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.

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)

Most relevant

This book was recommended to me. Some very good points and some not so good points.
Good:
*A good idea for a storyline.
*Very nicely described.
*Beautifully read by Daniel Weyman.
*Thought provoking.
*The middle third is quite exciting.
Not so good:
*Calling a main, female character Julian is massively annoying and causes irritation every time it's heard. It almost seems like attention seeking on the part of P. D. James.
*Miriam's voice is rather irritating. Daniel does his best.
*The story seems to trickle to a close. I was expecting another few hours, then suddenly it was over.
*The story is very slow to get going.
Over all, not one I'll listen to again, but I don't regret listening to it once.