Wastelands

Feb 10, 2008 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!

Recommended to Rob by: Amy

Shelves: own, bedside, apocalypse, anthology, science-fiction, 2008, all-time-favorites, loaned-out, 2012

A tightly themed, well executed collection: Wastelands captures our apocalypse fears and fantasies equally well and sometimes even simultaneously.

Adams wisely chooses Stephen King's "The End of the Whole Mess" as an opener and moves into all manner of exciting territory from there. Wastelands is the expected mix of strong (and some average) short stories; most of them have a high re-read score and there is an good mix of diverse ideas and themes that keep within the central focus.

THAT SAID: if y...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Aerin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories, apocalyptic, science-fiction, well-that-was-awesome, and-man-grew-proud

On the whole (well... the whole of the 2/3 of this book I've read so far), this is a singularly impressive collection of short stories. While some of the selections are better than others, for the most part they are well-written, thought-provoking, and quite diverse. And all about the end of the world.

Stephen King: The End of the Whole Mess. This is actually my very first exposure to Stephen King, unless you count watching movies based on his books. And I'm just not that impressed; so far this i...more

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Feb 16, 2008 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthologies, apocalypse, horror, sci-fi_fantasy

An excellent collection of short stories of how post apocalyptic survivors would cope with the environment they find themselves in. It's a good introduction into the genre and most of the stories have a more hopeful mood rather than utter despair.

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Dec 04, 2009 Zach rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories, post-apocalyptic, science-fiction

The worst:

The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King: Reviewers keep talking about what a great story this was to open the collection. Nope. It's crap.

Waiting for the Zephyr by Tobias S. Buckell: This was a really short and seemingly inoffensive story about a girl trying to escape her family and get on a wind-driven landship out of town, but I hated it. I don't even really know why. It was like 4 pages long but it managed to infuriate me anyway.

Salvage by Orson Scott Card: Mormon propaganda.

A Son...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Peter marked it as to-read

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This harrowing reprint anthology of 22 apocalyptic tales reflects the stresses of contemporary international politics, with more than half published since 2000. All depict unsettling societal, physical and psychological adaptations their authors postulate as necessary for survival after the end of the world. Keynoted by Stephen King's The End of the Whole Mess, the volume's common denominator is hubris: that tragic human proclivity for placing oneself at t

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From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This harrowing reprint anthology of 22 apocalyptic tales reflects the stresses of contemporary international politics, with more than half published since 2000. All depict unsettling societal, physical and psychological adaptations their authors postulate as necessary for survival after the end of the world. Keynoted by Stephen King's The End of the Whole Mess, the volume's common denominator is hubris: that tragic human proclivity for placing oneself at the center of the universe, and each story uniquely traces the results. Some highlight human hope, even optimism, like Orson Scott Card's Salvage and Tobias Buckell's Waiting for the Zephyr. Others, like James Van Pelt's The Last of the O-Forms and Nancy Kress's Inertia, treat identity by exploring mutation. Several, like Elizabeth Bear's And the Deep Blue Sea and Jack McDevitt's Never Despair, gauge the height of human striving, while others, like George R.R. Martin's Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels, Carol Emshwiller's Killers and M. Rickert's Bread and Bombs, plumb the depths of human prejudice, jealousy and fear. Beware of Paolo Bacigalupi's far-future The People of Sand and Slag, though; that one will break your heart. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From

With this well-chosen set of postapocalyptic stories, editor Adams provides a bit of everything that is best about the trope, from bleak, empty worlds to beacons of hope in an otherwise awful situation. Only Jerry Oltion’s “Judgment Passed,” about what happens when a space expedition returns to an Earth to which Jesus has returned, and the rapture has come without them, is original to the collection. Stephen King’s bleak “The End of the Whole Mess” opens, John Langan’s much more recent “Episode Seven: Last Stand against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers” closes, and they are wildly different. Highlights in between include Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds,” in which civilization has ended because a disease has made most people unable to talk, read, or do any number of once-taken-for-granted things, and Elizabeth Bear’s “And the Deep Blue Sea,” a brilliant take on a world laid waste and a devil’s bargain that treads in Roger Zelazny’s manic footsteps. A well-chosen selection of well-crafted stories, offering something to please nearly every postapocalyptic palate. --Regina Schroeder

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Jan 15, 2009 Reza Peigahi rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love the end of the world. No, really. Nothing fascinates me more than the destruction of what we have. In that vein The Stand is an all time favorite of mine. Other books, including The World Without Us, are interesting and blend a touch of realism to the genre.

