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End Of The World Blues (Gollancz S.F.)
 
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End Of The World Blues (Gollancz S.F.) (Hardcover)

by Jon Courtenay Grimwood (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz; hardcover edition (17 Aug 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 057507616X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575076167
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.2 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 407,173 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

TRASHOTRON

"Grimwood does suck you in, every time. And he delivers a unique reading experience, every time."


Review

"A slick, exciting contemporary thriller... littered with with dark humour and superb characters, Grimwood writes authoritavely on Japan and evocatively recreates London and the differences in cultures." (STARBURST )

"End of the World Blues would be a dark crime thriller set in the cracks between the mobsters and the darker end of law-enforcement, almost '24' as Tarantino might direct it. The crime drama and characterizations of ageing gangsters going respectable, and ageing coppers bending the rules, are gripping." (STARBURST )

"The New Wave is dead, but don't worry; its leading lights - and with his best novel to date that certainly includes Jon Courtenay Grimwood - are in rude health." (Jonathan Wright SFX )

"A tautly-told crime thriller dripping with atmosphere and fascinating characters. An enigmatic novel that you'll read twice in a row - because you'll want to, because you'll need to." (Dave Golder BBC FOCUS )

"Grimwood does suck you in, every time. And he delivers a unique reading experience, every time." (TRASHOTRON )

"Tokyo is the metaphor for rivalry, redemption and dislocation in Grimwood's latest parallelised sci-fi noir. As a summer page turner, it certainly hits the spot." (EDGE magazine )

"Grimwood has a real gift for emotional extremes and for how it feels to be threatened with the worst things you can imagine. End of the World Blues is the same sort of book as his last, "9 Tail Fox" but only in the sense that they are more like each other than like anything else." (Roz Kaveney TIME OUT )

"Jon Courtenay Grimwood has always written terrific cyber-punk, rooted in an acute sense of place and style. If you've liked anything by Grimwood, you'll love this. If you haven't, begin at once: if he gets any better, someone will have to drive a spike though *his* head." (Andrew McKie THE TELEGRAPH )

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Grimwood on good form, 18 Aug 2006
By V. A. Millett "vinceabdulazeem" (Croydon, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This follows a familiar Grimwood pattern; two parallel stories, one cyberpunk-flavoured one set in the near-future and a harder science-fiction one set in the far future. Characters connect with both threads, and as always with this writer, it takes a while to figure out quite what's going on and how the two stories connect. Grimwood captures the flavour of street-level Tokyo beautifully and also the less glamourous and cyberpunk South London. There is the usual attention to detail with bands and cultural icons namechecked at appropriate moments. The story is fast paced and is somehow more accessible than one or two of his previous offerings. Some more familiar Grimwood themes are explored as the lead character works through issues of identity, guilt, and commitment. A great read!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Word woose, good but strangely unmemorable, 29 Aug 2007
A page turner from Grimwood, with his usual intertwined multi-layered story telling. The two connected stories are a present +20 minutes thriller and a dystopian far future "end of the world". The connection between the two is the schoolgirl Nijie who may or may not carry the memories of a power player from the far end of time.

I liked the conceit that the far future is linked to the near present via threads stronger than mere causality but I question the effectiveness of the dual stories, I found myself rather more intrigued by Nijie's near present story than Lady Neku's far future one and as such I wonder if this is really a Sci-Fi novel at all but more of a contemporary thriller with some Sci-Fi metaphor bolted on in parts.

As such this focus on only one half of the story makes the other rather less memorable to this reader and as such almost fragments the narrative into chunks of interesting thriller spaced by all too forgettable end of time padding.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Stylish, If Convoluted, Post-Cyberpunk Thriller from Grimwood, 14 Aug 2008
By John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Jon Courtenay Grimwood's "End of the World Blues" is a stylish, often convoluted, post-cyberpunk thriller which will easily remind readers of William Gibson's early "Cyberspace" trilogy. However, Grimwood's depiction of a near future Japan owes more to Haruki Murakami's vision of Japan than Gibson's in its realism (which isn't surprising since Grimwood has, unlike Gibson, resided there). Young British expatriate Kit Noveau must contend with the unexpected demise of his wife and of the bar that she had owned. His only chance at redemption lies in an ex-girlfriend who left a suicide note before vanishing. His only friend is a rather bizarre young Japanese girl, Neku, who believes that she is an aristocrat from Earth's distant future. Together they travel through the urban jungles of Japan and Great Britain in search of the missing keys that will explain who was ultimately responsible for the death of Kit's Japanese wife. Without question, Grimwood is one of Great Britain's best young writers of literary science fiction and fantasy; "End of the World Blues" merely reinforces the ample critical and popular acclaim he's earned on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Stylish, If Convoluted, Post-Cyberpunk Thriller from Grimwood
Jon Courtenay Grimwood's "End of the World Blues" is a stylish, often convoluted, post-cyberpunk thriller which will easily remind readers of William Gibson's early "Cyberspace"... Read more
Published 15 months ago by John Kwok

4.0 out of 5 stars Sudden surprise
Having previously read 9Tail Fox, I picked up this title without knowing anything about it, I think thats why I enjoyed it a little more than most. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Colonel

3.0 out of 5 stars Good writing but I'm not sure I followed it
Kit is a burnt out ex-soldier running a bar in a sleazy part of Tokyo. He is mixed up in the business of the Yakuza in Japan through the husband of his lover, and with British... Read more
Published 19 months ago by P. G. Harris

3.0 out of 5 stars Cross-genre shenanigans
This is my first experience of John Courtney Grimwood, and it is a positive one. His characters are well rounded, with a particularly good ear for dialogue. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. A. M. Mcdonald

5.0 out of 5 stars Proper mental
I had only previously read 9 Tail Fox from Grimwood, but I loved that... and I love this! As with 9 Tail Fox, it's a fairly open ended story leaving the reader to decide which way... Read more
Published 23 months ago by spoonofmilk

5.0 out of 5 stars Sparkling rollercoaster from a master storyteller
Spiced with inventivenes and a plot that'll reel you in, and keep you hooked, this latest novel from Mr Grimwood is, in my opinion, a prime candidate for the "Best Sci Fi" awards... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2006 by L. O'Brien

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