This Is the Way the World Ends (novel)
{{Short description|1986 apocalyptic novel by James Morrow}}{{Use American English|date=May 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name = This Is the Way the World Ends
| image = This Is the Way the World Ends James Morrow book cover.png
| alt =
| caption = First edition cover
| author = James Morrow
| country = United States
| language = English
| genre = Post-apocalyptic novel
| publisher = Henry Holt and Company
| pub_date = 1986
| media_type = Print (hardcover)
| pages = 319
| isbn = 978-0-03-008037-1
| oclc = 12665442
| dewey = 813/.54
| congress = PS3563.O876 T5 1986
}}
This Is the Way the World Ends is a post-apocalyptic novel by American writer James K. Morrow, published in 1986.
Plot summary
This Is the Way the World Ends is a novel in which a megaton nuclear strike causes an apocalypse. The plot is driven by "The Unadmitted", a ghostly race of potential humans who never got to be born, due to nuclear holocaust. Determined to use their earthly tenures wisely, the unadmitted put the surviving architects of Armageddon—including the novel's everyman protagonist—on trial under the Nuremberg precedent.
Reception
Dave Langford reviewed This Is the Way the World Ends for White Dwarf #88, and stated that "This is a harrowingly satirical book, whose main flaw lies in its treatment of the USSR. World War III, it turns out, started by accident: but only Americans are prosecuted by the unborn, the evil Russkies being prejudged as insane and unworthy of trial. This strikes me as an insecure foundation for a scathing attack on the arms race."{{cite journal | last =Langford | first =Dave | author-link =David Langford | title =Critical Mass | journal =White Dwarf | issue =88 | pages =8 | publisher =Games Workshop | date = April 1987 }}
Reviews
- Review by Paul O. Williams (1986) in Fantasy Review, July–August 1986https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1023
- Review by Tom Easton (1987) in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January 1987
- Review by Jon Wallace (1987) in Vector 138
- Review by David V. Barrett (1987) in Vector 138
- Review by Darrell Schweitzer (1987) in Aboriginal Science Fiction, July–August 1987
- Review by Lee Montgomerie (1987) in Interzone #20, Summer 1987
- Review by Kathryn Cramer (1988) in The New York Review of Science Fiction, October 1988
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |
| scope="col"| Year
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Award ! scope="col"| Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable"| {{Abbr|Ref.|References}} |
|---|
| rowspan="3" | 1987
| John W. Campbell Memorial Award |— | {{Nom|Nominated–2}} | style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/award_category.cgi?130+1|title=Award Category: Best Science Fiction Novel (John W. Campbell Memorial Award)|website=Internet Speculative Fiction Database|access-date=December 19, 2022}} |
| Locus Award
| {{nom|Nominated–22}} | style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://www.sfadb.com/Locus_Awards_1987|title=Locus Awards 1987|website=Science Fiction Awards Database|access-date=December 26, 2022}} |
| Nebula Award
| {{sho}} | style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=https://nebulas.sfwa.org/nominated-work/way-world-ends/|title=This Is the Way the World Ends|website=The Nebula Awards|access-date=December 18, 2022}} |
References
{{reflist}}
Category:1986 science fiction novels
Category:American post-apocalyptic novels
Category:Henry Holt and Company books
{{1980s-sf-novel-stub}}