steph_davidson's review against another edition
4.0
This is actually a review of the whole series. I group together the stories by whether they're continued throughout two or more of the books.
Pieces in All Three Anthologies:
Robin Wasserman: The Balm and the Wound; Dear John; in the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land
- apocalyptic cult and a con artist taking care of the kids, in the first story.
- survivor writing Dear John letters from a safe place under a mountain in the second
- kid who was dumped in the first story w/ the protagonist, as the center of his own religious cult (and thinks the con artist was his father), in the third.
These weren’t my favorites, but they were interesting. I would have rather listened to them in series with each other, to get the through line; I didn’t get the connection between them until re-scanning the tables of contents to write these summaries.
Charlie Jane Anders: Break! Break! Break!; Rock Manning Can’t Hear You; The Last Movie Ever Made
- kids way way way out of control… hyper hyper, making movies.
Ken Liu: The Gods Will Not Be chained; The Gods Will Not Be Slain; The Gods Have Not Died in Vain
- this is the ghost in the machine series; girl’s father starts communicating with her from beyond the grave, through AI. Continues throughout. I really liked these. The gods are the AIs that want to be in control. It’s less about them taking control of everyday systems, and more political,in a way. The third book brings a new AI character to life in a very interesting way. One of my favorites of the series.
Jake Kerr: Wedding Day; Penance; The Gray Sunrise
- two women who are wanting to get married, but they’re waiting for the lottery that will take them off-world; then marriages are prohibited, and one can’t take the other.
- In Penance, the story is about the civil servant who has to break the news to lottery entrants. In the last, a different set of characters, with a guy who dreamed of having a boat when he grew up, and now does - but has to use it to get off land to avoid the asteroid. Along the way, his son grows up quite a bit, and has his own dreams of future.
It's a nice, heart-wrenching series. The stories all take place in the same universe, but aren't otherwise connected.
Tananarive Due: Removal Order; Herd Immunity; Carriers
- young woman taking care of her grandmother, finally has to leave because of outbreak. In the second, she’s on the road, as the virus spreads. In the third, we learn more about her own immunity, and about a time when she and other carriers were captured and experimented on. The narrator wasn’t so great in the third one, unfortunately.
Jamie Ford: This Unkempt World is Falling to Pieces; By the Hair of the Moon; The Uncertainty Machine
- this one was fun, and reminded me a bit of a Dr. Who — steampunk-ish, set in a party for the rich, to watch the end of the world by comet, but the staff are having their own fun. I’m not sure I listened to parts 2 and 3...
Ben H. Winters: Bring Her To Me; Bring Them Down; Heaven Come Down
- super creepy. Everyone hears in ALL CAPS THE WORD OF GOD, and in the first story they’ve all been told to buy meat, slice it super thin, and poison it. Except there’s one girl who doesn’t hear the voice. And a boy who likes her. I wasn’t thrilled with the narration in this story, either. Lots of misses for me on narration in the third book.
Hugh Howey: In the Air; In the Mountain; In the Woods
- set in the same universe of his Silo series! The first story is about a family who does not take shelter in the silos or a mountain retreat where the man’s lover is waiting. The second story is set in the mountain, and we learn what the families who have come have been told and what their options are for survival. In the third, we conclude with a connection to the Silo series that’s actually pretty necessary to understanding the impact.
Annie Bellet: Goodnight Moon; Goodnight Stars; Goodnight Earth
- astronaut, her daughter on earth
Will McIntosh: Dancing with Death in the Land of Nod; Dancing with Batgirl in the Land of Nod; Dancing with a Stranger in the Land of Nod
- a little like locked-in, but as an outbreak; continues in the second and third
Megan Arkenberg: Houses Without Air; Twilight of the Music Machines; Like All Beautiful Places
- arty san francisco reaction to impending end of the world
Scott Sigler: The Fifth Day of Deer Camp; The Sixth Day of Deer Camp; The Seventh Day of Deer Camp
- in a way, my favorite of all. Set in the UP w/ a bunch of Wisconsin and Northern Michiganders who actually spend more time playing cards and drinking beer than hunting deer. But then the invasion comes… In the second book, they find the alien spaceship, and have to deal w/ survival as well as what to do with the ship and its remaining living inhabitants. In the third, an unlikely hero, in an impossible situation.
