This sounds like a really good plot but I just found I didn't connect with any other characters and it didn't have enough of a punch behind it. I felt it was lacking in something but I couldn't place what. The world was well described but it just didn't connect with me. I felt like I was watching through a window rather than experiencing.

There are many variations of the dystopian novel these days. Some preach against Big Corporations, some against Natural Resource Depletion, some against The Rich, and others against The Government. Mollart covers at least two of the above in “Kings of a Dead World.”

The story covers the lives of two protagonists; one in the present, and the other in both the present and the past. They are intertwined in a way that isn’t revealed until the end, which is a nice twist. I was drawn into the lives of the characters and their respective plights. Narrator Rogers did a great job of conveying emotion and modulating his voice and accent to keep the various characters separate.

The story hammered a little too hard on the depletion of natural resources as an argument for evil government to arise. The writing was good overall, and the plot was not predictable. I certainly didn’t see the end coming! Something was, however, amiss. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something struck me as tedious.

Three and a half stars for “Kings of a Dead World.” I wanted to like this book more, but it was nearly a DNF at the midpoint. My thanks to Clipper Audiobooks via Netgalley.

#ClipperAudiobooks #NetGalley #KindlesAllTheWayDown #KatzAllTheWayDown #ifcatscouldread #booksandcats #catsandbooks #booksandcatstagram #catsandbookstagram
#bookstagram #Catstagram #audiobooks #dystopia

Unfortunately I only got to 25% and made the decision not to finish the book. This sounded like it would be a book I would enjoy but it just wasn't. I think part of the issue was the narration, it was very monotonous and dull so it didn't keep my attention and I had to keep going back in the book to listen to parts I'd inadvertently missed. I hadn't even realised that there were 2 different character perspectives in the book until I read it in someone's review on Goodreads because I'd just been so lost and disinterested in what was happening.
From reading other people's reviews I really do think this is a case of the book not being right for me as oppose to it being badly written.

A fascinating tale of the near future, which also tells us much about the world we currently live in. Kings of a Dead World looks at a world where environmental factors and a growing population have made resources so scarce that the still surviving population are put into induced sleep status for 3 months at a time, waking for only one. Its a world that feels all too real, and an all too bleak solution to the problems that exist.

The characters are compelling, following 3 different stories, two involving Ben- one as he is now in a world that sleeps for vast parts of their life, and one set before where he is giving his all to fight against the world he now finds himself in. Rhe third story of the Janitor, Peruzzi, is a little less compelling, but still helps to move the story as a while forward. Peruzzi and his fellow janitors are programmed almost as fully as the computers that help them complete their work, keeping the citizens in line and keeping the world ticking over whilst they are asleep. But like all good speculative fiction, it makes me question, would I want to be a king on a dead world?

'People had been expecting the world to end for so long that no one really noticed when it did.' (9%)

Following environmental changes, humans are struggling for enough resources. The Sleep has become their only option; the population is in a cycle, put to sleep for three months then awake for one month.

One of these Sleepers is 82-year-old Ben, a man watching his wife, Rose, slowly fading from him as a result of a disease. The more time they spend in The Sleep, the further away she gets, but also, the harder it gets to connect with her.

Peruzzi is a Janitor, one of the select few who works to look after the Sleepers: trading to make credits during The Sleep and governing them during The Awake.

But dissatisfaction is growing and the city is about to wake.

The viewpoint of Ben watching the decline is Rose is poignant and upsetting, especially when paired next to the Before chapters exploring the development of their relationship.

Mike Rogers provides excellent narration, using distinct voices and accents for each character, recognising Mollart's regular shift between comedy and the profound.

Kinds of a Dead World kept me up all night! I couldn't put it down, and I what a cool concept. This should be made into a film! Highly original and clever.

A Restless Dystopia

🧡 Dwindling resources have forced humanity to sleep most of the time. That’s the intriguing premise that first unfolds . As someone who (day)dreams of more shuteye, the idea of months of the stuff is tempting, but not if it means waking to the grim, desperate world posed by Jamie Mollart. I do love visiting such places in stories though.

💚 The two narrators are constant threads throughout this story; characters on either side of the divide imposed by The Sleep: A sleeper and a janitor (a caretaker of sleepers). Beyond this, the story shifts and changes constantly. At first it has the feel of a space opera, then an uprising. Some parts felt like a good old fashioned Bonnie and Clyde tale.
__________________________________________________
SOUNDBITE

🎧 Mike Rogers does an excellent job as the sole narrator of this audiobook. I especially liked his portrayal of the AI, which was nuanced and witty.

🎧I think an extra narrator would have given this performance a valuable extra dimension. With two main characters with such similar backgrounds, I believe differentiating their voices more starkly would have painted a clearer picture.
___________________________________________________
SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO…

Half Stargate Universe with its bleak futility and half Man in the High Castle with its rumbling underbelly.

Big thanks to NetGalley and W.F. Howes Ltd, for providing me with an ALC in return for an honest review.