I really enjoyed this collection of post-apocalyptic short stories. Some I've read before, but all was well written.

The End of the Whole Mess -Stephen King. A cure for man's bad behavior might also be its down fall. Its well written, enjoyable characters. Stephen King knows how to write a short story.

Salvage - Orson Scott Card. I read this in Folk of the Fringe. I didn't like it then, and skipped it.

The People of Sand and Slag - Paolo Bacigalupi - This is another story I've read. This story sticks with you - I think its the only story in this anthology where humanity lost its humanity to survive.

Bread and Bombs - M. Rickert - I think the story was too vague about exactly who what was going on and why the new family was hated. I didn't really enjoy it.

How We Got In Town and Out Again - Jonathan Lethem. Another story I've read. Its well written, typical two teens trying to survive together. The endurance race with internet is a nice touch :)

Dark, Dark Were The Tunnels - George R.R. Martin. Spacing fairing man comes back to earth and finds evolved/devolved humanity in tunnels and doesn't understand.

Waiting for the Zephyr - Tobias S. Buckell. Humanity is the mend, girl trying to find a better life against the wishes of her parents. Well written, quite light.

Never Despair - Jack McDevitt - Again, humanity is on the mend, starting to explore. One of these explorers, treasure hunters, meets an artificial intelligence, temporarily turned on.

When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth - Cory Doctorow. This story is scary. It takes place in the now, and one of the few stories where the apocalypse actually happens. Nice touch adding Google to the story.

The Last of the O-Forms - James Van Pelt. Scary story about something mixing DNA to form strange new creatures. Unfortunately, this isn't plausible. The story is good, but it doesn't make sense. Most of the creatures would have a short, short life or dead before born.

Still Life with Apocalypse - Richard Kadrey. When the world ends, how to pick up the pieces. Is it meaningful?

Artie's Angels - Catherine Wells. A wonderful story about the last of humanity, the poor, the unskilled, trying to survive as the rich and powerful take off too other worlds. King Arther inspires these characters.

Judgement Passed - Jerry Oltion. Astronauts come back to earth and find that they are left behind after Revelation. Are they meant to repopulate the earth, was it God? This is a very thought provoking story.

Mute - Gene Wolfe. I'm not sure its post-apoclyptic. It feels more like the kids are in purgatory. I'm not sure if it should have been included in this collection. The story is well written though.

Inertia - Nancy Kress. Is a disfiguring illness also a blessing to humanity in disguise? Another well written story that should not be missed.

And The Deep Blue Sea - Elizabeth Bear. The world is a radiation filled hell hole. The main character sells her soul to the Devil for a meaningful employment, but when he comes calling, she needs to make a choice.

Speech Sounds - Octavia Butler. A truly moving story about a devastating illness that takes away a persons ability to communicate. This story made me almost cry. But, there is hope at the end.

Killers - Carol Emshwiller. A twisty little story about life where the fight for terrorism is brought to the home front. Along with climate change, we meet a lady in a community that Seems to be holding its own and its own humanity...

Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus - This is a humorous take on post-apocalyptic story. Includes suspicious androids, a gun happy possum, and a mechanic in love, with a side of poker. Fun story.

The End of the World As We Know It - The world ends, but not the way its portrayed in TV. The last known survivors, a man and woman also survive, but not to go forth and be fruitful.

A Song Before Sunset - David Grigg. Culture goes away, bye bye piano, libraries, art gallery. Quite typical.

Episode Seven: Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flower. This story makes you breathless. A young man and a young pregnant woman on the run from something. But, someone is hiding a secret... ( )

A great anthology of post-apocalyptic fiction. The wonderful entries more than made up for the couple that didn't work very well for me.

On the plus side: the geeky delight of Doctorow's When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth, the brutal bizarreness of Bacigalupi's The People of Sand and Slag, the respectively silent and lightless worlds of Butler's Speech Sounds and Martin's Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels, and Bailey's meta-analysis-peppered The End of the World as We Know It.

On the minus: the Mormon factor in Card's Salvage didn't do much for me (it struck me as very "Apocalypse--Now with 100% more Mormons!"). Also, the breathless style of Langan's Episode Seven just plain wore me out. If its page-spanning sentences (lots of parentheses, commas, dashes) were meant to create a rushed stream-of-consciousness feel, I suppose it succeeded. It worked extremely well at the very end, but the first 90% of the story were exhausting to read.

Prospective readers should note that not all of the stories are action-y, lone-survivor stories, or set in the midst of an occurring apocalypse. While some do fit that bill, most are set in a world where the eradication was not so near-total. ( )

Was okay! ( )

Was okay! ( )

Was okay! ( )