After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia

Welcome to a nineteen post-apocalyptic/ dystopian worlds.  What does society look like after disaster or after Utopia goes wrong, as it always seems to do? Each of the YA authors in this anthology has answered that question, created characters you won't forget, and crafted story lines that will haunt you, leave you wondering if these things could truly happen, because each author's story convinces you that they can--and more disturbingly, very likely will. This anthology is stunning in its diversity, plots, and sheer good writing.

In "Faint Heart," a group of young men, some trained, some forced by poverty, fight in a maze to win the hand of the queen, who just happens to be a clone.  In "The Segment" the evening news turns into carefully scripted and acted shots that twist the concept of "reality" as much as it does reality TV to the extreme. "Rust with Wings" introduces a terrifying plague of bugs that devour metal, including teeth fillings and pacemakers, that devastate the Southwest and challenge one teen and his family to survive the insects' deadly descent.  "All I Know of Freedom" gives us the story of one orphan who escapes the family she has been sold into and gives her the chance to escape a crumbling Earth in a rocket ship manned by a group of kind but fanatic cult leaders and followers.

I haven't finished all nineteen stories yet, but I can't wait to see what else is in store.  What is it about the end of the world as we know it that is so intriguing to read?  Maybe it's the question each reader has to ask him or herself:  what would you do in these dire circumstances?