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The Children of Men

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The Children of Men

By: P. D. James
Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
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About this listen

The year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind.

©2015 Faber & Faber (P)2015 Faber & Faber Crime Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Science Fiction Traditional Detectives Detective Murder

Critic Reviews

"Extraordinary.... P. D. James stretches her considerable talents in this daring novel." ( New York Times)
"Spare and disturbing...more moving than any of her more famous crime novels." ( Independent)
"As taut, terrifying and ultimately convincing as anything in the dystopian genre. It is at once a piercing satire on our cosseted, faithless and trivially self-indulgent society and a most tender love story." ( Daily Mail)
"The central images haunt the mind terrifyingly.... It has extraordinary power and visionary passion." ( Observer)
"She writes like and angel. Every character is closely drawn. Her atmosphere is unerringly, chillingly convincing. And she manages all this without for a moment slowing down the drive and tension of an exciting mystery." ( The Times)
All stars
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I really struggle to find books that I get totally immersed in these days but this book was no problem. So much better than I thought it would be, can't recommend it enough.

I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book.

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Every once in a while you pick up a book and when you finish it you are left with one of the most profound feelings imaginable. This is one of those books. An absolute page tuner.

Bloody brilliant

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The narrator’s character voices were insufferable- affected whispers and bad accents all round. Will revisit this book in paperback as the story is great.

Narrator ruined it

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I really enjoyed the voices etc in the audiobook, they made it real.

In terms of the story, overall it’s pretty good. However the author tends to be long winded, to use too many descriptive words, and to go on a protracted tangent from the story.

Great audiobook, ok story

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I enjoyed the story (C S Lewis' That Hideous Strength is better), but the narration was stunning. Worth it for the reading alone.

Exceptional reading

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Pointless, boring and devoid of sense. Could be a script for budget movie with noname actors

Waste if time

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