Review blog Stainless Steel Droppings has a rave review of Wastelands, giving it a 4.5/5 rating. The reviewer says: "Editor John Joseph Adams’ collection of 22 stories, representing a wide-variety of post-apocalyptic scenarios from some of the field’s most prolific authors, is a must-have volume for fans of the this subgenre of science fiction. What makes Wastelands great, however, is that it contains the type and caliber of stories that should appeal to those who are simply fans of the format and are unsure of their feelings about post-apocalyptic literature." He also provides detailed commentary on each of the stories (with letter grades), singling out contributions by George R. R. Martin, Cory Doctorow, and David Grigg as being worth of A+ ratings.