/lit/ - Literature

>>20185139
The End Has Come, The Apocalypse Triptych #3 - John Joseph Adams & Hugh Howey, editors (2015)

Trilogy overview
>>20166339

And so the trilogy concluded. For me, it was a definite failure in terms of enjoyment by the end, but it was informative. Without the first story of this anthology I probably would've been considerably more negative. Most of all I came to appreciate just how much having a few great stories affects what I think of anthologies/collections and how easily I ignore the disliked stories when I'm not actively qualifying them like this. It probably makes all my ratings of collected stories where I didn't write up anything about them invalid. I still don't know if it'd be for the best to remove the star ratings though.

Regardless of what I think of it, this is a relatively successful anthology, even though it's a series. That isn't saying much because most any anthology doesn't sell well at all and the ceiling for even the best selling ones seems to be rather low compared to novels or even single author collections. As far as I've read, the vast majority of professional anthologies are quite lucky to break even on sales. There's a similar situation with magazines these days as well.

BANNERLESS - Carrie Vaughn
A very interesting post-apocalyptic pastoral crime investigation story. An investigator is sent to assess the claims of an unsanctioned pregnancy. It was surprisingly upbeat and hinted at a relatively positive world. When I finished, I wanted an entire novel. Apparently a few years later she wrote a novel of the same name, which I'll read eventually. I haven't liked anything else from her, so I may be disappointed, but I'm willing to take that risk. Sometimes there may only be a single work from an author that's enjoyable, which can be a bother because that makes it more difficult to know whether to look at more from an author or not.
Highly Enjoyable

LIKE ALL BEAUTIFUL PLACES - Megan Arkenberg
A VR developer is trying recreate an immersive experience of San Francisco.
Blah

DANCING WITH A STRANGER IN THE LAND OF NOD - Will McIntosh
A man and woman with locked-in syndrome spouses take delight in each other.
Meh

THE SEVENTH DAY OF DEER CAMP - Scott Sigler
The alien children must be protected and he'd do all he could for them. ANONYMOUS, the 4chan originated group, had become the most powerful social movement in the world and ensured that the governments wouldn't interfere. lolwut. There's so much I could say about this, but this isn't the time or place to do so.
Meh

>>20166325
This Unkempt World is Falling to Pieces - Jamie Ford
In 1910, an involuntary servant at a end-of-the-world party for the wealthy, who treat it as a joke, daydreams of what could've been.
Meh

BRING HER TO ME - Ben H. Winters
A voice speaks to everyone in their minds and tells them to kill themselves at the proper time. Everyone thinks this is a great idea. A lone girl cannot hear the voice and thus it demands that all BRING HER TO ME.
Meh

In the Air - Hugh Howey
I couldn't go along with this ridiculous premise. I want to be able to, but I just can't. DID YOU KNOW THAT EVERYONE IN THE WORLD HAS NANOMACHINES IN THEIR BLOOD FROM THIS SECRET ORGANIZATION THAT WHEN THEY ACTIVATE THEM WILL KILL EVERYONE EXCEPT THE CHOSEN FEW? This is like a really bad network tv SF plot.
Blah

Goodnight Moon - Annie Bellet
The few researchers who live in the Moon colony realize that a dwarf planet is about to collide with the Moon, which shall shatter the moon and its debris shall rain down upon the Earth.
Meh

Dancing with Death in the Land of Nod - Will McIntosh
A disease that terminally paralyzes 97% of those it afflicts is sweeping across the country. The protagonist, 42, starts a relationship with a ~26 year old woman that he's known since birth.
Ok

Houses Without Air - Megan Arkenberg
Volcanic eruptions have reduced the percent of oxygen in the air below survivable levels. Her housemate wants to make a memorial to the end of the world, so she abandons everything else, because may as well.
Ok

The Fifth Day of Deer Camp - Scott Sigler
...was when the alien invasion began.
Ok

Enjoy the Moment - Jack McDevitt
A brown dwarf star has entered the solar system and is going to wreck the Earth...in 20 years.
Ok

Pretty Soon the Four Horsemen are Going to Come Riding Through - Nancy Kress
Volcanic eruptions induce human evolution. Children born since then are entirely docile.
Meh

Spores - Seanan McGuire
Genetically engineered food becomes grey goo, fungus style.
Ok

She’s Got a Ticket to Ride - Jonathan Maberry
A fixer is hired to retrieve their daughter from a doomsday cult of the Nibiru cataclysm.
Ok

Agent Unknown - David Wellington
Zombies are a prion disease with a possible incubation of 20 years
Ok

Enlightenment - Matthew Mather
Well, that was a lot. What an extreme religious death cult.
Ok

Shooting the Apocalypse - Paolo Bacigalupi
A photographer and journalist are looking for a big scoop to profit from.
Enjoyable

Love Perverts - Sarah Langan
Earth is a disaster after the Resource Wars and now a comet has come to finish humanity off. Nihilists and hedonists abound. A few may survive underground.
Ok