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timeunspun's review against another edition
3.0
Though this is my least favorite of the trilogy, there are still some strong stories in here that examine a setting after an apocalyptic event. The highs can be surprising,chilling, and weighing questions of humanity. Others feel like stories that should have ended earlier. I do wish there was an easier way to connect the stories across the books, because often I had to look up the previous story as a refresher.
severina2001's review against another edition
4.0
An anthology of post-apocalypse stories, part of a trilogy that forms the Apocalypse Triptych (where most authors have written stories in the same universe for each volume). The previous volumes included stories set pre-apocalyse and during-the-apocalypse.
Another great set of stories. If anything, I was not prepared for the bleakness of some of the endings… yes, maybe that's crazy since the world has ended and everything, but I do like me something hopeful. Still, some amazing writing here. My favourites:
In Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn, society is rebuilding into small groups of farmholds that can help each other with complimentary skills. In the good groups, they grow to love each other. In the bad, there is violence and deceit. Children must be earned through hard work and good society, and investigators must intervene when someone becomes pregnant without an earned banner.
The Seventh Day of Deer Camp by Scott Sigler deals with a downed alien spacecraft and the one man who vows to protect its cargo of children. I particularly loved the smart details in this, especially using the Anonymous group as the man's staunchest anti-government defenders.
In Carriers by Tananarive Due we find out what happened to Nayima, years after taking care of her ill gramma and meeting that stranger at the fair. This was one of those series where I felt strongly toward the main character and needed for her to be alright, so reading about her trials was hard but still felt… right. Accurate. Real. And in the end, I got my hopeful ending.
The one big disappointment here was Hugh Howey's In The Woods, which continues the story of Juliette and Solo from his Wool series. This... is not what I wanted to happen. I'm just gonna pretend I never read this one.
Another great set of stories. If anything, I was not prepared for the bleakness of some of the endings… yes, maybe that's crazy since the world has ended and everything, but I do like me something hopeful. Still, some amazing writing here. My favourites:
In Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn, society is rebuilding into small groups of farmholds that can help each other with complimentary skills. In the good groups, they grow to love each other. In the bad, there is violence and deceit. Children must be earned through hard work and good society, and investigators must intervene when someone becomes pregnant without an earned banner.
The Seventh Day of Deer Camp by Scott Sigler deals with a downed alien spacecraft and the one man who vows to protect its cargo of children. I particularly loved the smart details in this, especially using the Anonymous group as the man's staunchest anti-government defenders.
In Carriers by Tananarive Due we find out what happened to Nayima, years after taking care of her ill gramma and meeting that stranger at the fair. This was one of those series where I felt strongly toward the main character and needed for her to be alright, so reading about her trials was hard but still felt… right. Accurate. Real. And in the end, I got my hopeful ending.
The one big disappointment here was Hugh Howey's In The Woods, which continues the story of Juliette and Solo from his Wool series. This... is not what I wanted to happen. I'm just gonna pretend I never read this one.
mato's review against another edition
4.0
The unique mechanic comes from the fact that this book contains stories that were originally started in the first triptych part (and, in some cases, continued in the second part). Those stories are finished up in this book, along with new stories about the time (Post Apocalyptic) after the End.
I really liked the idea of this triptych and hope that similar efforts come out. It didn't hurt that I am also a huge fan of Howey and PA sci-fi. The author line-up was very solid with some serious gold star writers (e.g. Howey and Grant).
Recommended for PA fans adn even for those who are tired of the same end times tropes, like zombies .
I really liked the idea of this triptych and hope that similar efforts come out. It didn't hurt that I am also a huge fan of Howey and PA sci-fi. The author line-up was very solid with some serious gold star writers (e.g. Howey and Grant).
Recommended for PA fans adn even for those who are tired of the same end times tropes, like zombies .
henryarmitage's review against another edition
3.0
I've been reading a lot of end-of-the-world kind of stuff this year for obvious reasons. This was a cool concept, but execution could have been better.
The idea was to have a bunch of different authors write three stories, one taking place just before the end of the world, one during, and one after.
In a few cases, this worked pretty well (e.g. the "nodding sickness" and grey fungus stories). But in others, I had the feeling I was reading three installments in an unfinished story.
