“I used to be averse to short story collections but The End is Nigh edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey changed that last year with the beginning of The Apocalypse Triptych. […] The idea behind The Apocalypse Triptych was a brilliant one. The editors did such a great job or curating the short stories.” —Seattle Geekly, on The End Has Come (and The Apocalypse Triptych as a whole) [review]
In a long piece about apocalyptic fiction for NPR, writer Jason Heller calls The Apocalypse Triptych “the most ambitious, audacious undertaking of its kind” and describes the stories as “stories of loss, love, betrayal, and survival pitted against a backdrop of earth-shattering cataclysm” and as “superbly written.” [review]
Fantasy Book Review reviews Wastelands 2: “Contain[s] a number of individual stories that are every bit as good – and 2 that are arguably even better [than Wastelands 1]. […] As with all of John Joseph Adams’ work I highly recommend it.” [review]
Tangent Online reviews Operation Arcana:
Operation Arcana, introduced and edited by John Joseph Adams, presents sixteen military fantasy stories. A few of these tales haunted me. Many of them entertained me. And all of them presented solid work. […] One of the best features here is the range of political outlooks on war. Another laudable thing is the inclusion of a couple of stories either told from the non-American side of a particular conflict or overtly critical of the United States. Such inclusion is an act of literary and political bravery. A third strength is the range of sub-genres: from steampunk to an homage to Tolkien to an updating of Peter Pan to golem stories. This is a very worthwhile anthology, with something for every fan of military and fantasy stories.
They go onto review each story in some detail as well. [read the review]
Smash Dragons reviews ROBOT UPRISINGS: “Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys speculative fiction. A top notch anthology full of riveting stories and novellas that paint a terrifying possible future for the human race.”
Fangs for the Fantasy reviews OPERATION ARCANA: “[The] stories are surprisingly deep with either very original settings or fascinating conflicts. […] On the whole, I was pleasantly surprised by the anthology. There’s far more depth in these military settings than mere conflict and a whole lot of nuance more than once.”
PC Gamer recommends reading WASTELANDS if you enjoyed Fallout 3: “A classic […] perfect for those moments when we want to take a trip to the end of the world.”
Trash Mutant reviews WASTELANDS 2: “Great writing follows great writing; when one story ends, the next one immediately sinks its teeth into you. Highly recommended!”