So I picked up Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse after a recommendation from a friend. The book is a collection of short stories that run the gamut from Nuclear Apocalypse, to Viral, and on. A veritable litany of it's the end of th...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Skyla marked it as to-read

The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King
Salvage by Orson Scott Card
The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi
Bread and Bombs by M. Rickert
How We Got In Town and Out Again by Jonathan Lethem
Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R. R. Martin
Waiting for the Zephyr by Tobias S. Buckell
Never Despair by Jack McDevitt
When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow
The Last of the O-Forms by James Van Pelt
Still Life With Apocalypse by Richard Kadrey
Artie’s Angels by Catherine Wells
Judgment Passed b...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Paul Adams rated it 5 of 5 stars

For anyone tiring of the now-crowded post-apocalyptic genre, Wastelands may be just the thing to revive your flagging interest. John Joseph Adams, king of sci-fi/fantasy anthologies, has pulled together some of today's most innovative writers to share their takes on the downfall of humanity and how we cope with the aftermath. From Stephen King to Cory Doctorow it's a who's-who of literary stars from the past quarter century.

Stephen King sets the mood with 'The End Of The Whole Mess', a tragic ta...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Erik Erickson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: prose, post-apocalypse

Fantastic collection by Adams who has done a great job curating a strong lineup of diverse PA stories. My only complaint is that some of these will likely never be expanded and given the full exploration they're begging for.

In particular I loved George R. R. Martin's 'Dark Dark Were the Tunnels', which sparked a strong interest to seek out his other pre-Game-of-Thrones SF, and Gene Wolfe's 'Mute'. The latter is the crown jewel of this collection (and I'll be reading more from him, especially sin...more

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Feb 07, 2011 Suz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopian, fantasy, horror, kindle, post-apocalyptic, science-fiction, anthology

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 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...more 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).

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Mar 07, 2010 Ceridwen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Ceridwen by: Aerin

Shelves: america-and-environs, omg-were-all-going-to-die, short-shories, insomnia

Another insomnia read, which lead to a some very odd dreams when I finally slept. I was with one of those dream people that I know as a friend even though they don't exist in my waking life, and we tried to struggle our way through a snowy landscape. Apparently my personal apocalypse is a snowmageddon. We were so unsettlingly exposed on the white, and there was a flying terror to worry about, which I was amused to realize were the rat-birds from “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” when I woke up...more Another insomnia read, which lead to a some very odd dreams when I finally slept. I was with one of those dream people that I know as a friend even though they don't exist in my waking life, and we tried to struggle our way through a snowy landscape. Apparently my personal apocalypse is a snowmageddon. We were so unsettlingly exposed on the white, and there was a flying terror to worry about, which I was amused to realize were the rat-birds from “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” when I woke up. So, um, try psychoanalyzing THAT.

Anyway, I think the gold standard of reviews here is Aerin's, but I don't think I'm going to follow her lead of thoughtfulness because I'm lazy and tired. I skipped the Orson Scott Card because after my last insomnia debacle of reading-religiously themed Armageddon tales, I figured it would just piss me off. That, and Card pisses me off in general. I also skipped the Cory Doctorow because I've read it before, and wow, is that enragingly bad. It's about geeks inheriting the earth, which I think is meant to be playful, but the playfulness is just entirely undercut by how awful it is to kill everyone so a bunch of self-involved narcissists can play survivalist. I should have skipped the Stephen King story. I didn't hate it, and I like his ear for the way people talk about themselves and the people in their lives, but the mechanics of our destruction were straight up stupid. I think probably you get infected with King at ten, gulp down all his stuff while shivering and freaking out with a flashlight under the covers, or you don't. I was just never infected, and now it's too late.

