marypola's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
fedak's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting concept- 3 books in this series, each a collection of short stories by different well known authors each providing one story to each book with the books covering the before, during, and post period of some global apocalypse.
So this book was the "life before the world ends" entry in the series and was honestly kind of depressing- with a good assortment of inbound asteroids, alien invasions, and plagues with the overarching umbrella that most everyone involved with each story was going to die.
So this book was the "life before the world ends" entry in the series and was honestly kind of depressing- with a good assortment of inbound asteroids, alien invasions, and plagues with the overarching umbrella that most everyone involved with each story was going to die.
tacanderson's review against another edition
4.0
A nice collection of pre-apocalyptic stories. It suffers from the usual downside and benefits of short story collections - some are better than others. I'm excited to read the second edition in the tryptic.
niobemanski's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
hollyfromthebigsky's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
3.5
A few of my favorite authors contributed to this collection and I found it on a Kindle sale, so figured I'd give it a try. As with all collections it was a bit hit or miss: a few of the stories had me riveted, while others I skimmed and one I just had to stop reading: it was very much NOT for me.
I'll grab books 2 and 3 most likely when there's a Kindle promo.
I'll grab books 2 and 3 most likely when there's a Kindle promo.
sleepyboi2988's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those volumes that just [I]nails[/i] the premise and point of the collection. The short of it? It is a compilation of tales from immediately before the apocalypse in whatever form the authors imagine. This book is full of that excellent creeping dread of inescapable doom.
I discovered quite a few new authors whose work I will seek out and read more of—excited to read the rest of the series as well!
I discovered quite a few new authors whose work I will seek out and read more of—excited to read the rest of the series as well!
devrose's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
This is the first book in a short story trilogy, and I love the concept. I really enjoyed most of the stories; ironically, it was the stories towards the end that I found harder to enjoy. I'm looking forward to seeing how many of these stories continue in the next book.
judetheunbeliever's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
4.5
steph_davidson's review against another edition
5.0
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.
Authors with Pieces in All Three Anthologies:
Robin Wasserman:
The Balm and the Wound: centers on a con artist who has assembled an apocalyptic cult of sorts, including his own kid, dropped off by his junkie mom. The title comes from a line about truth being the wound, and lies the balm.
Dear John: A survivor is writing Dear John letters from a safe place under a mountain.
In the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land: The kid who was dumped in the first story, as the center of his own religious cult.
These weren’t my favorites of the collection, 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
All three feature kids who are way way way out of control… hyper hyper, making movies. I need to re-read to remind myself of the details. I didn't connect with them the first time around.
Ken Liu:
The Gods Will Not Be Chained;
The Gods Will Not Be Slain;
The Gods Have Not Died in Vain
This is a ghost in the machine series; a girl’s father starts communicating with her from beyond the grave, through emoji-based AI, and the story continues throughout. I really liked these; probably in my top 5 story triptychs of the bunch.
Jake Kerr:
Wedding Day: Two women have been wanting to get married until Texas legalizes, but then when it does become legal, they get stuck in limbo when marriages are prohibited. The apocalypse is coming, and there's a lottery to ship people around the world from the blast zone, and people are marrying to take advantage of the family benefit. They do the right thing for them, and that's maybe the best part.
Penance: In the second story, the focus is on one of the civil servants who has to break the news to lottery entrants about whether they're going to be shipped out or not.
The Gray Sunrise: A completely different set of characters here, including 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 in terms of the characters.
Tananarive Due:
Removal Order: A young woman is taking care of her grandmother, who is dying of cancer, amidst a viral outbreak. She's eventually made to leave the neighborhood, as the government is burning everything to avoid the spread of the disease. It's heart-wrenching as hell.
Herd Immunity: The same character continues, on the road to escape the virus.
Carriers: The same character, as we learn more about her immunity and about the time before when everything was breaking down and carriers were experimented on.
Jamie Ford:
This Unkempt World is Falling to Pieces: 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.
By the Hair of the Moon;
The Uncertainty Machine
Ben H. Winters:
Bring Her To Me: Everyone hears in ALL CAPS THE WORD OF GOD. Everyone. And God has plans for them, that they're all making. It's pre-apocalypse in the sense that everyone is preparing for something known, which is going to end the world.
Bring Them Down: The story continues, focusing on the girl and boy from the first.
