The trilogy/triptych provides stories before, during and after the apocalypse, and I enjoyed The End is Nigh hugely.
Ditto this volume, which continues the exploration of the challenges that individuals, couples, communities and humanity as a whole, have to face when things go from bad to worse. There are just a couple of weaker stories in this volume, and it’s upped the ante for the third volume, which is due in early March 2015, so that’s one of my 55th birthday presents sorted. As with volume 1, I opted for the amazon-printed version (sod The Cloud), with both volumes sitting handsomely on my bookshelves.
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Tananarive Due. Herd Immunity.
Due gets the second volume of ‘The Apocalypse Triptych’ underway, with me more than keen to find out what has happened to almost all of the characters in the first volume. review here
Scott Sigler. The Sixth Day of Deer Camp.
The taut drama and the excellent characterisation continues, with a humdinger of a moral conundrum at the end of the story… review here
Annie Bellett. Goodnight Stars.
The daughter of a lunar scientist has to cope with the loss of the moon, and her mother, and the consequent challenges. review here
Charlie Jane Anders. Rock Manning Can’t Hear You.
Further gnarly adventures of online video star Rock Manning, in a post-crash world which is bad enough, when things get even worse…
Seanan McGuire. Fruiting Bodies.
Grey mould is taking over the world, and this story moves to a chilling climax, with the reader keen to find out what happens next. review here
Sarah Langan. Black Monday.
A dark, bleak look human frailty and bravery and stupidity, as the planet-killer impact arrives. review here
Nancy Kress. Angels of the Apocalypse.
A decade or more on from the first installment, things on Earth have gone to hell in a handcart, and the generation of non-aggressive children have grown up… review here
David Wellington. Agent Isolated.
Second installment of one of the weaker stories in the first volume of at apocalypse-themed trilogy, carrying on in the same vein. review here
Ken Liu. The Gods Will Not Be Slain.
The cybernetic shit has really hit the fan (presumably a Dyson bladeless one), and the stakes are high as the AIs war amongst themselves. review here
Elizabeth Bear. You’ve Never Seen Everything.
A singleton story amidst the second installment stories in this middle volume of the apocalypse trilogy. review here
Ben H. Winters. Bring Them Down.
One of the shorter, but more impactful stories from the first volume continues in a similar vein. review here
Megan Arkenberg. Twilight of the Music Machines.
Set against a background of nocturnal clubbing, people living like it’s the end of the world, with rain not only acidic but… review here
Jonathan Maberry. Sunset Hollow : a Rot and Ruin Story.
Bit of a disappointment TBH as the story isn’t a sequel to Maberry’s first volume story, but a more straightforward zombie horror story. review here
Jake Kerr. Penance.
A clever follow up to Kerr’s first installment. review here
Daniel H. Wilson. Avtomat.
Cleverly done, with an automaton made in the image of Peter the Great surviving the death of the Tsar and fleeing for his (clockwork) life.. review here
Will McIntosh. Dancing with Batgirl in the Land of Nod.
Another strong, nicely observed take on his ‘nodding virus’ setting. review here
Jamie Ford. By the Hair of the Moon.
An alternate history, steampunky take on a comet that is passing close by us. Very close by. review here
Desirina Boskovich. To Wrestle Not Against Flesh and Blood.
Unseen aliens allow us to see inside the heads of the human characters, and for the most part it’s not a pretty sight. review here
Hugh Howey. In the Mountain.
Life in an apocalypse-surviving bunker does not go according to plan once the doors close behind the survivors. review here
Robin Wasserman. Dear John.
A clever use of the epistolary form to explore human relationships. review here,
