After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall

by Nancy Kress

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Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: 2012 Nebula Award Winner 2012 Locus Award Winner 2013 Hugo Nominee 2013 Sturgeon Award Nominee In the year 2035, all that is left of humanity lives in the Shell. No one knows why the Tesslies attacked in 2014, devastated the environment, and nearly destroyed humanity. Or why the aliens imprisoned twenty-six survivors in a sterile enclosure built on the barren remains of the Earth. Fifteen-year-old Pete, one of only six children born in the Shell, is determined to lead humanity to a new beginning. But Pete struggles to control his anger as, one by one, the survivors sicken and die. Although the Earth appears to be slowly healing, the Shell's inhabitants may not live long enough to see it. The only chance for humanity lies within brief time portals. Peter and the survivors hatch a desperate plan: to increase their numbers by abducting children from the past. In the year 2013, a brilliant CIA consultant sees a pattern in seemingly unrelated kidnappings. As Julie Kahn's predictive algorithms reveal that the world is in imminent danger, she discovers that she may also play a role in its possible rebirth. Julie and Pete are rapidly converging in time�a chance encounter between them may be the Earth's only hope. .… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 35 (next | show all)

First Kress I've read, but I'll likely read more. An excellent novel, three stories that work together to portray pretty much what the title says. The story is lean, only a couple hundred pages, but she packs a lot into it, including good characters, who make some of the fairly well-worn sf tropes more alive. (

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pstevem | Aug 19, 2024 |

This one is seriously good; stayed up past my bedtime to finish it, which makes it at least four stars for me. Got it as part of a bundle of dark SF or I wouldn't have ever picked it up as I'm pretty much up to here with post apocalyptic stories. This one is creative in concept and story though a tad preachy. Still a great read. (

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JudyGibson | Jan 26, 2023 |

Workman Science Fiction book about a small group surviving a ecological apocalypse, apparently with the help of benevolent extraterrestrials. The unnamed, unseen ETs provide the survivors with a time traveling device which they use to abduct people from their past to use in repopulating the earth. The narrative shifts between the past and the survivor's present time. There was nothing particularly bad or good about the book; it ended up being largely forgettable.

3 bones!!! (

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blackdogbooks | May 3, 2022 |

Even knowing it is a novella, it feels like half a story. I'm not sure I'm even interested in the other half, given that we have huge plot holes and a deus ex machina. Filling those in wouldn't really make this a good story.

I also really hate books where there is a date at the beginning of each chapter and the reader is expected to do the bookkeeping of which chapter goes where. That is just lazy storytelling. Establish where and when each character is, then use that. How hard is it? (

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wunder | Feb 3, 2022 |

This is a really interesting novella about how the world might end... and what could come next. It's hard for me to figure out how to write about it without spoilers, but I did enjoy the read and would recommend it if the synopsis is something that sounds interesting to you.

One thing that should be obvious from the title (and will become obvious soon if it wasn't) is that this is told in three different timelines. How they all connect is part of the plot that involves spoilers, but the discovery of how everything works together is fascinating and worth the journey. (

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ca.bookwyrm | Jan 10, 2021 |

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Nebula Awards Showcase 2014 by Kij Johnson

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Awards

Endeavour Award (Finalist – 2013)

Hugo Award (Nominee – Novella – 2013)

Locus Award (Winner – Novella – 2013)

Nebula Award (Winner – Novella – 2012)

Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award (Finalist – 2013)

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After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall

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After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall

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November 2013

It wasn't dark, and it wasn't light. It wasn't anything except cold. I'm dead, Pete thought, but of course he wasn't. Every time he thought that, all the way back to his first time when McAllister had warned him: "The transition may seem to last forever."

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Robinson, Kim Stanley

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Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:

2012 Nebula Award Winner
2012 Locus Award Winner
2013 Hugo Nominee
2013 Sturgeon Award Nominee
In the year 2035, all that is left of humanity lives in the Shell.
No one knows why the Tesslies attacked in 2014, devastated the environment, and nearly destroyed humanity. Or why the aliens imprisoned twenty-six survivors in a sterile enclosure built on the barren remains of the Earth.
Fifteen-year-old Pete, one of only six children born in the Shell, is determined to lead humanity to a new beginning. But Pete struggles to control his anger as, one by one, the survivors sicken and die. Although the Earth appears to be slowly healing, the Shell's inhabitants may not live long enough to see it. The only chance for humanity lies within brief time portals. Peter and the survivors hatch a desperate plan: to increase their numbers by abducting children from the past.
In the year 2013, a brilliant CIA consultant sees a pattern in seemingly unrelated kidnappings. As Julie Kahn's predictive algorithms reveal that the world is in imminent danger, she discovers that she may also play a role in its possible rebirth. Julie and Pete are rapidly converging in time�a chance encounter between them may be the Earth's only hope.

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