-
Alas, Babylon
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $24.05
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
I, Robot
- By: Isaac Asimov
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities, and unforeseen risks.
-
-
Forget the violence - Read this one for the humor
- By Herb on 02-19-05
By: Isaac Asimov
-
Minority Report and Other Stories (Unabridged Stories)
- By: Philip K. Dick
- Narrated by: Keir Dullea
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Viewed by many as the greatest science fiction writer on any planet, Philip K. Dick has written some of the most intriguing, original, and thought-provoking fiction of our time. This collection includes "The Minority Report," "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," "Paycheck," "Second Variety," and "The Eyes Have It."
-
-
Nice Collection of Four P.D.K. Short Stories
- By Travis on 05-12-11
By: Philip K. Dick
-
Outland
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When an experiment to study quantum uncertainty goes spectacularly wrong, physics student Bill Rustad and his friends find that they have accidentally created an inter-dimensional portal. They connect to Outland - an alternate Earth with identical geology, but where humans never evolved. The group races to establish control of the portal before the government, the military, or evildoers can take it away. Then everything changes when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts in an explosion large enough to destroy civilization and kill half the planet.
-
-
Completely unrealistic story. Avoid.
- By daniel leonard on 02-18-20
By: Dennis E. Taylor
-
Endurance
- Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
- By: Alfred Lansing
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August of 1914, the British ship Endurance set sail for the South Atlantic. In October, 1915, still half a continent away from its intended base, the ship was trapped, then crushed in the ice. For five months, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men, drifting on ice packs, were castaways in one of the most savage regions of the world.
-
-
Superb in so many ways
- By David on 01-19-14
By: Alfred Lansing
-
Airframe
- A Novel
- By: Michael Crichton
- Narrated by: Frances Cassidy
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Airframe is nonstop Crichton: the extraordinary mixture of super suspense and authentic information on a subject of compelling interest that has been a Crichton hallmark since The Andromeda Strain.
-
-
Try it, you'll like it.
- By Robert Solomon on 04-04-03
By: Michael Crichton
-
Semiosis
- A Novel
- By: Sue Burke
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies, Daniel Thomas May
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forced to land on a planet they aren't prepared for, human colonists rely on their limited resources to survive. The planet provides a lush but inexplicable landscape - trees offer edible, addictive fruit one day and poison the next, while the ruins of an alien race are found entwined in the roots of a strange plant. Conflicts between generations arise as they struggle to understand one another and grapple with an unknowable alien intellect.
-
-
Weird. But good. But weird.
- By Lilyn G. on 03-20-18
By: Sue Burke
-
I, Robot
- By: Isaac Asimov
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities, and unforeseen risks.
-
-
Forget the violence - Read this one for the humor
- By Herb on 02-19-05
By: Isaac Asimov
-
Minority Report and Other Stories (Unabridged Stories)
- By: Philip K. Dick
- Narrated by: Keir Dullea
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Viewed by many as the greatest science fiction writer on any planet, Philip K. Dick has written some of the most intriguing, original, and thought-provoking fiction of our time. This collection includes "The Minority Report," "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," "Paycheck," "Second Variety," and "The Eyes Have It."
-
-
Nice Collection of Four P.D.K. Short Stories
- By Travis on 05-12-11
By: Philip K. Dick
-
Outland
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When an experiment to study quantum uncertainty goes spectacularly wrong, physics student Bill Rustad and his friends find that they have accidentally created an inter-dimensional portal. They connect to Outland - an alternate Earth with identical geology, but where humans never evolved. The group races to establish control of the portal before the government, the military, or evildoers can take it away. Then everything changes when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts in an explosion large enough to destroy civilization and kill half the planet.
-
-
Completely unrealistic story. Avoid.
- By daniel leonard on 02-18-20
By: Dennis E. Taylor
-
Endurance
- Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
- By: Alfred Lansing
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August of 1914, the British ship Endurance set sail for the South Atlantic. In October, 1915, still half a continent away from its intended base, the ship was trapped, then crushed in the ice. For five months, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men, drifting on ice packs, were castaways in one of the most savage regions of the world.
