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y separately published work icon Fail State single work   novel   science fiction  
Is part of End of Days John Birmingham , 2019 series - author novel (number 2 in series)
Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 Fail State
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'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?' (Publication summary)

Affiliation Notes

  • Preppers and Survivalism in the AustLit Database

    This work has been affiliated with the Preppers and Survivalism project due to its relationship to either prepping or prepper-inflected survivalism more generally, and contains one or more of the following:

    1. A strong belief in some imminent threat
    2. Taking active steps to prepare for that perceived threat

    • A range of activities not necessarily associated with ‘prepping’ take on new significance, when they are undertaken with the express purpose of preparing for and/or surviving perceived threats, e.g., gardening, abseiling.
    • The plausibility of the threat, and the relative “reasonable-ness” of the response, don’t affect this definition. E.g., if someone is worried about climate change and climate disasters, and they respond by moving from a riverbank location in Cairns, or to a highland region of New Zealand, this makes them a prepper. If someone else is worried about brainwashing rays from outer space, and they respond by making a tinfoil hat, that makes them a prepper. 

    3. A character or characters (or text) who self-identify as a ‘prepper’, or some synonymous/modified term: ‘financial preppers’, ‘weekend preppers’, ‘fitness preppers’, etc.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Form: audiobook
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Audible Studios , 2019 .
      image of person or book cover 5656325909166577701.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 9 hrs and 28 minsp.
      Note/s:
      • Published 16 December 2019
      Series: y separately published work icon Audible Original Sydney Michigan : Audible Studios Brilliance Audio , 2019- 18289527 2019 series - publisher
    • Bulimba, Bulimba - Cannon Hill - Tingalpa area, Brisbane - South East, Brisbane, Queensland,: John Birmingham , 2023 .
      image of person or book cover 7943277122184362901.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Amazon
      Extent: 294p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date 3 December 2023

      ISBN: 9780648003687
Last amended 23 Oct 2024 10:08:23
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