2024 the best apocalypse movies review

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Famine, Death, War, and Pestilence—the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the harbingers of Armageddon—these are our guides through the Wastelands.

From the Book of Revelation to The Road Warrior, from A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road, storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving eschatological tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. In doing so, these visionary authors have addressed one of the most challenging and enduring themes of imaginative fiction: The nature of life in the aftermath of total societal collapse.

Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today's most renowned authors of speculative fiction—including George R. R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card, Carol Emshwiller, Jonathan Lethem, Octavia E. Butler, and Stephen King—Wastelands explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon. Whether the end of the world comes through nuclear war, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm, these are tales of survivors, in some cases struggling to rebuild the society that was, in others, merely surviving, scrounging for food in depopulated ruins and defending themselves against monsters, mutants, and marauders.

Wastelands delves into this bleak landscape, uncovering the raw human emotion and heart-pounding thrills at the genre's core.

Reviewer: Schtinky
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A fine collection of Apocalypse stories by great authors
Review: With anthologies, I normally list the Table Of Contents, however because it can be viewed by rolling your mouse over the second available image below the book picture, I won't list it. There are 22 stories in this collection, by such authors as Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Orson Scott Card, Nancy Kress, and many more. Each story begins with a short paragraph of notes and achievements by each author.Religion, Armageddon, virus, plague, bombs, accidents, incidents, pollutants, natural disaster, and more, are all waiting to destroy the earth as we know it. Rising like the phoenix comes the new earth, explored in these tales of apocalypse. Barren landscapes, alternate ways of life, deserts, oceans, mangled cities, ragged suburbs: all are settings typical of destruction. Some of the stories in this collection are "realtime", meaning the apocalypse as it happens, such as The End Of The Whole Mess by Stephen King, When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth by Cory Doctorow, and The End Of The World As We Know It by Dale Bailey. Most, however, are post-apocalyptic, documenting humanity's struggle in the aftermath of destruction.My favorites are The People Of Sand And Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi, a tale of futuristic inhabitation, human regeneration, and the finding of a real flesh-and-blood dog wandering the sere landscape. Dark, Dark Were The Tunnels by George R.R. Martin is a tale of two separate surviving factions, one Lunar faction and another faction deep beneath the earth. The question is, who are the real people of the long lost earth civilization? Waiting For The Zephyr by Tobias S. Buckell is a short but impacting tale of desperation to leave behind the scavenged farmlands. The Last Of The O-Forms by James Van Pelt highlights the journeys of Dr. Trevin's Traveling Zoological Extravaganza. This is a fun tale of a traveling freak show, with the question of who and what are the real freaks. Artie's Angels by Catherine Wells is the tale of teenagers growing up in a Kansas Habitat shelter, hoping for a better life in an off-world colony. Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus by Neal Barrett Jr. is another fun story of a traveling entertainment van offering $ex, Tacos, and Dangerous Drugs. The End Of The World As We Know It by Dale Bailey offers a real time look at the confusion and loneliness of a single survivor.There are some great stories and some mediocre stories, but there are no bad stories in this collection. A special, not to be missed feature is the For Further Reading guide at the end of the book. John Joseph Adams has created a list of books whose tales are based on the apocalypse and post-apocalyptic civilizations. Many of these I've read, but to my delight there are many I haven't. It's like having your own personalized reference of future reading material.I'm a fan of apocalypse novels and a fan of short story anthologies, so Wastelands was a double treat for me. If you're into End-Of-Times or an aficionado of anthologies (or both), I highly recommend you pick up this book. Enjoy!

