Adaptogenia: 08/15/09
I love that the apocalypse begins with a Girl Scout selling cookies door-to-door. Her ugly twin is the first sign of things to come. What starts out as a sometimes amusing and sometimes horrifying set of apparitions soon becomes something much worse.

Think if you will of the film Mimic (1998) or perhaps an even older one, The Wasp Woman (1960) but keep the insects small and make them as organized as a swarm of bees without a hive. Then give them an appetite to rival locusts. That's the apocalypse in a nutshell.

For the most part I enjoyed "Adatogenia" and I think the short length (only 15 pages) works well. The starvation of the humans though leaves me with one question: why didn't they eat the bugs? We already eat bugs. They may not be a main course item here in California but bugs are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world.

On that note, I leave you with Iowa State University's "Tasty Insect Recipes."

Other posts: Suite 101, Morning of Dystopia, Short Fiction and Tangent.

fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | Wayne Wightman | 2009

Comments (2)

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Comment #1: Friday, August, 21, 2009 at 23:49:14

Wayne Wightman

Thanks for mentioning the story, and I'm pleased that you liked it. The characters do discuss eating bugs, and perhaps they did, but the insects are also eating everything in sight--so there was a certain amount of hazard involved. Again, glad you liked it