Nancy Kress: Pretty Soon the Four Horsemen…; Angels of the Apocalypse; Blessings
- really interesting, w/ the mom of a young girl questioning whether there’s a growing passivity among kids born at the same time. The second book picks up about 10 years later, and deals with the effects of the lack of aggression and the global political economy. in the third, its revealed that this was supposed to have been a gift to humanity, or at least was presented as such. And some people are still quite violent.
Seanan McGuire: Spores; Fruiting Bodies; Resistance
- the most heart-wrenching of the group, for sure. Woman’s lab creates an out of control mold, and her wife is among the first victims. She escapes w/ her daughter to try to save her. In the second, they’re on the run and trying to stay sterile, In the third, there’s a possibility of redemption.
Jonathan Maberry: She’s Got a Ticket to Ride; Sunset Hollow; Jingo and the Hammerman
- starts with a detective hunting down a girl whose parents think she’s gone to a cult (and probably has, but she believes it). In the second, it’s a different set of characters. In the third, different characters again.
Sarah Langan: Love Perverts; Black Monday; Prototype
- in the first, a young boy is trying to find his parents and baby sister, and the ticket for an underground bunker. In the second, it’s set in the compound and decisions to let people in. Not sure I listened to the third.
Two out of Three
Desirina Boskovich: Heaven is a Place on Planet X (1); To Wrestle not Against Flesh and Blood (2)
Elizabeth Bear: Agent Isolated (2); Agent Neutralized (3)
Singlets:
Tobias Buckell: System Reset (1)
Jack McDevitt: Enjoy the Moment (1)
Paolo Bacigalupi: Shooting the Apocalypse (1)
Daniel H. Wilson: Avtomat (2)
Carrie Vaughn: Bannerless (3)
Chris Avellone: Acts of Creation (3)
Leife Shallcross: Wandering Star (3)
Mira Grant: The Happiest Place (3)
Pieces in All Three Anthologies:
Robin Wasserman: The Balm and the Wound; Dear John; in the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land
- apocalyptic cult and a con artist taking care of the kids, in the first story.
- survivor writing Dear John letters from a safe place under a mountain in the second
- kid who was dumped in the first story w/ the protagonist, as the center of his own religious cult (and thinks the con artist was his father), in the third.
These weren’t my favorites, but they were interesting. I would have rather listened to them in series with each other, to get the through line; I didn’t get the connection between them until re-scanning the tables of contents to write these summaries.
Charlie Jane Anders: Break! Break! Break!; Rock Manning Can’t Hear You; The Last Movie Ever Made
- kids way way way out of control… hyper hyper, making movies.
Ken Liu: The Gods Will Not Be chained; The Gods Will Not Be Slain; The Gods Have Not Died in Vain
- this is the ghost in the machine series; girl’s father starts communicating with her from beyond the grave, through AI. Continues throughout. I really liked these. The gods are the AIs that want to be in control. It’s less about them taking control of everyday systems, and more political,in a way. The third book brings a new AI character to life in a very interesting way. One of my favorites of the series.
Jake Kerr: Wedding Day; Penance; The Gray Sunrise
- two women who are wanting to get married, but they’re waiting for the lottery that will take them off-world; then marriages are prohibited, and one can’t take the other.
- In Penance, the story is about the civil servant who has to break the news to lottery entrants. In the last, a different set of characters, with a guy who dreamed of having a boat when he grew up, and now does - but has to use it to get off land to avoid the asteroid. Along the way, his son grows up quite a bit, and has his own dreams of future.
It's a nice, heart-wrenching series. The stories all take place in the same universe, but aren't otherwise connected.
Tananarive Due: Removal Order; Herd Immunity; Carriers
- young woman taking care of her grandmother, finally has to leave because of outbreak. In the second, she’s on the road, as the virus spreads. In the third, we learn more about her own immunity, and about a time when she and other carriers were captured and experimented on. The narrator wasn’t so great in the third one, unfortunately.
Jamie Ford: This Unkempt World is Falling to Pieces; By the Hair of the Moon; The Uncertainty Machine
- this one was fun, and reminded me a bit of a Dr. Who — steampunk-ish, set in a party for the rich, to watch the end of the world by comet, but the staff are having their own fun. I’m not sure I listened to parts 2 and 3...
