Daniel W. Powell, on his blog, The Byproduct, posted a nice review of Wastelands. Here’s a snippet:

I can’t recommend this anthology enough. It stands as a definitive collection in the sub-genre, and I have to say that Night Shade Books did an impressive job with the project. Editor John Joseph Adams has a nice eye for strong writing and clearly has read widely in the field. [whole review]
 

And the Books Anonymous blog had this to say:

I love a good tale of the apocalypse so this book was like a trip to Camden Park (before it became old, dangerous, and creepy). […] I can only give this collection 2 thumbs up because I only have 2 thumbs. [whole review]

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The Fix has a great, very detailed review up of Wastelands. Here’s a snippet:

There’s a wry, fatalistic charm to Dale Bailey’s “The End of the World as We Know It,” an unusual and highly self-conscious tale of the apocalypse. It begins with a brief description of the Bubonic plague, and interspersed throughout the subsequent narrative are a number of digressions reflecting on the conventions of the “end-of’the-world” story to which, as Bailey observes, his protagonist fails to conform. Alongside these dissections of the mechanics of the sub-genre, Bailey also cites a number of real life apocalypses—Pompeii, Krakatoa, 9/11, the extinction event that did in the dinosaurs, the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda. One event he mentions—the death of Elvis Presley—hints at the real point of the story, which is that for both victims and survivors, the apocalypse is largely a personal event. [whole review]
 

It’s really a well-crafted review, and considering it’s written by several different reviewers, the overall result is remarkably cohesive.

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Joe Sherry, over at Adventures in Reading, has posted his review of Wastelands. Here’s a snippet:

The bottom line is that collectively the stories John Joseph Adams has put together here in Wastelands shows off the range of the post-apocalyptic sub-genre of fiction. Wastelands is an excellent anthology of short fiction and one that would easily fit on any collector’s shelves. [whole review]

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In the mail today, I received the latest issue of Pegasus, the alumni magazine of the University of Central Florida, and in the "Alumni Authors" section, there’s a little blurb about Wastelands:

Sarah Jackson of The Fix did an interview with me recently which is now available for your reading pleasure. Here’s a snippet:

How do you imagine you would deal with being a survivor in a post-apocalyptic wasteland?

I took one of those online tests once that gauged how well you’d do in such a situation, and I fared rather poorly, which I think was a pretty accurate assessment of my chances. I object to its analysis that I had zero nature skills, however. I mean, I’m a total city boy, and much prefer to stay inside most of the time, but I’m not a moron. That said, there is an entirely good chance I’d get mauled by a wild animal if I were stuck on my own after an apocalypse.

The good news is that I know some people who probably would do rather well, and might be inclined to help me out. And I have read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction, after all, so surely I’ll think of something when the mutants come looking for me. 

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BN.com’s page for Wastelands has a review from Library Journal, which I knew was coming, but hadn’t seen yet:

Jackie Cassada – Library Journal

From Steven King’s take on the end of humanity through science gone wrong ("The End of the Whole Mess") to John Langan’s horrific tale of a small group’s valiant last stand against an unbeatable enemy ("Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers"), the 22 stories in this end-of-days anthology run the gamut from nuclear devastation to environmental debacle to the Second Coming. Also featuring Orson Scott Card, Octavia E. Butler, and Gene Wolfe, and including an original story by Jerry Oltion ("Judgement Passed"), this title belongs in most sf or short fiction collections.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Drat, I was hoping for a star! But can’t complain, a very positive review, one that will hopefully get some library orders so that maybe the Missoula Public Library won’t be the only one to have a copy.

Also, I note that B&N categorizes it as "Alternate Realities – Fiction," a sub-section of Science Fiction/Fantasy. Post-apocalyptic fiction isn’t what I would think of as "alternate reality" fiction, but okay.

Update: Oh, and here it is on the Library Journal page.

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Cindy White wrote up a nice piece about Wastelands for SCI FI Wire. Here’s a snippet:

"I wanted the anthology to demonstrate the range of post-apocalyptic fiction–that it’s not all gloomy, that it’s not only about fighting off mutants and marauders and scavenging cans of pork and beans," he said. "On one end of the spectrum, you have Nancy Kress’ ‘Inertia," which is about the aftermath of a disfiguring plague; on the other end, you have Neal Barrett Jr.’s ‘Ginny Sweethips’ Flying Circus’–a rather light and upbeat foray into the wastelands, about a traveling roadshow that makes its living by selling sex, tacos and dangerous drugs. I think there’s a nice variety of styles represented as well. Most of the stories are traditional narratives, but you’ve also got stylistically ambitious stories John Langan’s ‘Episode Seven’ and Stephen King’s ‘The End of the Whole Mess.’ It’s a nice mix."
 

Read the whole story!

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