For a retrospective of the post-apocalyptic story — and of the best contemporary science fiction and horror authors dabbling in the sub-genre — you can’t do much better than this collection. In most anthologies, you might expect to find a couple of excellent stories, a couple of clunkers and many just middling. But Wastelands contains more than a fair number of excellent stores, and not a clunker among them. The story styles range from hard SF to haunted-house horror, from meta-fiction to urban fantasy. These authors examine post-apocalyptic surviving from every angle, from the religious to the post-human to the mundane.

While some selections may be familiar to many readers — such as Stephen King’s “The End of the Whole Mess” and Orson Scott Card’s “Salvage”, which open the volume — Wastelands also may introduce you to many new authors. Stand-outs include “The People of Sand and Slag” by Paolo Bacigalupi, a chilling portrayal of post-humanism; “The Last of the O-Forms” by James Van Pelt, a story of genetic mutation in the style of Ray Bradbury; “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler, which posits the loss of human language; “Killers” by Carol Emshwiller, a dark tale of survival following an endless war; and probably my favorite, “The End of the World as We Know It,” a slyly metafictional piece that pays homage to the sub-genre as a whole. But as I said, there is not a clunker here — every story in Wastelands is definitely worth reading. ( )

I really enjoyed this collection of post-apocalyptic short stories. Some I've read before, but all was well written.

The End of the Whole Mess -Stephen King. A cure for man's bad behavior might also be its down fall. Its well written, enjoyable characters. Stephen King knows how to write a short story.

Salvage - Orson Scott Card. I read this in Folk of the Fringe. I didn't like it then, and skipped it.

The People of Sand and Slag - Paolo Bacigalupi - This is another story I've read. This story sticks with you - I think its the only story in this anthology where humanity lost its humanity to survive.

Bread and Bombs - M. Rickert - I think the story was too vague about exactly who what was going on and why the new family was hated. I didn't really enjoy it.

How We Got In Town and Out Again - Jonathan Lethem. Another story I've read. Its well written, typical two teens trying to survive together. The endurance race with internet is a nice touch :)

Dark, Dark Were The Tunnels - George R.R. Martin. Spacing fairing man comes back to earth and finds evolved/devolved humanity in tunnels and doesn't understand.

Waiting for the Zephyr - Tobias S. Buckell. Humanity is the mend, girl trying to find a better life against the wishes of her parents. Well written, quite light.

Never Despair - Jack McDevitt - Again, humanity is on the mend, starting to explore. One of these explorers, treasure hunters, meets an artificial intelligence, temporarily turned on.

When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth - Cory Doctorow. This story is scary. It takes place in the now, and one of the few stories where the apocalypse actually happens. Nice touch adding Google to the story.

The Last of the O-Forms - James Van Pelt. Scary story about something mixing DNA to form strange new creatures. Unfortunately, this isn't plausible. The story is good, but it doesn't make sense. Most of the creatures would have a short, short life or dead before born.

Still Life with Apocalypse - Richard Kadrey. When the world ends, how to pick up the pieces. Is it meaningful?

Artie's Angels - Catherine Wells. A wonderful story about the last of humanity, the poor, the unskilled, trying to survive as the rich and powerful take off too other worlds. King Arther inspires these characters.

Judgement Passed - Jerry Oltion. Astronauts come back to earth and find that they are left behind after Revelation. Are they meant to repopulate the earth, was it God? This is a very thought provoking story.

Mute - Gene Wolfe. I'm not sure its post-apoclyptic. It feels more like the kids are in purgatory. I'm not sure if it should have been included in this collection. The story is well written though.

Inertia - Nancy Kress. Is a disfiguring illness also a blessing to humanity in disguise? Another well written story that should not be missed.

And The Deep Blue Sea - Elizabeth Bear. The world is a radiation filled hell hole. The main character sells her soul to the Devil for a meaningful employment, but when he comes calling, she needs to make a choice.

Speech Sounds - Octavia Butler. A truly moving story about a devastating illness that takes away a persons ability to communicate. This story made me almost cry. But, there is hope at the end.

Killers - Carol Emshwiller. A twisty little story about life where the fight for terrorism is brought to the home front. Along with climate change, we meet a lady in a community that Seems to be holding its own and its own humanity...

Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus - This is a humorous take on post-apocalyptic story. Includes suspicious androids, a gun happy possum, and a mechanic in love, with a side of poker. Fun story.

The End of the World As We Know It - The world ends, but not the way its portrayed in TV. The last known survivors, a man and woman also survive, but not to go forth and be fruitful.

A Song Before Sunset - David Grigg. Culture goes away, bye bye piano, libraries, art gallery. Quite typical.

Episode Seven: Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flower. This story makes you breathless. A young man and a young pregnant woman on the run from something. But, someone is hiding a secret... ( )

A great anthology of post-apocalyptic fiction. The wonderful entries more than made up for the couple that didn't work very well for me.

On the plus side: the geeky delight of Doctorow's When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth, the brutal bizarreness of Bacigalupi's The People of Sand and Slag, the respectively silent and lightless worlds of Butler's Speech Sounds and Martin's Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels, and Bailey's meta-analysis-peppered The End of the World as We Know It.

On the minus: the Mormon factor in Card's Salvage didn't do much for me (it struck me as very "Apocalypse--Now with 100% more Mormons!"). Also, the breathless style of Langan's Episode Seven just plain wore me out. If its page-spanning sentences (lots of parentheses, commas, dashes) were meant to create a rushed stream-of-consciousness feel, I suppose it succeeded. It worked extremely well at the very end, but the first 90% of the story were exhausting to read.

Prospective readers should note that not all of the stories are action-y, lone-survivor stories, or set in the midst of an occurring apocalypse. While some do fit that bill, most are set in a world where the eradication was not so near-total. ( )

Was okay! ( )

Was okay! ( )

Was okay! ( )

Was okay! ( )

An excellent anthology of end-of-the-world stories. I was happy that it included my favorite Stephen King short story, “The End of the Whole Mess.” All kinds of apocalypse scenarios are included–deadly virus, technological meltdown, global warming, nuclear winter, even the Christian Rapture. (There’s a really interesting story about a group of researchers who were offworld when the Rapture came and didn’t get taken…One guy goes crazy and starts trying to attract God’s attention in obnoxious ways.) Cory Doctorow’s touching and nerdy story “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth” is in here.

I didn’t give it 5 stars because I wished it were longer. Apocalypse stories are probably going to boom, what with our continued asinine behavior toward each other and the planet, so a second edition would be much appreciated. Also it would have been nice to see a story where everyone tried to band together and help each other out rather than so many where people turned on each other and let their basest instincts show (although that is probably the more realistic scenario).

Eris Reads, my book blog ( )

Diverse story mix
about the aftermath of
the end of the world.

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse is a collections of short stories dealing with the aftermath of the end of the world. As is usual with anthologies some were interesting others not so much. The Stephen King contribution had been made into a TV episode, so it was familiar before I'd gone more than a paragraph. Octavia Butler's contribution was also haunting, but from the descriptions I'm not sure I'd like her other novels. I don't have the book with me at the moment, so I can't really point out the others I found interesting. There were a couple that I found rather distasteful. One involved genetically changed humans that were in effect no longer human. I hope that sort of future would never come to pass. If we're willing to sacrifice our reverence for life, then I hope I don't survive to that future. ( )

I thought this was an excellently put together anthology. Every story was interesting and well written and actually dealt with some form of world wide apocalypse. (I've read other anthologies where one or more authors decide to make it a "personal apocalypse" and while those stories may be fine, they do not belong in an apocalypse anthology in my opinion).

I particularly enjoyed the first story as well as "When Sys-Admins Controlled the World" (though I did note one gla...more I thought this was an excellently put together anthology. Every story was interesting and well written and actually dealt with some form of world wide apocalypse. (I've read other anthologies where one or more authors decide to make it a "personal apocalypse" and while those stories may be fine, they do not belong in an apocalypse anthology in my opinion).

I particularly enjoyed the first story as well as "When Sys-Admins Controlled the World" (though I did note one glaring error that really should have been caught by an editor. The main character has a son and at some point the son is a daughter then goes back to being a son again). But the story itself was absolutely wonderful. ( )

http://www.piruett.se/2008/10/02/sams... ( )

A brilliant collection. The future is full of possiblities, but these are tales of darker imaginings. Some of the most renowned authors give their own spin on what happens after the End. Some speculate that humanity would survive the collapse of civilisation, others question what we would become. Although the Apocalypse might arrive in many different ways, these stories offer hope and a warning to appreciate what we have now. A great read for any forward thinking person, who sometimes wonders what the future will bring. ( )

Without question this was one the best books of the last 5 years. Although not a big fan of short stories for the obvious reason, (they end far to quickly when they are good) I was thrilled with the selection included in this anthology. So often it seems, anthology editors believe that "good" is synonymous with "so obtuse as to be nearly incomprehensible". As if style were indeed far more important than content. Thankfully Adams avoids this and has put together one of the best anthologies in the genre that I have seen. Although I was initially a bit cautious, once I began reading I found it nearly impossible to put down. There were only 2 or 3 stories I might be inclined to call "clunkers", the rest falling into a range between "pretty good" and "Whoa, who was THAT author and what the hell else did they write?" Adams includes a bibliography of sorts at the end of the book that lists a fair number of classic and newer tales of the apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic genre. Definitely a good start but by no means definitive. I strongly urge anyone who is either interested in exploring the genre or is a devotee from way back to give this one a try. I suspect you will love it. ( )

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.

Wastelands is pretty close to the perfect anthology, making just a touch over the magic 4.00 story average.

For an authoritative (the editor does say he is now an expert) look at the sub-genre, it is a bit light on for analytical non-fiction. For readers, less space taken thanking your mates, more time writing about the work would be appreciated, I think.

There is a fairly lengthy bibliography of various written works in and around this particular sub-genre at the back of the book. What is lacking here is one for short fiction, which is a bit odd, for an anthology. There is a good website for the book mentioned here, too, and it is useful, actually lists the contents and authors and other information like reviews. If there wasn't space in the book, then the website would be a natural for this sort of list. Minor issues, but you can't be perfect without 'em.

That said, the more important part is the fiction. This is an extremely strong selection, with a five star story by Doctorow, and several 4.5s to be found. Having many stories of this calibre in one book is not common at all. The pick of the rest include Bacigalupi, Martin, Wells, Barrett and Langan.

Overall this anthology is a great effort.

Wastelands : The End of the Whole Mess - Stephen King
Wastelands : Salvage - Orson Scott Card
Wastelands : The People of Sand and Slag - Paolo Bacigalupi
Wastelands : Bread and Bombs - M. Rickert
Wastelands : How We Got In Town and Out Again - Jonathan Lethem
Wastelands : Dark Dark Were the Tunnels - George R. R. Martin
Wastelands : Waiting for the Zephyr - Tobias S. Buckell
Wastelands : Never Despair - Jack McDevitt
Wastelands : When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth - Cory Doctorow
Wastelands : The Last of the O-Forms - James Van Pelt
Wastelands : Still Life With Apocalypse - Richard Kadrey
Wastelands : Artie's Angels - Catherine Wells
Wastelands : Judgment Passed - Jerry Oltion
Wastelands : Mute - Gene Wolfe
Wastelands : Inertia - Nancy Kress
Wastelands : And the Deep Blue Sea - Elizabeth Bear
Wastelands : Speech Sounds - Octavia E. Butler
Wastelands : Killers - Carol Emshwiller
Wastelands : Ginny Sweethips’ Flying Circus - Neal BarrettJr
Wastelands : The End of the World as We Know It - Dale Bailey
Wastelands : A Song Before Sunset - David Grigg
Wastelands : Episode Seven Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of Purple Flowers by John Langan

Calm mind lost.

4 out of 5

Gold
Always believe in your soul
Youve got the power to know

3.5 out of 5

Immortal ruined future's lack of taste for pets.

4.5 out of 5

Bad snow and strange candy.

3 out of 5

Scapeathon.

3 out of 5

Only a rat.
Pretty big, though.

4.5 out of 5

Late ship stress.

3.5 out of 5

Holo advice from Churchill.

4 out of 5

Biowar makes geekfu and gruntwork a necessary combination afterwards.

5 out of 5

Mutoid zoo show minigirl metamorphosis.

4 out of 5

Author has done it himself :

"Apocalypse is the last gasp of bureaucracy."

4 out of 5

Bike lord's legend.

4.5 out of 5

Mushroom message to heaven's afterlife lockout anecdote answer.

4 out of 5

Tv total dead zone.

3.5 out of 5

Quarantine lack of collapse restraint.

4.5 out of 5

A post-apocalyptic motorbike courier, really, really should have read Ghost Rider in her younger days.

4 out of 5

Literacy despair youth hope glimmer.

4.5 out of 5

He dumped me, but he's still pretty tasty.

3.5 out of 5

Sextape speedup shootout repair hookup.

4.5 out of 5

No Triffids, Kraken, Cuckoos or Lichen.

4 out of 5

I said sing, Piano Man, not strangle.

4 out of 5

Batboy postapocalyptic pregnant prey girl's only chance.

4.5 out of 5

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/07... ( )

When reading the back cover of this book, it looks terrible, like classic bad sci-fi. Then you look at the list of authors and realize the luminaries involved. The stories are varied and well-written, and it is one of the better anthologies out there. ( )

My Bookspotcentral review ( )

John Joseph Adams has collected some of the greatest post apocalyptic SF from the last twenty years, from some of the greatest speculative fiction talents, all in Wastelands: Stories of The Apocalypse. Many of the stories have garnered awards like Nebula’s or Hugo’s or Locus’. Many more have been nominated or their writers have for other work. You cannot be disappointed by this collection, because the work evidenced here is some of the best story telling science fiction has to offer.

John Joseph Adams has also gone a step further to give the reader a listing of some of the post apocalyptic science fiction novels we should read, if we enjoy the genre. Coupled with his introduction and the pre-story intros, the reader finds a well-crafted argument for why this subgenre of science fiction is one of the best for exploring the human condition.

I highly recommend this anthology for anyone who enjoys reading anything. A lot of these authors I had not read before and I now want to seek out their novels at the bookstore. Each story is unique, and while all share the same basic frame, each writer has been able to pull a completely different conclusion about or assessment of humanity. Some are chilling while others are hopeful, but each will show the reader a facet of himself or herself if they are willing to see it. Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse is the best anthology of any kind I have read to date.

Full Review at Grasping for the Wind ( )