The End of the World Running Club

Not Your Typical Post-Apocalypse Story. This book played out like a FAR superior version of Cormac McCarthy's The Road - so fans of that book (and sadly, it has legions) should like this one as well. Except whereas that book was so extremely dark, bleak, and miserable, this one tries to approach things with a much more plausible, real world tone and outlook. Yes, there are challenges. But we face them one step at a time - for hundreds of thousands of steps. Overall a very refreshing yet serious take on the post Apocalyptic genre, and a worthy first ever Century Book for me.

I did enjoy it. Three books in one really - post apocalypse, dad coming of age, long distance running - and while the first two did not quite ring true, the third did. Other reviewers have noted the classist and misogynist elements. Both the 'working class' and the women are rather patronised. But hey ho it still kept my attention.

Well drawn characters, though the narrator is pretty unlikable for much of the book, and his musings about his shortcomings tend to well up in unusual places. The story takes place in Scotland, which was different, and once the apocalypse comes it moves along at a pretty good pace. There's quite a bit of summing up in the later part, and like many books in this genre, the conclusion is open-ended and not especially satisfying. There are so many apocalypse books out there that aren't worth reading, it's always good to find one that is.

This audiobook was difficult for me, at first, but after the apocalypse happened (NOT a spoiler), it became easier for me to get into, and listen to. Jot Davies is the narrator, and he was very good, though a couple of his character voices I guess you would call them, were too weird to believe. But the different accents were top notch, and he helped make this audiobook very interesting all the way to the end.
The lead character was a real jerk to say the least, but he was able to change during the novel, and become better. I'm very glad it picked up after a while, or I would have been sorely upset. With this great storyline, how could one mess this up? Luckily, Walker did not. So if you feel yourself struggling through the first few chapters or so, please try and stick with it. You might like it as much as I did, at the end.
I have to say, Walker, that the twist at the end was RUUUUUDE......lol. But ok with me.
3.5 stars, and recommended.

The End of the World Running Club 1/5

Had to bail on this one. The main character didn’t have a single redeeming quality. It spoiled the enjoyment. I don’t mind a morally ambiguous main character, but this was ridiculous. I mean, everyone might occasionally think the thoughts of the MC, but not all the time.

This is the post-apocalyptic tale takes place in Scotland and tells the story of man named Edgar Hill who has become complacent with his job, his children, his lifestyle and life in general. He drinks, eat things that are bad for his health and looks scornfully at those who watch what they eat, are engaged with their families and run for fitness which makes the title all more ironic. What happens is that hundreds if not thousands of meteors hit earth with no warning from the government. Everything is destroyed and he and his family only survive due to the fact that there small home has a cellar which the larger homes across the street do not. They barely have enough time to through down what canned food they have in the house and a case of bottled water he manages to loot from a nearby corner store, diapers for the baby and his daughters stuffed rabbits.
What follows is many days of rationing food, breaking open pipes and hoping there is enough water to last them a few more days when they are finally rescued by the remnants of the army that were in the area. They are brought to a holding facility where they spend several weeks trying to recover but soon they realize that they are running out of food and the men go into the cities to salvage what they can to survive.
While on a trek to the city they return to find out that helicopters from the coast have come and picked up all of their families and brought them to the coast where there are ships waiting to take them to less devastated areas. When they realize that they only have 3 weeks to cover 500 miles and the only way they can do that is to run all of the way there. They of course have many obstacles both physically and mentally to overcome to reach their goal.
I found the book fascinating, engaging and even though this feels like a stand alone book I was left wondering about Edgar Hill and where the path took him next.

A good but perhaps sterotypical dystopian novel where after a series of cosmic calamities, a man is separated from his family and has to literally run (500+ miles) to catch the boat that will take him to freedom and his family. A good read, definitely a library borrow, maybe a purchase on sale. 7/10

"Clear your mind and things start working out for you," he said. "You can't run five hundred miles just by clearing your mind," I spat. Harvey shrugged. "You can't do it without it either."

