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Dark Collections #1
The Ways We End: Six Tales of Doom
Dark Collections - Volume One
The End. Those two little words can mean so much. But how will things end...and will it hurt? That’s what we really want to know.
Delve into the darkness and join us at the end of the world. From a blighted sky to an invasion from beyond, from untethered time to one person driven beyond the edge of sanity, from a child’s game to an unseen apocalypse...it’s all imagined here, and imagined darkly.
Inside The Ways We End is a combination of new stories and previously published anthology tales, now re-imagined without word limits, including Cottage of Hunger, The Mergens, The Mountains of Five, The Bridge, Rock or Shell, and A Mother So Beautiful.
The End. Those two little words can mean so much. But how will things end...and will it hurt? That’s what we really want to know.
Delve into the darkness and join us at the end of the world. From a blighted sky to an invasion from beyond, from untethered time to one person driven beyond the edge of sanity, from a child’s game to an unseen apocalypse...it’s all imagined here, and imagined darkly.
Inside The Ways We End is a combination of new stories and previously published anthology tales, now re-imagined without word limits, including Cottage of Hunger, The Mergens, The Mountains of Five, The Bridge, Rock or Shell, and A Mother So Beautiful.
311 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2019
57 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Ann Christy
50 books328 followersAnn lives by the sea under the benevolent rule of her canine overlord and an incredibly foul-mouthed cat. A scientist and Navy officer by profession, the writing bug somehow got inside her during her travels. She's now stuck with it and can't stop writing.
She writes fully immersive works of science fiction and apocalyptic fiction. Ann is also a voracious reader, and adores a well-done audiobook. If she's not writing, then she's reading or listening.
She writes fully immersive works of science fiction and apocalyptic fiction. Ann is also a voracious reader, and adores a well-done audiobook. If she's not writing, then she's reading or listening.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 7, 2017
The bland cover of The Ways We End (at least of the ebook edition) is unfortunate because it may turn away potential readers and they would miss out on a terrific collection of stories by Ann Christy that depict apocalyptic scenarios that deviate from or subvert the usual zombies/nuclear war/alien invasion tropes. Even the author's notes at the end of each story are a delight, conveying the infectious joy Christy had in both writing the stories and their reception.
All six stories are well worth reading and are best without spoilers, so here's some quick takes, in order:
"A Cottage of Hunger" puts together a rules-following protagonist, her quite mad mother and a lost teenage girl in a world where the sun is permanently blotted out in the sky. It raises interesting questions on how far some people might go to preserve a sense of order, believing they are doing the right--the proper--thing.
"The Mergans" is a story set in the far future, where descendants of Earth have formed a galactic "Peace Force" that uses its military might to intervene in corrupted cultures of planets colonized from seed ships, mostly by blasting everything to smithereens. The particular culture in "The Mergans" is especially ghastly in its treatment of women, but its liberators may not be quite what they seem, either.
"The Mountains of Five" follows the journey of a 12-year old girl exiled from her village and forced to find her way through a dystopian landscape. I found this story particularly evocative, its spare prose perfectly capturing both the spirit of the titular girl, Five, and her dangerous journey. There is a twist ending of sorts, but the astute reader will likely see it coming. It doesn't make the story any less effective, though.
"The Bridge." As Christy notes, this is a quick little "spooky campfire" story and it works nicely for what it is, but it is the slightest of the stories collected here. Still, trolls.
"Rock or Shell" is a time travel story that hints at larger mysteries while never fully revealing them, leaving the reader with a sense that there is a lot more to this depiction of a mist-like realm where thought alone can send someone off into nothingness, erasing them from time and space. Dashes of humor lighten the constant undercurrent of tension.
"A Mother So Beautiful" is probably the darkest and most disturbing tale of the collection. It eschews the body horror of "The Mergans" in favor of telling the story of a sociopath whose mother attempts to stamp out aggression through genetics and achieves horrific success. Watching the world disintegrate from the eyes of a profoundly unstable person is something that will stay with you well after the story ends.
Overall, a fine collection of doom, where some hope or happy endings are (usually) at hand. Recommended.
All six stories are well worth reading and are best without spoilers, so here's some quick takes, in order:
"A Cottage of Hunger" puts together a rules-following protagonist, her quite mad mother and a lost teenage girl in a world where the sun is permanently blotted out in the sky. It raises interesting questions on how far some people might go to preserve a sense of order, believing they are doing the right--the proper--thing.
