Drew FordRecensioni

These are stories of the end of the world, and the various ways it can come about. There are lots of big name writers which is what attracted me to this book but also I was hoping for a little more horror and a little less science fiction. You may have come across some of these stories in previous publications. All are worth a read but none are particularly terrifying. I did particularly enjoy "Automatic"
"2BRO2B" where population control is of such importance that if you want to have a baby you must find a volunteer to die. "The End Of The Whole Mess" a Stephen King story that I don't think I have read before.

I received a complimentary copy for review

I received an early copy of this book from Netgalley and Dover Publications, Inc. in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you!

This was a great book. The stories were fairly even in quality. I especially liked Arthur C. Clarke, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and Harlan Ellison’s contributions. Greg Bear’s Judgment Engine is high brow but, as it went along, became very enjoyable. I’m glad I got to read this!

I have always been fascinated by stories of the end of humanity so I jumped at the chance to pick up a copy of this book especially with greats such as Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke gracing the pages. Usually I read one story at a time but I found myself reading more in this book and sometimes could not put it down. Every story was completely original. All in all, I really enjoyed reading this anthology of the last days of Mankind.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers (via) Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

GRAVE PREDICTIONS:TALES OF MANKIND'S POST-APOCALYPTIC,DYSTOPIAN AND DISASTROUS DESTINY BY DREW FORD(EDITOR) are short stories by some of the A-listers of Sci-fi as well as some I dont recognize. This is a very depressing look at how our world could end in the eyes of authors such as Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, etc. Not exactly a sunny outlook on the end of the world, I found most of the stories new to me, with the exception of Stephen King's The End of the Whole Mess,which is one of my favorite SK shorts.

So if you are tired of all the old cliche "happily ever after" stories this one will be a perfect edition to your reading list.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

While I found this an interesting book to read, I can't say I enjoyed it. It did give me a lot to think about. This is a compilation of short stories about the end of the world as we know it. There are a couple that were written in the late 1800's, one written in 1872 about global warming that is prescient. W.E.B DuBois' story of the last white woman and black man left in the world breaks my heart. Several other stories are written by acknowledged masters of sci fi and fantasy literature. There is not one ray of hope in this stories, but they are all remarkable stories.

This collection of sixteen doomsday short stories edited by Drew Ford begins with a tongue in cheek introduction called Final Blackouts by Harlan Ellison about near extinction of the human race. The short stories are easy to read and for the most part entertaining. Readers will need to decide which story and which tales is most likely to occur. The End of the World by Eugene Mouton tells how the world will die. The Comet by W.E.B. Du Bois describes the destruction brought about by earth’s passage through the tail of a comet. The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury expresses the threats a solitary man faces during a moonlit walk. No Morning After by Arthur C. Clarke finds drunken Bill, an alien race last hope for warning earth about its imminent destruction. Upon Dull Earth by Philip K. Dick has Rick demanding fire breathing white-winged giants bring Slivia back to disastrous results. 2 B R o 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. has a soon to be father waiting for the birth of triplets needs three volunteers to assure their survival. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison has an Adaptive Manipulator that reduces a brilliant theorist to less than human. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin is a puritanical setting with a sordid secret to its beauty and prosperity. The Engineer and the Executioner by Brian M. Stableford debates life’s creation and ownership. The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King has brothers Howie and Bobby using a volcanic explosion to bring peace to earth with unexpected consequences. Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man’s Back by Joe R. Lansdale shows how roses survive an all-out nuclear attack. In Judgement Engine by Greg Bear shows the conflict between teachers and students and access to the ultimate library where organic memories are easily discarded. Automatic by Erica L. Satifka provides a place where you can rent your optic nerve to intelligent energy beams as a career. In The Black Mould by Mark Samuels, billions of simple cells grow into a hive-mind and ravages space before arriving on earth. The Pretence by Ramsey Campbell begins with Derek in an airport waiting for a flight home and ends with a convoluted family trip. Inventory by Carmen Maria Machado is a catalog of sexual encounters that occur before and after a virus sweeps across the United States.

Really, more horror than what I would usually define as post-apocalyptic or even dystopian. The biggest surprise was the opening story - by W.E.B. DeBois, no less! I've read many of his essays, but post-apocalyptic fiction? Who knew? I've read the Stephen King before and enjoyed reading it again, and there were a couple of others that were very entertaining. But the longest of them were uninteresting for someone looking for somewhat traditional fiction along these lines. All in all I felt at least half the book could have been jettisoned.

Most of the stories in Grave Predictions were new to me, including the "I have no mouth yet I must scream", a story I've been meaning to read but never got around to. The King story, "The End of the whole mess", was not one of my favorites by him, but I did enjoy reading it again; it had been awhile. The other stories were kind of boring and they just didn't hold my attention. The second to last story took forever to slog through, and I found the last story itself to be too full of sex and not enough information on the virus. Overall a big "meh", but I'm glad I read it just to read the Harlan.

I was given a free copy for an honest review.