From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall

Nancy Kress

Start date: June 15, 2025

Finish date: July 1, 2025

Discussion: AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

Discussion leader: Gertie

Why we're reading this: July book club selection, read anytime before July 1st, when the discussion opens.https://www.goodreads.c …more
[close] July book club selection, read anytime before July 1st, when the discussion opens.https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

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AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

* Nominate books for the next discussions! (for late summer)
By Gertie , Please go nominate books for book club! · 22 posts · 64 views

last updated Aug 15, 2025 08:35AM

* August 2025: Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
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last updated Aug 08, 2025 03:48PM

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What Members Thought

Jul 07, 2025 Gertie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: apocalypse, dystopian, space-aliens, survival, futuristic, conspiracy, apocalypse-whenever-book-club

This was a pleasant surprise to me - it was our book club selection, and I quickly read the blurb a while back then forgot any details.

Now that I have read it, I will note that if your curiosity is piqued due to the mention of aliens in the blurb, it's pretty minimal engagement on that front.

GERTIE GAUGE:
Memorability factor: 8/10 I'm pretty sure I'll remember this one, specifically The Shell.
Thinking about book while not reading it: A little.
Characters worth rooting for: Instead of idealized cha ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2013 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kindle, read-2013, read-2024

Read as part of the 2013 Hugo packet.

And yeah, kind of holy crap amazing. Suspect it will be one that I reread fairly regularly. Though dammit, I kind of wanted it to be expanded into a novel.

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 23, 2013 Cindywho rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-sf, dark

Good, but depressing (of course) - it made me think of other stories, one by Kress herself where the aliens kill most of the humans, another novel by John Varley with the time travel piece and a little bit of Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis series. ...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Mitchell Friedman rated it really liked it

Shelves: library, four-star, four-star-science-fiction, endeavour, science-fiction, fiction, published-2012

Weird short novel or long novella. A bit abrupt and hard to read at the beginning, in fact the very beginning had more of a horror novel feel. And yet it tied together well enough that it worked. Definitely in the apocalypse genre which seems to be sprouting out all over but quite a different take.

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Sep 08, 2020 Rebecca rated it liked it

Shelves: post-apocalypse, time-travel

A short book with short chapters that worked well with my short attention span. Pete travels back in time to kidnap kids to help restart the human race after unknown beings may have destroyed it or saved it.

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