An Interview with John Joseph Adams

John Joseph Adams needs little introduction. He is the Slush God, assistant editor over at F&SF, and has recently edited the Pirate Issue of Shimmer and an anthology of post-apocalyptic fiction, Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. Here, he talks about Wastelands and his chances of survival in a post-apocalyptic setting.

Can you tell me about the motivation and inspiration behind Wastelands?

The primary inspiration for the book was simply my love for the post-apocalyptic sub-genre. That goes back to my teenage years when I was obsessed with a certain computer role-playing game called Wasteland. Later, I became obsessed with an even better computer role-playing game called Fallout. Obviously the former was the inspiration for the title of the anthology, but Fallout is probably more responsible for firing my passion for the sub-genre. It took me a while to discover that there was a wealth of fiction on that theme, but once I did, I dove into it headfirst.

I also have to give credit to an article I wrote about post-apocalyptic SF for the Internet Review of Science Fiction. (Well, that’s where it was published, but it was originally written for the dearly departed and short-lived British magazine 3SF, which went under before they had a chance to publish it.) The article consisted of a brief introduction to the sub-genre, and included a long reading list. Now, by the time I wrote the article, I already knew quite a bit about post-apocalyptic fiction, but the research I did for that was what made me an expert. It was a lot of work, but I found it immensely rewarding since I discovered tons of post-apocalyptic SF I hadn’t previously read.

One of the things in my research that surprised me was that there weren’t many anthologies on the theme. There was really only one “best of the sub-genre” sort of anthology— Beyond Armageddon—and that had come out in 1984. So Wastelands was kind of a spiritual successor to that volume (which was edited by Walter M. Miller, Jr. and Martin H. Greenberg). In essence, I was picking up where Beyond Armageddon left off, and dug up some stuff I felt like it failed to include as well.

In your intro. to Wastelands, you mention the scientific, psychological, sociological, and physiological ramifications for those surviving in the aftermath of an apocalypse. How much importance did you place on the writers’ understanding of these issues when making your decision about which stories to include?

I don’t know that I really consciously thought about those specific things when evaluating the stories individually—it wasn’t a primary factor in making my decisions, though it might have been in the back of my mind. I mean, if the stories didn’t explore those ramifications, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have liked them, and/or they just wouldn’t have worked as post-apocalyptic stories. In other words, I didn’t specifically set out to find stories that did that, but when I survey the sub-genre, that’s what I tend to see being explored in the stories…at least in the good ones, the ones that stuck with me long after reading them.

You refer to post-apocalyptic fiction as being its own subgenre and have put forward some very interesting ideas about its enduring popularity. Could you explain a bit more to me about why you feel it is so appealing, so popular among both readers and writers?

I think that one of the things that appeals to SF writers about writing in that sub-genre is that they can tear everything down and speculate about how human nature will react—exploring those scientific, psychological, sociological, and physiological ramifications we were just talking about.

Also, it seems to be an outlet for our fears to some degree. As I say in the introduction, the popularity of the sub-genre seems to wax and wane with the state of the world—when the pendulum swings toward the bleak end of things, it’s popular; when things are looking up, not so much. Things now are a bit reminiscent of times during the Cold War—the threat of annihilation is very real again. So to some degree, I’m kind of sad it’s popular again. I’d much rather live in a world that didn’t inspire these kinds of stories. But if I were a betting man, I’d wager that we’ll be stuck with war for a good long while, and as a result, we’ll have writers imagining apocalypses.

The other thing about post-apocalyptic fiction that I think is appealing to both writers and readers is that it sort of touches on a variety of other genres. There’s a little western in there—wandering the irradiated wastelands is a lot like wandering the desolate areas of the old west, at least from a narrative standpoint. There’s definitely some horror there for obvious reasons. And in some ways, it’s the science fiction version of the epic fantasy—the protagonist is often on a quest of some sort (often to find food, or, as in “Never Despair,” a mythical city known as Haven), there’s often monsters to battle, and the characters often go up against forces they don’t understand—in post-apocalyptic fiction what they don’t understand is often the advanced technology they are no longer familiar with, not magic, but the effect is similar.

How do you imagine you would deal with being a survivor in a post-apocalyptic wasteland?

I took one of those online tests once that gauged how well you’d do in such a situation, and I fared rather poorly, which I think was a pretty accurate assessment of my chances. I object to its analysis that I had zero nature skills, however. I mean, I’m a total city boy, and much prefer to stay inside most of the time, but I’m not a moron. That said, there is an entirely good chance I’d get mauled by a wild animal if I were stuck on my own after an apocalypse.

The good news is that I know some people who probably would do rather well, and might be inclined to help me out. And I have read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction, after all, so surely I’ll think of something when the mutants come looking for me.

If you had to choose between short stories and novels, which would it be, and why?

As much as I love novels, I’d choose short stories. Why? Because I can read lots of short stories in the time it takes me to read a novel, and with a dozen or so short stories you get to explore wildly different ideas as opposed to what you’d find in one novel. I like the variety that offers. And in short stories, I think you can take more chances, be a bit daring in what you write about, because there’s much less need for a short story to be commercial, and that often frees writers in a way that allows them to reach their greatest potential.

Have you ever read a story that made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck because of how good it was or how inspirational it was?

The two short stories that immediately come to mind are “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes and “The Deathbird” by Harlan Ellison. Both of those just floored me when I read them. I was just totally absorbed in each of them, and thinking about them afterward I was just in awe, like wow, I didn’t realize stories could be that good.

Where do you think the short story fits in the modern market? Do you think it still has a place?

Do I think it has a place? Sure, otherwise I’d be in the wrong business, right? As for where, that’s harder to pin down. I mean, anthologies are not huge sellers, but there are enough published every year that it doesn’t appear that the short story is going to die anytime soon. And while most anthologies aren’t going to rake in a lot of cash, some obviously must do so—George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois recently sold a cross-genre original anthology to Tor called Warriors, for a six-figure advance according to Locus. If the short story was dead, no one would be publishing such a thing, not paying that kind of money for it anyway.

And as much as the magazines have declined, and as much as everyone prophesizes their doom, they’re sticking around, and new ones are cropping up all the time. Ain’t no one getting rich off this, but at F&SF at least, we’re doing well enough to stay afloat. In fact, we were on course to have our best year financially until the post office raised the postal rates and screwed us (and every other magazine not owned by a Fortune 500 company).

Moving on from here, what have you got planned next?

I’m editing an original anthology for Prime Books called Seeds of Change, which should be out this summer. The stories in Seeds of Change will focus on paradigm shifts and how individuals and society as a whole deal with such changes. The idea is to challenge our current paradigms and speculate on how they might change in the future, either for better or for worse. The stories will deal with current topical (and hot-button) issues and will also show how the individual—how each and every one of us—can contribute toward bringing about great change.

Also, I’m currently putting together a reprint anthology of zombie stories for Night Shade Books. It’s tentatively titled No More Room in Hell, after the famous line in Dawn of the Dead. It’s scheduled for an October 2008 release, and I’ve already got some great contributors lined up, including a few who also appeared in Wastelands. It’s too early to talk specifically about who or what stories will be in the book, but let it suffice to say that if you thought Wastelands‘ table of contents had a lot of star power, No More Room in Hell will look like a supernova.

Sounds fantastic, we’ll look forward to seeing it. Thanks for your time.