I didn't like the main character very much to begin with - he was spoiled, selfish, and really not deserving of surviving a major disaster. He was lucky to be married to such a patient and loving wife. What redeemed Ed and the story in general were the on-going and devastating hardships Ed overcomes and the character growth he is dragged into doing. The end of the story makes all the difference to the character and made me finally like him. I loved the Australian character, Harvey - he was so patient with Ed and willing to share his knowledge and he was always so optimistic. Along with the requisite dystopian bad guys, there were some lovely characters as well.

Another dystopian book this week for me!! Yay!!

This one takes place in England which was very different in that most that I've read were set in the United States. This end of the world scenario involves an asteroid strike that severely debilitates a lot of the planet with hundreds of them striking England.

Edgar Hill, hungover from the night before wakes up one morning to find that the Earth was informed that asteroids are hurling to the planet and there will be devastation of the extreme kind four hours before. He starts out behind the eight ball and basically strikes out, a lot!

At first I thought Edgar Hill a total loser, by the end of the book, I was cheering him on ecstatically.

I sped through this enjoyable read cheering Edgar on to the finish line.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

A lot of readers didn't care for the narrator of this story. I think that's crazy. Come on, we are all lacking in something. Ed is not perfect, but he does make a supreme effort to reunite with his family.
I found the tension in this book to be just right after an amazing beginning and a bit of a more lackluster later first half. Things really pick up again as Ed and his group begin to run. I found the author's description of the scenes of destruction and the terror the runners face on the road to be sensory masterpieces. I could feel the fear and hopelessness, and yet they press on. The ability of this group to keep going when the goal seems impossible was vital in keeping the story flowing and keeping my rapt attention. The final third of the book was nearly impossible to put down.
The author does a very nice job of creating action and adventure along with making the characters interesting. I particularly appreciated the evolution of their relationships with each other and within themselves as the story expanded. My very favorite character was Harvey. He was the philosopher and seer of the group which made him a touchstone and a driving source of inspiration for Ed. I also had a soft spot for Grimes and the big guy, Bryce.
Dystopian stories can get a bit stale and similar, but "The End of the World Running Club" was for me, fresh and well-crafted. I'm guessing there are technical things that might not be 100% accurate, but they didn't spoil anything. I found myself equally able to forgive any faults of the characters which I found to be more realistically depicted than unlikable.
I would recommend this book to fans of action and drama dystopian tales like "The Road". It was kind of nice to not have the classic zombie apocalypse plot. Rather, this was a less fanciful, but no less gripping story.
I thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Usually I don't look at other reviews before I write mine but this time I did and I am struck by the complaints about the book's pacing in several of the ≤ 3 reviews. Yes, the book is slow in places but somehow it seemed a bit like running.

Don't runners zone out? Don't runners slip in and out of extreme consciousness? Don't runners ache as they run? The book is a little like this.

These days I don't much like post-apocalyptic writing because it is all so similar and was done so much better a century ago before everyone was so self-conscious about it. So this book won't rank high on my all-time list. But it really isn't bad at all unless you are as jaded as I am.

I received a review copy of "The End of the World Running Club" by Adrian Walker (Sourcebooks Landmark) through NetGalley.com. It was originally self-published in 2014 in the UK by Adrian Walker and then picked up by Del Rey UK who issued it in paperback in 2016.

I gave up after 2 chapters. The characters are unlikeable and their reactions unrealistic and out of proportion.

Edgard Hill erlebt mit seiner Familie in Schottland den Einschlag eines Meteoritenschauers, der die britischen Inseln und noch mehr verwüstet. Sie können sich gerade noch in ihren Keller retten. Später werden sie vom Militär gerettet und leben in einer Kaserne. Ed, so gibt er selbst zu, nimmt seine Vater- und Ehemannrolle nur halbherzig war.

Als er mit einigen Kameraden von einem Ausflug zwecks Nahrungsbeschaffung in die Kaserne zurück kommt, sind die meisten Kasernenbewohner inkl. seiner Familie verschwunden – eine unbekannte Organisation hat sie mit Hubschraubern nach Wales geflogen, von wo sie bald mit dem Schiff auf die Südhalbkugel evakuiert werden sollen. Will Ed seine Familie wiedersehen, dann muss er sich aufmachen von Schottland nach Wales.