-
-
Superb in so many ways
- By David on 01-19-14
By: Alfred Lansing
-
Airframe
- A Novel
- By: Michael Crichton
- Narrated by: Frances Cassidy
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Airframe is nonstop Crichton: the extraordinary mixture of super suspense and authentic information on a subject of compelling interest that has been a Crichton hallmark since The Andromeda Strain.
-
-
Try it, you'll like it.
- By Robert Solomon on 04-04-03
By: Michael Crichton
-
Semiosis
- A Novel
- By: Sue Burke
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies, Daniel Thomas May
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forced to land on a planet they aren't prepared for, human colonists rely on their limited resources to survive. The planet provides a lush but inexplicable landscape - trees offer edible, addictive fruit one day and poison the next, while the ruins of an alien race are found entwined in the roots of a strange plant. Conflicts between generations arise as they struggle to understand one another and grapple with an unknowable alien intellect.
-
-
Weird. But good. But weird.
- By Lilyn G. on 03-20-18
By: Sue Burke
-
Feed
- The Newsflesh Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Mira Grant
- Narrated by: Paula Christensen, Jesse Bernstein
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.
-
-
Surprisingly Good
- By Beverly on 06-12-11
By: Mira Grant
-
Memoirs of a Geisha
- By: Arthur Golden
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a voice both haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri describes her life as a geisha. Taken from her home at the age of nine, she is sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Witness her transformation as you enter a world where appearances are paramount, virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, women beguile powerful men, and love is scorned as illusion.
-
-
Perfect ---- in every way
- By Amanda on 02-08-06
By: Arthur Golden
-
The Mists of Avalon
- By: Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 50 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A posthumous recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, Marion Zimmer Bradley reinvented - and rejuvenated - the King Arthur mythos with her extraordinary Mists of Avalon series. In this epic work, Bradley follows the arc of the timeless tale from the perspective of its previously marginalized female characters: Celtic priestess Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar, and High Priestess Viviane.
-
-
Davina Porter brings an old favorite back to life!
- By Carolina on 07-13-12
-
Red Storm Rising
- By: Tom Clancy
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 31 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Muslim fundamentalists blow up a key Soviet oil complex, making an already critical oil shortage calamitous, the Russians figure they are going to have to take things into their own hands. They plan to seize the Persian Gulf, and more ambitiously, to neutralize NATO. Thus begins Red Storm, an audacious gamble that uses diplomatic maneuver to cloak a crash military build-up.
-
-
Good Story, Good Narrative, Good Book!
- By PatC on 04-11-12
By: Tom Clancy
-
The Martian
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.
-
-
I love Wil Wheaton but why not R. C. Bray?
- By L. Newman on 01-11-20
By: Andy Weir
-
A Tale of Two Cities [Tantor]
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens's most exciting novels. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it tells the story of a family threatened by the terrible events of the past. Doctor Manette was wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years without trial by the aristocratic authorities.
-
-
it's the singer not the song*
- By Maynard on 11-09-13
By: Charles Dickens
-
Children of Ruin
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Mel Hudson
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thousands of years ago, Earth's terraforming program took to the stars. On the world they called Nod, scientists discovered alien life - but it was their mission to overwrite it with the memory of Earth. Then humanity's great empire fell, and the program's decisions were lost to time. Aeons later, humanity and its new spider allies detected fragmentary radio signals between the stars. They dispatched an exploration vessel, hoping to find cousins from old Earth. But those ancient terraformers woke something on Nod better left undisturbed. And it's been waiting for them.
-
-
Exceptional Deep Sci-Fi
- By TJ L. on 05-22-19
-
The Ghost Brigades
- Old Man's War, Book 2
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF's toughest operations. They're young, they're fast and strong, and they're totally without normal human qualms.
-
-
Starts slow but comes together in the end.
