This Way to the End Times: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse

It’s strange that English classes spend so much time either looking at the distant past or at British lit, but sci-fi gets such short shrift. (Other than 1984 or A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, that is.) And there’s so much that science fiction reveals, not only about the sensibilities of the time, but about what they envisioned the future could be.

This Way to the End Times is a chronicle of the last hundred years of science fiction through a rather dark lens: the end of the world. And yet, there’s a great deal of optimism infusing these tales of impending disaster or catastrophe run amok. Names like Connie Willis, Brian W. Aldiss, Jack Vance, and more have penned stories to impress and stun all at once.

Whether it’s Jules Verne’s story detailing a young civilization uncovering a past apocalypse or Philip Latham’s tale of a scientist recording in detail the last days on Earth when no one else will listen, these stories form the incredible foundation of all the dystonian tales that dominate modern YA.

This is a science fiction collection for the ages.