| Author: Anthology | |
| Rating: 8.5 | Reviewer: Valashain |
| Genre: SciFi | Publisher:Night Shade |
| Pages: 331 | Orig Pub Date: 2008 |
| Binding: Paperback | Cover Illus.: Daniel Kvasznicza |
In the anthology Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse John Joseph Adams collects 22 pieces of post-apocalyptic short fiction. It includes stories by big names such as Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Orson Scott Card and Gene Wolfe as well as a number of lesser know authors. I used to read a lot of what could be considered post apocalyptic stories when I was a child. Of course those were the 1980s, when the threat of nuclear warfare was still a (receding) treat. As the editor mentions in his introduction, this sub genre is not quite as popular as it once was. A shame really, I can think of plenty of reasons other than nuclear warfare to bring about large scale destruction.
Adams has managed to collect a varied collection of stories, a good mix of new and old works and varied ways of bringing about the destruction of the world as we know it. It's obvious the editor aimed to give as good and overview of the sub genre as he could manage. He also includes short introductions to each story and adds an extensive list of books recommended for further reading if the sub genre interest you. All in all I think the editor did thorough job. As always with these collections not all stories appealed to me in equal measure but all of them are definitely worth reading. I'm not going to go into detail on each of the stories but there are couple I want to mention specifically.
The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi is set in the far future. The world has turned into a huge toxic waste site (reason remain unclear) but humanity has adapted and formed a symbiosis with a species that can turn just about everything into sustenance for humans. As a result of increased medical knowledge people have become practically immortal as well as very hard to kill. The attitude towards unmodified lifeforms (very little of whom seem to remain) has changed to something of disbelief at the fragility of these creatures. How did they survive? Then familiar sight in this hostile bleak world shows up . A dog that has managed to survive against all odd. Life is shown as fragile yet surprisingly strong. A very good story even if the end shows us we may not want to evolve in that direction. I've never read anything by Bacigalupi before but I am very much impressed with this story.
Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R.R. Martin was a story I was particularly looking forward to. I don't think I have ever read anything by Martin that disappointed me. This story is no exception. The earth is destroyed by nuclear warfare sometime after humanity has managed to settle on the Moon. Those that remain retreated below the surface of the earth and have been living in the dark for five centuries now. But the radiation levels are dropping and a search party has descended from the moon to look for remains of society and possibly survivors. For the first time in ages they bring light into the world of those few that survived. Martin manages to instil that same creepiness into this story that he puts into a lot of his science fiction/horror hybrids. Don't read this if you are afraid of the dark.
The Last of the O-Forms by James van Pelt. A virus that seems to scramble the DNA of just about everything living brings on Armageddon. By the time the story opens no "normal" baby has been born for years. A clever fellow captures a few interesting mutated specimens of various species and sets up a travelling zoo (or freak show, depending on how you wish to look at it). Years later people are longing for something normal instead of the monsters the virus creates. O-Forms, as the creatures that still resemble the original are called, are becoming scarce. People really don't need a reminder of that. With his zoo about to go under, what must our clever entrepreneur do to stay in business? The Last of the O-Forms is a very sad story. It's not massive destruction that brought on Armageddon but the slow loss of what people recognize as human. Heartbreaking in a way, but the author is not blind to the dark side of human nature either.
Inertia by Nancy Kress is probably the best story in this collection. A lot of her work describes technological developments in the near future and the effect on society they have. FBS has put up another of her short stories which is almost as good in my opinion. You can find Nano Comes to Clifford Falls here.
But back to Inertia, an incurable disease has struck the US and to contain the epidemic modern day leper colonies are set up. Decades later a cure still hasn't been found and while the epidemic is contained whole generations have grown up locked inside the colonies. Deprived of contact with the outside word and anything but the most basic resources the victims make the best of it. Against all odd a more of less stable and peaceful society has formed. The world outside however, is slowly sliding into chaos. Rioting, unemployment, poverty and crime take over. Ironically the people inside the colony might be better off than those outside. Or so some people seem to think. We see all this from the point of view of an old woman, one of the first victims of the disease. She is a brilliant character, very convincing. Fully aware of what she has lost, she has resigned herself to living, and dying, in poverty and ignorance, but surprisingly, there are things that can still move her.
The last story I want to mention is The End of the World as We Know It by Dale Bailey. It's a story about the apocalypse but also a story about stories about the apocalypse. It takes a humorous approach to the sub genre, common types of characters in such stories and common story lines. He also takes a shot at the book of Genesis and the biblical ideas on what the apocalypse will be like, so maybe this won't be too popular with religious people. Towards the end of the collection this story is a quite refreshing look at things though. I very much enjoyed it.
As you can see, it is not the big names that make this collection in my opinion. Except for my obvious bias for Martin's work that is. None of these writers save Martin have made the cover of this anthology. I suppose the big names is what will draw readers to Wastelands as much as the subject but I was surprised to see the number of quality stories Adams managed to collect besides the big names of the genre. Wastelands is successfully gives us an overview of the sub genre. A must read for everybody who enjoys post-pocalyptic fiction.
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