Reviewer: Kelly
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wastelands
Review: Wastelands is not a door-stop of an anthology. The weight of the book did not numb my fingers or weary my arms. It is still a substantial collection, however, heavy with authors whose names are more than familiar and stories with ponderous themes. But, unlike my experiences with similar anthologies, I did not feel utterly hopeless by the end. This is a very modern collection, most published within the last twenty years, and while every tale does, indeed, explore the end of the world as we know it, there is a sense of complacency and despondency rather than outright horror. Most of the time. After some thought, I decided this theme is very appropriate to our more modern attitude toward apocalypse. There is less focus on the fiery explosion (if that's how it happens), less a feeling of desperation (how will we stop it?) and more a sense of the inevitable. And, of course the question that produces such stories: What comes next?With that in mind, some of the stories did acquire a sameness or blandness, but I enjoyed the majority of them and relished adding to my experience of some of my favourite authors. Rather than risk offending anyone by naming just a few of the authors as an example of what waits between the covers, though, I'll append a full list to the bottom of my review and, here, will simply mention those I looked forward to reading: Jack McDevitt, George R. R. Martin (whose science fiction I enjoy), Tobias Buckell, Cory Doctorow and Elizabeth Bear.The introduction by editor, John Joseph Adams, is entertaining. Adams is an editor I look for when perusing anthologies. He is always engaged by his subject and enthusiastic about the authors whose work he is presenting. Wastelands is no exception. Every story has a beginning blurb and there is a great appendix at the back of the book for further reading.The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King clearly illustrates Adam's point about finding the right story to lead an anthology. A big name catches the eye and Stephen King certainly has that, even for those who don't normally read speculative fiction. The story should also encompass or embrace the theme of the collection, which this one does. It's about two brothers. The younger is a genius, one of those scarily intuitive kids who want to do everything and does, obsessively, in a search to find what he's best at. During this search, he discovers a statistically peaceful place, pulls the water from the aquifer there and distills it. After this palliative for the modern condition is distributed, he discovers why that small town in Texas was so peaceful. Clue: It's not good. This is a typical Stephen King story, which means it is good. It's thought provoking and quite chilling. I always find his short form fiction to be his best.The third story in the collection is The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi. I hadn't heard of the author, though I felt as if I should have--his story is great, shocking in places and written in a brutally candid style. The writing is clever; the narrator passes on the info you need to know about the world without slipping out of character. In the far off future, Weeviltech has given everyone bodies that can survive harsh environments--they can eat anything (sand) and survive most injuries (slag). They regenerate limbs lost to accident and in one of those leaps into the foreign that often characterize far future fiction, they sometimes cut them off as a pastime, simply to experience being limbless. Weird, right? But not beyond the realm of thought. Chen, Lisa and Jaak are three such beings. Their job appears to involve salvage and during a routine mission they find a dog--a real dog, not a bio-job--and, fascinated by its existence, they attempt to care for it. But the dog is delicate. It cannot eat anything and it cannot spontaneously heal itself. It requires special pellets and filtered water. The brief relationship between the Chen, Lisa, Jaak and the dog highlights the difference between their world and ours.The next four entries are all good stories and great illustrations of the genre and why I like those authors. Jonathan Lethem's How We Got In Town and Out Again is less post-apocalyptic and more a story about a society that exists in a different world to ours. Same goes for Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R. R. Martin (who should write more science fiction!) which is set so far in our future, those who were left behind have become unrecognizable. Waiting for the Zephyr by Tobias Buckell is a snippet of how life might be `after'.Never Despair by Jack McDevitt follows a more familiar route. A glimpse set in the same world as his novel, Eternity Road, the story recounts a small incident along the road, an encounter between present and past. The Roadmakers might be gone, but they have left a lot behind and reminders of their (our) culture aren't always in expected forms.When the Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow was one of my favourite stories in the collection. It's long, thoughtful, often humorous and bloody entertaining. Felix, a sysadmin, is called out in the middle of the night to resurrect a sick server (my understanding of the technical stuff that forms the backdrop to the story). The computers are in a sealed, `clean' environment, so when the world ends, taking his wife and son with it, he is left with a handful of other computer nerds. These guys live their lives in data streams and seem ill equipped to handle life after the end. But they find a way to keep going. Central to the story is the argument of whether they should kill the internet or not. It's an interesting debate and I'm sure it's an allegory for larger ideas--ones I might get my head around after a couple philosophical ales.There are so many stories in this collection. If you'll bear with, I'll mention just a couple more. The Last of the O-Forms by James Van Pelt is creepy-good in that weird side-show traveling circus way. Artie's Angels by Catherine Wells is a wonderful story about the unflagging spirit of hope after our world and society fails us and she is another author I will add to my watch list. Mute by Gene Wolfe is...a story by Gene Wolfe. Reader beware. Inertia by Nancy Kress should be a novel. I want to read more. And the Deep Blue Sea by Elizabeth Bear is as entertaining as I would expect one of her stories to be.Right, so that was more than a couple.Finally, the last story I'd like to talk about is The End of the World as We Know It by Dale Bailey. The narrative style of this story drew me in. The sequence of events rolls out at a steady pace, the pauses for asides a welcome relief from the walk to the conclusion. The references to the genre peppered throughout the narrative were fun and also a small challenge: had I read that one? In all cases but one, I had. The end of the story was perfect and, really, the journey ended for me there. I think the editor missed the mark in not making this the last story in the collection.All in all, Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse is a great anthology and a book every fan of post-apocalyptic fiction should have on their shelf. With so many authors represented, it's probably a book every fan of speculative fiction should have on their shelf. It does lack the impact of Bangs and Whimpers, whose collected stories span a longer period and are, on the whole, a lot more depressing. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. And, as I said, it's a modern collection. Beyond Armageddon features more of the great classics (and I prefer it to Miller's Canticle--yeah, I know, blasphemy). Still, it is comforting, in a way, to know our collective imagination can conjure so many viable aftermaths. We're pretty indomitable beings.Introduction by John Joseph Adams The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King Salvage by Orson Scott Card The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi Bread and Bombs by M. Rickert How We Got In Town and Out Again by Jonathan Lethem Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels by George R. R. Martin Waiting for the Zephyr by Tobias S. Buckell Never Despair by Jack McDevitt When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow The Last of the O-Forms by James Van Pelt Still Life With Apocalypse by Richard Kadrey Artie's Angels by Catherine Wells Judgment Passed by Jerry Oltion Mute by Gene Wolfe Inertia by Nancy Kress And the Deep Blue Sea by Elizabeth Bear Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler Killers by Carol Emshwiller Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus by Neal Barrett, Jr. The End of the World as We Know It by Dale Bailey A Song Before Sunset by David Grigg Episode Seven: Last Stand Against the Pack in the Kingdom of the Purple Flowers by John Langan Appendix: For Further Reading by John Joseph Adams

