After (Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia)

December 3, 2012
Looking for happily ever after? Look elsewhere. These 19 original tales of technology gone wrong, disease run rampant, and Earth's inhabitants struggling to survive are dark, heavy, and filled with foreboding. They are also well-craftedâeach with its own flavor and textureâcreating a collection to be savored, pondered, and enjoyed. Frequent collaborators and anthologists Datlow and Windling have assembled a crew of writers that includes Cecil Castellucci, Gregory Maguire, Susan Beth Pfeffer, and Beth Revis. Garth Nix offers an unsettling prelude to Shade's Children with a short story set 10 years prior to the events of that novel. Carrie Ryan's chilling love story takes place in a diseased and dangerous world, while Matthew Kressel presents a comically sad game of baseball in a devastated world where strange, alien creatures lurk. And Steven Gould contributes a haunting portrait of a society overridden by metal-eating bugs. Readers thirsting for more material in the vein of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Eleventh Plague will be satisfied with the array of tales offered and marvel at just how bleak Earth's future can look. Ages 12âup.

September 15, 2012
Both superstar and up-and-coming YA authors tackle the themes of apocalypse and dystopia in 19 short stories and poems. Nearly every story provides a first-person adolescent protagonist, with male and female viewpoints equally represented, some with explicit GLBT orientation. The scenarios they narrate vary widely--from ecological catastrophes to alien invasion, political revolutions to supernatural uprisings, religious tyranny to socioeconomic collapse--but with less emphasis on the mechanics of the disaster than on coping with the aftermath. Graphic violence and destruction are avoided in favor of pointed allusions and carefully selected images; although many are creepy or even nightmarish, most conclude on a note of hope. Yet the relentless succession of bleak circumstances and failure eventually blurs the individual voices into an indistinguishable grimness. Indeed, the concluding bibliographical essay by the editors is in many ways the highlight of the volume, succinctly tracing the history, appeal and best current examples of the genre. A fine selection for new readers looking to sample this type of fiction or for dedicated fans seeking fresh voices. (Science fiction/short stories. 12 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Eighteen stories and one poem by both popular and lesser-known authors. There are stories ranging from the nightmarish-Steven Gould's "Rust With Wings" about metal-eating bugs that will devour anything, including a pacemaker-to the comical-Matthew Kressel's "The Great Game at the End of the World," about a game of baseball played as Earth is being destroyed by strange alien creatures. Jeffrey Ford's "Blood Drive" strikes an ominous, "too close to home" note given recent events in the news: it is a frank depiction of a world in which everyone over 18, including teachers and students, is armed with guns. Though the subject matter is bleak, many stories end on a note of hope or provide moments of reflection. While not every entry is strong, there is much here to savor, and fans of dystopias won't be disappointed.-Necia Blundy, formerly at Marlborough Public Library, MA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2012
Grades 9-12 This engrossing collection of short stories tackles a single question: What happens to humanity following a disaster that causes calamitous, fundamental, and long-lasting change? Nineteen authors answer in stories that tackle political upheaval (Reunion, by Susan Beth Pfeffer); ecological disaster (Visiting Nelson, by Katherine Langrish); doomsday cults (All I Know of Freedom, by Carol Emshwiller); and inexplicable phenomena (The Easthound, by Nalo Hopkinson). The editors have forgone purist definitions of dystopiaby also including stories of an apocalyptic naturein an attempt to recognize the range of dystoptian fiction being written today. A brief history of the development of dys-lit concludes the collection. Fans of the genre will naturally gravitate toward After and find much to enjoy. Others may simply be attracted to the names Jane Yolen, Garth Nix, Gregory Maguire, Beth Revis, Cecil Castellucci, and Carrie Ryan; even if they come for their favorites, they'll want to stick around for the rest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)