- By Lore on 02-15-14
By: John Scalzi
-
Agent to the Stars
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The space-faring Yherajk have come to Earth to meet us and to begin humanity's first interstellar friendship. There's just one problem: They're hideously ugly and they smell like rotting fish. So getting humanity's trust is a challenge. The Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal. Enter Thomas Stein, who knows something about closing deals. He's one of Hollywood's hottest young agents.
-
-
A stay-up-all-night-reading kind of book
- By Katya A on 03-06-13
By: John Scalzi
-
Devastation Class
- By: Glen Zipper, Elaine Mongeon
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss, Steven Barnett
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The distant future. Earth’s Alliance forces have emerged victorious from a brutal nine-year war with the mysterious Kastazi - a vicious, highly advanced alien race. In the dawn of a new peace, the Alliance Devastation Class starship California embarks on a mission of science and learning with a skeleton crew of seasoned officers, civilian students, and inexperienced military cadets in tow. For JD Marshall and Viv Nixon, gifted cadets and best friends, the mission holds special meaning: It offers an opportunity to prove themselves.
-
-
Great SciFi!!
- By Mikäel M on 10-16-20
By: Glen Zipper, and others
-
Lucifer's Hammer
- By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 24 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival--a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known....
-
-
I read it 30 years ago, but couldn't stand it now
- By Todd Bradley on 10-28-17
By: Larry Niven, and others
-
Ireland
- By: Frank Delaney
- Narrated by: Frank Delaney
- Length: 19 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One evening in 1951, an itinerant storyteller arrives unannounced at a house in the Irish countryside. In exchange for a bed and a warm meal, he invites his hosts and their neighbors to join him by the wintry fireside and begins to tell formative stories of Ireland's history. Ronan, a nine-year-old boy, grows so entranced by the storytelling that, when the old man leaves abruptly under mysterious circumstances, the boy devotes himself to finding him again.
-
-
Musical Reading
- By Claire on 03-15-05
By: Frank Delaney
Publisher's Summary
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly.
But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness. Will Patton's narration paints this classic tale as an ominous picture of the terrible possibilites of the nuclear age.
Critic Reviews
- Audie Award Winner, Fiction, 2012
Featured Article: 20 Best Survival Audiobooks for the Prepper in All of Us
Whether we’re focused on the apocalypse or just an ill-timed breakdown on the side of a particularly remote road, there’s something about imagining survival scenarios that can be addictive. On some level, we all wonder if we would have what it takes to pit ourselves against the worst the world can possibly offer and make it out alive. That’s why it’s no surprise that survival literature is so popular, and that the stories in the genre are so diverse.
More from the same
What listeners say about Alas, Babylon
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Celeste Albers
- 05-24-17
Timeless
I am amazed that it took so long for me to find this book-thank you Audible! This is a true classic and not dated in the way that I feared. There are no explicit sex scenes or graphic violence and the characters know nothing of the modern technology that we take for granted. What we do get is an expertly crafted and narrated story of survival. The characters are well drawn and engaging. The plot is realistic in a way that many more recently written and acclaimed books fail to achieve.
I thoroughly enjoyed it-a new favorite!
40 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lesley
- 01-07-14
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
I've read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction in the last few years. Usually zombies show up, or vampires, or else it's like Mad Max where bands of yahoos roam the wasted countryside, bringing destruction and disorder. Pat Frank's "Alas, Babylon" brings us a different scenario--for a dystopia, this is pretty utopian.
Randy Bragg is a lawyer in Fort Repose, Florida. He's kind of mooching along and drinking too much. Then the bombs fall. The world changes, and Randy changes with it as he finds himself responsible for leading a group of friends and family. Together, they work to survive in the Contaminated Zone. They're lucky--Fort Repose was too far away from the blast zones to get much radiation. With the help of a strong wind on The Day, as they call it, crops and water are spared. It's a matter of working with what they have left.
It's here that the book's original publication year (1959) becomes evident. Blacks and whites are suddenly desegregated--the significance of that may be a puzzle for younger readers, who may not know of awful stuff like "Colored" drinking fountains. They use the CONELRAD system for getting their information--horribly flawed, CONELRAD was replaced in 1963.
