Book Review - End of Days by Robert Gleason

End of Days
Robert Gleason
Forge Books
2011
Trade Paperback
Advance Reader’s Copy
496 pages

End of Days by Robert Gleason had all the potential of becoming a very good post-apocalyptic glimpse into a future gone terribly wrong. It contains political intrigue, fairly interesting characters, a good premise, and an excellent explanation of a world on the brink of nuclear destruction. But it suddenly took a turn for the worse when a pair of philosophical-minded rats unexpectedly entered the narrative. They were so out of place in the flow of the story, in fact, that I thought perhaps a portion of another novel had somehow been accidently edited into this one by the publisher. I gave the author the benefit of the doubt and read on but it only got worse and then the story (and the writing) bogged down to a slow crawl and I admit that I was unable to finish the book. I’m still trying to figure out what purpose the rats played in the story and I’m sure Gleason somehow pulled it all together in the end but I really didn’t feel there was a need for the animal-based fantasy to be included in the story. It just didn’t make any sense.

Life is too short to put this one at the top of your reading list. In my opinion, End of Days is pretty much a waste of good reading time. There are plenty of other solid post-apocalyptic stories out there that are much more worthwhile. Scroll down through some of my other reviews and you’ll see what I mean.

2 ½ stars out of 5

The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin