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  • Fail State

  • An Audible Original: End of Days, Book 2
  • By: John Birmingham
  • Narrated by: Rupert Degas
  • Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2,447 ratings)

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Fail State cover art

Fail State

By: John Birmingham
Narrated by: Rupert Degas
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Publisher's Summary

On Zero Day of the first and last cyberwar in human history the internet went dark, transport and power grids collapsed and cities began to starve. Ten days later millions have died from thirst and starvation, from violence and from the simple failure of the world’s machines to keep them alive.

This second installment of John Birmingham’s End of Days trilogy finds James O’Donnell and his friends Rick, Michelle and Melissa hunkered down in the wilderness, where they know a horde of starving, desperate exiles from the graveyard of the US East Coast is heading their way.

On the far side of the continent, in the Pacific Northwest, Jonas Murdoch helps lead the good folk of Silverton in defending themselves from waves of starving and desperate refugees pouring out of Seattle.

And slowly, cautiously navigating the inland waterways of California, Jodi Sarjanan and Ellie Jabbarah negotiate an apocalyptic landscape of burning skyscrapers and marauding gangs.

All of them are seeking sanctuary. A safe place where the madness hasn’t penetrated. But does such a place exist?

And what if they need to sacrifice their very humanity in the struggle to reach it?

©2019 John Birmingham (P)2019 Audible Australia Pty Ltd.

What listeners say about Fail State

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

I’m a fan of the apocalyptic genre. I’ve been reading John Birmingham’s books for decades now and I’m glad he has moved into this genre. Great depth to the characters and interesting story lines.

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7 people found this helpful

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Phenomenal

I struggle to put into words how much I love this series. Brilliant writing

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4 people found this helpful

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a cracker follow up to the nightmare ZeroDay code

the action continues from the momement the first book ended as things get worse for our protagonists in this descent in the apocolypse.

the long tunnel of these horrors speed towards a light which resolves itself to be the light if an oncoming train driven by militarized bikkies leaving us with a nailbighting cliff hanger if an ending.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic story and narration

I really enjoyed the book. A realistic and believable story with excellent narration. One of the best narrators in over 300 audible books I have listened to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Vibrant and exhilarating!

The narrator really brings the characters to life that is so well described and thought out by the writer! It’s great how all the individual stories are evolving and intertwining in some cases. It’s one of those books that you just can’t stop listening to!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent!

I’m really enjoying this trilogy... Audible please please find us the third and final part!

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Great narrator

Great follow-up, with great narration. Some folks won't like some of the language used, but it is used as part of the character development, and shows who might be worth saving or not.

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  • Overall
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Book of the times

Awesome, perfect book for the times in a crazy geopolitical world of politics, pandemic, climate change.

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Action packed, a little hard to follow in audio

I enjoyed the story and imagination of the author, I need to listen to the next one now!! A bit hard to follow in audio as the story keeps jumping, which i imagine would be easier to identify in book form

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping tale of survival

A high passed survival story, epic side line stories keep it real. Fantastic love hate romance within the worlds demise.

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