Wastelands: The New Apocalypse

Book arrived in beautiful condition, inappropriate that it was sealed in a waterproof envelope/package. It’s been raining here a lot, I have had books destroyed, due to being left on my porch in the rain.

John Joseph Adams is one of the foremost editors and anthologists of our times. The list of anthologies he has edited or co-edited is impressive, and I own several of them, including the first two volumes of this series. I don't think this is quite as impressive as some (especially Cosmic Powers) simply because this end-of-the-world concept has been done so many times before that it's really hard to come up with a fresh take on it. At this point in the series, I think the stories have to be more about the people surviving the apocalypse rather than the apocalypse itself. Looking at the stories through this lens, here are the standouts."Bullet Point," Elizabeth Bear, the opening story. I've read elsewhere that this is a bit of a refutation to Harlan Ellison's "A Boy and His Dog," with the protagonist's quick and brutal rejection of the standard we're-the-last-two-humans-on-earth-and-we-have-to-reproduce nonsense. (I wonder why none of the men spouting this bullshit stops to think about the inevitable consequences of inbreeding.) Yes, there is a dog, and no, the dog doesn't die. This story is interesting because the only explanation given for the apocalypse--apparently everybody on Earth just up and disappears--is, possibly, the Rapture."The Elephants' Crematorium," Timothy Mudie. One of my favorite stories in the book, this is a lovely, lyrical tale about the elephants' despair after the apocalypse, and their immolating themselves because of it, until one pregnant woman shows them there is life and hope."Echo," Veronica Roth. The best story in the book, in my opinion, is this tale of Synthetic Intelligent Life Forms versus humans, and a young woman whose life was saved by those same "sylphs" deciding where her true loyalties lie."Polly Wanna Cracker?" Greg Van Eekhout. This is a nasty, sly subversion of the apocalyptic-survivor-mutant cliche, told from the point of view of a flock of parrots (probably African grays, I would imagine) generations after the nuclear war. It's also a reminder that large flightless birds are badass mofos."So Sharp, So Bright, So Final," Seanan McGuire. McGuire, with her love of medical apocalypses, digs up another one: a mutating rabies virus that becomes airborne."The Air is Chalk," Richard Kadrey. This one is downright weird, even for an anthology of this type, full of gore and body horror, and an anti-hero protagonist who most definitely gets what's coming to him.The rest of the stories are of generally even quality, with only one or two I didn't like. I suppose one could say that, overall, this anthology is pretty depressing, which is only natural given its subject matter. But there are occasional flashes of hope, and this is a reminder of how stubborn and resilient human beings can be. You probably have to be in a certain state of mind to enjoy this, but it's worth the read.

Like with any anthology, there's good, bad and really good. Fortunately, there were only a handful I really didn't like.Standouts for me were: Bullet Point, The Plague, Last Chance, Come on Down, So Sharp So Bright So Final, and Snow.I don't really understand all the angry reviews about some of the stories featuring LGBTQ characters. I'm pretty sure queer people aren't up in arms about heterosexual relationships constantly being represented.

Book in good condition, arrived quickly. Fast and friendly response to communication.

Enjoyed this volume of short stories w/an apocalyptic theme very, VERY much. Enjoyed some authors w/which I am familiar & met some new authors of whom I look forward to reading more. A few of the stories did not really reach me, but most of them were at least interesting, and a handful of them stayed w/me well after reading them. Highly recommended.

Many of these were excellent stories that really stuck with me, with only a couple that I wasn't that impressed with. Overall a good collection with a nicely diverse array of story types.

Good lengths to read a story, then put down for a while to take care of life.

So far, the content is mildly entertaining. Nothing compared to the enjoyment I got out of the previous 2 volumes. Judging by the authors blatant politicizing in the fore note, it’s no mystery why much of the stories are bland and pandering to a woke agenda. There are all kinds of very real and valuable human beings on this earth, and they should have representation. But this author is obviously on a crusade. There are surely much better stories he could have included instead of many he did. Overall very frustrated with this purchase.

A great collection of post-apocolyptic fiction. Well worth the price.

Solid collection, great for bed time as they're short stories. I'm going to say I think I enjoyed the first two of the series a little more but I'm not going to knock a star off for that. Some of the stories were a little short, not such a bad thing they were still great but left me wanting to hear more!

This is the last collection in the series - coming to us just before Covid struck. But at least one of the stories gets it right and surmises China is our greatest viral threat. The stories are bleak; rarely give us hope for humanity or the planet but like it says in the title this is the New Apocalypse and makes essential reading for preppers, Greta Thunberg and anyone wondering what will happen to us when we ignore all the signs and keeping burning coal and using up the planet.There’s also some nice humorous touches with a healthy sense of irony here. Enjoy,Sam Hawksmoor author of Mission Longshot