"The Mergans" is a story set in the far future, where descendants of Earth have formed a galactic "Peace Force" that uses its military might to intervene in corrupted cultures of planets colonized from seed ships, mostly by blasting everything to smithereens. The particular culture in "The Mergans" is especially ghastly in its treatment of women, but its liberators may not be quite what they seem, either.
"The Mountains of Five" follows the journey of a 12-year old girl exiled from her village and forced to find her way through a dystopian landscape. I found this story particularly evocative, its spare prose perfectly capturing both the spirit of the titular girl, Five, and her dangerous journey. There is a twist ending of sorts, but the astute reader will likely see it coming. It doesn't make the story any less effective, though.
"The Bridge." As Christy notes, this is a quick little "spooky campfire" story and it works nicely for what it is, but it is the slightest of the stories collected here. Still, trolls.
"Rock or Shell" is a time travel story that hints at larger mysteries while never fully revealing them, leaving the reader with a sense that there is a lot more to this depiction of a mist-like realm where thought alone can send someone off into nothingness, erasing them from time and space. Dashes of humor lighten the constant undercurrent of tension.
"A Mother So Beautiful" is probably the darkest and most disturbing tale of the collection. It eschews the body horror of "The Mergans" in favor of telling the story of a sociopath whose mother attempts to stamp out aggression through genetics and achieves horrific success. Watching the world disintegrate from the eyes of a profoundly unstable person is something that will stay with you well after the story ends.
Overall, a fine collection of doom, where some hope or happy endings are (usually) at hand. Recommended.
December 31, 2016
"Everything has to touch something."
A book of six short stories from the admirable Ann Christy, subtitled Six Tales of Doom. Yet in the majority of these stories though dystopian or dark, there are still rays of hope. All beautifully written, most are original, previously unpublshed, and play with ideas of right and wrong, courage, fear and compassion. One, The Bridge, is very short and more like a fable to stop naughty children and was probably my least favourite. All of the others are sufficient in length to develop character well in addition to situation. I persona?my most enjoyed the last two stories in the book: Rock or Shell, which presents a world so different the survival without madness seems impossible, and A Mother So Beautiful which focuses on a different sort of more earthly insanity. And then there is Mountains of Five, about which I will say nothing more. Other than read it and be moved.
Following each title, Ms. Christy has written a short piece about how the story came about and, sometimes, further thoughts on the theme contained within it. Some of these sections are little gems in themselves.
An easy to read though sometimes disturbing collection of tales to ponder after the last page is turned. Beautiful, thoughtful - and highly recommended.
A book of six short stories from the admirable Ann Christy, subtitled Six Tales of Doom. Yet in the majority of these stories though dystopian or dark, there are still rays of hope. All beautifully written, most are original, previously unpublshed, and play with ideas of right and wrong, courage, fear and compassion. One, The Bridge, is very short and more like a fable to stop naughty children and was probably my least favourite. All of the others are sufficient in length to develop character well in addition to situation. I persona?my most enjoyed the last two stories in the book: Rock or Shell, which presents a world so different the survival without madness seems impossible, and A Mother So Beautiful which focuses on a different sort of more earthly insanity. And then there is Mountains of Five, about which I will say nothing more. Other than read it and be moved.
Following each title, Ms. Christy has written a short piece about how the story came about and, sometimes, further thoughts on the theme contained within it. Some of these sections are little gems in themselves.
An easy to read though sometimes disturbing collection of tales to ponder after the last page is turned. Beautiful, thoughtful - and highly recommended.
December 7, 2016
A fantastic collection of 6 short stories with a wide range from dystopia to sci fi to post apoc, and more. These are kind of dark stories, since they deal with the end, but there is so much truth tucked into the darkness. Some of these stories are deep, making you sit back and say “huh” and you need to close the book and go into deep thought. Some are, dare I say it, just kinda strange. One in particular stood out for me above the rest! The Mountain of Five, good gravy that story moved me! Fantastic, gripping me right from the first line to the very last.
All in all, a fantastic collection of stories. Definitely worth having on a shelf!
All in all, a fantastic collection of stories. Definitely worth having on a shelf!
October 14, 2017
For almost the past year, I've been finding apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic/dystopian stories really off-putting, which is a huge change for me, because that's usually my very favorite. October is usually a good month for me, mood-wise, so I thought I'd give this genre a shot again, to see how I handled it.
