Cold People

By: Tom Rob Smith

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

* “A zany, wildly gripping, dark futuristic fantasy.”—Vogue, Most Anticipated Books of the Year * “Fascinating…a propulsive ride…through a well-built world.”—The Christian Science Monitor *

From the brilliant, bestselling author of Child 44 and creator of the FX series Class of ’09 comes a “cinematic” (The Washington Post), “captivating…[and] “brilliantly conceived postapocalyptic story” (Booklist, starred review) about an Antarctic colony of global apocalypse survivors seeking to reinvent civilization under the most extreme conditions imaginable.

The world has fallen. Without warning, a mysterious and omnipotent force has claimed the planet for their own. There are no negotiations, no demands, no reasons given for their actions. All they have is a message: humanity has thirty days to reach the one place on Earth where they will be allowed to exist…Antarctica.

Cold People follows the perilous journeys of a handful of those who endure the frantic exodus to the most extreme environment on the planet. But their goal is not merely to survive the present. Because as they cling to life on the ice, the remnants of their past swept away, they must also confront the urgent challenge: can they change and evolve rapidly enough to ensure humanity’s future? Can they build a new society in the sub-zero cold?

Original and imaginative, as profoundly intimate as it is grand in scope, Cold People is a “spellbinding…speculative masterpiece” (Library Journal, starred review) that’s “chilling in so many ways” (Los Angeles Times).

©2023 Tom Rob Smith (P)2023 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"It's the end of the world as we know it in this chilling audiobook. And what better guide to the apocalypse could listeners have than talented narrator Rebecca Lowman? She's a capable choice to portray—well, only the entirety of what remains of humanity. That's because Earth has been invaded, and humans have been informed they have 30 days to reach a new reservation on Antarctica—or else. Lowman must voice characters from all around the globe, including the new genetically cold-adapted versions of humankind. This she does flawlessly, mixing accents and inflections to differentiate among the large cast. What results is an audio adventure that will have listeners frozen with fear." (AudioFile Magazine)

Clearly written for screen adaptation

It felt at times like reading a script for a movie, which I'm sure it will become. This is not unusual; these days most action books are written with videos in mind. But it would've been nice to flesh out some of the characters and events, so that it would feel more like reading a book.

Too much back story

4 hours in is when the real story starts! AND we still do characters flash backs. The epilog is like, 4 chapters long .

Really enjoyed this

Good character development. Hope it has a sequel! Did not give it five stars because at times it felt a tad disjointed, but I think (hope) that this was just because the author is setting up a series.

Stopped halfway thorugh

exciting and interesting start, then became incredibly slow and boring, the characters uninteresting, overall disappointed

Interesting concepts

Interesting concepts and premise but I think the author tried to do too much in one story, leaving many aspects not fully explored. I would read more by this author.

Stopped halfway through

Interesting concept but no character development and about midway in the story become just downright silly.

Mediocre follow through

Interesting concept, but failed for multiple reasons. Poor reasoning with regards to science and poor understanding of interpersonal relations.

Must be a series

Story was very interesting. Sounds like it should be a movie or show. The book ends in a cliffhanger so I’m thinking there is another one the author is working on. The only thing I did not like is that there doesn’t seem to be an explanation as to why the aliens invaded earth.

Intriguing Concept

Caught my attention immediately. I enjoyed the very creative idea and the characters. As with many books there were some gaps and some “throw away” people. But, overall it was exciting and thought provoking.