The emotional tone varies all over the place, from zombie gorefest to heartstring-tugging stories of touching sacrifice to comedy. I suspect a lot of readers liked some of the stories but not others for this reason.
The idea was to have a bunch of different authors write three stories, one taking place just before the end of the world, one during, and one after.
In a few cases, this worked pretty well (e.g. the "nodding sickness" and grey fungus stories). But in others, I had the feeling I was reading three installments in an unfinished story.
The emotional tone varies all over the place, from zombie gorefest to heartstring-tugging stories of touching sacrifice to comedy. I suspect a lot of readers liked some of the stories but not others for this reason.
sapphirestars's review against another edition
3.0
Weirdly, I think my favorite story in this collection was a new one that had nothing to do with the others: Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn. Dystopian investigator finds out what's happening in a small village. Love it. 5 stars.
Others I enjoyed:
Wandering Star by Leife Shallcross. A quilt shows that in the end a family stays together. Sweet story.
Carriers by Tananarive Due.
Margin of Survival by Elizabeth Bear. A woman and her sister try to survive not only the first apocalypse but the many afterwards.
Jingo and the Hammerman by Jonathan Maberry. Zombie smashers.
The Gray Sunrise by Jake Kerr. The asteroid hits with a father and son trying to escape.
Feel annoyed that Hugh Howey just made his ANOTHER extension of Wool. I probably should have seen that coming :/ Wish we could have just continued on with the original family.
The first collection was by far my favorite but this was a fun ride :]
Others I enjoyed:
Wandering Star by Leife Shallcross. A quilt shows that in the end a family stays together. Sweet story.
Carriers by Tananarive Due.
Margin of Survival by Elizabeth Bear. A woman and her sister try to survive not only the first apocalypse but the many afterwards.
Jingo and the Hammerman by Jonathan Maberry. Zombie smashers.
The Gray Sunrise by Jake Kerr. The asteroid hits with a father and son trying to escape.
Feel annoyed that Hugh Howey just made his ANOTHER extension of Wool. I probably should have seen that coming :/ Wish we could have just continued on with the original family.
The first collection was by far my favorite but this was a fun ride :]
christhedoll's review against another edition
4.0
Finished the last book. A little trouble remembering the stories from the first two but overall really enjoyed it.
vylotte's review
3.0
This is the final installment in the Apocalypse Triptych, where authors presented three short stories following the threads of before, during and after their myriad apocalypses. Dealing with the "after," this volume nicely wraps up the tales.
Someday I would like to have all three in front of me and follow each story through the volumes. I know I lost a lot of detail reading them over the course of two years. Some I was able to immediately pick up (Seanan McGuire's tale of all-consuming mold, for instance) and some I had zero recollection of what came before.
Thank you Kindle lending library!
Someday I would like to have all three in front of me and follow each story through the volumes. I know I lost a lot of detail reading them over the course of two years. Some I was able to immediately pick up (Seanan McGuire's tale of all-consuming mold, for instance) and some I had zero recollection of what came before.
Thank you Kindle lending library!
larisa2021's review against another edition
3.0
Carrie Vaughn & Elizabeth Bear are always worth the effort to find their stories.
bitterindigo's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure why I didn't find this as wholly enchanting as the first two books in the series - there were stories in those that I've read over half-a-dozen times, and I loved flipping back and forth between books on my Kindle following the threads of the ones that were continued. There were a couple of gems here, but not the same consistent brilliance.
errantdreams's review against another edition
5.0
Book one in the triptych, The End Is Nigh, was a collection of pre-apocalyptic short stories. Book two, The End is Here, took place during the apocalyptic event(s). Now The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych) (Volume 3) takes place after the apocalypse. Most of the stories are also triptychs, with one in each volume, but they’re meant to stand alone and most of them succeed surprisingly well at that. I believe the intro to this volume said that 18 of the 23 stories in here were related to previous stories.
Seanan McGuire’s “Resistance” wraps up her triptych of the fungus that took over the world. Megan is still going, immune to the mold, even though she might have preferred not to outlive her wife and daughter. She’s taken in by the military, who know an awful lot about her and are laying the blame for what happened at her feet. It’s an incredible story of two women sparring verbally and emotionally and what happens from there. I loved it; once again McGuire wrote one of my favorite stories of this volume.