Der englische Originaltitel verrät, worum es in weiten Teilen des Romans geht: „Der Laufklub am Ende der Welt“. Denn Laufen wird für den unsportlichen Ed und seine Begleiter zur häufigsten Fortbewegungsart. Und so ist es auch ein Buch über das Laufen. Ich finde, das sollte man durchaus wissen, bevor man das Buch liest.

Das postapokalyptische Britannien bildet die düstere Szenarie für die innere Wandlung des faulen, distanzierten Eds zum Läufer, der noch rechtzeitig seine Familie erreichen will. Nicht immer ist die Handlung ganz plausibel, am Schluss wird einiges offen gelassen. Die äußere Handlung ist gut geschrieben – ich konnte das Buch nicht so einfach aus der Hand legen. Der Autor versucht es mit einigen tieferen Betrachtungen, aber das war etwas neblig für mich. „Geschichten funktionieren …, weil sie dir ein Gefühl vermitteln, wie die Wahrheit sich anfühlen würde, wenn du sie hören könntest. … [Sie] lassen eine tiefere Bedeutung anklingen.“ heißt es im Buch. So hat es sich der Autor wohl auch mit dieser vorgestellt. Ich höre das „Klingen“, aber es ist recht leise.

Enjoyable dystopian novel where our hero Edgar is confronted with a world part destroyed by asteroids. His family become separated and he must make the long journey from Edinburgh to Falmouth by the only available mode, running. The story is full of sadness, and endeavour as Edgar tries to discover his inner self and realize, hopefully not too late, that when everything is stripped away what is left and what really is important is family.

The author regards Edgar's journey as an opportunity to question human ideals and to show the reader how survival can be possible when all human excess and comfort has been removed...."Perhaps there was a reason why we had filled our world with distraction after all. Perhaps there was a reason why we surrounded ourselves with plastic and light and excess. Perhaps our collective consciousness remembered all too well what it was like in darkness, surrounded by wet, rotten wood, mud, and nothing good to eat."

As a keen runner, I do understand the need to run, and so Edgar by this means of travel is not only able to discover and see the devastation left in the wake of the disaster but also banish inner demons and discover his inner self..."But there's nothing unusual about an old man who runs. He leaned in again. They're always out there, aren't they? Skinny bas%*&ds hobbling about in mangy shorts with their wee cocks flapping about inside."

There were occasion where I felt the writing was a little clichéd and the author was using the opportunity to preach the same old story of human greed and excess ..."This is how we all end up; running through our own wilderness, the landscape of disjointed events that form our lives, with nobody to make sense of it but ourselves. The road is ours and ours alone." However as a dystopian tale this was very enjoyable, and easy to read, if at times a little overrun (!) with quotes and the need for self discovery..."Most of the time we're just blind idiots seeking joy in a world full of fear and pain."

I have seen this book lurking about the past few months. I even got it for a "deal" on my e-reader. I don't know why I choose to read these kind of stories on airplanes, but I do. I even got up at 5am to finish this story so the family would not bother me. I do not know what I was expecting. I cannot tell you what to expect. Once you start reading it, the Title makes perfect sense. I can say that I along with Edgar hate running. I really feel the same way he does about the whole subject of running. (see how I turned him into a real person). But you are asking what does running have to do with the end of the world? I suggest you read the book. I think that we all have a little Edgar in us.

Walker has done an incredible job with this post-apocalyptic exploration set in Scotland, where we see an asteroid strike wiping out civilization as we know it. The whole thing is really rather a beautiful, rolling musing on the character and nature of humans faced with the unthinkable, filled with interesting and honest figures, along with some pretty plausible (and thus extra horrifying) evil behaviour. I found the protagonist's group's journey absolutely heartaching and, weirdly, I ended up feeling extremely nostalgic by the time I'd finished.

This book is beautifully written and had me immediately entranced, right there with the flawed, very human protagonist who gets separated from his family early on just after realizing how much he actually feels for them (some people evidently need some pretty huge events in their lives to realize this ;). I'm always impressed when a writer makes me feel for the sort of person who in real life I would find pretty repugnant. Of course, with the 'end times' setting, one does expect a transformative narrative; it's just with Walker's protagonist, that transformation takes an entirely unexpected turn and is exceedingly relatable and visceral.

Good job, Adrian! :) *claps and cheers*