The End of the Day

By: Claire North

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

A novel about life and death and a quest for moral purpose, by the acclaimed author of word-of-mouth bestseller The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.

"Wholly original and hauntingly beautiful." -- Kirkus

"Funny, ambitious, immensely humane and full of philosophical panache." -- Sunday Times

Sooner or later, Death visits everyone. Before that, they meet Charlie: the Harbinger.

Sometimes he comes as a courtesy, sometimes as a warning. Either way, this will be the most important meeting of your life.

But who will come for Charlie?

"A fascinating exploration of what makes us human -- and a riveting journey through life, and death." -- The Bookbag

"Reaffirms the passion and ambition that have made North such a consistently intriguing writer." -- Locus

Critic reviews

"A beautiful, if occasionally uncomfortable, read that resists being labeled with any particular genre."—Library Journal (starred review)

"Wholly original and hauntingly beautiful. North is a writer to watch."—Kirkus

"Thrilling and moving, The End of the Day is a fascinating exploration of what makes us human -- and a riveting journey through life, and death."— The Bookbag

"[Claire's] writing is poetic and accessible, imaginative and jam-packed full of knowledge . . . making The End of the Day a thoroughly engaging and astute read from start to finish"—SciFiNow

"North is [a] consistently intriguing writer."—Locus

"North is an exciting voice in contemporary fantasy, and The End of the Day should be a welcome calling card from her to many new readers."—San Francisco Chronicle

"Just like Death itself, the story is unpredictable . . . But it's moving, a novel you'll sob to while reading."—SFX

"Surreal, whimsical...shaped with philosophical panache."—Guardian

"[T]his is an inquiry into modern human existence. Philosophical questions are threaded through the electrifying plot. Even the protagonist's darkness alias is "why." Reminiscent of William Gibson's best work, North leads us into a brilliant world of elite but mindless humans, and shines a sharp light on what a rare gift it is to be able to think for oneself and what the consequences of it are."—RT Book Reviews on The Sudden Appearance of Hope

"Beautifully written, with a protagonist who is both tragic and heroic, the novel is remarkably powerful and deeply memorable, the latest in a string of terrific books from this newly emerged star in the genre-blending universe."
—Booklist (Starred Review) on The Sudden Appearance of Hope

"North has established a reputation for tense, dense, science fiction/fantasy-inflected thrillers that defy facile explanations... Simultaneously a tense conspiracy caper, a haunting meditation on loneliness and a brutally cynical examination of modern media... Well-paced, brilliant and balanced."—New York Times on The Sudden Appearance of Hope

"Touch is a story within a story within a story and it's one of the cleverest, most compelling books I've read in a long time. The intoxicating voice, ingenious premise and intricate plot will have readers clamoring for a copy. Touch has bestseller written all over it and Claire North is one hell of a writer."—C. L. Taylor, author of The Accident on Touch

"I don't say this lightly but The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is one of the top ten books I've ever read."—James Dashner, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Maze Runner on The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

The life of the Harbinger of Death...

Usually stories about an incarnation of natural forces follow that incarnation. In this story, we're following the human employee of Death. It shows tragedy, pain, fear, love, joy, and hope.

The pacing is good, the chapters are bite-sized leading to easily listening in brief windows, or leading to a "just one more chapter" bingeing.

Narrator Peter Kenny gives life to the characters, with sufficient distinction in voices to be able to differentiate between them, and without them sounding like caricatures.

I highly recommend, with the caveat that this comes with a trigger warning. It includes contemplations of suicide, discussions of death, and some descriptions of traumatic experiences.

There are a number of what I find to be positive inclusions of LGBTQ representation throughout the novel, though the main character is not overtly LGBTQ.

a hopeful story about the end

This is a hopeful story about the end, the end world, the end of life, and the end of ideas. it's hopeful message is one about the beauty and persistence of life even in the face of death. Skillfully told and narrated, the book is compelling, entertaining and thought-provoking.

Great Storytelling!

Loved this audiobook. I eagerly read Claire North and this just may be my favorite book by her. Her writing, so good in itself, is greatly enhanced by the audiobook's narrator (Peter Kenney, I think). I love this book because it's as thought provoking as it is enjoyable. Claire North captures the dignity, beauty, tragedy, horror, and ultimately the hope of humanity. I was left wanting more.

I struggled and must have missed the point.

After having listened to the 1st 15 lives of Harry August I was excited to listen to this book. Unfortunately it was anti climatic... What's a redundancy of fame. There's a very interesting concept personifying the harbor of death as well as the other horsemen of the Apocalypse.

No clear story

The story to me was a series of vignettes sticker together through the life of the main character. At one point I thought I had finally reached the dilemma or problem, but by the end of the book I am certain that there really was no problem because of how the author dismissed the problem altogether.

Different, humanity's humanity

Depends on how you like your stories; sometimes brutality adds realism. I think this is the case in this book that otherwise very kindly open your mind to other vues and ways of life. This is told through the eyes of an ever-forgiving messenger, it definitly brings us in a different world.

Everything

This was an AMAZING book.
Brilliant plot and brings the real world of life and death to light.

DEATH IS LIFE

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I recommend this book as a masterpiece of literature and of superlative performance art. This book is a profoundly artistic eschatological statement that embodies and transcends human theocratic doctrine. Life is Death. Life is a summoning of Death. Death is an acknowledgement of Life, commingled, inseparable: a definition of life as an end to physical existence and inevitable renewal.

What other book might you compare The End of the Day to and why?

Claire North is a unique and incomparable literary voice. The best way to comprehend it is to hear it performed by Peter Kenny, who is arguably one of the top 10 most accomplished narrators I have heard after listening to more than 500 audio books. His emotional and intellectual comprehension and rendering of a multitude of foreign language accents is worthy of a prolonged standing ovation for the finest theatrical performance on any stage, or through any performance medium.

Which scene was your favorite?

The entire book is a interconnected single scene accented by the profoundly rhythmic literary style of the author: poetic drama comparable to a Shakespearean play.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Awe and Wonder.

meandering

while interesting, the narrative wanders a lot, much more than her other books. it was okay, but no i

Stunningly beautiful from beginning to end

As always, Claire North knocks it out of the park. This book was rather different from her other books - it didn't have a real plot, but rather was just a snippet into the life of Charlie, the Harbinger of Death. I found myself savoring this book as I fell more in love with Charlie and the very courteous Death.

Peter Kenny's performance, and I do mean performance, is beautiful. He is one of my favorite audiobook narrators because he always does so much more than just read the story. He truly becomes the characters.