Heaven Come Down: More of the same characters.
This series is SUPER CREEPY. Especially on audio.
Hugh Howey:
In the Air;
In the Mountain;
In the Woods
This story triptych is set in the same universe of Howey's Silo series! There are additional characters who have connections to the silos, that's about all I can say. The first is set with a family; the second in a bunker; and the third in the woods of sorts.
Annie Bellet:
Goodnight Moon; Goodnight Stars; Goodnight Earth
All three follow the story of the same main character, an astronaut, and 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; the story triptych continues in the second and third. Heartbreaking characters.
Megan Arkenberg:
Houses Without Air; Twilight of the Music Machines; Like All Beautiful Places
- arty san Francisco reactions to impending end of the world. Not my favorite.
Scott Sigler:
The Fifth Day of Deer Camp; The Sixth Day of Deer Camp; The Seventh Day of Deer Camp
These may be my favorite of all the story triptychs. They're all set in the UP w/ a bunch of Wisconsin and Yoopers 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
This is definitely in my top 5 of the story triptychs. It's sort of philosophically 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 widespread lack of aggression on the global political economy.
Seanan McGuire:
Spores; Fruiting Bodies; Resistance
Maybe this story triptych is my favorite, even though it's the most heart-wrenching of the group, for sure. A woman’s lab creates an out of control mold by accident, and her wife is among the first victims. She escapes w/ her daughter to try to save her, and herself. 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.
David Wellington:
1) Agent Unknown
2) Agent Isolated
3) Agent Neutralized
This is a zombie series, focusing on a CDC staffer who is involved in multiple ways with tracking the outbreak.
Authors with Stories in Two out of Three Books
Desirina Boskovich:
1) Heaven is a Place on Planet X - aliens have given humanity a date when they'll all be transported to another planet, but with conditions. Humans have been charged with enforcing those conditions...
2) To Wrestle Not Against Flesh and Blood
Elizabeth Bear:
2) You've Never Seen Everything
3) Margin of Survival
Singlets:
Tobias Bucknell: System Reset (1) - technological and philosophical, with a bounty hunter chasing down the guy with the mad ideas.
Jack McDevitt: Enjoy the Moment (1) - getting a comet named after you should be a good thing, but things turn.
Paolo Bacigalupi: Shooting the Apocalypse (1) - set in Phoenix, where water has become so scarce, it's leading to civil war with Texas.
Matthew Mather: Enlightenment (1) - food politics have gone very, very sideways. This one is perhaps the most horror-like.
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)
Authors with Pieces in All Three Anthologies:
Robin Wasserman:
The Balm and the Wound: centers on a con artist who has assembled an apocalyptic cult of sorts, including his own kid, dropped off by his junkie mom. The title comes from a line about truth being the wound, and lies the balm.
Dear John: A survivor is writing Dear John letters from a safe place under a mountain.
In the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land: The kid who was dumped in the first story, as the center of his own religious cult.
These weren’t my favorites of the collection, 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
All three feature kids who are way way way out of control… hyper hyper, making movies. I need to re-read to remind myself of the details. I didn't connect with them the first time around.
Ken Liu:
The Gods Will Not Be Chained;
The Gods Will Not Be Slain;
The Gods Have Not Died in Vain
This is a ghost in the machine series; a girl’s father starts communicating with her from beyond the grave, through emoji-based AI, and the story continues throughout. I really liked these; probably in my top 5 story triptychs of the bunch.
Jake Kerr:
Wedding Day: Two women have been wanting to get married until Texas legalizes, but then when it does become legal, they get stuck in limbo when marriages are prohibited. The apocalypse is coming, and there's a lottery to ship people around the world from the blast zone, and people are marrying to take advantage of the family benefit. They do the right thing for them, and that's maybe the best part.
Penance: In the second story, the focus is on one of the civil servants who has to break the news to lottery entrants about whether they're going to be shipped out or not.
The Gray Sunrise: A completely different set of characters here, including 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 in terms of the characters.
Tananarive Due:
Removal Order: A young woman is taking care of her grandmother, who is dying of cancer, amidst a viral outbreak. She's eventually made to leave the neighborhood, as the government is burning everything to avoid the spread of the disease. It's heart-wrenching as hell.
Herd Immunity: The same character continues, on the road to escape the virus.
