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y separately published work icon Waiting for the End of the World single work   novel   science fiction   young adult  
Issue Details: First known date: 1983... 1983 Waiting for the End of the World
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

In a 21st century Australia where cities are armed fortifications and the population is kept docile by government-approved drugs, a group of young people determines to seek a more secure future in the unknown bush away from the threat of the Patrol.

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

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Hyland House , 1983 .
      image of person or book cover 2968333496767740344.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      Extent: 206p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date January 1, 1983

      ISBN: 0908090560
    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Puffin , 1985 .
      image of person or book cover 2984678641235591457.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 206p.
      ISBN: 0140318038
      Series: Puffin Plus Puffin (publisher), series - publisher
Form: audiobook
    • North Hobart, Central Hobart, Hobart, Southeast Tasmania, Tasmania,: Hear a Book , 1984 .
      Description: 7 sound cassettes : 1 7/8 ips, 2 track, mono.

Other Formats

Works about this Work

A Series of Fortunate Readers : A Collaborative Review Article of Important Australasian YA Writing Jessica Seymour , Denise Beckton , Eugen Bacon , Donna Lee Brien , Gyps Curmi , Maree Kimberley , Jodi McAlister , Catriona Mills , Shivaun Plozza , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: TEXT : Special Issue Website Series , October no. 32 2015;

— Review of Hitler's Daughter Jackie French , 1999 single work children's fiction ; The Book Thief Markus Zusak , 2005 single work novel ; Jasper Jones Craig Silvey , 2009 single work novel ; Tribe Ambelin Kwaymullina , 2012- series - author novel ; The Obernewtyn Chronicles Isobelle Carmody , 1987 series - author novel ; Waiting for the End of the World Lee Harding , 1983 single work novel ; On the Jellicoe Road Melina Marchetta , 2006 single work novel ; The Incredible Adventures Of Cinnamon Girl Melissa Keil , 2014 single work novel
Making It Really Feral Heather Scutter , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: Making It Real : Proceedings of the Fourth Children's Literature Conference 1997; (p. 76-83)
Post-Disaster Fiction : The Problematics of a Genre John Stephens , 1992 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , [December] vol. 3 no. 3 1992; (p. 126-130)

Discusses 'post-disaster' fiction and the preponderance of this genre-style within Australian children's fantasy.

Living with Ourselves : Recent Australian Science Fiction for Children and Young People Maureen Nimon , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature Association Quarterly , vol. 15 no. 4 1990; (p. 185-189)
Nimon observes that Australian science fiction for children tends to present futuristic narratives that are 'earthbound' rather than 'launching into the void between the stars or touching down on remote and wonderous planets' (185). She claims that writers of juvenile science fiction 'find Australia itself to be a challenging terrain...a continent whose people are neither comfortable nor assured in their possession of it' (185). Following a discussion of novels by Lee Harding (Displaced Persons, Waiting for the End of the World), Victor Kelleher (Taronga, The Makers), and Gillian Rubinstein (Beyond the Labyrinth, Skymaze and Space Demons), Nimon claims that as well as the tendency of Australian science fiction for children to remain earthbound, there is a pervasive theme of individualization, 'where the dangers encountered and the foes met are the powers of our own desires and weaknesses; we battle to control our unruly selves' and as such, 'the future lies in our own hands' (188).
Analogues of Anomie : Lee Harding's Novels Russell Blackford , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Science Fiction : A Review of Speculative Literature , vol. 10 no. 3 (Issue 30) 1990; (p. 5-13)
A Real Kid Tries to Swim in the Horrible Sea of Puberty Nadia Wheatley , 1984 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 18 February 1984; (p. 45)

— Review of Waiting for the End of the World Lee Harding , 1983 single work novel
The Heady Days of '69 Revisited Van Ikin , 1985 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 22 June 1985; (p. 45)

— Review of Waiting for the End of the World Lee Harding , 1983 single work novel
Untitled 1985 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 71 1985; (p. 30)

— Review of Waiting for the End of the World Lee Harding , 1983 single work novel
Untitled 1985 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 12 May 1985;

— Review of Waiting for the End of the World Lee Harding , 1983 single work novel
Untitled Lauren Harman , 1984 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , April no. 91 1984; (p. 57)

— Review of Waiting for the End of the World Lee Harding , 1983 single work novel
Analogues of Anomie : Lee Harding's Novels Russell Blackford , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Science Fiction : A Review of Speculative Literature , vol. 10 no. 3 (Issue 30) 1990; (p. 5-13)
Living with Ourselves : Recent Australian Science Fiction for Children and Young People Maureen Nimon , 1990 single work criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature Association Quarterly , vol. 15 no. 4 1990; (p. 185-189)
Nimon observes that Australian science fiction for children tends to present futuristic narratives that are 'earthbound' rather than 'launching into the void between the stars or touching down on remote and wonderous planets' (185). She claims that writers of juvenile science fiction 'find Australia itself to be a challenging terrain...a continent whose people are neither comfortable nor assured in their possession of it' (185). Following a discussion of novels by Lee Harding (Displaced Persons, Waiting for the End of the World), Victor Kelleher (Taronga, The Makers), and Gillian Rubinstein (Beyond the Labyrinth, Skymaze and Space Demons), Nimon claims that as well as the tendency of Australian science fiction for children to remain earthbound, there is a pervasive theme of individualization, 'where the dangers encountered and the foes met are the powers of our own desires and weaknesses; we battle to control our unruly selves' and as such, 'the future lies in our own hands' (188).
Making It Really Feral Heather Scutter , 1997 single work criticism
— Appears in: Making It Real : Proceedings of the Fourth Children's Literature Conference 1997; (p. 76-83)
Post-Disaster Fiction : The Problematics of a Genre John Stephens , 1992 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , [December] vol. 3 no. 3 1992; (p. 126-130)

Discusses 'post-disaster' fiction and the preponderance of this genre-style within Australian children's fantasy.

Last amended 20 Nov 2024 11:15:38
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  • Dandenong Ranges, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,
  • Bush,
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