Postcards From the Future

Everyone who likes post apocalyptic storys would definitely like this book. , This book contains three different novellas. All three are from different authors. Each of them concern the same theme but are differently. I really enjoy the creativity of the writing it's very captivating. The story of the author Levin is my favorite cause of the great twist, the great character descriptions and the great scenery of the post apocalypting setting.

Unique group of post-apocalyptic novellas

I enjoyed these three different novellas about grim outlooks for the Earth and its inhabitants in the future.

Each story is unique and I enjoyed all of them. The post-apocalyptic genre is one of my favorites and this was a good sampling. I wouldn't mind if any of the three authors extended their stories to full-length books.

Recommended if you like dystopian/post-apocalyptic tales.

I received this book from Quitt and Quinn, Publishers in conjunction with Whistlebox Press through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

I enjoy this type of book with multiple authors, for the same reason I gravitate towards anthologies. They are a great way to try different authors without committing to reading a full-length book.
I know the cover features high rise buildings but for some reason it also rally made me think of Stonehenge. The buildings look very stark against a turbulent looking orange flamed burning sky.

The book has three stories in it, Pollen by Andrew Charles Lark, The Bright And Darkened Land by Donald Levin and Silo Six by Wendy Sura Thomson.

First up is Pollen by Andrew Charles Lark. I’ll be totally honest I wasn’t keen on this one at all, it was quite slow pace which I just couldn’t get on with. The “big” disaster is an atmospheric change that destroys the reproductive systems of humans. The book was told from too many points of view for me, it felt like it was jumping about too much. The basic story was okay but it felt really stretched out. The whole “Pollen” happening reminded me of something similar featured in another book series where it was referred to as the “rapture” which reminded me of Rachel Vincent's Menagerie Series and what she called 'The Rapture' within that book.
This story is set out as diary entries, finding it harder going than I thought I would. It jumps about a bit too much to different individual characters stories. Hopefully it will get better I kind of feel it would be better to have all one characters stories or even bigger chunks of their diary entries. I got the whole devastation of this pollen happening, I just felt like I didn’t care enough about the characters, the book didn’t make me attached to them enough. The book tells you what the character of Matthew is doing, rather than the book following what he is doing as he is doing it. I almost ended up giving the whole book a DNF (did not finish) about a third of the way through this first story!

Next is The Bright And Darkened Land by Donald Levin. From the blurb I wasn’t so sure I would get along with this story but I found I really did enjoy it and felt disappointed when it ended. It seriously left me wanting more!
This one had me hooked instantly, I liked the world building and almost immediately grew attached to the characters of Ash, Mae and Odile. In this book the climate has changed forcing the group of women who make up the main characters of the book to live underground. There has also been a purge where the majority of books have been destroyed. At first the way the characters had their own way of speaking irritated me but it quickly grew on me as I became more engrossed in the plot. Ash is a Venger (scavenger), who goes above ground looking for items that would be useful to her tribe. The chief elder of the tribe is Odile, though there is subordination in the ranks and when Odile sends Ash on a mission to find a book that the council said wasn’t worth the risk, she is thrown in a prison pen, but even worse for her she finds out on of her fellow council members has been banished to certain death. I ended up loving the quirks of the women’s language such as, “drag up soon” meaning “die soon”. I also found the idea of the history of the tribe being passed on to the younger generations of the tribe by the “singer”. The men in the book are referred to as “ragged men” and were often badly burnt from their insistence of living and travelling around above ground. The only use these men had to the tribe of women were to breed with, and that was only done as a necessity to keep their tribe going for the future.
As you can probably tell, I really adored the characters of Ash, Chief Elder/Singer Odile and council member Mae. Whilst I enjoyed disliking the trouble making council member Ells who is clearly jealous of Odile, and probably Ash too. I would certainly read more about this society, landscape and world if there were more books as I really enjoyed it a lot.