Seanan McGuire has a second story in here under her pen name Mira Grant, and it’s entirely excellent. “The Happiest Place…” takes place in Disneyland. When an epidemic struck, a number of Cast Members didn’t really have anywhere else to go, nor did some customers. Amy, the highest-ranking member of the Guest Relations team still present, ends up in charge as the “mayor.” One of the generators just gave out, and Amy has to figure out how to get more parts to keep things going as long as possible. Yep, I cried at this one.
Carrie Vaughn’s “Bannerless” was an intriguing story of a civilization in which people need permission to have children, and the people who are sent to investigate the situation when a woman becomes pregnant without permission. It’s a surprisingly good story–not at all what I might have expected.
Megan Arkenberg’s “Like All Beautiful Places” takes place on a container ship anchored off of San Francisco, and includes Lena from Arkenberg’s story in volume one, and her attempt to make an immersive VR experience. It was a pretty good story.
Will McIntosh’s “Dancing with a Stranger in the Land of Nod” continues the story of the epidemic that’s paralyzing everyone. I enjoyed this installment more than the previous one. (Installment one was great; the second one just didn’t entirely appeal to me.)
Scott Sigler’s “The Seventh Day of Deer Camp” sees George responsible for ensuring the safety of the alien children. It’s better than the previous two installments; I found it harder to get emotionally invested in those parts of the story.
Sarah Langan’s “Prototype” involves a post-apocalyptic genius who designs suits for those who go above-ground and encounter the deadly sands that blow across the land. He has a pet named Rex. I was genuinely surprised and horrified by where this one went–it was quite good.
Chris Avellone’s “Acts of Creation” involves people called “Sensitives” who were in some way altered to fight a war. Now they seem to be undergoing transformations that make them even deadlier. Agnes is trying to figure out what exactly triggers these transformations. This story really captures the feel of what her subject is like.
Leife Shallcross’s “Wandering Star” is a museum’s thoughts regarding a memento quilt and little flashbacks of the apocalypse to go with it. Interesting, but kind of low-key.
Ben H. Winters brings us back to teenager Pea in “Heaven Come Down.” Pea has developed some very unusual powers, and God, who has finally started speaking to her as well, guides her in remaking her world. Only Pea starts to have questions about what God is really up to. This is an extremely satisfying conclusion to this ongoing story, with some surprises in store.
David Wellington’s “Agent Neutralized” finds CDC field agent Whitman ten years later as he searches for survivors of the apocalypse. One of the little things in this story that I like is that they don’t try to wipe out years of cultural habit of calling mindless, infected attackers “zombies,” even though these zombies are still alive.
Annie Bellet’s “Goodnight Earth” takes place well after her first two connected stories and has little obvious to connect it to them. Karron is a “War Child,” jumped up on nanomachines and used to fight a war. Now she’s hiding what she is. She and her partner Ishim have taken on two children and their parents as passengers to smuggle. Karron ends up having to make some tough decisions.
Tananarive Due’s “Carriers” returns to Nayima now that she’s in her sixties and living in a cabin, living off of the chickens she raises and some items brought by her friend, Raul. Little references give us an idea of what she’s gone through since we saw her last–as an asymptomatic carrier of the disease, she’s been treated very badly and it’s made her paranoid and bitter. This is a very rewarding story.
Robin Wasserman returns to the tale of Isaac leading his followers through the apocalypse in “In the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land.” He’s an old man now, and we see his descendants through his eyes… before we get a fascinating finish in which we see things through the eyes of his sons. This is my favorite of this particular triptych of stories.
Jamie Ford’s “The Uncertainty Machine” hearkens back to that deadly 1910 comet strike, as “accidental prophet” Phineas Kai Pengong waits for rescue in his underground bunker. This one is chilling!
Elizabeth Bear’s “Margin of Survival” is also chilling. Yana is trying to steal supplies to help keep her and her starving sister Yulianna alive. She encounters another woman named Yulianna in the storage room she enters.