Ben H. Winters: Bring Her To Me; Bring Them Down; Heaven Come Down
- super creepy. Everyone hears in ALL CAPS THE WORD OF GOD, and in the first story they’ve all been told to buy meat, slice it super thin, and poison it. Except there’s one girl who doesn’t hear the voice. And a boy who likes her.
Spoiler
So they escape that fate. In the second story, she and the boy seem to be the only ones alive, and they’re dealing with bodies. And the boy is getting commands still to bring her to him (where?) In the third, she finally hears him, and he makes her godlike - able to destroy and create in an instant. And she learns about the origin of the world - of a group of gods abandoned on this world.Hugh Howey: In the Air; In the Mountain; In the Woods
- set in the same universe of his Silo series! The first story is about a family who does not take shelter in the silos or a mountain retreat where the man’s lover is waiting. The second story is set in the mountain, and we learn what the families who have come have been told and what their options are for survival. In the third, we conclude with a connection to the Silo series that’s actually pretty necessary to understanding the impact.
Annie Bellet: Goodnight Moon; Goodnight Stars; Goodnight Earth
- astronaut, her daughter on earth
Will McIntosh: Dancing with Death in the Land of Nod; Dancing with Batgirl in the Land of Nod; Dancing with a Stranger in the Land of Nod
- a little like locked-in, but as an outbreak; continues in the second and third
Megan Arkenberg: Houses Without Air; Twilight of the Music Machines; Like All Beautiful Places
- arty san francisco reaction to impending end of the world
Scott Sigler: The Fifth Day of Deer Camp; The Sixth Day of Deer Camp; The Seventh Day of Deer Camp
- in a way, my favorite of all. Set in the UP w/ a bunch of Wisconsin and Northern Michiganders who actually spend more time playing cards and drinking beer than hunting deer. But then the invasion comes… In the second book, they find the alien spaceship, and have to deal w/ survival as well as what to do with the ship and its remaining living inhabitants. In the third, an unlikely hero, in an impossible situation.
Nancy Kress: Pretty Soon the Four Horsemen…; Angels of the Apocalypse; Blessings
- really interesting, w/ the mom of a young girl questioning whether there’s a growing passivity among kids born at the same time. The second book picks up about 10 years later, and deals with the effects of the lack of aggression and the global political economy. in the third, its revealed that this was supposed to have been a gift to humanity, or at least was presented as such. And some people are still quite violent.
Seanan McGuire: Spores; Fruiting Bodies; Resistance
- the most heart-wrenching of the group, for sure. Woman’s lab creates an out of control mold, and her wife is among the first victims. She escapes w/ her daughter to try to save her. In the second, they’re on the run and trying to stay sterile,
Spoiler
but the daughter succombs despite best efforts.Jonathan Maberry: She’s Got a Ticket to Ride; Sunset Hollow; Jingo and the Hammerman
- starts with a detective hunting down a girl whose parents think she’s gone to a cult (and probably has, but she believes it). In the second, it’s a different set of characters. In the third, different characters again.
Sarah Langan: Love Perverts; Black Monday; Prototype
- in the first, a young boy is trying to find his parents and baby sister, and the ticket for an underground bunker. In the second, it’s set in the compound and decisions to let people in. Not sure I listened to the third.
Two out of Three
Desirina Boskovich: Heaven is a Place on Planet X (1); To Wrestle not Against Flesh and Blood (2)
Elizabeth Bear: Agent Isolated (2); Agent Neutralized (3)
Singlets:
Tobias Buckell: System Reset (1)
Jack McDevitt: Enjoy the Moment (1)
Paolo Bacigalupi: Shooting the Apocalypse (1)
Daniel H. Wilson: Avtomat (2)
Carrie Vaughn: Bannerless (3)
Chris Avellone: Acts of Creation (3)
Leife Shallcross: Wandering Star (3)
Mira Grant: The Happiest Place (3)
krakentamer's review against another edition
4.0
I read these 3 books ([b:The End is Nigh|18870640|The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych, #1)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378542s/18870640.jpg|26869750], [b:The End is Now|18870656|The End is Now (The Apocalypse Triptych, #2)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378585s/18870656.jpg|26869773], [b:The End Has Come|18870662|The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378625s/18870662.jpg|26869779]) simultaneously, aided by a spreadsheet (feel free to copy/use) that I created to keep track of the individual authors’ series. Overall, I found nearly all series to be at least minimally enjoyable.
Thanks to my spreadsheet, I was able to determine the average rating of the stories for each book:
[b:The End is Nigh|18870640|The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych, #1)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378542s/18870640.jpg|26869750] - 4.5, which I’ll round up to 5 Stars
[b:The End is Now|18870656|The End is Now (The Apocalypse Triptych, #2)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378585s/18870656.jpg|26869773] - 4.5, which I’ll round up to 5 Stars
[b:The End Has Come|18870662|The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378625s/18870662.jpg|26869779] - 4.3, which I’ll round down to 4 Stars
These are the 3-story series that I liked the best:
Ken Liu - The Gods Will Not Be Chained / THE GODS WILL NOT BE SLAIN / THE GODS HAVE NOT DIED IN VAIN
Tananarive Due - Removal Order / HERD IMMUNITY / CARRIERS
Hugh Howey - In the Air / IN THE MOUNTAIN / IN THE WOODS
Annie Bellet - Goodnight Moon / GOODNIGHT STARS /GOODNIGHT EARTH
Nancy Kress - Pretty Soon the Four Horsemen are Going to Come Riding Through / ANGELS OF THE APOCALYPSE / BLESSINGS
Seanan McGuire - Spores / FRUITING BODIES / RESISTANCE
Sarah Langan - Love Perverts / BLACK MONDAY / PROTOTYPE
My least favorite:
Jamie Ford - This Unkempt World is Falling to Pieces / BY THE HAIR OF THE MOON / THE UNCERTAINTY MACHINE
Standalone stories
[b:The End is Nigh|18870640|The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych, #1)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378542s/18870640.jpg|26869750]
Best:
Matthew Mather - Enlightenment
Tobias S. Buckell - System Reset
Worst: Paolo Bacigalupi - Shooting the Apocalypse
[b:The End is Now|18870656|The End is Now (The Apocalypse Triptych, #2)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378585s/18870656.jpg|26869773]
Best: (None)
Worst: Daniel H. Wilson - AVTOMAT
[b:The End Has Come|18870662|The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378625s/18870662.jpg|26869779]
Best: Carrie Vaughn - BANNERLESS
Worst: Chris Avellone - ACTS OF CREATION
Thanks to my spreadsheet, I was able to determine the average rating of the stories for each book:
[b:The End is Nigh|18870640|The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych, #1)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378542s/18870640.jpg|26869750] - 4.5, which I’ll round up to 5 Stars
[b:The End is Now|18870656|The End is Now (The Apocalypse Triptych, #2)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378585s/18870656.jpg|26869773] - 4.5, which I’ll round up to 5 Stars
[b:The End Has Come|18870662|The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378625s/18870662.jpg|26869779] - 4.3, which I’ll round down to 4 Stars
These are the 3-story series that I liked the best:
Ken Liu - The Gods Will Not Be Chained / THE GODS WILL NOT BE SLAIN / THE GODS HAVE NOT DIED IN VAIN
Tananarive Due - Removal Order / HERD IMMUNITY / CARRIERS
Hugh Howey - In the Air / IN THE MOUNTAIN / IN THE WOODS
Annie Bellet - Goodnight Moon / GOODNIGHT STARS /GOODNIGHT EARTH
Nancy Kress - Pretty Soon the Four Horsemen are Going to Come Riding Through / ANGELS OF THE APOCALYPSE / BLESSINGS
Seanan McGuire - Spores / FRUITING BODIES / RESISTANCE
Sarah Langan - Love Perverts / BLACK MONDAY / PROTOTYPE
My least favorite:
Jamie Ford - This Unkempt World is Falling to Pieces / BY THE HAIR OF THE MOON / THE UNCERTAINTY MACHINE
Standalone stories
[b:The End is Nigh|18870640|The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych, #1)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378542s/18870640.jpg|26869750]
Best:
Matthew Mather - Enlightenment
Tobias S. Buckell - System Reset
Worst: Paolo Bacigalupi - Shooting the Apocalypse
[b:The End is Now|18870656|The End is Now (The Apocalypse Triptych, #2)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378585s/18870656.jpg|26869773]
Best: (None)
Worst: Daniel H. Wilson - AVTOMAT
[b:The End Has Come|18870662|The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3)|John Joseph Adams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392378625s/18870662.jpg|26869779]
Best: Carrie Vaughn - BANNERLESS
Worst: Chris Avellone - ACTS OF CREATION
matosapa's review against another edition
4.0
The unique mechanic comes from the fact that this book contains stories that were originally started in the first triptych part (and, in some cases, continued in the second part). Those stories are finished up in this book, along with new stories about the time (Post Apocalyptic) after the End.
