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  • This Is the Way the World Ends

  • An Oral History of the Zombie War
  • By: Keith Taylor
  • Narrated by: Matthew Crow
  • Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (42 ratings)

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This Is the Way the World Ends

By: Keith Taylor
Narrated by: Matthew Crow
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Summary

***SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SERIES***

For thousands of years the virus lay dormant, trapped beneath the Siberian permafrost. Then we decided to dig in the wrong place.

FEBRUARY, 2031: The global population stands at just 400 million, and the scattered survivors bear the scars of our decade-long struggle to defeat an enemy few once believed could exist. Some nations have emerged from the war stronger than ever. Others hang by a thread. Some no longer exist at all.

In the aftermath of the zombie pandemic Keith Taylor, noted pre-war author of post-apocalyptic fiction, traveled the world to interview survivors from every walk of life, culture and stratum of society, ranging from American political leaders to Scottish oil rig workers, from Mongolian miners to members of India's homeless underclass, each with their own tale of survival against an enemy that feels no remorse, fatigue, fear or mercy; only insatiable hunger.

These chilling eyewitness accounts chart the course of humanity's most brutal war. They lead us from the emergence of the virus in the Siberian wilderness to the visceral, horrifying Shibuya footage, through the panic and chaos of the evacuations to the disastrous consequences of the UN's sweeping refugee amendment. They end with us battered and broken, diminished but not defeated, in the fragile peace we now enjoy.

Together these interviews represent the most illuminating and complete commentary to date of humanity's loss.

From these candid accounts emerges an image of early 21st century civilization as it truly was: imperfect, divided and wholly unprepared for a disaster on such a scale. This Is the Way the World Ends: an Oral History of the Zombie War takes an unflinching, uncompromising look at the world we had and lost; a look at the pain we suffered due to our inability to accept a single, simple truth:

Zombies are real.

©2017 Keith Taylor (P)2022 Keith Taylor
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What listeners say about This Is the Way the World Ends

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Decent if inconsistent story. Accents ahoy!

A decent alternative to World War Z. The different chapters reflect different character's experience of the zombie virus and the quality of each tale differs wildly. Some bits are thrilling and some are a bit dull. Still, a very good listen overall. The narration is good except for the inconsistency in attempting accents. Clearly they didn't think they would get away with an Irish accent so just don't bother trying it, but they do try a Scottish one which is okay, but the regional English accent is just comical to anyone from the UK. The word "boodget" (budget) just took me out of the story completely.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Homage to world war Z

A great book with world war z like storytelling. Fans of zombie novels will enjoy this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting take on the genre. great narration

This was amazing so unusual what a take on the genre. I really got into the stories and it just kept developing and getting better. The narration was sublime - honestly you could not tell it was only Matthew narrating. It all flowed so well. I got so addicted I had to keep listening to it.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A very different zombie book.

I really enjoyed this. It’s not like all the other run of the mill zombie books. It’s more of a documentary. Very well written. The narration was spot on from Matthew crow as always. He always delivers. I would recommend this book

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

WWZ 2.0

As the title says, this feels like an alternate, updated retelling of World War Z from a different perspective

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

For fans of World War Z

An entertaining homage to WWZ and certainly worth listening to if you're a Max Brooks fan. The use of "interviews" to tell a story lends itself so very well to the zombie apocalypse genre and Keith Taylor nails it here. My two favorite interviews were chapters 16 and 19 but each story has merit due to the near tangibility the characters evoke.

Matthew Crow's narration is crystal clear with no noticeable dips in quality. His character voices generally have subtle accents rather than stereotypical over reaching you find with some narrators. Overall he's very easy to understand and delivers the prose well.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

an engaging and realistic set of stories

despite a few dodgy accents, an excellent story, filled with some vivid stories which resonate, intrigue and excite. A well-thought out and well-executed set of narratives forming a believable possible future. the section on the oil-rig was especially excellent. very much enjoyed!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Definitely worth a credit

fantastic book, well written and as an avid zombie genre fan I highly recommend this title.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

close but no cigar

If you don't want to read all the review I think it was good apart from the ending which ruins the book with foresight would of used the credit on somthing diffrent. this is based on WWZ and starts out like it it showing the infection spreading it has some political message and is quite good especially as society breaks down the way this is presented all seems a little disjointed compared to WWZ and some of the chapters have aspects that take me out of the world but it goes 5 star until it reaches wicklow Ireland and then the ending just feels cheated after finishing the whole book seems like it could have been great with a bit more thought one of the few audio books that didn't live up to what I expected

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

amazing, a spiritual prequel to world war z

I'm halfway through but I have to say I love this book, world war z left me craving more stories told that way amd this book delivers and then some

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