Reviews

This Way to the End Times: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse by Jack Vance, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, Frank Lillie Pollock, Connie Willis, Megan Arkenberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, Brian W. Aldiss, Olaf Stapledon, Jules Verne, Malcolm Edwards, Fritz Leiber, James Elroy Flecker, Robert Silverberg, Karen Haber, Dale Bailey, Philip Latham, James Tiptree Jr.

marzipanbabies's review

dark

3.75

sgtbigg's review

3.0

This Way To The End Times: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse, contains twenty-one stories about, as the title implies, the apocalypse. The book is true to the word classic in its title, unlike most such collections, this one literally goes back to the beginning of science fiction with a story by Jules Verne. It follows with a number of not particularly well known stories by some classic SF authors (Ursula Le Guin, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, and Brian Aldiss); only five of the stories included were written in the last thirty years. A mixture of some less well-known, relative newcomers wrote the remaining five. The stories, as in most such collections are a mixed bag, really good ones mixed with some that were just okay, but all were entertaining and there wasn’t one that I would consider bad. Each story also gets an introduction by Robert Silverberg as an added bonus. If you’re a fan of the apocalypse (and who wouldn’t be) you should read this collection. I’ve read a good number of such collections over the years and I have only read one of the stories in this volume before, so while most of them are not new, they’ll probably be new to you. 3.5 stars.