Perhaps strangest of all, people seem awfully polite. Fights are few, and the Fort Reposians immediately begin to help each other out in a town-picnic, chore-wheel kind of way. Drama is infrequent. Even the yahoos (who do eventually show up) don't use the f-word. I've heard of worse circumstances in a modern-day high school.
The main lessons of the book are still useful, however. One is, prepare for disaster--physically and mentally; don't expect your hair dryer to work! Another: just because the world changes, it doesn't mean you can't change yourself for the better. And, perhaps most important: stick together and show each other kindness; friends and family are all you really have, especially when the world is a mess.
I can imagine that this book was pretty scary for the Mad Men-era people who read it first. But as I listened to Will Patton's comfortable Carolina accent describing the fear and devastation, I realized why Pat Frank wrote this book--the Fort Repose survivors aren't scientists or world leaders. They're just regular small-town people, and they make it. You can, too.
Recommended for anyone interested in history--whether alternate or real.
92 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Lee
- 12-27-10
A griping read!
I grabbed this paperback out of my mother's bookshelf as a bored teenager on summer vacation and I've dragged it around with me for over 30 years! Though the characters are a bit simplistic, the story is riveting.
This story explores what happens when civilization as we know it ceases to exist. How do people survive when there are no safety nets? Decade’s pass and technology marches on, however the story of mankind’s struggle to survive remains pertinent. I actually used this book as a basis for a Sociology paper in college.
The narrator is very good and the story is every bit as good today as it was in 1959.
85 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Noe
- 01-04-11
Outstanding story of post-apocalyse.
As a fan of post-apocalyptic stories and films, especially those created in the 1950s and 60s, this wonderful novel has long been one of my favorites. Although the story is set in the late 50s, one may view it as alternate history. What if on an alternate timeline, a silly mistake triggered a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia at the height of the Cold War? God knows we actually came very close to it a couple of times in the 60s. This excellent novel tells the tale of a small group of survivors trying to survive in rural Central Florida after the bombs fall. It is exciting, uplifting, and highly recommended. Actor Will Patton, who did a superb job on Kerouac's "The Road," is equally brilliant in this reading. He reads the story with warmth and conviction. An all-around marvelous audiobook, and I commend Audible for producing it.
49 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Maureen
- 01-01-11
Brilliant, classic, timely, characters to love
I hesitated to get this one because it was written in 1959...feared it might be dated, etc. NOT SO! It is amazingly timely and unlike many post-apocyliptic novels it leaves you with a feeling of hope and the desire to do all you can to save our planet and civilization at its best. Hauntingly beautiful descriptions and perfect plot design; I hated to stop the audio and finished it in one weekend. All Americans should know this novel!
65 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Old Pueblo
- 02-27-13
WOW! WOW! WOW!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I'd recommend this book to a friend of either sex. The story enrobes you and carries you inside its pocket. You can't get out, even after you've stopped listening for the day, and then it will stay with you long after the story ends.
What about Will Patton’s performance did you like?
I've listened to many audiobbooks narrated by Will Patton - if he's reading, I just know I'll enjoy the book. But this time...he simply nails it, and it sucks you in - it feels like he IS the character he's speaking for. Even the women in the story sound realistic and don't distract. That's a very hard thing to pull off, in my experience with audiobooks.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The story is such a personal one to any of us growing up in the 50's and 60's - Nuclear War's entry into our innocent minds and lives, and the scare that just the possibility of a nuclear bomb's potential put into all of us. It took me right back to that time; worried about who would launch the first bombs and where they would land...the devastation they could cause, the millions of people they could kill - and the impact something like this would have on all of us. Would we even survive it?
Any additional comments?
Please listen to this - you will not regret it. This one's the total package - beautiful, thoughtful writing, believable characters and story development - and an unforgettable performance by Will Patton. It just doesn't get any better.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JerryL
- 12-26-10
Excellent audiobook
It's difficult to believe this book was first published in 1959. The storyline is extremely well thought out, the characters are well defined and very believable.
The book is full of historically accurate facts that take the reader back to the days of what an earlier generation knew as "Mutually Assured Destruction." This audiobook is well worth the investment of your time and money.
