A review by l1brarygirl
After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia, by Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling
5.0
WARNING: May contain spoilers!!
Segment by [a:Genevieve Valentine|3400079|Genevieve Valentine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360060998p2/3400079.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
---16 year old girl (don't know if we ever find out her name) works in what is like an ad agency, except they use teenagers to film fake newscasts. One of the successful actresses i guess you could call her, Bree, seems to hate this girl and doesn't want her to get the part of playing a solider. These "stories" or "Newscasts" are made up but the people they use really do die. This part was one in which this girl would get shot, but Bree had came along and told her to run for it and the real truth about these newscasts. A little different and the problem with short stories is we don't get a lot of background info.
After the Cure by [a:Carrie Ryan|1443712|Carrie Ryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1432248916p2/1443712.jpg] - ★★★★★
----I love Carrie Ryan and this short story was great! Apparently a cure has been created to administer to monsters (zombies, vampires, cannibals....they are like zombies that eat people but they can only come out at night like vampires) to make the human again. They go to a Sanitation Center to be processed after being shot with a dart containing the cure and afterwards they go to Reintroduction Classes to try and help them adjust to human life again. This story revolves around Vail, a recently cured monster that is trying to adjust to this new world. These cured humans though are shunned and Vail doesn't see the point, she still feels the hunger and she feels her old pack running through the woods at night. She meets James (for a second time, they had a class together back "before") and they form a friendship. One day, he comes to her house as there was an explosion that blew up the Sanitation Center. It is approaching night and the monsters can feel him. Vail brings him in and they lock themselves in the basement, though she knows it's all a matter of time before they break though. She has to make a choice, to let them take James (which he seems to want) or to kill or dart them. Powerful story and I loved it!
Valedictorian by [a:N.K. Jemisin|2917917|N.K. Jemisin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1438215930p2/2917917.jpg] - ★★★★☆
---I'd be interested to read more about this world. It is very strange and compelling. "Aliens" or something foreign invades humans and thus the definiton of a human is changed. Those that refused were sent to live behind a firewall, where once teenagers graduate from high school, 10% of the lowest are sent as payment but the Valedictorian is also sent as well. I won't go into much more detail as you need to read the story. Very interesting and I give it
Visiting Nelson by [a:Katherine Langrish|58011|Katherine Langrish|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1302019591p2/58011.jpg] - ★☆☆☆☆
---Weird story. I could not get into it. Weird drug on the streets that turns people into zombie apes?? I didn't like.
All I know of Freedom by [a:Carol Emshwiller|54462|Carol Emshwiller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1334335881p2/54462.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
---Another weird story of a girl that is sold into slavery. She makes plans to runaway and look for a school. The school she finds is a campground for a super religious cult that says the end of the world is coming and they have built a spaceship to take young girls to another planet to repopulate with the 4 "Chosen" young men. I liked the ending to this and think she made the right decision.
The Other Elder by [a:Beth Revis|4018722|Beth Revis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1284958744p2/4018722.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
---If you have read Revis' [b:Across the Universe|8235178|Across the Universe (Across the Universe, #1)|Beth Revis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1401852218s/8235178.jpg|13082532] and the other sequels, you will recognize this story. All I wonder is which Elder this story is talking about ?! Is it the one before the Elder in the series we read? Or one further back? Does give a little more insight into how the Eldest system came to be and that there was at least one other Elder that didn't agree that was "quietly disposed of."
The Great Game at the End of the World by [a:Matthew Kressel|4127611|Matthew Kressel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1440950015p2/4127611.jpg] - ★☆☆☆☆
---Sorry but yet another weird end of the world story. The world explodes because He (god?!) didn't like it and now these two siblings seem to be the only humans left and they play a game of baseball with alien-like creatures (supposedly from other worlds He didn't like & destroyed) while the rest of the people become see-through & follow their commands? Weird.
Reunion by [a:Susan Beth Pfeffer|1318|Susan Beth Pfeffer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1228492581p2/1318.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
---Eh, this story wasn't the best but it sure was shocking and horrifying. Reminding me a bit of the Holocaust and then also strikes me as hypocritical that once they take down The Leader, they set up a government like his and kill random little girls that may or may not have been her sister.
Blood Drive by [a:Jeffrey Ford|19305|Jeffrey Ford|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1271689548p2/19305.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
---This story is meant to show a world where instead of the liberals taking over, it seems the conservatives have - making sunday church mandatory and letting juniors in high school have guns and making sure teachers have school-issued firearms. But wanting to put child labor laws back into place just seems dumb and not plausible. I also like how we see our first lesbian relationship in this book!
Reality Girl by [a:Richard Bowes|107744|Richard Bowes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1371918485p2/107744.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
---As a short story, I think this sucks. As a book, this idea would be really interesting to read about. We have another lesbian relationship, Dare and Real, who take care of a team of gay divers. They dive into the yucky water for gold tossed in by rich tourists. This takes place in New York City, which has fallen into despair. Weird thing is, Real, can go into people's heads and show them things, see things through their eyes, and also make them do things against their will. That is what I wish to expand upon and get more knowledge out of a full novel.
How Th'irth Wint Rong By Hapless Joey @ Homeskool.Guv by [a:Gregory Maguire|7025|Gregory Maguire|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1319068553p2/7025.jpg] - ☆☆☆☆☆
---didn't even bother with this one
Rust With Wings by [a:Steven Gould|26906|Steven Gould|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1215891180p2/26906.jpg] - ★★★★★
---I loved this one! These beetle-like bugs come out of nowhere and eat anything made out of metal and especially love things that have elector-transmitters. Jeremy devises a way to save his dad, who not only has a pacemaker but also fillings that the bugs love. They end up being saved, with these metal-eating bugs contained to the states of New Mexico & Arizona (i believe) and they become known as the Southwest Emergency Zone. I loved the final line
Faint Heart by [a:Sarah Rees Brennan|836009|Sarah Rees Brennan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1254149255p2/836009.jpg] - ★★★★★
---Ooooh, it's like a hunger games :) All young men that haven't been married yet have to compete in the Trials where only one will live and win the Queen. I loved Roz and I wonder if this short story continues in a novel because the end left me wanting more!
The Easthound by [a:Nalo Hopkinson|27528|Nalo Hopkinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1361387199p2/27528.jpg] - ★☆☆☆☆
---weird.
Gray>Gray by [a:Jane Yolen|5989|Jane Yolen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1413465729p2/5989.jpg] - ☆☆☆☆☆
---Didn't read (i don't like poetry)
Before by [a:Carolyn Dunn|325368|Carolyn Dunn|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] - ★★★☆☆
---Very cool story about a Native American or Hawaiian that is captured because her blood isn't tainted by disease.
Fake Plastic Trees by [a:CaitlÍn R. Kiernan|4798562|Caitlín R. Kiernan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1491390729p2/4798562.jpg] - ★★★★★
--Loved this story!! World has been taken over by this goo that turns everything to plastic. The main character ventures out of some type of facility that has learned to self-sustain itself and finds something horrifying and shocking. Would like a bigger novel about this world!
You Won't Feel a Thing by [a:Garth Nix|8347|Garth Nix|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207583754p2/8347.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
--Another weird story. Humans that are mixed with animal blood to make these half creatures and they are the used by "someone," aliens maybe? I don't know, the story wasn't clear.
The Marker by [a:Cecil Castellucci|146783|Cecil Castellucci|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1227992857p2/146783.jpg] - ★★★★★
--Enjoyed this one. Reminded me of [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234] a little bit. Hard to explain, but there is a society and there are men that go around to the different villages that are a part of this society and check the new babies code sequences (some kind of genetics thing) and if they fail the test, they are put down.
Cool collection of stories ! Recommend for ANYONE that loves dystopian stories!
This book is featured on my Top 20 list for 2013 on my blog.