“Jingo and the Hammerman,” by Jonathan Maberry, introduces us to the clever ways in which post-apocalyptic society has found to destroy zombies in bulk. Jingo has been reading Tony Robbins’s motivational books, and is convinced things will get better soon. His partner Moose Peters isn’t so sure. I love how quirky this one turns out to be–and yet it manages to be quite dark at the same time!
Charlie Jane Anders brings us back to the tale of wacky “actor” and stuntman Rock Manning in “The Last Movie Ever Made.” It’s almost as bizarre as the previous stories. Rock doesn’t actually want to make another movie, but absolutely everyone insists on one more.
Jake Kerr’s “The Gray Sunrise” sees Don and his son Zack attempting to escape the asteroid impact by boat. Seemingly not a lot happens, but the changes in the characters are fascinating, and I might have shed a tear or two by the end.
Ken Liu’s “The Gods Have Not Died in Vain” introduces Maddie to her online “sister,” “Mist.” In trying to help Mist understand humans, she finds out that Mist already knows a lot more than she thinks–and may not see things the way their father would have wanted.
Hugh Howey’s “In the Woods” finds April and Remy waking up from their cryo-storage unit–the one they weren’t told they were going to be put in–only to find that it’s 500 years later and all they have left is the contents of a trunk that were left for them. It’s hard to see, given what they find inside the bunker they’re in, how the power, lights, and even things like the IVs in their arms continued to function for that long, among other things. Still, it’s an intriguing continuation of the story, and I liked it better than the second part.
Nancy Kress’s “Blessings” picks up a couple generations after the previous story. The “Sweets”–people who are basically incapable of violence on any level–believe that they’ve been blessed, and the least they can do is try to help the alien Dant who did this to them. Then some outsiders come along who aren’t so pacifistic. There are some intriguing twists to this one.
On the whole, I absolutely loved this triptych. If you’re an apocalypse junkie like I am, dive on in!
Content note for a brief rape mention.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2020/08/review-the-end-has-come-ed-john-joseph-adams-hugh-howey/
Seanan McGuire’s “Resistance” wraps up her triptych of the fungus that took over the world. Megan is still going, immune to the mold, even though she might have preferred not to outlive her wife and daughter. She’s taken in by the military, who know an awful lot about her and are laying the blame for what happened at her feet. It’s an incredible story of two women sparring verbally and emotionally and what happens from there. I loved it; once again McGuire wrote one of my favorite stories of this volume.
Seanan McGuire has a second story in here under her pen name Mira Grant, and it’s entirely excellent. “The Happiest Place…” takes place in Disneyland. When an epidemic struck, a number of Cast Members didn’t really have anywhere else to go, nor did some customers. Amy, the highest-ranking member of the Guest Relations team still present, ends up in charge as the “mayor.” One of the generators just gave out, and Amy has to figure out how to get more parts to keep things going as long as possible. Yep, I cried at this one.
Carrie Vaughn’s “Bannerless” was an intriguing story of a civilization in which people need permission to have children, and the people who are sent to investigate the situation when a woman becomes pregnant without permission. It’s a surprisingly good story–not at all what I might have expected.
Megan Arkenberg’s “Like All Beautiful Places” takes place on a container ship anchored off of San Francisco, and includes Lena from Arkenberg’s story in volume one, and her attempt to make an immersive VR experience. It was a pretty good story.
Will McIntosh’s “Dancing with a Stranger in the Land of Nod” continues the story of the epidemic that’s paralyzing everyone. I enjoyed this installment more than the previous one. (Installment one was great; the second one just didn’t entirely appeal to me.)
Scott Sigler’s “The Seventh Day of Deer Camp” sees George responsible for ensuring the safety of the alien children. It’s better than the previous two installments; I found it harder to get emotionally invested in those parts of the story.
Sarah Langan’s “Prototype” involves a post-apocalyptic genius who designs suits for those who go above-ground and encounter the deadly sands that blow across the land. He has a pet named Rex. I was genuinely surprised and horrified by where this one went–it was quite good.
Chris Avellone’s “Acts of Creation” involves people called “Sensitives” who were in some way altered to fight a war. Now they seem to be undergoing transformations that make them even deadlier. Agnes is trying to figure out what exactly triggers these transformations. This story really captures the feel of what her subject is like.
