Josh Smith Online

My wife recently got me Wastelands, an Anthology edited by John Joseph Adams for an Easter gift.  I am only a few stories into the book but I wanted to share some initial thoughts and what it has done right so far.  One of the strongest parts of the anthology thus far is the decision by Adams to focus on stories which portray life after the apocalypse, forgoing zombies and other provocateurs and focusing on the struggles and stories of individuals in a dramatically different world.  This method of selection has led to some wonderful stories which allow me to connect with the individual characters and at some level understand them.  So far the stories have evoked a strong response from me due in part to the attempts of characters to “do good” in some manner and either failing or coming to a realistic and forlorn conclusion.  Don’t get me wrong a I love me a good ole’ zombie “mmm brains” novel but these stories are in a manner easier to connect to.

One of the items which Adams includes in the anthology is a reference section in the back, a bibliography of sorts which compiles other books from this sub genre of science fiction.  As a reader I cannot begin to express how awesome this is to me.  Many times after finishing an anthology or collection I have been left at a loss as to where to find more material to read that is within the same vein as the original writing, something not always accomplished by reading the authors’ other  published work.  This reference has provided me a list of authors and books to add to my “To Read” notebook in One Note.

I’ll do my best to post a follow up review when I finish the collection.

Wastelands includes stories by authors such as Stephen King, Paolo Bacigalupi, Cory Doctorow and Tobias Buckell.

Tags: Adams | Apocalyptic | cory doctorow | Paolo Bacigalupi | science fiction John Joseph Adams | Stephen King | to read | tobias buckell