Voices of the Fall

An interesting collection of stories from the early days of the H7D3 "Zombie" Plague. None of the stories were as depressing as some in the original "Black Tide Rising" anthology but there were some times reading that I thought"Damn, human beings can be dumb AND greedy." I was a bit disappointed that there were no stories dealing with either Wolf Squadron or any of the main character, though they (Seawolf, Shewolf, Walker) are mentioned in several of the tales.Overall a good read. If you're a fan of the series, as I am, you do need to read the book. I am awaiting the sequel to to "The Valley of Shadows" to learn more of the fate of Thomas Smith and the Bank of the Americas crew. Now I just have to make it till July 2nd.............................

...just kidding, sorta...there was a full length novel in every one of the stories and I...BY...GOD...WANT...TO...READ...THEM!!!!Thank you all for your stellar contributions to John Ringo's most recent Universe, especially Sarah Hoyt and Jodie Lynn Nye...that being said the rest of them rocked it as well...thanks guys great read, bless your hearts and thank you all for sharing your talent.

Another solid anthology in the series. All the stories were good and I liked that some of them took place outside the United States, including the International Space station and the Indian Ocean. I have not read much fiction, if any, that takes in Portugal. The setting for Sarah Hoyt’s story Storming the Tower of Babel. The varied settings of the stories made the book very fun to read. Other stories I really liked were Mike Massa’s Spectrum. I work with Developmentally Disabled adults and I had no problem believing Enoch would behave as depicted in the story. Inhale to the King by Michael Z, Williamson has some nice humor and is a nice change of pace for him. I really enjoyed Return to Mayberry by Rob Hampson and Alpha Gamers by Griffin Barber just because. I enjoy stories about Bigfoot so The Species as Big as the Ritz by Robert Buettner appealed to me. Some people did not like the ending to the Killer Awoke by John Birminham but I thought it was a perfect ending. Leaves the door open to a follow up story or maybe even a novel. Books about zombies is not what I usually read. The Black Tide series is the only zombie series I have read so far.

…but these stories are pretty good. Faith and the rest of the Smith family get some mention in several stories (Faith mostly) but make no actual appearances. I think most of the writers are different this time from what the Black Tide Rising anthology had in it. Ringo was at his best in the 4 books that started this off, did all right with the first anthology, his only contribution here is his weakest. I thought a couple of stories were like sequels to stories in the first anthology but different authors.One of the best stories this time around, "It might just matter in the end", by Travis S. Taylor tells the story of the astronauts rescued in Islands of Rage and Hope, but from the NASA side of things. It's pretty good but I think the author got a few details a little bit different than Ringo wrote them.Worth adding to your copies of the rest of the series.

First, let me say that I am a big John Ringo fan, and an even bigger fan of Black Tide Rising series, but in my opinion, the stories in this book are not up to the standards of either the novels or the previous anthology (with a couple exceptions).These stories just didn't connect with me, not sure why. Maybe i wanted a continuation of the adventures of the characters in the novels as opposed to snapshots of strangers. It might also be because i am tired of the "zombie victim" mentality present in many of these stories. In the Black Tide Rising novels, they take the initiative against the zombies, freeing up people and building a community again.They remember that we are at the top of the food chain for a reason. For me, that's a more fun story to read. It's one big reason i like Ringo's take on the zombie apocalypse. Instead of just hanging on by their teeth or just trying to survive until "help" arrives, Ringo's characters take the offensive, and bring the war to the zombies, freeing up other survivors along the way, and starting to rebuild civilization.just my two cents

John Ringo created what may be his master work with the Black Tide Rising series. This spin off has a bunch of short storied in the same universe. The stories do not particularly intersect with Ringo created characters although there are occasional references here and there.The quality of the writing cannot be praised highly enough. Ringo had arranged for famous authors, not famous authors and always brilliant authors. The bring us not Zombie stories but stories of people we can engage with caught up in a Zombie Apocalypse.The locations cover the globe. We have a story in Paris and another at the end of the earth on an island off the coast of New Zealand. Each is a bright gem.I recommend this volume to lovers of the printed word and those who appriciate a good yarn.Now that I think about it, I think I'll go read it again.

I found this much more readable and interesting than the previous anthology, and liked ALL of the stories. I look forward to some of them perhaps becoming full books/series at some point. These stories are more reminiscent of the older science fiction anthologies that shared so many classics with us. Ray Bradbury would have been right at home here.

As usual with collections by a mix of writers 'in the world of...' these are of varied quality, to be more precise I did not take to John Birmingham's contribution but to my surprise Travis Taylor wrote something readable for a change. Sarah Hoyt was of course excellent! While we wait for more from Ringo himself this is a good chance to refresh our appreciation of the Black Tide world. Recommended.

Probably best read after some of the main story books have set the background. Fills in a few gaps and answers some questions.

4 StarsMy personal rating system1 Star Couldn't finish the book2 Stars Didn't really like the book, but was interested enough in the story to finish (Skipping great chunks)3 Stars The book was okay, finished it and will consider reading more from the author4 Stars Really enjoyed the book, will check out others by this author4 1/2 Stars Loved the book, will immediately check out others by author, if asked will recommend book5 Stars LOVED the book, will immediately check out all others by author, will pre-emptively recommend book to ALL my book friendsI thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be checking out the authors other books looking for more of the same.

Doesn’t compare to the first three volumes. Not as much personal stuff or as much personality so the characters are not as interesting.but it is much better than the 6th volume that was so dry with all the banking info that I never finished. Still a good read and I want to know what happens to the characters, especially if Steve’s family come in somewhere.

more world building and fleshing out of the already breath taking world created by Mr Ringo