Carriers: The same character, as we learn more about her immunity and about the time before when everything was breaking down and carriers were experimented on.
Jamie Ford:
This Unkempt World is Falling to Pieces: 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.
By the Hair of the Moon;
The Uncertainty Machine
Ben H. Winters:
Bring Her To Me: Everyone hears in ALL CAPS THE WORD OF GOD. Everyone. And God has plans for them, that they're all making. It's pre-apocalypse in the sense that everyone is preparing for something known, which is going to end the world.
Spoiler
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.Bring Them Down: The story continues, focusing on the girl and boy from the first.
Heaven Come Down: More of the same characters.
This series is SUPER CREEPY. Especially on audio.
Hugh Howey:
In the Air;
In the Mountain;
In the Woods
This story triptych is set in the same universe of Howey's Silo series! There are additional characters who have connections to the silos, that's about all I can say. The first is set with a family; the second in a bunker; and the third in the woods of sorts.
Annie Bellet:
Goodnight Moon; Goodnight Stars; Goodnight Earth
All three follow the story of the same main character, an astronaut, and 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; the story triptych continues in the second and third. Heartbreaking characters.
Megan Arkenberg:
Houses Without Air; Twilight of the Music Machines; Like All Beautiful Places
- arty san Francisco reactions to impending end of the world. Not my favorite.
Scott Sigler:
The Fifth Day of Deer Camp; The Sixth Day of Deer Camp; The Seventh Day of Deer Camp
These may be my favorite of all the story triptychs. They're all set in the UP w/ a bunch of Wisconsin and Yoopers 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
This is definitely in my top 5 of the story triptychs. It's sort of philosophically 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 widespread lack of aggression on the global political economy.
Spoiler
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
Maybe this story triptych is my favorite, even though it's the most heart-wrenching of the group, for sure. A woman’s lab creates an out of control mold by accident, and her wife is among the first victims. She escapes w/ her daughter to try to save her, and herself. In the second, they’re on the run and trying to stay sterile,
Spoiler
but the daughter succumbs despite her 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.
David Wellington:
1) Agent Unknown
2) Agent Isolated
3) Agent Neutralized
This is a zombie series, focusing on a CDC staffer who is involved in multiple ways with tracking the outbreak.
Authors with Stories in Two out of Three Books
Desirina Boskovich:
1) Heaven is a Place on Planet X - aliens have given humanity a date when they'll all be transported to another planet, but with conditions. Humans have been charged with enforcing those conditions...
2) To Wrestle Not Against Flesh and Blood
Elizabeth Bear:
2) You've Never Seen Everything
3) Margin of Survival
Singlets:
Tobias Bucknell: System Reset (1) - technological and philosophical, with a bounty hunter chasing down the guy with the mad ideas.
Jack McDevitt: Enjoy the Moment (1) - getting a comet named after you should be a good thing, but things turn.
Paolo Bacigalupi: Shooting the Apocalypse (1) - set in Phoenix, where water has become so scarce, it's leading to civil war with Texas.
Matthew Mather: Enlightenment (1) - food politics have gone very, very sideways. This one is perhaps the most horror-like.
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)
acrisalves's review against another edition
4.0
Esta extensa compilação de histórias pré-apocalípticas contem histórias com todas as premissas, desde doenças avassaladoras a impacto com corpos celestes, passando por alienígenas invasores. Neste conjunto salientaria as histórias de Robin Wasserman (The Balm and the Wound), Desirina Boskovich (Heaven is a place on planet X), Tananarive Due (Removal Order), Wll McIntosh (Dancing with death in the land of nod) e de Seanan MgGuire (Spores).
Comentário mais detalhado a todos os contos em
https://acrisalves.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/the-end-is-nigh-varios-autores-parte-1/
https://acrisalves.wordpress.com/2015/10/15/the-end-is-nigh-varios-autores-parte-2/
https://acrisalves.wordpress.com/2015/11/05/the-end-is-nigh-varios-autores-parte-3/
Comentário mais detalhado a todos os contos em
https://acrisalves.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/the-end-is-nigh-varios-autores-parte-1/
https://acrisalves.wordpress.com/2015/10/15/the-end-is-nigh-varios-autores-parte-2/
https://acrisalves.wordpress.com/2015/11/05/the-end-is-nigh-varios-autores-parte-3/