Segment by [a:Genevieve Valentine|3400079|Genevieve Valentine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1360060998p2/3400079.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
---16 year old girl (don't know if we ever find out her name) works in what is like an ad agency, except they use teenagers to film fake newscasts. One of the successful actresses i guess you could call her, Bree, seems to hate this girl and doesn't want her to get the part of playing a solider. These "stories" or "Newscasts" are made up but the people they use really do die. This part was one in which this girl would get shot, but Bree had came along and told her to run for it and the real truth about these newscasts. A little different and the problem with short stories is we don't get a lot of background info.
After the Cure by [a:Carrie Ryan|1443712|Carrie Ryan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1432248916p2/1443712.jpg] - ★★★★★
----I love Carrie Ryan and this short story was great! Apparently a cure has been created to administer to monsters (zombies, vampires, cannibals....they are like zombies that eat people but they can only come out at night like vampires) to make the human again. They go to a Sanitation Center to be processed after being shot with a dart containing the cure and afterwards they go to Reintroduction Classes to try and help them adjust to human life again. This story revolves around Vail, a recently cured monster that is trying to adjust to this new world. These cured humans though are shunned and Vail doesn't see the point, she still feels the hunger and she feels her old pack running through the woods at night. She meets James (for a second time, they had a class together back "before") and they form a friendship. One day, he comes to her house as there was an explosion that blew up the Sanitation Center. It is approaching night and the monsters can feel him. Vail brings him in and they lock themselves in the basement, though she knows it's all a matter of time before they break though. She has to make a choice, to let them take James (which he seems to want) or to kill or dart them. Powerful story and I loved it!
Valedictorian by [a:N.K. Jemisin|2917917|N.K. Jemisin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1438215930p2/2917917.jpg] - ★★★★☆
---I'd be interested to read more about this world. It is very strange and compelling. "Aliens" or something foreign invades humans and thus the definiton of a human is changed. Those that refused were sent to live behind a firewall, where once teenagers graduate from high school, 10% of the lowest are sent as payment but the Valedictorian is also sent as well. I won't go into much more detail as you need to read the story. Very interesting and I give it
Visiting Nelson by [a:Katherine Langrish|58011|Katherine Langrish|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1302019591p2/58011.jpg] - ★☆☆☆☆
---Weird story. I could not get into it. Weird drug on the streets that turns people into zombie apes?? I didn't like.
All I know of Freedom by [a:Carol Emshwiller|54462|Carol Emshwiller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1334335881p2/54462.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
---Another weird story of a girl that is sold into slavery. She makes plans to runaway and look for a school. The school she finds is a campground for a super religious cult that says the end of the world is coming and they have built a spaceship to take young girls to another planet to repopulate with the 4 "Chosen" young men. I liked the ending to this and think she made the right decision.
The Other Elder by [a:Beth Revis|4018722|Beth Revis|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1284958744p2/4018722.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
---If you have read Revis' [b:Across the Universe|8235178|Across the Universe (Across the Universe, #1)|Beth Revis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1401852218s/8235178.jpg|13082532] and the other sequels, you will recognize this story. All I wonder is which Elder this story is talking about ?! Is it the one before the Elder in the series we read? Or one further back? Does give a little more insight into how the Eldest system came to be and that there was at least one other Elder that didn't agree that was "quietly disposed of."
The Great Game at the End of the World by [a:Matthew Kressel|4127611|Matthew Kressel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1440950015p2/4127611.jpg] - ★☆☆☆☆
---Sorry but yet another weird end of the world story. The world explodes because He (god?!) didn't like it and now these two siblings seem to be the only humans left and they play a game of baseball with alien-like creatures (supposedly from other worlds He didn't like & destroyed) while the rest of the people become see-through & follow their commands? Weird.
Reunion by [a:Susan Beth Pfeffer|1318|Susan Beth Pfeffer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1228492581p2/1318.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
---Eh, this story wasn't the best but it sure was shocking and horrifying. Reminding me a bit of the Holocaust and then also strikes me as hypocritical that once they take down The Leader, they set up a government like his and kill random little girls that may or may not have been her sister.
