Wastelands, edited by John Joseph Adams

[Omphalos]

I don't think that John Joseph Adams is new to SF, but he has been a pretty active editor of anthologies (and the MoF&SF) lately. I see that he has a zombie anthology out too. I think I need to get that one, because if its anything like this one, it will be worth the effort. This anthology is about...you guessed it, The End Of The World, in fifteen to twenty different flavors. Adams has an eye for the more esoteric apocalypse stories, and seems to stay away from straight destruction, doom and gloom. Many of these stories are strong, particularly The People of Sand and Slag, When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth, Artie's Angels, Inertia, Speech Sounds, and The End of the World As We Know It, because they had strong characters, deeply intricate plots, were skilfully written and made excellent use of other tropes. Fuller descriptions are below. I do personally think that a few stinkers found their way in, but if you tend towards the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction way of doing things, or if you like the weirder stories, then this may be your cup of tea all around. As a side note, I think that this book may have the coolest cover of anything published in...Please click here, or on the book cover above, to be taken to the complete review..

 

[dask]

Looks good. Gonna keep my eye open for this one.

 

[jojajihisc]

The End of the World as We Know It by Dale Bailey is an excellent original story. It doesn't try to explain the event, the character avoids all the usual cliches and I actually laughed out loud a couple times reading it.

 

[Omphalos]

The End of the World as We Know It by Dale Bailey is an excellent original story. It doesn't try to explain the event, the character avoids all the usual cliches and I actually laughed out loud a couple times reading it.

You should read Bailey's story in the Adams' Zombie anthology. I personally loved The End of the World As We Know It. That one, Death and Suffrage, is better.

 

[jojajihisc]

I'll definitely check that out. The story is available here along with a couple others of his.