The final story is Silo Six by Wendy Sura Thomson, this one surprised me as truthfully, I may not have ever given this one a go as I don’t normally like the “outer space” genre that this one kind of falls into. This book is very futuristic again it’s characters cannot venture outside as the radiation that is in the air would kill them. Though other races later in the book can go outdoors with protective clothing and some take special anti-radiation medication. The two main characters that the story follows are Bailey and her husband Ephraim. We meet Bailey first who wakes up and begins her morning routine of checking her information screen, which tells her the amount of food rations, the head count for those in the community, then states if there was a change in this from the day before. It also goes on to tell her the interior air quality, when the next food& medicine stock is due along with the radiation index and sunspot activity. Once the information gets to the end it repeats over and over again. Everything in this world is measured out and controlled. You stand in line and are given your food. You have to do a certain amount of exercise and work to earn your credits for your food. You also have to pass regular medicals too. Bailey & Ephraim decide they want to begin trying to have a child so they have to apply and have to pay a certain amount of credits for the privilege. They are also moved to a different living station were couples staring a family, or those with families live. In fact, it is when they are at the new station that they realise all is not what it seems. At the family station the computers are constantly interrupted so food stations stop working and they end up confined to their pods for longer.
It surprised me that I really enjoyed this story, and wanted it to slow down and not end. I wanted to know more about the world, meet more of the characters. I wanted to learn about those in the higher positions that were making all the decisions. I would certainly love to read more stories in this setting. I think I ended up loving this one the most and found it the easiest of the three stories to read. It flowed so well and had you on the edge of your seat a quite a few times.

To sum up as a whole I would have to say I did enjoy this story collection. I enjoyed the world building and reading about the different societies and how they managed to continue on living despite nature seeming to be set against them at every turn. I have taken a look at the authors different books but they don’t seem to have written anything else set in the same worlds as they have in this collection which is a shame.

Postcards From the Future by Andrew Lark, Donald Levin, Wendy Sura Thomson is an interesting trio of stories. POLLEN by Andrew Lark relates the event that changed the world via written diaries of various individuals. The story goes from the past to the present to the future. SILO SIX by Wendy Sura Thomson is an insight into a future of a diverse social organization that cannot completely eradicate free will. THE BRIGHT AND DARKENED LANDS OF THE EARTH by Donald Levin follows Ash, a young woman, who scavenges for useful items and potential food sources for her group in a bleak future world that has been devastated by the weapons of war. Vividly described harsh landscapes and well defined characterizations add depth to Ash's journeys. Of the three stories Donald Levin was my favorite since it had a glimmering of hope of possible future for mankind.

Thank you to the publisher, authors, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

This book was an interesting collection of dystopian stories from the future. I liked the set up of short postcards from different people, but it left me wanting a little more detail in some of the stories.

Three novellas on the end of humanity. Well, that sounded right up my street as for some reason I’m fascinated by post-apocalyptic scenarios. Ever since I read McCarthy’s book The Road I’ve hankered for more of that unsettling narrative which seems to offer little hope other than perhaps just a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel (or should that be the road?).

In Andrew Lark’s story Pollen the sky changes one day and a wonderful fragrance accompanies the sight. Everyone is transfixed, totally unaware of the fact that this ‘happening’ will have profound impacts for human life across the planet. Reproduction will no longer be possible and life as we know it will simply peter out. Told in a series of statements from a lengthy cast this is probably the story that holds most surprises.

Donald Levin’s The Bright and Darkened Lands is set in a ruined landscape in which many survivors now live underground. We follow the travails of two women: a respected elder and a girl whose main task is to attempt to scavenge food and other useful items during her short trips to the surface. Very unsettling indeed, this is possibly the darkest of the tales.

The final story, Silo Six by Wendy Sura Thompson, takes us far into the future. Humans once again live underground but this time its in a very structured and controlled environment. People living in this age have not seen trees or grass or mountains but they do have access to virtual reality pods which attempt to recreate some of the experiences they’re missing out on. But, as we follow a young couple who are planning to start a family everything is about to change. I found this one to be hauntingly sad.

In two of the three stories the planet environment seems to reflect the possibility of a nuclear war and/or the extreme effects of global warning having created the uninhabitable conditions. In the other, the nature and behaviour of humans seems to have been the catalyst for some external intervention. So, in essence, these stories could be seen as morality tales. As a collection I believe they send a powerful message: no matter what problems we think we have now it could be so much worse, we need to look after this place!

Thank you NetGalley and Quitt And Quinn for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Postcards From The Future
By: Andrew Lark, Donald Levin, Wendy Sura Thomson

REVIEW ☆☆☆☆
It's odd, writing a review about end of the world scenarios, when one is potentially happening right now with COVID-19. It's just something to think about in all its unpleasant truth. As for Postcards From The Future, we have three short stories with different ideas about a dystopian post apocalyptic world. The first is a frightening pollen scenario that is very unique and well executed. The second story I didn't care for, and it seemed too close to typical. The third is reminiscent of Hugh Howey's Wool, which I love, and it takes a look at life far in the future. This one is well written and compelling with more developed characters than the other two stories. The third story is my favorite, but each has its own appeal to different readers. If you have interest in the subject matter and like short stories, this is the book for you.

This was an amazing novel. Highly recommended for fans of the genre. Will be recommending the book for purchase.