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Has the World Ended Yet? Tales to Astonish
In Has the World Ended Yet? we start with retired superheroes living in a soulless suburbia where everyone gets lost trying to get home. Then the angels start to fall from the sky. Is it Armageddon? And do we want the world to end or not?
In a series of linked short stories Peter Darbyshire weaves together superheroes, ghosts, the undead, a hired hitman, the Cold War, the Rapture and avenging angels in a Twilight Zone-style collection that is riveting and human. We follow characters that are identifiable through situations that are unreal, through a technicolour landscape we are all familiar with. The end of the world is not what we expect, what any of Darbyshire's characters expect and may not really be happening at all. But should it?
In a series of linked short stories Peter Darbyshire weaves together superheroes, ghosts, the undead, a hired hitman, the Cold War, the Rapture and avenging angels in a Twilight Zone-style collection that is riveting and human. We follow characters that are identifiable through situations that are unreal, through a technicolour landscape we are all familiar with. The end of the world is not what we expect, what any of Darbyshire's characters expect and may not really be happening at all. But should it?
312 pages, Paperback
Published October 24, 2017
4 people are currently reading
427 people want to read
About the author
Peter Darbyshire
34 books43 followersThe author of the Book of Cross supernatural thriller series (The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, The Dead Hamlets, The Apocalypse Ark) as well as the books Has the World Ended Yet?, The Warhol Gang and Please.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 27, 2025
I had been introduced to Peter Darbyshire's writing through his supremely enjoyable 'The Princess Trap'. That work had been witty, subversive, and memorable on all counts. It had compelled me to scout out this out-of-print collection.
But...
What a disaster this one was!
It was completely devoid of fun. Instead, a weirdly nihilistic cynicism wrapped itself across all the characters, dialogues, action (whatever) etc. It made the book unpleasant and yet preening like something too clever.
Instead of searching for more works by the author, I would try ro stay away from his works henceforth.
But...
What a disaster this one was!
It was completely devoid of fun. Instead, a weirdly nihilistic cynicism wrapped itself across all the characters, dialogues, action (whatever) etc. It made the book unpleasant and yet preening like something too clever.
Instead of searching for more works by the author, I would try ro stay away from his works henceforth.
December 24, 2017
The end of the world is like a box of chocolates? How do you pick just one favorite from the dazzling array of stories Peter puts forth? Tough to choose, but I did.
I was on board from the opening pages. The narrative ride has a definite thrill-like quality. A carnival of futures on offer. Concepts expand and bend so quickly it seems the next possibility is within easy reach - just one twist away.
I should have know better. The ridge swerved sharply mid-book and the ending...there are no words for the ending. Nor was there one spare word written into it. It will take your breath away. And you won't want the book to end.
Lynne
I was on board from the opening pages. The narrative ride has a definite thrill-like quality. A carnival of futures on offer. Concepts expand and bend so quickly it seems the next possibility is within easy reach - just one twist away.
I should have know better. The ridge swerved sharply mid-book and the ending...there are no words for the ending. Nor was there one spare word written into it. It will take your breath away. And you won't want the book to end.
Lynne
February 10, 2018
An off-kilter, phantasmagorical treat. Darbyshire delights in mashing pop-culture genres together, exposing profound truths beneath classic tropes in ways at once hilarious, weird, and heart-breaking. Any collection that has H.P. Lovecraft’s legendary god Cthulhu working for a temp agency gets an automatic pass from me.
Read more at the Redeblog.
Read more at the Redeblog.
July 14, 2024
This was just a totally solid short story collection and I had a lot of fun reading it.
Darbyshire presents a world in which the world is ending but hasn't quite ended yet and the fate of people struggling during this inbetween phase is delightful and interesting. Aside from two stories set in hell at the very end these aren't really linked aside from that.
I typically don't like harder scifi but this hit that sweet spot where it was playing with scifi fantasy tropes and having fun in a way that was engaging and easy to understand.
Usually when I rate a collection I rate it as a whole which means that some stories are amazing and some are trash but it evens out. This was a surprisingly even collection in which every story was pretty much a 4. My favourite story of all was The Furies in which a man staging a photoshoot accidentally creates some supervillains.
A delightful read I highly recommend.
Darbyshire presents a world in which the world is ending but hasn't quite ended yet and the fate of people struggling during this inbetween phase is delightful and interesting. Aside from two stories set in hell at the very end these aren't really linked aside from that.
I typically don't like harder scifi but this hit that sweet spot where it was playing with scifi fantasy tropes and having fun in a way that was engaging and easy to understand.
Usually when I rate a collection I rate it as a whole which means that some stories are amazing and some are trash but it evens out. This was a surprisingly even collection in which every story was pretty much a 4. My favourite story of all was The Furies in which a man staging a photoshoot accidentally creates some supervillains.
A delightful read I highly recommend.
January 15, 2019
'Has the world ended yet' contains a few interesting concepts and characters but is ultimately let down by an ever present attitude of futility. Too many characters read as caricatures obsessed with sex and materiality, which while appropriate to the book's theme of religious apocalypse ultimately creates a world that is unlikable and hollow.
The book is worth a flick through if you'd like to see some unique ideas about religion meeting sci-fi but overall I can't recommend it.
The book is worth a flick through if you'd like to see some unique ideas about religion meeting sci-fi but overall I can't recommend it.
July 11, 2019
This is the type of deadpan humour that I love, but while it started strong, the stories just became too repetitive for me to read in succession. Would certainly be more interesting as standalone shorts.
December 30, 2018
A series of short stories dealing with the end of the world, none of which I could get into. Gave up on page 98.
December 30, 2018
This collection is fun!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews