Ann Christy

Most people and other animals are stuck in loops - essentially repeating bubbles of time. There are, however, those who live amongst them. The chosen/survivors/unlooped need to learn to survive in this new world where one wrong step or sound may release a looper, who will attack the disturber before disappearing, taking some of what they have been interacting with with them. Coco is one such survivor. The book follows her as she grows up from a lonely twelve year old girl and meets others show more like her, some of whom want to bring back the old world, and others who want to make a new one. But differences aside, they all recognise that preventing dangerous structures like nuclear power plants or factories with toxic chemicals from becoming unlooped is important. But as the looped world begins to fall apart - a combination of crumbling infrastructure and the surviving animals and humans disturbing loops- Coco and her friends realise that they need to find a way to restart time sooner rather than later: It is only a matter of time before something essential breaks and destroys them all, looped and unlooped alike.

I absolutely loved the concept of this book! The not quite zombies but still dangerous and to be avoided loopers provided an interesting dynamic but without taking away from the focus on human reactions and relationships. I'm still a little confused about how things got the way they were, but it was an interesting world to spend some time in and I enjoyed reading about it.

The story switches between current events and diary entries to fill the reader in with what happened. While this was a clever choice to allow the story to take over a long period of time, I do feel like it potentially took away from the character and relationship development. The more fleshed out [arts focussed on what was most important for the plot and we got filled in with (usually very short) "oh by the way, this happened since the last chapter" segments. I feel like these part in particular could have had a bit more emotion to make up for the amount of time they sometimes represented. Although I feel like the individual character arcs could have had a little more depth at times, I did find the societal arcs to be rather believable. I found myself wondering several times which side of things I would have started on - both had good points - and I wondered where Coco would have ended up has she met Forrest first. I definitely feel like most people would have moved to some kind of middle ground as they did as the survivors developed new communities with homes are resources and relationships with the other survivors around them, and even started families. It's definitely easier to have more set in stone beliefs when you have nothing to lose. Although I do think that it would have been interesting to have seen the more gradual approach to this instead of the more jumpy changes we get from how the author decided to treat the passage of time. Although I do understand why - this would have been much longer had time gone more slowly.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. While I did like it, it was also a bit of a letdown. I had prepared myself for the possibility for a while since wrapping up a book like this felt like it would be difficult. I'm not sure what I was hoping for to be honest. I did enjoy the epilogues though!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own. show less

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. Receipt of a review copy does not guarantee a review, or have any bearing on the review if one is posted.

Characterization and badassery

Such lovely characterization. The premise of the PePr series of short stories is the idea of robots who were designed to serve humans. Then the robots develop emotions. It’s a vehicle for exploring the human condition from both sides of the species line. There is sweetness and tragedy, with an show more overall feeling of aspiration and tentative hope.

It’s the ability to survive and adapt that is tough in these characters. They aren’t violent, but they are strong, in the best way that a being can be strong.

Plot and pacing

Each story has its own plot, and is unrelated to the others except for the overall theme. Each story has its focus, and provides a new vignette into the PePr situation. That’s part of what I like about this book. You get multiple facets of the same situation, which is so true to life. It can be difficult to really comprehend a subject until you see it from different points of view, being lived out in various situations. That aspect adds a layer of humanity that really packs some punch.

The only part of the book that dragged for me was the last story, Posthumous. The flashbacks within a dream-state made the story stretch out in an elongated way that didn’t completely satisfy like the other stories did. It was a good story, to be sure, but the structure of it wasn’t completely effective for my reading preference. I’m one of those people who never reads prologues, and skips dream sequences.

Prose and editing

Both very good. Straightforward prose, and I only caught a couple niggly typo errors, which is to be expected in an ARC book. Actually, it’s pretty excellent for an ARC copy.

Humor

Just a tiny bit of amusement here and there. An effective use of humor for stories that are already so chock-full of poignant emotion. show less

The Never-Ending End of the World by Ann Christy is a very highly recommended literary post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic.

Love it. Absolutely one of the best books of the year. The Never-Ending End of the World is a spectacular, un-put-downable speculative sci-fi, post-apocalyptic dystopian, and scientific mystery all rolled together in a wonderfully written novel. I love everything about this novel.

When the looping started, Coco was twelve-years-old. All the people she sees now are on a show more continuous loop that last various different lengths of time before they repeat - endlessly. She somehow managed to survive for years in Manhattan by mapping loops and keeping quiet. She has to map them to avoid their paths in search of food. The loopers ignore her/don't see her as long as she is silent but if she breaks a loop or makes a noise, the results can be deadly. After years of being alone, she meets another un-looped person and this sends her out of the city looking for more and a better way to survive in this strange world.

Coco is a fully realized character and you will meet some more survivors. The novel opens in year 39 of the loop and then jumps back in time to the beginning, covering the years in chunks of time - five years, 13 years, etc. until decades have passed. The narrative is written in five parts with an epilogue. Parts one, three, and five are from Coco's point-of-view and her journal entries , with parts two and four from the perspective of another character, Forrest. I was sobbing through the ending.

The Never-Ending End of the World is compelling and engaging throughout and really stands out as a totally original novel. This is an excellent choice for those who like literary novels as well as speculative sci-fi. Did I mention I love it?
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of via Campfire Publishing via Edelweiss.
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Savannah is counting down, she is in her final year of college and stuck not being able to drive due to her affection for alcohol which is getting out of control. Unfortunately a hangover is the least of her problems one day when people start acting strangely then violently and she has to work out how to get herself an the others in her class out. This is a very roller coaster book where things settle down then next thing we don't know what twist will come next and boy there are some show more emotions you go through too!. This is the first book in the series I have read however I can tell you I will be going back and reading others as I am really fascinated by this series!! show less