I really liked the idea of this triptych and hope that similar efforts come out. It didn't hurt that I am also a huge fan of Howey and PA sci-fi. The author line-up was very solid with some serious gold star writers (e.g. Howey and Grant).
Recommended for PA fans adn even for those who are tired of the same end times tropes, like zombies .
I really liked the idea of this triptych and hope that similar efforts come out. It didn't hurt that I am also a huge fan of Howey and PA sci-fi. The author line-up was very solid with some serious gold star writers (e.g. Howey and Grant).
Recommended for PA fans adn even for those who are tired of the same end times tropes, like zombies .
suzannekm's review against another edition
4.0
The way I read this series was a bit klunky - following the authors from book to book in order to follow the stories through time - but I'm really glad I did it that way. Partly because it led to me finishing the three books with Mira Grant's wonderful "Happies Place on Earth" which provided the perfect ending to the experience.
silenttardis's review against another edition
3.0
The stories are great as the first two books already showed us, my main issue with this book is that i had the audiobook and the voices didnt fit in on most of the stories, and what else is new.. the worst of the Apocalypse are the humans... Yeah...
skepticalri's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely a worthy ending to a great series -- some of the works made me angry, some frightened me (often because they were all-too plausible), and some sad. But all of them made me think about larger issues -- society, human nature, resource guarding, group dynamics, and so on.
I may pick up this series again in the near future so that, in the cases of stories that tie across the three books, I can read them all together.
I may pick up this series again in the near future so that, in the cases of stories that tie across the three books, I can read them all together.
oleksandr's review against another edition
3.0
This is the third, final volume of THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH and it finally describes worlds after their end, thus it can be seen as the only one ‘real’ representative of post-apocalyptic fiction in the trilogy. Most of the stories are to some extent are continuations/endings for the ones from the previous volumes, so while the book can be read as a stand-alone anthology, it is greatly preferred to be read in sequence from the first book onward.
Just like with the previous volumes, there are some pretty good stories and some of so-so category. My personal favorites are:
• BANNERLESS Carrie Vaughn
• DANCING WITH A STRANGER IN THE LAND OF NOD Will McIntosh
• PROTOTYPE Sarah Langan
• CARRIERS Tananarive Due
• IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF THE PROMISED LAND Robin Wasserman
• JINGO AND THE HAMMERMAN Jonathan Mabery
• THE GODS HAVE NOT DIED IN VAIN Ken Liu
Overall I liked the book a bit less than the previous volumes, but maybe I am just tired of all the gloom.
Just like with the previous volumes, there are some pretty good stories and some of so-so category. My personal favorites are:
• BANNERLESS Carrie Vaughn
• DANCING WITH A STRANGER IN THE LAND OF NOD Will McIntosh
• PROTOTYPE Sarah Langan
• CARRIERS Tananarive Due
• IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF THE PROMISED LAND Robin Wasserman
• JINGO AND THE HAMMERMAN Jonathan Mabery
• THE GODS HAVE NOT DIED IN VAIN Ken Liu
Overall I liked the book a bit less than the previous volumes, but maybe I am just tired of all the gloom.