Leife Shallcross’s “Wandering Star” is a museum’s thoughts regarding a memento quilt and little flashbacks of the apocalypse to go with it. Interesting, but kind of low-key.
Ben H. Winters brings us back to teenager Pea in “Heaven Come Down.” Pea has developed some very unusual powers, and God, who has finally started speaking to her as well, guides her in remaking her world. Only Pea starts to have questions about what God is really up to. This is an extremely satisfying conclusion to this ongoing story, with some surprises in store.
David Wellington’s “Agent Neutralized” finds CDC field agent Whitman ten years later as he searches for survivors of the apocalypse. One of the little things in this story that I like is that they don’t try to wipe out years of cultural habit of calling mindless, infected attackers “zombies,” even though these zombies are still alive.
Annie Bellet’s “Goodnight Earth” takes place well after her first two connected stories and has little obvious to connect it to them. Karron is a “War Child,” jumped up on nanomachines and used to fight a war. Now she’s hiding what she is. She and her partner Ishim have taken on two children and their parents as passengers to smuggle. Karron ends up having to make some tough decisions.
Tananarive Due’s “Carriers” returns to Nayima now that she’s in her sixties and living in a cabin, living off of the chickens she raises and some items brought by her friend, Raul. Little references give us an idea of what she’s gone through since we saw her last–as an asymptomatic carrier of the disease, she’s been treated very badly and it’s made her paranoid and bitter. This is a very rewarding story.
Robin Wasserman returns to the tale of Isaac leading his followers through the apocalypse in “In the Valley of the Shadow of the Promised Land.” He’s an old man now, and we see his descendants through his eyes… before we get a fascinating finish in which we see things through the eyes of his sons. This is my favorite of this particular triptych of stories.
Jamie Ford’s “The Uncertainty Machine” hearkens back to that deadly 1910 comet strike, as “accidental prophet” Phineas Kai Pengong waits for rescue in his underground bunker. This one is chilling!
Elizabeth Bear’s “Margin of Survival” is also chilling. Yana is trying to steal supplies to help keep her and her starving sister Yulianna alive. She encounters another woman named Yulianna in the storage room she enters.
“Jingo and the Hammerman,” by Jonathan Maberry, introduces us to the clever ways in which post-apocalyptic society has found to destroy zombies in bulk. Jingo has been reading Tony Robbins’s motivational books, and is convinced things will get better soon. His partner Moose Peters isn’t so sure. I love how quirky this one turns out to be–and yet it manages to be quite dark at the same time!
Charlie Jane Anders brings us back to the tale of wacky “actor” and stuntman Rock Manning in “The Last Movie Ever Made.” It’s almost as bizarre as the previous stories. Rock doesn’t actually want to make another movie, but absolutely everyone insists on one more.
Jake Kerr’s “The Gray Sunrise” sees Don and his son Zack attempting to escape the asteroid impact by boat. Seemingly not a lot happens, but the changes in the characters are fascinating, and I might have shed a tear or two by the end.
Ken Liu’s “The Gods Have Not Died in Vain” introduces Maddie to her online “sister,” “Mist.” In trying to help Mist understand humans, she finds out that Mist already knows a lot more than she thinks–and may not see things the way their father would have wanted.
Hugh Howey’s “In the Woods” finds April and Remy waking up from their cryo-storage unit–the one they weren’t told they were going to be put in–only to find that it’s 500 years later and all they have left is the contents of a trunk that were left for them. It’s hard to see, given what they find inside the bunker they’re in, how the power, lights, and even things like the IVs in their arms continued to function for that long, among other things. Still, it’s an intriguing continuation of the story, and I liked it better than the second part.
Nancy Kress’s “Blessings” picks up a couple generations after the previous story. The “Sweets”–people who are basically incapable of violence on any level–believe that they’ve been blessed, and the least they can do is try to help the alien Dant who did this to them. Then some outsiders come along who aren’t so pacifistic. There are some intriguing twists to this one.
On the whole, I absolutely loved this triptych. If you’re an apocalypse junkie like I am, dive on in!
Content note for a brief rape mention.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2020/08/review-the-end-has-come-ed-john-joseph-adams-hugh-howey/