos rather than being shown a fully fleshed out story. I don't know what kind of word limits were put on the authors, but I wanted most of the stories to be novels because I wanted so much more.
Number two: there were a lot of spelling and grammar errors that could (and should!) have been easily corrected with a thorough proofread. In some cases, the typos were downright distracting.
All in all, though, this was an enjoyable and intriguing new take on apocalyptic fiction.
This collection of short stories contains apocalyptic fiction of an unusual (for me, anyway) sort: one that doesn't focus on the means that have caused the apocalypse so much as the immediate after-effects. This provided for not only a wide range of imagined post-civilization landscapes, but also a wide range of hinted-at apocalyptic agents. The variety is probably the greatest strength of the book, and provides a testament to the different ways that humans imagine their eventual destruction.
I had two main criticisms, and one of them isn't even really a criticism so much as a whine. Number one: I wanted MORE. There are a LOT of stories in this book, and most of them are quite short. On the one hand, this creates a rich array of microstories but also means that many stories feel like they end as soon as they begin. There were several that I wanted to see more of, especially more character development. So many of the stories focused on setting and describing the scenery of post-apocalyptic life that it felt like I was looking at someone else's holiday photos rather than being shown a fully fleshed out story. I don't know what kind of word limits were put on the authors, but I wanted most of the stories to be novels because I wanted so much more.
Number two: there were a lot of spelling and grammar errors that could (and should!) have been easily corrected with a thorough proofread. In some cases, the typos were downright distracting.
All in all, though, this was an enjoyable and intriguing new take on apocalyptic fiction.
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