Of the six stories in this collection, four of them end with more hope than I have with regard to the real world, so I loved them. Even the one that was supposed to have a twist at the end that I didn't realise was a twist until I read the author's notes after the story, because I'd picked up on it right at the beginning. There were two stories that lacked hope, one of which I didn't really care for, and one which I seriously disliked. I see a lot of reviews from people calling it their favorite, and I absolutely understand why, looking at it objectively. But it was too dark for my current literary tastes, and touched on gender and mental health issues that I would have challenged as an editor and personally needed to hear more about as a reader to make me give the story anything more than a hard side-eye.
So. I generally recommend this book, most of it even if you're not usually a fan of end-of-the-world stories.
Of the six stories in this collection, four of them end with more hope than I have with regard to the real world, so I loved them. Even the one that was supposed to have a twist at the end that I didn't realise was a twist until I read the author's notes after the story, because I'd picked up on it right at the beginning. There were two stories that lacked hope, one of which I didn't really care for, and one which I seriously disliked. I see a lot of reviews from people calling it their favorite, and I absolutely understand why, looking at it objectively. But it was too dark for my current literary tastes, and touched on gender and mental health issues that I would have challenged as an editor and personally needed to hear more about as a reader to make me give the story anything more than a hard side-eye.
So. I generally recommend this book, most of it even if you're not usually a fan of end-of-the-world stories.
June 14, 2018
Very conventional sci-fi short stories, without surprises or innovative ideas, and with very little detail. The "end of the world" theme isn't very strict; these aren't all stories of a zombie/virus/SHTF apocalypse. One of them is just a very short, shallow horror draft which shouldn't even be in the book. The first and the last one share the same "mommy issues" theme, which sounded a bit repetitive. The space-marines novella was better, but underdeveloped (it was written as part of a larger fictional universe). The writing itself is good, but all stories are very predictable, and unfortunately the narrator, Lisa Reichert, doesn't help: her prosody is very uniform and bland, several times sounding like a monotone voice synthesize.
September 6, 2018
Reading about possible ends of the world is gripping by itself and, given 6 different ways this can come about, you're greeted with despair, grasps of hope and overall survival, all done with good writing, use of plotlines and pace, with some of them excelling at bringing you in into the world they paint, effectively keeping you hooked (and surprised) all the way to the end, a very pleasing surprise considering the short length of the stories narrated.
Overall, a great book for quick reads that will leave you satisfied at the outcome.
Overall, a great book for quick reads that will leave you satisfied at the outcome.
July 8, 2017
Great Book
I'm still thinking about a couple stories in this book days after having finished it. Most notably Mother and The Mountain one. I have fallen in love with this author. I most admire and appreciate the places an author takes my mind more than any editing or publishing issues, however, this book is beautifully written and makes no editing mistakes which detract from the stories. Oooh! Also the Mist story!! I could go on all day but I won't. Thank you for this book!
I'm still thinking about a couple stories in this book days after having finished it. Most notably Mother and The Mountain one. I have fallen in love with this author. I most admire and appreciate the places an author takes my mind more than any editing or publishing issues, however, this book is beautifully written and makes no editing mistakes which detract from the stories. Oooh! Also the Mist story!! I could go on all day but I won't. Thank you for this book!
December 26, 2017
A wonderful collection of dark, dystopian stories. My absolute favorite was "The Mountains of Five". Ann Christy has an interesting way of letting deeds that seem to be horrible in the beginning become perfectly understandable in the course of the story. Whether it's Five's mom abandonning her daughter, or the mother in the last story ("My Beautiful Mother") killing off all males on our planet. Definitely a good read!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2017
Six excellent stories, written in varying degrees of dark and disturbing. My vote for the darkest one goes to A Mother So Beautiful. It's kind of tough to choose a favorite when all the choices are compelling tales, but mine is The Mountains of Five. Each story is different, and all of them are great reading.
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August 21, 2019Just Creepy Enough
I truly enjoyed reading these stories! They are all just creepy enough to make your skin crawl but not overdone with a bunch of background and explanation. Ann gives just enough detail to suck you into the story but also allows your ow creativity and thoughts to fill in the blanks as you read with your own imagination. Definitely recommend this read!
I truly enjoyed reading these stories! They are all just creepy enough to make your skin crawl but not overdone with a bunch of background and explanation. Ann gives just enough detail to suck you into the story but also allows your ow creativity and thoughts to fill in the blanks as you read with your own imagination. Definitely recommend this read!
July 16, 2017
A collection of six strong short stories, all dealing different ways the world, or at least a world, can end. Despite the apocalyptic settings, all of the stories have a positive tone (and there are no zombies to found anywhere!).
