BOOK REVIEW: After by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling ★★★★☆
Full title: After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
There are many novels set pre, during or even post-apocalyptic and dystopia. But what happens after, after the cure of a viral disease, after the collapse of social civilisation? What would tomorrow look like?
That’s when Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, two science fiction authors collaborate with other like-minded authors to create After, a short story anthology. Each story explores the lives of teen protagonists raised in catastrophe’s wake—whether set in the days after the change, or decades far in the future.
Datlow has been an award-winning editor of short science fiction, fantasy, and horror for over twenty-five years. She is editor of the Best Horror of the Year and has edited/co-edited a large number of award-winning original anthologies. Her most recent works are:
- Supernatural Noir
- Naked City
- Blood and Other Cravings
- The Beastly Bride, Teeth, Trolls Eye View and After (the last three with Terri Windling).
This book introduced authors I have yet to read more of their works. Nearly all authors have written in the science fiction and fantasy genre. Some have written short stories, YA, children fantasy, horror, historical fiction and gay and lesbian fiction. After was awarded the Locus Award Nominee for Best Anthology (2013).
Advance apologies if I slip in a spoiler.
The Segment by Genevieve Valentine
Rating: 3.5/5
Ever wondered how news channels get their story?
In this dystopian tale, teen actors audition for roles in news segments, from weeping brides to bear mauling attacks. In reality, it’s only ‘action’ and no ‘cut’. The main character Poppy (not mentioned until page 12) got the part to play a child soldier.
The last page had me like ‘girl you better run’. For a short story, it’s written well, but I was confused with what was actually happening because I’m only reading this from Poppy’s point of view. This was an OK read but I don’t think this should have started the anthology.
After the Cure by Carrie Ryan
Rating: 5/5
Now this one here should have been the first to kick start the anthology.
This one is one of my favourites. I’ve read books and watched films about a virus infecting humans and someone finds the cure. But what they don’t show is what happens After the Cure. How does society treat them? How do they live with what they have done? But most importantly, how can the ones infected move past the addiction of flesh?
In Ryan’s version, the virus started as a diet pill that mutated. With animalistic biting urges, the mutation spread, creating vampire-cannibal like monsters. From one teenager’s point of view, after rehabilitation, Vail is cured of being the monster, and is now trying to move on with life, but she faces hatred from pure people (ones that weren’t infected.)
This story would have made a great book. Ryan’s writing is clear and Vail’s internal monologue got me right into the book. Please make this one into a book!
Valedictorian by N.K. Jemisin
Rating: 3/5
I was actually confused with this one. I had no idea what was going on because of the way it’s written. I had to read it again and then I got it... I think.
Basically, it’s about what happens to the smartest and unintelligent kids after Artificial Intelligence has taken over. Zinhle is a young black teenager who is far more intelligent than her peers. The underachieving students are sent over the FireWall, never to come back (page 51). She then meets android Lemuel (page 55) and he tells her... well yeah this is where I got confused. I mean the start was good; Zinhle’s mum asking her to ‘consider getting pregnant’. I was like ‘hmm really you’re asking your teenage daughter to get pregnant?’
I wanted to like this one, but I was confused. Jemisin has written the Inheritance Dreamblood and the Broken Earth series. So despite this short story, I might give her other series a read.
Visiting Nelson by Katherine Langrish
Rating: 3.5/5
What I got from this story was DON’T DO DRUGS.
Set in North London, Charlie and his older, mentally disabled brother Billy, escape a drug dealer Morris to find their own "God" like figure named Nelson. The drug Nirv, causes the user to turn into a hairy beast, which created the apocalyptic world.
I actually like this one, especially the way Charlie spells (in this case misspells) his words i.e Sint Paul, coupla, etc. It’s refreshing to read and fits well with the setting. Langrish description of sound and smell is excellent, along with great suspense.
I didn’t understand one thing. If everything's flooded, how do they still have electricity to charge their mobile phones? Apart from that, this was an OK read. It’s mentioned on the contributors’ page (at the back) that Langrish may be working on featuring the characters and the world of Visiting Nelson. If so I will give it a read.
All I Know of Freedom by Carol Emshwiller
Rating: 3/5
If you’re into books about slavery in the future, doomsday cult, and a love for animals, then you might like this one. An ex-slave girl escapes and joins a post-apocalyptic religious cult who in turn preparing to go to Proxima Centauri, a promised land. She adopts a dog, who she calls Mr. O, short for Mr. O’Brien, after a man she only saw once when she lived in captivity.
There were a couple of things I didn’t understand or like. We never really know her name, but she’s given the name ‘B’. And I got this vibe that males love squeezing boobs? Because her perverted ‘father’ did and so did one of the guys at the cult. Plus there’s a mention of a baby (page 92) that really confused me? Is it hers?
The Other Elder by Beth Revis
Rating: 4.5/5
At first, I wasn’t keen to read this one because it was so confusing with the Elder and Eldest and the Other Elder malarkey. But it did pick up on the last few pages. It’s about how to survive an interstellar journey on a spaceship Godspeed that’s survived over centuries. They have lived by three rules:
- No difference allowed.
- The ship must have one strong, central leader to survive.
- No individual thought.
This story is set in the same world as Revis’s Across the Universe, which I’ll be reading it soon.
The Great Game at the End of the World by Matthew Kressel
Rating: 5/5
I was expecting to hate this one but I actually loved it.
After a monster invasion turns people into mindless puppets (dubbed as Barbies and Kens), brother and sister, Russell and Jenna play a game of baseball with survivors (other aliens and monsters) from other destroyed worlds.
It’s a wacky concept and I like Kressel’s style of writing. He’s great at writing from a teen’s perspective and dialogues were comical. It’s such a creative and short oddball story; it’ll make me want to read more of his work.
Reunion by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Rating: 5/5
This one was so sad; it tugged at my heartstrings.
A merciless Leader and his soldiers take over and begin to take children from their homes. Years later, after the war, a mother and her daughter Isabella (from her point of view) are searching for one of their family members, a stolen child named Maria. They interrogate many young girls to determine if they have found her.
This story got me hooked and I felt very sorry for Isabella. I mean her mother clearly favours the beautiful Maria and doesn’t seem to give a fig about the other one. The current girl they interview is brainwashed by the Leader’s values.
There were some emotional parts and had this WW2, Holocaust and dark Nazi feeling to it. I’ll be sure to check out more of Pfeffer’s work.
Blood Drive by Jeffrey Ford
Rating: 3.5/5
Yes, there’s a reason why teens shouldn’t carry guns. It’s not for protection, clearly!
It’s a story about senior high school students carrying handguns to school and the problems that it causes. One day it goes wrong and the teenagers are dealing with the aftermath.
I was confused about the actual title. According to page 176, it’s about donating blood. At first, I didn’t know how that tied in with the story, but you have to read all of it to figure it out.
It was well written from a teen’s perspective and very quick in action; I didn’t know what to think after reading this one. Did it address a political agenda?
Reality Girl by Richard Bowes
Rating: 2/5
It’s similar to The Segment but deals with entertainment, its pervasiveness and what happens when people try to enhance others and their environment and make a movie about it.
Same-sex couples, Real and Dare have a group of boys who dive into the polluted river for money from tourists, which could risk their skin to fall off. Then Real is called for an audition by Caravaggio. She then becomes Reality Girl gets recruited to help with a movie.
Ok, I personally didn’t like this one. I felt that there was too much going on here. Plus I was confused for the whole chimera thing and different animals. I don’t think it had flow. Not my favourite.
There’s a typo error on page 205 when Hassid becomes Hussein. I thought I’d just point that out.
Hw th’Irth Wint Wrong by Hapless Joey @ homeskool.guv by Gregory Maguire
Rating: 3/5
Joey enters a writing contest and writes about what the earth was like before the Cold time before it was destroyed.
Despite the fact that others hate this, I actually liked it. It was hard to read but interesting to see the kind of spelling people of the future would use with the lack of education. Some short stories need to have character development and world building, but I guess you can break the rules. This story was just focused on spelling that I think Maguire creates it like it should.
Anyway, it’s crazy, original and hilarious but with a sad ending.
And did you know Maguire is known for retelling L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz stories into Wicked? I certainly didn’t and I will be checking that out.
Rust with Wings by Steven Gould
Rating: 2.5/5
Bugs that eat metal have taken over part of the US and Jeremy's family try to escape it. The bugs then eat the car and go after anyone with metal fillings and pacemakers. Jeremy figures out a plan to get them all out.
I hate bugs so reading this one just gave me shudders. Anyway, it’s a good premise, but wish there was more. And why was Laurie even in the story, she hardly did anything.
I feel bad to give this one a 2.5 rating because Gould’s other works like Jumper series is apparently (I need to read this) great. Looking at the contributors’ page, this particular story is set in the early days of the metal bug infestation detailed in the 7th Sigma. I’ll be sure to read it as Rust with Wings itself needed areas for improvement and development.
Faint Heart by Sarah Rees Brennan
Rating: 4.5/5
After the Forth Great War, to establish a new civilisation, unmarried men must participate in trials to win the hand of the beautiful queen in every generation. Queen Rosamond is incredibly beautiful, she was created (clone) by man.
Rosamond. The goal. The prize. The symbol (page 254).
My thoughts... why oh why isn’t this a book already?
With multiple POVs and conflicting storylines for a short story, it was successfully done. It’s a pretty awesome start. The world building, the characters, and dialogue was original and genuine, it flowed well. Tor is a local 17-year-old boy who is besotted with the Queen and would do anything to win her hand. Yvain on the other hands hates the regime and the queen. Queen Rosamond (Roz) wants to learn self defence.
Hats off to the ending. I did predict it but it was perfect for this story.
Unlike the others in the anthology, Faint Heart feels likes the beginning chapter of a novel rather than a short story. Although this does take place in the future I felt like I was reading a fantasy short story, a medieval tale in a dystopian setting.
BUT there is one nagging question. What would happen if the Queen and the victor have children? Are they eradicated because there must be a Queen in every generation?
I sincerely hope Brennan turns Faint Heart into a novel. I’d surely read it.
The Easthound by Nalo Hopkinson
Rating: 4/5
Once you become a grownup, you become a raging hound. A group of teenagers, Citron, Max, Millie, Jolly and Sai hang out. Soon one of them starts showing symptoms of rage.
I like the premise and the fact that Millie and Jolly are twins (one of them is missing a hand which is different to read about). I’m impressed with the ending because I didn’t see it coming. Although there were many characters (a bit confusing), the story follows the twins and their back story.
I didn’t understand the Black Betty song or the Loup de lou game. But that doesn’t really matter.
Gray by Jane Yolen
Rating: 4/5
It’s a poem! That’s right people, a poem. And I’m glad it’s in a book for short stories.
It’s a poem about the end of the world and its rebirth. The grey symbolises hopelessness in a bullet-torn walled dystopia. Then hope springs like a green sprout, for humanity to sprout again. Yolen actual write this poem in Scotland, so for all I know, it could just be about that country.
In other words, I like it.
Before by Carolyn Dunn
Rating: 3.5/5
Sela is a thirteen-year-old girl telling her story. Known as 2231 her Native American blood is a cure to the Blackpox. She’s held in a prison and scientist experiment on her, taking her blood.
Not one of my favourite, but I do like the way it’s written. The beginning was good and how Dunn wrote the flashback parts was seamless. This is a sad story and the way the scientists treated her was awful, dragging her away from her home. I do feel as though Dunn didn’t explain certain hows and whys of the story, but I think it’s from the limited perspective of the main character. Dunn may expand this story into a full dystopian novel.
Fake Plastic Trees by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Rating: 2/5
A city blocked is off from the rest of the world. Scientists created something and it turned everything into a plastic substance called THE GOO. Cody Hernandez leaves the city and discovers something life changing. Her story is told as a flashback as she writes about what happened to her.
I hate to give this a low rating but I really didn’t get this one. I think it’s to do with the nonlinear structure, and some parts of the story didn’t make sense to me. (Sorry for the spoiler) Why is Cody even dreaming that the baby died? And I didn’t understand the SWITCH ON and SWITCH OFF thing. Can someone explain that?
You Won’t Feel a Thing by Garth Nix
Rating: 3/5
This short story is set ten years prior to the events in the book Shade's Children (1997) novel. In that story, children were taken by labs called dorms where they were meant to be turned into animals only for some of them to escape and band together to live.
In this short prequel, the Arkle, a kind of dog-human creature, is having a toothache. His friend Gywn and the Doc take it out. The ending... well... it’s sad. Some mention of the change talent and antagonist Shade. It’s ok but not my favourite.
There was some world building and it gave a taste of what the main story will be about. There was a sexual undertone that I wasn't particularly fond of; however, the writing was fine.
The Marker by Cecil Castellucci
Rating: 4/5
Now to the final and the nineteenth story to end the collection. I’m glad that this story wraps up the whole collection because it’s one of the few ones that give hope after disarray of change.
The Marker is an interesting story; about what's commonly believed is not always right and some things shouldn't be accepted as it appears to be, it should be studied.
A group of Paters go from town to town, counting seeds and there’s a machine that codes people’s DNA. Some people with particular genotypes can’t handle certain food. For those people who need survive in this world, they need to either possess 3 of 4 or 4 of 4 codes or they will be "put down". A young man, Geo who likes to collect things from the Old World, become responsible for this task. He discovers a flaw and finds a way to save everyone.
The only criticism I can give if that I felt like the narrative was choppy and more of a ‘tell me rather than a show me’ story, but that adds to the character. Other than that it was really sad, sadder than Pfeffer’s Reunion.
I just love the ending. I will spread the word. And that will be the new Way. (Page 354).
Summary
I personally like reading short stories and anthologies. Firstly it introduces authors and their writing, which is a great way to discover authors you never knew, existed. Second, it’s for the lazy people (yes me, guilty!) who just want a quick read and not be daunted by 500+ paged novels.
After has provided new authors that I wish to read more of their works. What’s more any fans of the Apocalyptic Genre aimed at YA would enjoy this collection. Most stories offer workable premise to actually expand into novels. Plus a "new" definition of dystopia, from what the current YA publishing industry now do. I usually don’t bother reading them afterwards, but this one was insightful, giving a brief historical overview of dystopia in literature.
I have no regrets reading this collection and look forward to reading Datlow’s other anthologies, like the Supernatural Noir and the Best Horror of the Year.
Overall Rating 4/5 Stars
Publishers: Hyperion Book CH
Publication Date: October 9th 2012
Genre: Short Stories/Anthologies/YA/Dystopia/Science Fiction
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