The Last Man Anthology: Tales of Catastrophe, Disaster, and Woe

In this eclectic and flawed collection, 41 new and reprinted stories and poems explore a sense of disaster and finality. Venerable SF tales such as H.G. Wells's "The Star," Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" (as well as its namesake poem by Sara Teasdale), and C.J. Cherryh's "Cassandra" keep company with high school English staples like Emily Dickinson's "The Last of Summer," Robert Frost's "Fire & Ice," and Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death." Given that lineup, it's no surprise that most of the newer work falls short. There are some standouts, like Aaron M. Wilson's "The Paperless Doctrine of 2152," Murray Leder's "Under Erasure," and Liz R.F. Coley's "Origins," but the remainder are forgettable, incomprehensible, or uninspiring. Liguore has picked plenty of classics that evoke the right atmosphere, but as a whole the anthology never comes together. (Nov.)