94 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- What now
- 05-16-17
an old favorite now more relevant
I read this book as a youth. It captured my imagination. However now it captures it again. is it possible it is even more relevant?
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 12-23-10
Excellent 5-star listen
I read this story when it was first released and have replaced my copy several times. It has maintained it's relevancy over the years well. With Will Patton reading, it comes alive. Well worth the money and a continual pleasure in any form.
69 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- SomervilleWhereElse
- 12-25-10
Amazingly contemporary
This great work of science fiction was written in a different time and world situation, but it feels as fresh as if it was just created. So much of what happens after the nuclear disaster in the book is just what probably would happen now. I have enjoyed every word. Will Patton is the perfect narrator.
72 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Martin
- 11-25-13
Classic... Nuclear War 1950s setting.
Very enjoyable because it is set and was written in 1950s America, rather than coming across as dated it was more like historical fiction which I enjoyed a lot. For a post apocalyptic story it is not at all as grim and gory as a modern book would be - cannibalism, slavery and the other usual depravity and gore that you expect in a more modern post apocalypse story! These things are maybe hinted at rather than really appearing in the story, apart from the odd bad guy most people are pretty decent and most behave in a relatively civilised manner. It is strangely almost a positive story, I wouldn't be too concerned about letting a younger reader / listener have this book. I have read reviews elsewhere that described it as having some racist and sexist elements to it - which there of course are going to be, it is set in Florida and was written in 1950s America! It is not as realistic in many as a more modern book would be, but I personally forgive that as it was a very enjoyable listen with interesting characters and settings. If you can credit the book for being written in more innocent times in terms of what would be acceptable amounts of horror and gore (there really is none) and enjoy it as an innocent predecessor of the modern post apocalypse book, it is very well worth a listen and very enjoyable. - I love the game Fallout 3 which has loads of 1950s styling and a post nuclear war setting, so this may have clouded my judgement a bit but I enjoyed the listen a lot.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mrs
- 08-02-14
stands the test of time
I grew up in the shadow of the A bomb and the threat of the nuclear apocalypse but was too young to read this book when it first came out. I have been immersed in the story and the characters. Though I hope that the chances of all out nuclear war are now a thing of the past, the chance of a post apocalyptic world resulting from climate change remain very real and so the subject matter remains relevant for our current time. Well worth a read.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Tony Barker
- 03-07-14
Brilliant and believable
Where does Alas, Babylon rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This ranks very highly. I came across this book as a recommendation having read One Second After and I was not disappointed. It was intelligent and thought provoking without being over sensationalized. It depicts ordinary people who have experienced an extraordinary event.
What other book might you compare Alas, Babylon to, and why?
One second after
Have you listened to any of Will Patton’s other performances? How does this one compare?
No but will look for others
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Small town America overcomes man made disaster
Any additional comments?
Excellent read
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Elizabeth
- 01-05-14
A compelling listening experience
Once again I am glad I didn't read any reviews or even the publisher's summary before embarking on Alas, Babylon. I find it so much more enjoyable not having any clue as to how the story might unfold, and how bleak or optimistic its outlook will be.
I'd class this as a quick and easy listen. As an inadvertent follow-on from Neville Shute's On the Beach, it reinforced the risk of our utter dependency on electricity and on our supply-chain for food and fuel. It is the first fiction that also made me consider the value of military training and experience.
For me, one of the main weaknesses of the book was the characterisation. The characters each fall so clearly into the Good Guy or Bad Guy camp. Perhaps because of this, or maybe just from the writing style, I felt no empathy for any of the people. They were interesting to me, definitely, but I never felt an emotional bond with any of them.
That said, the audiobook made compelling listening and the tale gives a great sense of the values and concerns of the late 1950s in the USA. The narration enhanced the book for me; it seemed just right. Overall, I would definitely say I enjoyed Alas, Babylon and despite its weaknesses I would recommend it to others.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Clem
- 07-27-13
Amazing Journey into Armageddon
If you could sum up Alas, Babylon in three words, what would they be?
