Mini Review: After the End: Recent Apocalypses by Various Authors

Rating: ★★★★
Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Short Stories,Dystopian
Publisher: Prime Books
Publication Date: July 2, 2013



From the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh to Norse prophecies of Ragnarok to the Revelations of Saint John to Cormac McCarthy's The Road, and any number of fictional zombie Armageddons and the dystopic world of The Hunger Games, we have always wondered what will happen after the world as we know it ends. No matter what the doomsday scenario - cataclysmic climate change, political chaos, societal collapse, nuclear war, pestilence, or so many other dreaded variations - we inevitably believe that even though the world perishes, some portion of humankind will live on. Such stories involve death and disaster, but they are also tales of rebirth and survival. Grim or triumphant, these outstanding, post-apocalyptic stories selected from the best of those published in the tumultuous last decade allow us to consider what life will be like after the end.

Mini Review After the End is a collection of short stories that take place after some sort of world changing disaster or event. The stories range from Biological warfare to technology run amok. No Zombies though which for me is a shame but the Editor explains the reasoning behind the omission and I can accept it. One of my favorite things about this Anthology is how different each story is. While not all were memorable some like the story of Tumaki by Nnedi Okorator or The Disappeard by Blake Butler really stuck with me long after I finished the book. Another thing  I liked about this Anthology were how many stories were packed into the book. I really felt like I got the most bang for the buck so to speak. Sometimes when you buy an Anthology it has six or seven stories and if you don't like 2 or 3 of them well that's half the book. While I enjoyed most of these stories I did have a few that I liked less than others but that was OK since I still had 15 other stories that were really well written to read. Final Thoughts If your looking for a book about various ways the Apocalypse can happen then definitely pick this one up. The variety of stories is great, the writing is good and each short is well planned and information packed so you never feel deprived of knowledge about each worlds demise. With that being said, I will be rating After the End: Recent Apocalypses ★★★★.  *Copy reviewed provided by Netgalley. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in an which way  for providing them.