Blood Drive by [a:Jeffrey Ford|19305|Jeffrey Ford|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1271689548p2/19305.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
---This story is meant to show a world where instead of the liberals taking over, it seems the conservatives have - making sunday church mandatory and letting juniors in high school have guns and making sure teachers have school-issued firearms. But wanting to put child labor laws back into place just seems dumb and not plausible. I also like how we see our first lesbian relationship in this book!
Reality Girl by [a:Richard Bowes|107744|Richard Bowes|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1371918485p2/107744.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
---As a short story, I think this sucks. As a book, this idea would be really interesting to read about. We have another lesbian relationship, Dare and Real, who take care of a team of gay divers. They dive into the yucky water for gold tossed in by rich tourists. This takes place in New York City, which has fallen into despair. Weird thing is, Real, can go into people's heads and show them things, see things through their eyes, and also make them do things against their will. That is what I wish to expand upon and get more knowledge out of a full novel.
How Th'irth Wint Rong By Hapless Joey @ Homeskool.Guv by [a:Gregory Maguire|7025|Gregory Maguire|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1319068553p2/7025.jpg] - ☆☆☆☆☆
---didn't even bother with this one
Rust With Wings by [a:Steven Gould|26906|Steven Gould|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1215891180p2/26906.jpg] - ★★★★★
---I loved this one! These beetle-like bugs come out of nowhere and eat anything made out of metal and especially love things that have elector-transmitters. Jeremy devises a way to save his dad, who not only has a pacemaker but also fillings that the bugs love. They end up being saved, with these metal-eating bugs contained to the states of New Mexico & Arizona (i believe) and they become known as the Southwest Emergency Zone. I loved the final line
"It was going to be hard enough on them later, when he went back."
Faint Heart by [a:Sarah Rees Brennan|836009|Sarah Rees Brennan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1254149255p2/836009.jpg] - ★★★★★
---Ooooh, it's like a hunger games :) All young men that haven't been married yet have to compete in the Trials where only one will live and win the Queen. I loved Roz and I wonder if this short story continues in a novel because the end left me wanting more!
Spoiler
"'I am going to fight,' said Queen Rosamond, who knew as no man did waht she was fighting for. 'I am going to win myself.'"Amen sister!!!
The Easthound by [a:Nalo Hopkinson|27528|Nalo Hopkinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1361387199p2/27528.jpg] - ★☆☆☆☆
---weird.
Gray>Gray by [a:Jane Yolen|5989|Jane Yolen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1413465729p2/5989.jpg] - ☆☆☆☆☆
---Didn't read (i don't like poetry)
Before by [a:Carolyn Dunn|325368|Carolyn Dunn|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] - ★★★☆☆
---Very cool story about a Native American or Hawaiian that is captured because her blood isn't tainted by disease.
Fake Plastic Trees by [a:CaitlÍn R. Kiernan|4798562|Caitlín R. Kiernan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1491390729p2/4798562.jpg] - ★★★★★
--Loved this story!! World has been taken over by this goo that turns everything to plastic. The main character ventures out of some type of facility that has learned to self-sustain itself and finds something horrifying and shocking. Would like a bigger novel about this world!
You Won't Feel a Thing by [a:Garth Nix|8347|Garth Nix|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1207583754p2/8347.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
--Another weird story. Humans that are mixed with animal blood to make these half creatures and they are the used by "someone," aliens maybe? I don't know, the story wasn't clear.
The Marker by [a:Cecil Castellucci|146783|Cecil Castellucci|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1227992857p2/146783.jpg] - ★★★★★
--Enjoyed this one. Reminded me of [b:The Giver|3636|The Giver (The Giver, #1)|Lois Lowry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1342493368s/3636.jpg|2543234] a little bit. Hard to explain, but there is a society and there are men that go around to the different villages that are a part of this society and check the new babies code sequences (some kind of genetics thing) and if they fail the test, they are put down.
Cool collection of stories ! Recommend for ANYONE that loves dystopian stories!
This book is featured on my Top 20 list for 2013 on my blog.