Couldn't stop listening!
Which character – as performed by Will Patton – was your favourite?
The central character 'Randy' was very interesting. A reluctant hero.
Any additional comments?
This was just a great story. I was surprised that it was written way back in the 50's. It is so relevant to today. Great characters. Great story. Definately a must listen audio book. Will Patton speaks with a very understated passion that really sucks you into this world.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Margaret
- 02-12-15
Great!
Great story and narration. Hearing parts of it gave me chills. An enjoyable and engrossing listen. I would recommend it.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Dominic
- 01-08-15
Fantastic book
50 years old but still could be written yesterday
Give it a go. Post apocalyptic without the modern twist. Yes
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Matt Watson-Power
- 05-03-13
Amazing, gripping, so real
From the outset I was gripped by this book. A fascinating 'what if' with some very plausible answers. Great story - ingenuity, terror, war, tech - and it's an incredible snapshot of the late 1950s. Well worth a listen - I don't normal listen to American accents, but this guy has a great voice.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mr. M. J. Foster
- 11-19-20
Really solid listen.
An unusual concept for this story. I love alternate history, but didn't expect this to be so riveting. As per usual, masterfully performed by Will Patton, an actor at the very top table of talent. Recommended.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- alexander
- 01-19-15
Thought provoking
Would you consider the audio edition of Alas, Babylon to be better than the print version?
Yes, thanks mainly to the narrator. I found that I was hungry for the the next chapter to be read to me while I was driving, in fact I was sitting in my car listening as the story had captivated me. A paperback would still be in one of my jacket pockets in a wardrobe somewhere.
What did you like best about this story?
The well crafted characters. I could almost hear the river passing through the story.
Have you listened to any of Will Patton’s other performances? How does this one compare?
Not knowingly, but he was good. One was not conscious of his breathing, his tempo was steady all the way through.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Nature or Nurture. Discover the true American hero.
Any additional comments?
It is a pity that the author has not written anything else, Pat Frank really knows how to breath life into his well defined characters.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jay Taylor
- 03-03-20
Blueprint for all good Apocalypse stories
After listening to this book it left me wanting more but as I thought about it this book is almost a blueprint for any media with the same theme. Now that I've concluded with that I feel I've experienced the premier nuclear apocalypse story less of an apocalypse more of a disaster that is overcome by the strong willed that remain
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Shannen Twine
- 02-27-19
Best book I’ve ever read
I can’t remember ever being so completely engaged in a story! Wow! I won’t bother reviewing- BUY THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- LC
- 05-27-17
Eerily close to home, even today
The United States unintentionally sparks a nuclear war with USSR when a US fighter plane accidentally strikes a base in Syria, resulting in USSR's nuclear retaliation.
Pat Frank might have written this novel in 1959 but swap USSR for Russia and it's a synopsis that could just as easily be drawn from a future headline.
This was the first time I'd read/ listened to Alas, Babylon and I really enjoyed it - particularly the insight it gave me into 1950s nuclear age. Gender roles are strong - men are brave and protective, women stand by their men and children as nurturers and carers and even little boys carry stiff upper lips.
But how interesting it is to see how society breaks down and yet humanity persists in the face of a nuclear war. Now I've read it, I can see where so many other post-apocalyptic novels, films and games have rightfully drawn their inspiration.
A great read - highly recommended.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Frost
- 12-12-19
A painfully slow start followed by a breakaway to glory
A really interesting read. This early exploration into post-nuclear survival was enlightening and well-written. Unfortunately, the first 1.5 hours or so were painfully slow. I wanted to give the book 2 or 3 stars by the time the bombs actually hit. But then it really picked up the pace and went to interesting places.
The narrator does a good job impersonating different voices. I commend him for that. It kept the narration from being stale. However, the way he would say “Alas.......... Bab-lon” the same way every time was grating. He would also rush two sentences together for nearly every single character, which seems organic at first but quickly grew annoying and demonstrated the fact the lines were being read, not spoken. Otherwise he does a good job and I’d be keen to hear him again with more practice.
A worthwhile book!