haramis's review against another edition
5.0
Even though I adored the first two in this series (more so the first), I ended up putting off reading this one, because when I went to look at the reviews on Amazon, they were pretty dismissive. I hate being disappointed, so I waffled a bit on starting this one. I wish I hadn't waited. While I will say that some of the authors' best entries were in the earlier books, I think this was overall a better entry than [b: The End is Now|18870656|The End is Now|John Joseph Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392378585s/18870656.jpg|26869773]. I'll start by mentioning how much Carrie Vaughn's "Bannerless" threw me for a loop, on two counts. First, since it mentioned floods and plague, I thought it was a continuation of Toiya Kristen Finley's "Outer Rims" until I remembered that that particular story was by a different author and in [b: Wastelands 2|23295033|Wastelands 2 - More Stories of the Apocalypse|John Joseph Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424856822s/23295033.jpg|21954205]. Also I was trying to remember if I had read it before, and then realized that is a prequel story to Vaughn's "Amaryllis" in [b: Brave New Worlds|8966218|Brave New Worlds|John Joseph Adams|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1298782758s/8966218.jpg|13843176], which I read back in 2012. Oops, maybe it's time to take a break from JJA anthologies.
I really liked "Dancing with a Stranger in the Land of Nod." I think it was my favorite of Will McIntosh's three, and I very much liked the way it explored how someone might react to having their entire family suffer lock in. I think I liked Sarah Lagan's "Love Perverts" best, but "Prototype" is pretty freaky. Sean McGuire is back with a pair of stories, one finishing up her creepy fungus triptych, and one gleefully expounding on her love of Disneyland. I think I liked the first two better on the fungus, but "The Happiest Place..." is a keeper. Ben H. Winter's final story "Heaven Come Down" gives the last piece to his eerie world, and I was into it.
For Jack Kerr, Annie Bellet, and Tananarive Due, I think I liked earlier stories better,"Wedding Day," "Good Night Moon," and "Herd Immunity" respectively. Due's "Carriers" is pretty good, it's just that her middle story was fantastic. I think what really surprised me was the authors that had their best story in this third volume. Jamie Ford turned in his first passable effort with "The Uncertainty Machine." "The Gods Have Not Died in Vain" and "The Last Movie Ever Made" were the best of their respective triptychs, and as he sometimes does, Jonathan Maberry wrote a story that I genuinely loved. His "Jingo and the Hammerman" has a premise so funny that I was completely enchanted. I very much liked Elizabeth Bear's second offering "Margin of Survival," which was one of the standalone stories.
I have to say I was baffled by Hugh Howey's "Into the Woods." I don't think it would make sense if you haven't read his books, and if you have read them, it's like getting a surprise punch in the gut. What on earth was he thinking?
All in all, I have to say that if you liked the first two books, you're going to like this one too, so go ahead and get reading. 4.5/5.
I really liked "Dancing with a Stranger in the Land of Nod." I think it was my favorite of Will McIntosh's three, and I very much liked the way it explored how someone might react to having their entire family suffer lock in. I think I liked Sarah Lagan's "Love Perverts" best, but "Prototype" is pretty freaky. Sean McGuire is back with a pair of stories, one finishing up her creepy fungus triptych, and one gleefully expounding on her love of Disneyland. I think I liked the first two better on the fungus, but "The Happiest Place..." is a keeper. Ben H. Winter's final story "Heaven Come Down" gives the last piece to his eerie world, and I was into it.
For Jack Kerr, Annie Bellet, and Tananarive Due, I think I liked earlier stories better,"Wedding Day," "Good Night Moon," and "Herd Immunity" respectively. Due's "Carriers" is pretty good, it's just that her middle story was fantastic. I think what really surprised me was the authors that had their best story in this third volume. Jamie Ford turned in his first passable effort with "The Uncertainty Machine." "The Gods Have Not Died in Vain" and "The Last Movie Ever Made" were the best of their respective triptychs, and as he sometimes does, Jonathan Maberry wrote a story that I genuinely loved. His "Jingo and the Hammerman" has a premise so funny that I was completely enchanted. I very much liked Elizabeth Bear's second offering "Margin of Survival," which was one of the standalone stories.
I have to say I was baffled by Hugh Howey's "Into the Woods." I don't think it would make sense if you haven't read his books, and if you have read them, it's like getting a surprise punch in the gut. What on earth was he thinking?
All in all, I have to say that if you liked the first two books, you're going to like this one too, so go ahead and get reading. 4.5/5.