Wastelands review in Some Fantastic
Another new review of Wastelands just appeared in Some Fantastic. The reviewer, Matthew Appleton says all kinds of nice things about the stories in a very long and detailed review, and sums up: “Wastelands is an excellent anthology that belongs on the shelf of any SF fan, and not just fans of post-apocalyptic fiction. It’s hard to imagine a better way to spend $15.95 on a themed collection of short fiction.” [PDF]
It’s a really nice analysis of the stories he talks about in detail—well-worth a read whether you’ve already read Wastelands or not.
New Reviews of Wastelands, Seeds of Change, & a new interview
Dorothy Emry reviews Seeds of Change for Static Multimedia, giving it 3.5 out of 4 stars: “Nine short stories equal one great read in Seeds of Change, the latest anthology edited by John Joseph Adams. The authors contributing to this collection serve up works that range from tragedy to comedy–each of them thought provoking.”
Ms. Emry goes on to post some additional thoughts on her MySpace blog, saying “The authors featured in Seeds could well be part of the next generation of big names and Adams is to be commended for gathering them in this anthology.”
Static Multimedia also reviews Wastelands, calling it an “exceptional collection” and giving it four-out-of-four stars.
And last but not least, NVF Magazine (New Voices in Fiction) has an interview with me which doesn’t focus on any one project, but instead pries a lot of background information out of me. The format can be a bit hard on the eyes, so I’d suggest hitting CTRL + A to select all the text on the page to make it a little easier to read.
Latest Wastelands Reviews
The post.apocalyptic.world(karma) blog has a thoughtful, rave review of Wastelands: “Wastelands is the kind of book which will not allow you to work, sleep, socialize – barely eat – while it’s new and unbroken in your hands. Still, it would be a shame to dilute the stories through one hasty, over-zealous fit of reading. Wastelands is the book you read once straight through, enjoying the imagery, imagination and prose. Another, slower read-through is almost a must. There is a meaning (although, not always a lesson) to unravel in each of these stories, and it is up to the reader to figure it out for themselves.”
Matt Staggs talks about apocalyptic fiction and says some nice things about Wastelands: “This is pretty much the fiction anthology I’ve always looked for and never could find. It’s perfect, lots of great stuff, and I can’t praise Adams and Night Shade Books enough for bringing it to book shelves.”
Bibliophile Stalker reviews Wastelands: “John Joseph Adams assembles a wide variety of apocalypse-related fiction in Wastelands ... What you end up with is a diverse anthology covering topics like religion, war, and exploration while containing elements of horror, comedy, and even sense of wonder.”
Bookgasm Looooooooooooves Wastelands
I think I may have found my ideal reader, and his name is Ryun Patterson. Check out his review of Wastelands at Bookgasm: “Few books have had the impact on me that WASTELANDS: STORIES OF THE APOCALYPSE did. … WASTELANDS is a great collection that gets my highest recommendation.”
Today’s Reviews and Interviews
Over at Religion Dispatches, Gabriel McKee has a thoughtful review of Wastelands. Here’s a snippet: “Editor John Joseph Adams has chosen stories that show so much variation, not just in setting but in tone. There are several elegiac tales here, to be sure, but there are just as many optimistic ones, and even one or two comedies. It’s far from a tedious series of stories about savage motorcycle gangs—there’s real diversity here, and you’re hard pressed to find two stories that are alike.“
In other Wastelands news, there’s an interview with me up at Strange Horizons, in which I talk about the anthology, as well as other projects and other topics, including a bit about The Living Dead. There’s also a sneak-peek at the preliminary cover design–at least I hope it’s still preliminary…see if you can spot the typo. I’ve tweaked the cover to correct the error.
Also cool: io9 blogged about Seeds of Change, which they call “terrifically interesting.”
Dark Wolf Interview
There’s a new interview with me up at Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews, in which I discuss Wastelands, Seeds of Change, The Living Dead, and other projects. If you’re a loyal reader here, probably not much new to see, but if you’re a JJA interview completist, well, there you go.
Two Takes on Wastelands
SF Site has an enthusiastic review of Wastelands: "Wastelands is a fine anthology: an educational introduction to the subgenre and a well-chosen jog of the memory for the more experienced connoisseur of calamity. And much as you might not expect Armageddon to have a sequel, I live in hope that there might yet be a Wastelands 2."
Also reviewing Wastelands is Dark Wolf Fantasy Reviews: "A very good book, with different stories that gathers different views of the apocalyptic events and I highly recommend it."
Wastelands at MIT
The other day my Google Alerts alerted me to the fact that Joe Haldeman will be using Wastelands as one of the texts in his "Reading and Writing Genre Fiction" course that he’ll be teaching in the fall at MIT.
The other books are:
A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ, Walter M. Miller
THE ROAD, Cormac McCarthy
THE MIST, Stephen King
THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII, Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN, James Lee Burke
I AM LEGEND, Richard Matheson
How cool is that? It’s not only being used as a text at MIT, but in a course taught by Joe Haldeman!
SFF World reviews Wastelands
Rob Bedford at SFF World reviews Wastelands: "I can’t help but give this collection the highest recommendation. I think this will be a cornerstone for most reader’s shelves."
His favorite stories in the book seemed to be "Artie’s Angels" by Catherine Wells, "The End of the Whole Mess" by Stephen King, "Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels" by George R. R. Martin, and "Judgment Passed" by Jerry Oltion.
Wastelands Odds and Ends
A few Wastelands things to report:
- Blogger daydalus calls Wastelands "an excellent collection envisioning humanity’s darkest days."
- Elizabeth Bear’s story from the anthology, "And the Deep Blue Sea," is now available as a podcast from Starship Sofa. (You can also read it for free on the Wastelands website.)
- I saw Wastelands in its native environment again yesterday, this time in the Barnes & Noble in Union Square. And unlike last time it was in its true natural environment–the SF section. They had about seven copies and it was faced out looking all nice and pretty.
