Recommended Reading: After the Apocalypse by Maureen McHugh

What a terrific read, both as individual stories and as a set of stories outlining the perimeters of the sort of soft apocalypse that we so often seem to be slumping toward. Several of the middle stories concluded too flatly for my taste, but all were enjoyable, evocative reads in the moment, and the first and final stories in this collection are damn near perfect. Heartily recommended, without reservation (esp. for those who kinda-sorta dug China Mountain Zhang, but couldn't get into it enough to finish).