Another one I'd read before was Octavia Butler's “Speech Sounds” which I was happy to read again. I have problems with her novel-length stuff, notably how flattened her characterizations tend to be, but that works just beautifully in a world where people are stripped of language. I was knocked flat by Dale Bailey's “The End of the World As We Know It” which manages to walk a line between an almost arid discussion of the genre and a heartbreaking...here, I almost said intensity, but it's the opposite of that. A man wakes up to everyone dead, quietly, inexplicably. It's something we can all understand, because, as Bailey points out, when we have someone close to us die, the world ends every single time. The man drinks. He considers the way darkness falls, noting that darkness doesn't fall so much as creep. “Episode Seven” by David Grigg is a companion piece to Bailey's story. It doesn't work as well, and I have it out for stories where the authors bold shit seemingly at random, but I kind of get off on self-aware genre exercise. Plus, he had some cool things to say about superheroes and where they fit into masculinity and the dream of cultural death.

“Still Life with Apocalypse” is brief and without narrative, but I love that kind of thing. The world ends. What else is there to say? Another fine piece is Nancy Kress's “Inertia”. Not exactly about the end of the world, but I'll not quibble with its inclusion. Fine explorations of disability, quarantine mentalities, and closed, stagnant societies. Having read Gene Wolfe's “Mute” twice, I still have no idea what the crap was going on, but, man, whatever it was strange and compelling. Don't go into the forests, kids. TOO LATE.

I'm leaving out a bunch of stories, but as I said before, lazy and sleepy. I will say that I'm beginning to trust John Joseph Adams as an editor. I seem to want longer introductions from him, which isn't a bad thing to want from someone, because the alternative is shut-the-hell-up. He's got great taste, and great connections – or, I don't know boo about publishing, but I expect that's half of what makes an editor a good one. I like his intros to each individual story, which are a little cheerleady, but then what do I expect? For him to slag the stories I didn't like? Not his job. Good collection though, and I look forward to more of his books. I hear he's got another collection coming out about zombies. Oh yes, my friends, I am all there.

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Apr 19, 2013 Milleniumgypsy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: did-not-finish, dystopia, scifi

Note: I'm not entirely certain if this is the right post-apocalyptic short story anthology, it seems close to what I read but perhaps what I read was a different packaging of some of the same stories. o_O I'll have to see when I go to the library next.

I'm a little unsure of how to rate this book as I didn't quite finish it. I am not very good at sticking with short story compilations, I'm much better at staying with a novel because there's so much more invested in it.

I got the book because it ha...more

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Jul 21, 2012 J. McClain rated it 3 of 5 stars

In a sense, it's a great intro to Apocalyptic / Post-Cataclysmic literature, but for that very reason, it's also such a diverse bunch of stories, there's bound to be a few in there you probably won't care for. Or at least such was my case.

I also have to take exception to the word "Apocalypse" to describe these stories. Of the 22 stories included, only a very few (such as Stephen King's "The End of the Whole Mess) are actually end-of-the-world stories. I assume many will argue that we've come to...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Shannon Arthur rated it 4 of 5 stars

A great collection of post-apocalyptic short stories. I greatly enjoyed all but one of the 22 stories in here and that one was even ok...just not "great". The variety of visions of life after "the end of civilization" was wonderful; this was definitely not the same story over and over again. This collection contains both hope and despair, not really focusing either way. Most of the stories contained both.

I have only encountered 2 of the stories before: Orson Scott Card's Salvage fromThe Folk of ...more

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Jan 09, 2010 trishtrash rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories, horror-supernatural-paranormal, post-apocalyptic-fiction, sci-fi, favorites

This anthology of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic tales is fantastically bleak, enjoyable, readable fare; small masterworks of the contributing authors who rise to, and above, the challenges of this theme. While none of the stories are unique to this volume, Stephen King’s story The End of the Whole Mess is the only one I’d read before, and I was delighted to find that it heralds an equally strong 21 tales, and – a rather nice touch - a ‘further reading’ list of novels in the genre at the back....more

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Jul 17, 2012 Jonah rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: post-apocalypse, sf

Enjoyed:

Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R. R. Martin
To quote Spock, "PAIN!"

And the Deep Blue Sea by Elizabeth Bear
Yes, I liked Damnation Alley, too. Still, I found it enjoyable and well-written short story.

Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler
I have never read her before, and I didn't expect to care for her style or content (since I am usually a male chauvinist pig with regards to fiction authors), but I was quite taken by this story.

Judgment Passed by Jerry Oltion
Parental neglect on a bib...more

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Oct 06, 2009 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, fiction, post-apocalyptic, short-stories, sci-fi, favorites

when i first saw this book on amazon, i knew it was meant for me. i LOVE post-apocalyptic stories, and i've always been a fan of the short story. the problem with anthologies though is that there's always a couple of WTF?!? stories in them. but not with this one!

john joseph adams did a really good job picking stories for his anthology AND he did a good job explaining why those stories were there. i've read more than one anthology that appeared to have no rhyme or reason to the stories it contai...more when i first saw this book on amazon, i knew it was meant for me. i LOVE post-apocalyptic stories, and i've always been a fan of the short story. the problem with anthologies though is that there's always a couple of WTF?!? stories in them. but not with this one!

john joseph adams did a really good job picking stories for his anthology AND he did a good job explaining why those stories were there. i've read more than one anthology that appeared to have no rhyme or reason to the stories it contained, and there was no explanation given by the editor for the stories chosen. but adams included a brief paragraph or two before each story explaining who the author was and why the story was included. and, if the story was part of some larger universe or arc that the story's author had built, then adams tried to place the short within that universe/arc for us to give it a bit more context, which i appreciated.

i also appreciated the introduction, which gave me one of my new favorite quotes (from john varley):

We all love after-the-bomb stories. If we didn't, why would there be so many of them? There's something attractive about all those people being gone, about wandering in a depopulated world, scrounging cans of Campbell's pork and beans, defending one's family from marauders. But some secret part of us thinks it would be good to survive. All those other folks will die. That's what after-the-bomb stories are all about.

and the "for further reading" guide at the back of the book is pretty freaking excellent. it gave me a lot of books to add to my reading list!

i read and enjoyed all of the stories. obviously, i liked some more than others, but i didn't feel the need to skip any of them after reading the first few pages.

my two favorites were "the end of the world as we know it" by dale bailey and "when sysadmins ruled the earth" by cory doctorow.

(while "the end of the whole mess" is a fine stephen king story, i would have included "night surf" instead. but that's me. getting king is always a coup i think.)

if you like post-apocalyptic sci-fi, definitely pick up this book!(less)

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Feb 21, 2011 Marcus rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like a box of chocolates with too many coconut pieces – but still not altogether bad.

I almost gave up on this book. The first two stories were the weaker efforts from the most recognizable writers (Yes, I’m pointing at you Mr. Card). I’d read the Stephen King story before so I didn’t even bother with that one – it wasn’t his worst but definitely not his best. Those were followed by a couple more stories that I found to more or less “blah”/forgettable. Persistence paid off though, i.e. I worked m...more

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Jun 02, 2010 Dergrossest rated it 3 of 5 stars

WARNING – SOME MILD SPOILERS

What could be better than a collection of short stories about life after the end of the world? How about a collection of stories which are all great, which is unfortunately not what you get with this book. Indeed, sadly typical of such collections, the stories are of widely varying quality:

The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King – When he is bad, he is really bad. This is way too cutesy, way too corney and way too dated. Read anything from Nightshift instead.

Salvage...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Theresa Glover rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved every moment that I was lost in this collection. It starts off with an explosion - King's "The End of the Whole Mess," and includes striking tales like "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" by Cory Doctorow and "A Song Before Sunset" by David Grigg. There were some that struck a strange chord with me like "Episode Seven: Last Stand against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers" by John Langan and "The Last of the O-Forms" by James Van Pelt, but I can respect their work and what they c...more

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Jan 13, 2009 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

I bought this collection as a Christmas gift for my boyfriend, who has been obsessively playing Fallout 3 and is a big fan of the post-apocalyptic genre in general. After he finished it on vacation, I picked it up for some bedtime reading. I guess I should have known after reading The Road that post-apocalyptic fiction does not make good bedtime reading, but I won't hold that against this collection.

Like all anthologies, it has its hits and misses. I happen to be a big fan of the opening story b...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Merrin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: apocafic, sciencefiction, read-in-12

I don't always read short story collections but when I do, they're about gruesome apocalypse scenarios. Really. I do love a good apocalypse scenario, and twenty-two apocalypse scenarios in one volume seemed like too good a deal to pass up.