Reviewer: Bob D.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The paperback is print-on-demand.
Review: I bought the "paperback" version, not the "mass market paperback." The copy I received was printed-on-demand, as you can see in my first photo.Like many POD books, this one doesn't have the most readable layout. Margins are narrow, making the lines of text very long. And the lines have very tight vertical spacing. No doubt the printer does all this to minimize the number of pages and cost of paper. But these measures make the book difficult to read.It looks like the book has a good selection of stories, thus my rating of "good."

Reviewer: saga
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Stories are top notch, book quality is perfect.

Reviewer: boutruche
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Très bon livre envoyé rapidement

Reviewer: Stephen Trace
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Great book, some stories better than others but overall solid end of World stuff. The network adnin sorry was my fav!

Reviewer: Gleyson
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Achei legal. São histórias mais curtas pra ler.Legal pra quem:- Curte histórias diferentes e futuristas.- Não se importa com autores desconhecidos.- Curte ficção científica, mesmo com pouca ou nenhuma ação.Curti os contos do George RR Martin e Stephen King no livro.

Reviewer: Richard W. Logan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in the post-apocalyptic genre. Its full of interesting and often very personal ideas of the fears and thrills one can expect of life after the end of the western world as we know it, and offers a series of snapshots into very different worlds.Some are completely post-apocalyptic, set hundreds of years after the often forgotten cataclysmic events, while others speak of the end of the world as if they are within living memory.Altogether a brilliant compendium of the genre, definitely worth buying.My only grumble is the lack of work from other nationalities, leaving this book a soley western, and by this I mean American, end of days view. Amazing still is how very different the visions are from people of the same nationality.Buy it, you will love it.