Of course I lied; I'm a politician.

A futuristic world in which the devastation of war had brought about a revulsion towards and total rejection of religion. In the 'civilised' world, maintained by forces of NATO and the U.N., all had been made illegal , the mere mention of God enough to incur imprisonment or even instant death. The last to go, the Pope of the Catholic Church, was given dispensation to live on in the Vatican with twelve guards until his death, Paul the last. Marcellus, previous leading scientist and Roman Catholic Bishop, had just finished his twenty years prison sentence and he has a plan, one which his friend, Paul the Last, had rejected two decades before, and forcibly rejects again: a plan to bring back 'joy to the hearts of man'. And which threatens to bring back war between man and machine, nation against nation.

This is a book of glorious rubbish, an untenable world of fear and destruction ruled by unscrupulous men and mad machines. Forget any semblance of sanity and just dive in as everything becomes increasingly crazy in an already terrifyingly insane world. Such fun. 'The world is out there waiting to begin.'}
Unfortunately, the narration failed to deliver this fabulously silly story with the expertise it deserved, although it did improve in the final chapters of the book. Firstly, playback needs to be speeded up to at least 1.25, as it is otherwise very slow. Kathryn of Plante has a pleasant voice with clear diction and infuses her reading with emotion, but, as if seeing each passage for the very first time, leaves abrupt gaps between almost every other word, rendering each sentence jerky - and profoundly irritating ('It was fast - pause - becoming - pause - a dinosaur'), almost mechanical sounding. A pity, as she individually voices all of the numerous protagonists with skill, given the limitations of the timbre of her speech ( this reader can never fully comprehend the choice of a female voice artist to tell a story where almost every protagonist, including at least five of the main characters, is male).

I owe a debt of thanks to the rights holder of The Forsaken, who, at my request via Audiobook Boom, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy. Thank you. The world building, though only brief, was easily enough to satisfy, as was the characterisation. The world picture painted was a dystopian nightmare and the storyline daft but great fun. Overall, very enjoyable futuristic fantasy, but probably better read in print form given the annoying narration.

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