I actually received this book for Christmas 2012 however during one of my stays at home over Christmas I dug this out because I realised that I hadn't read any of it!
This is an anthology of short stories, all with the theme of the end of the world / apocalypse, which I adore. Also very apt to read during the first couple of weeks of 2014 - start as you mean to go on and all that jazz.
There are stories in here from authors I recognise, such as Stephen King (whose name I think I recognised on the cover which then prompted me to ask for this collection as a gift), Orson Scott Card and George R.R. Martin, however there were even more authors whose names I didn't recognise, so this was a really nice opportunity to read some works from new people. It was also a great chance to read some genres that I'm not used to reading. Although I love sci-fi on film and television (albeit I am a fairly casual consumer) I don't really read much of it. I want to call it 'pure' sci-fi, and what I mean by that is that it contains worlds or characters that aren't recognisable to me, that they have deliberately futuristic technology or biology or something like that. I can find that I'm a bit out off by some of this fiction as I find that some of it focuses too heavily on the creation of the worlds rather than the story or the characters, and I also find myself really annoyed by overly-odd names for people or places as it trips up the rhythm of my reading, which isn't as pleasurable. However I was really pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed some of the more hardcore sci-fi and I'll definitely read more in future. Some of my favourite stories are below:
The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King - this is the only story in the collection that I've read before, so I knew I was going to enjoy it again. Great story, and one where I think the use of 'dialect' actually enhances it.
The People of Sand and Slag by Paulo Bacigalupi - this story is set in a wasteland where humans have evolved almost beyond recognition, and a group of them come across a dog. Really weird but brilliant and I've been thinking about it for days since reading it.
How We Got In Town and Out Again by Jonathan Lethem - revolves quite heavily around virtual reality, and with this one I really liked that the narrator keeps going back to visit a lonely snowman character. I just found it really endearing.
When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow - I work with lots of IT departments for different companies, and there are also some people I work with who fit this very meticulous sysadmin personality, so I really enjoyed it from this perspective. I also really liked the idea of people prioritising saving the internet above all other infrastructure, partly because it's important but also it's the only thing that makes sense to them.
Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler - In this world a sort of plague has occurred which prevents people from communicating via speech or writing. Really interesting and haunting story.
There were loads of great stories in this collection, which makes me think I should probably read more sci-fi and fantasy, as I'm bound to find some post-apocalyptic and dystopian gems in there. Why haven't I read more of this in the past? Silly me.
I actually received this book for Christmas 2012 however during one of my stays at home over Christmas I dug this out because I realised that I hadn't read any of it!
This is an anthology of short stories, all with the theme of the end of the world / apocalypse, which I adore. Also very apt to read during the first couple of weeks of 2014 - start as you mean to go on and all that jazz.
There are stories in here from authors I recognise, such as Stephen King (whose name I think I recognised on the cover which then prompted me to ask for this collection as a gift), Orson Scott Card and George R.R. Martin, however there were even more authors whose names I didn't recognise, so this was a really nice opportunity to read some works from new people. It was also a great chance to read some genres that I'm not used to reading. Although I love sci-fi on film and television (albeit I am a fairly casual consumer) I don't really read much of it. I want to call it 'pure' sci-fi, and what I mean by that is that it contains worlds or characters that aren't recognisable to me, that they have deliberately futuristic technology or biology or something like that. I can find that I'm a bit out off by some of this fiction as I find that some of it focuses too heavily on the creation of the worlds rather than the story or the characters, and I also find myself really annoyed by overly-odd names for people or places as it trips up the rhythm of my reading, which isn't as pleasurable. However I was really pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed some of the more hardcore sci-fi and I'll definitely read more in future. Some of my favourite stories are below:
The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King - this is the only story in the collection that I've read before, so I knew I was going to enjoy it again. Great story, and one where I think the use of 'dialect' actually enhances it.
The People of Sand and Slag by Paulo Bacigalupi - this story is set in a wasteland where humans have evolved almost beyond recognition, and a group of them come across a dog. Really weird but brilliant and I've been thinking about it for days since reading it.
How We Got In Town and Out Again by Jonathan Lethem - revolves quite heavily around virtual reality, and with this one I really liked that the narrator keeps going back to visit a lonely snowman character. I just found it really endearing.
When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow - I work with lots of IT departments for different companies, and there are also some people I work with who fit this very meticulous sysadmin personality, so I really enjoyed it from this perspective. I also really liked the idea of people prioritising saving the internet above all other infrastructure, partly because it's important but also it's the only thing that makes sense to them.
Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler - In this world a sort of plague has occurred which prevents people from communicating via speech or writing. Really interesting and haunting story.
There were loads of great stories in this collection, which makes me think I should probably read more sci-fi and fantasy, as I'm bound to find some post-apocalyptic and dystopian gems in there. Why haven't I read more of this in the past? Silly me.
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