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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

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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)
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Compelling listen as it is written so artistically. The sentences and descriptions are lovely. However, is very long winded. I found myself wanting to hurry it along!

Beautifully written. Long winded.

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The way in which Daniel Weyman narrates these stories is excellent and adds to the overall enjoyment if the story

Brilliant story

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Brilliantly narrated, great story, wish there was a second book.
Unfortunately kept me awake all night listening.

Brilliant!

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this is a good audiobook and story, and yes it's different from the movie...but that's not a bad thing. you can really see the world that has been built on in the motion picture in this. the book however is more nuanced as books often are. I would recommend this to people that like sci fi and kind of nostalgia, which I often feel comes from older books looking into the future. beautifully performed by the reader - made me connect with the themes. life death companionship time love hope greed fear and despair.

different from the movie but not worse

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I loved this so much. What a wonderful exploration of faith, gender and power. Brilliant.

Just wonderful.

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A book that I will never forget.

The concept is excellent and plausibly addressed. The story revolves around the social impact and characters responding to a changed world. It is zero ‘sci-fi’ despite the underlying premise.

An additional intriguing aspect is the the book was written in the early 1990s but happens to be set in 2021. Just by coincidence this is when I read it and it’s interesting how much of today’s society is missing (eg smartphones and a pandemic!).

Another welcome aspect is how normal the characters are. They’re not superheroes but well portrayed as regular people who I could empathise with.

Thought provoking unforgettable concept

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Personally I need to like the main character so I couldn't really enjoy this because the main character is just pretty unlikeable! Some of his self exploration felt real and meaningful, most of it felt pretentious - I didn't buy into his character arc at all, which is a shame. But the concept is interesting and a good exploration of power, where it comes from and what it does. As with all dystopian fiction, many parallels with society now. Oh and too many clunky references to the 1990's that feel dated now!

interesting concept, let down by the characters

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Enjoyed the overall story but it felt like it took a long time to get going

Good listen but slow start

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From the mind of a master of his craft, brilliant conception, well paced and intelligent execution.

brilliant conception, well paced and intelligent execution.

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was fine, quite pretentious and eye rolling snobby at times. Thought the film was better

Good job to the film adaptation

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