This Is the Way the World Ends (novel)

This Is the Way the World Ends

First edition cover
Author	James Morrow
Language	English
Genre	Post-apocalyptic novel
Publisher	Henry Holt and Company
Publication date	1986
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	319
ISBN	978-0-03-008037-1
OCLC	12665442
Dewey Decimal	813/.54
LC Class	PS3563.O876 T5 1986

This Is the Way the World Ends is a post-apocalyptic novel by American writer James K. Morrow, published in 1986.

Plot summary

This Is the Way the World Ends is a novel in which a megaton nuclear strike causes an apocalypse.[1] The plot is driven by "The Unadmitted", a ghostly race of potential humans who never got to be born, due to nuclear holocaust. Determined to use their earthly tenures wisely, the unadmitted put the surviving architects of Armageddon—including the novel's everyman protagonist—on trial under the Nuremberg precedent.

Reception

Dave Langford reviewed This Is the Way the World Ends for White Dwarf #88, and stated that "This is a harrowingly satirical book, whose main flaw lies in its treatment of the USSR. World War III, it turns out, started by accident: but only Americans are prosecuted by the unborn, the evil Russkies being prejudged as insane and unworthy of trial. This strikes me as an insecure foundation for a scathing attack on the arms race."[1]

Reviews

• Review by Paul O. Williams (1986) in Fantasy Review, July–August 1986[2]
• Review by Tom Easton (1987) in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January 1987
• Review by Jon Wallace (1987) in Vector 138
• Review by David V. Barrett (1987) in Vector 138
• Review by Darrell Schweitzer (1987) in Aboriginal Science Fiction, July–August 1987
• Review by Lee Montgomerie (1987) in Interzone #20, Summer 1987
• Review by Kathryn Cramer (1988) in The New York Review of Science Fiction, October 1988

Awards and nominations

Year	Award		Result	Ref.
1987	John W. Campbell Memorial Award	—	Nominated–2	[3]
	Locus Award	Science Fiction Novel	Nominated–22	[4]
	Nebula Award	Novel	Shortlisted	[5]

References

1. Langford, Dave (April 1987). "Critical Mass". White Dwarf (88). Games Workshop: 8.
2. https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1023
3. "Award Category: Best Science Fiction Novel (John W. Campbell Memorial Award)". Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
4. "Locus Awards 1987". Science Fiction Awards Database. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
5. "This Is the Way the World Ends". The Nebula Awards. Retrieved December 18, 2022.