This is a really good collection. Not all of them were to my taste. Orson Scott Card felt the need to write out his Mormonism, and I can't tell you how much I don't care. The last story, "Episode Seven" by John Langan, was such a mix of style and two page long...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Tina rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: post-apoc lovers

WOW! I loved this book! LOVED IT. I'm not usually one for story collections, (I find that the editor often includes some crappy stories as fluff to the good ones) but I can say that almost every single story in this anthology is well-worth the read. I'm going to actually go through and give my review of each story in the collection, because I loved this book that much. So, there are mild SPOILERS below! Not really, actually. I’m pretty good.

I'm going to list them by the author's last name, as I

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WOW! I loved this book! LOVED IT. I'm not usually one for story collections, (I find that the editor often includes some crappy stories as fluff to the good ones) but I can say that almost every single story in this anthology is well-worth the read. I'm going to actually go through and give my review of each story in the collection, because I loved this book that much. So, there are mild SPOILERS below! Not really, actually. I’m pretty good.

I'm going to list them by the author's last name, as I don't want to type out all the long titles.

King - To be honest, I didn't read this one because I had *just* watched the video adaptation last week, and I was too excited to get to the stuff I hadn't read before.

Card - This story, unfortunately, wasn't that great. It was just kind of meh. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.

Bacigalupi - This was excellent but it almost made me cry. The implications regarding humanity and our (eventual) disconnect from nature/empathy is poignant. By far the most disturbing story in the book. Especially if you love dogs. I had to give my pug a long hug after I read it.

Rickert - This was interesting but kind of vague at the end. I'm still not sure what was actually burning. The intent of the story, to show prejudice and xenophobia, was a little too in-your-face. I prefer when writers make their societal criticism more subtle – it’s more fun that way.

Lethem - This wasn't bad, but it wasn't really post-apocalyptic. I love Lethem's novels, so I was disappointed.

Martin - This was an interesting story for sure, but it was kind of obvious - what I expected to happen, did. And, if you’ve read any of Martin’s of other stuff, you know someone is going to die. You just have to wait to see who (I guessed it though).

Buckell – This was too short! The idea was cool, but I wanted to see more about where the Zephyr went.

McDevitt – This was ok. It’s been done before in countless sci-fi shows and books, so it wasn’t really innovative. There’s a part where lightning manages to turn on a machine that’s been dead for like 100 years. I asked my boyfriend (an electrician) if this were possible. He said “it would take a miracle”, but it is plausible. I should send it to Mythbusters.

Doctorow – This was AWESOME. The pace, the concept, the setting! I work in Toronto, so the part with the CN Tower hit close to home and gave me a little shiver. This story rocked. One of the best in the collection.

Van Pelt – Interesting turn at the end that’s rife with criticism of our society’s fear of change. MUTANTS!

Kadrey – This was AWESOME too. In about four pages he managed to shove a ton of post-apocalyptic staples into the story. Cannibals! Alright!

Wells – This was interesting; not a lot of post-apoc stories focus on the rebuilding of cities and the average people. It’s always the long warrior out traveling the wastes. This was a refreshing take on the genre and well written.

Oltion – This was really funny! Probably not funny if you’re religious, but I thought it was a good. The little revelation at the end was expected though.

Wolfe – I’m not sure if this is a post-apoc story or a freakin’ ghost story. I thought it was a latter, actually, with the bus driver being some kind of Charon character. It was cool though – creepy also. Props for making me freaked out of my basement, as if I were a kid again.

Kress – This was great! The outcome of the man’s visit was what I expected – it seemed obvious to me what was going to happen with the disease (it was hinted at the start though, for those who were paying attention) – but the way it was written made me forget that I’d already figured it out. And the ending didn’t follow my assumptions.

Bear – I have this in another collection, but that doesn’t stop it from being awesome. I love the setting, the characters (Nick!), and I have a Kawasaki too. Not a huge one like hers though. I like how is reacts almost like an animal.

Butler – I’ll definitely read more of her stories. This one was great – I had no idea what was going to happen and I love post-apoc stories that don’t explain how or why the calamity occurred.