October 8, 2017
Well, this was a very strong collection of dark science fiction. But even in the darkness, they are still hopeful stories.
Definitely recommended, and I will be rereading these, as they are quite thought provoking
Definitely recommended, and I will be rereading these, as they are quite thought provoking
July 28, 2017
Good Reading.
I liked that I couldn't guess what was coming next in the stories. The endings were fun and imaginative. Looking forward to more.
I liked that I couldn't guess what was coming next in the stories. The endings were fun and imaginative. Looking forward to more.
November 21, 2017
Six wonderful stories.
I'm a fan of a good short story and these were 6 great ones. Each story got you straight in, they were well written and unfolded nicely. Very enjoyable read!
I'm a fan of a good short story and these were 6 great ones. Each story got you straight in, they were well written and unfolded nicely. Very enjoyable read!
March 19, 2018
Wow!
Each story has a strong character at the center. The words paint scenery and evoke feelings that stick with you. I just couldn’t get enough. Well worth the read.
Each story has a strong character at the center. The words paint scenery and evoke feelings that stick with you. I just couldn’t get enough. Well worth the read.
July 29, 2018
Ciencia ficción chingona, que no se mete en líos innecesarios. Personajes femeninos fuertes y complejos y reales y badass y que te dejan pensando. Muy recomendado y ya quiero leer la continuación.
July 23, 2019
Loved this, will be seeking out any other books by Ann in future.
February 24, 2021
A highly enjoyable collection of stories about the ways our lives can end.
February 27, 2021
The "running away from home" story has surprise, timely ending.
March 18, 2017
Having recently re-read this anthology, I must say, I like the way she writes. I don't want to enclose any spoiler alerts. I will say this, the scenarios are very believable. In some of the stories we are faced with decisions that are uncomfortable. In cottage of hunger, would you keep your mother alive at great cost to yourself if she was abusive, neglectful, dangerous, and insane? Who would you protect? The whole anthology makes you think a bit while entertaining you in the bargain. The other half- how we begin again is a bit more hopeful.
August 26, 2019
Most of these stories ended on a hopeful note, so that was good.
February 8, 2017
Mein Gott!!
This is a truly wonderful collection of six short stories and novellas from the talented pen of Ann Christy.
Cottage of Hunger- Grim days ahead folks! A shocking tale of survival and how hard times bring out the very best and very worst in people. The end surprised me!
The Mergans - it gets grimmer before it gets better....... starting with the taste of deprived suppression in back of your throat.
This one promptly turned into an absolutely amazing, high-tech fast 'n' furious action adventure. My favorite story from Ann, no competition! Film version please?!?
The Mountains of Five - Brutal, heartbreaking, epic tale of a girl who won't give up. Kept me guessing here too!
The Bridge- Quick and dirty! The sort of story that I love to read on The Tales from the Canyons of the Damned.
Rock or Shell - This one is a very strange trip indeed! A slight lull in my opinion, but never mind you were just treated to some excellent tales beforehand and a final treat is just around the corner!
A Mother So Beautiful - A haunting endgame good people and it's looking real bad for a lot of us.
This is a truly wonderful collection of six short stories and novellas from the talented pen of Ann Christy.
Cottage of Hunger- Grim days ahead folks! A shocking tale of survival and how hard times bring out the very best and very worst in people. The end surprised me!
The Mergans - it gets grimmer before it gets better....... starting with the taste of deprived suppression in back of your throat.
This one promptly turned into an absolutely amazing, high-tech fast 'n' furious action adventure. My favorite story from Ann, no competition! Film version please?!?
The Mountains of Five - Brutal, heartbreaking, epic tale of a girl who won't give up. Kept me guessing here too!
The Bridge- Quick and dirty! The sort of story that I love to read on The Tales from the Canyons of the Damned.
Rock or Shell - This one is a very strange trip indeed! A slight lull in my opinion, but never mind you were just treated to some excellent tales beforehand and a final treat is just around the corner!
A Mother So Beautiful - A haunting endgame good people and it's looking real bad for a lot of us.
December 13, 2016
Wow!
I can't begin to describe the emotions that have passed through my mind as I read this book of short stories. I'm so glad that I discovered Ann Christy's books several years ago. Now I snap them up the second they are available. I have yet to be disappointed by any of them. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have!
I can't begin to describe the emotions that have passed through my mind as I read this book of short stories. I'm so glad that I discovered Ann Christy's books several years ago. Now I snap them up the second they are available. I have yet to be disappointed by any of them. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews