Famine, death, war, and pestilence: the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, the harbingers of Armageddon - these are our guides through the Wastelands...From the Book of "Revelations to The Road Warrior"; from "A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road", storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today's most renowned authors of speculative fiction, including George R.R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card, Carol Emshwiller, Jonathan Lethem, Octavia E. Butler, and Stephen King, "Wastelands" explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon.
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I'm not really a short story fan...... usually. I am however, a fan of post apocalyptic/end of the world/last man standing type fiction, so chose this book hoping to find a few good stories to tide me over until I found my next 'currently reading'.
The stories have been well selected and although they all follow a similar subject matter, they're all so different and even the very, very short stories stay with you after you've read them. It was interesting to find a few new takes on the genre and for this reason I'm glad I read 'Wastelands'. These stories have helped me find a few new branches to head along and broaden the subject for me.
This is the perfect book to have by your bedside, for those times when you only want to dip into a book....but be warned, even with the best intentions of "I'll just read one story to wind down before I drift off" can turn into ".....maybe I'll just read one more little story THEN I'll call it a night......or perhaps just a couple more....."
This is a great book for anyone familiar with the genre, but equally if you're new to this type of subject it's a gentle lead in to some of the best SF writers around.
What I really liked was the index at the end which gives further suggested reading lists. All books should come as standard with one of these. I had already found and devoured most of the further reading list given, but there were a couple that have now been added to my 'to be read' list.
Get this book whether you're familiar with the subject and looking for new paths or you're new to the subject and looking to explore it. There's something for everyone here.
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