Emshwiller – Greed and envy are still major players in society, even when there’s barely anything to own. The ending made me laugh, specifically the last line.

Barrett – Absurdity in post-apoc is one of my favorite styles. This story was so tongue-in-cheek funny, with crazy characters and situations. A nice comic relief!

Bailey – This was HILARIOUS. The humour is very dark and probably offensive to a lot of people, but I laughed my ass off. The explanation of the 3 different types of post-apoc citizens made my day!

Grigg – Meh. It’s been done.

Langan – Truthfully I didn’t finish this. I just don’t like when the writing is so squished! Use a freakin’ paragraph once and awhile! Sheesh!

So yeah, if you love post-apoc literature, or even post-apoc anything (whether video games like Fallout or movies like Book of Eli), then you’ll like this book. Half of the stories are fun, the other half are allegories or social critiques of society today.

Also, there’s a FURTHER READING at the back with a TON of post-apoc titles! W00t!

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Aug 25, 2011 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bleak, dystopian

If, like me, you can never get enough of postapocalyptic stories, then this book is for you. In fact, I'm even in the midst of playing Fallout 3 right now; I'm having an absolute orgy of doom! There are lots of very well-written tales here, all in their own ways. For some, we have succumbed to nuclear war; in others, our undoing was environmental. One vivid story told of a deep space mission that returned to find that everyone on the planet had been raptured by Jesus while they were gone ("raptu...more

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Mar 24, 2011 Christopher Bashforth rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a collection of short stories about one of my favourite topics – the end of the world. However, these stories are not just your usual cookie cutter disaster and then aftermath story but they look at the apocalypse from a different angle. My favourite story is from George R.R Martin (he really is a very good short story writer) about two different kinds of humans (one like us and another adapted to living underground) meeting many years after a disaster and the resulting misconceptions. T...more

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Mar 08, 2009 Tanya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: george-rr-martin, stephen-king

It was good to read Stephen King's "The End of the Whole Mess" again. Orson Card's "Salvage" was ok. But after a couple pages of Paolo Bacigalupi's "The People of Sand and Slag", I skipped it, too Space Channel for me. "Bread and Bombs" was so-so. I liked Jonathan Lethem's "How We Got In Town and Out Again", I've always been interested in virtual reality stuff. I really liked GRRM's "Dark, Dark Were The Tunnels" .Tobias Bucknell's "Waiting for the Zephyr" was really short, same with Jack McDevit...more

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Dec 10, 2008 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a better than average anthology, and there are no really awful pieces included. There are of course some high points and a few less interesting stories. These were my favorites:

"Still Life with Apocalypse" by Richard Kadrey - Short but not at all sweet. Will the last person on the planet please turn off the lights?

"Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler - Through some unknown disease, humanity has lost the ability to speak or read. Those who can still communicate hide their secret away from...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Monica rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a great collection of post-apocalyptic stories that focus primarily on the people after the world ends, and not so much on *how* the world ends (with a couple of exceptions).

As with any collection, some stories will speak to you more than others. Individually, the following stories stood out as exceptional to me:

• "The People of Sand and Slag" (Paolo Bacigalupi)

One of the bleakest futures depicted in the anthology. It's been a long time since a story invoked such a strong emotion from...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Lashawn rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this since I am slushing for Wastelands 2. Nice collection. Stories that stood out to me:
-The End of the Whole Mess, Stephen King. Very good one by the master.
-Bread and Bombs, M. Rickert. Disturbing story that I had to read twice to understand what the kids did.
-The Last of the O-Forms, James Van Pelt. I saw the ending coming but I didn't care. Good story.
-Mute, Gene Wolfe. In my quest to find a Gene Wolfe story I resonate with, this came closest so far. The last paragraph in this story...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Nicholas King rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anthology books can often be a tough read because the tone can shift sharply from one author to the next. The editor of an anthology shares in my mind the majority of the responsibility for the success or failure of the collection. Add to this the subject matter of the end of the world (where stories can range in tone from deadly serious to farcical) and you have the potential for an uneven, scattershot collection. Thankfully, John Joseph Adams’ collection Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse i...more

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Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (Wastelands #1)

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