Getting Near the End

by Andrew Weiner, Robert Sawyer (Introduction)

New Year's Eve, 2023. A world gripped by madness, terror and apocalyptic fever has time for one last party. Martha Nova, the megastar whose music predicts the future has time for one last song . . . when the music ends, so does the world.

Genres: Science Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Andrew Weiner was a Canadian science fiction writer. He published three novels and over forty short stories. The third of his novels has so far been published only in France.

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lecture de la traduction en français.
La quatrième de couverture de l'édition annonce une fin du monde douce-amère, et je trouve le qualificatif totalement pertinent. Doucement, sensiblement, on se laisse porter dans ce monde (au sens de modèle du monde) qui à l'air de se terminer, de s'accrocher à ses restes, d'oser peut-être rêver de changement. Pas de scénario à rebondissements, la fin est un processus continu que l'on vit petit à petit, le seul évènement à attendre étant peut-être la prise de conscience de cet état et son inéluctabilité.

[Brian Gaston · Rating 3 out of 5]

The current rating on Good Reads of about 3.5 is right for this book. A literary book with an interesting plot.

[Lianne Burwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting Near the End is more of a literary novel than an SF/Apocalyptic novel (despite being released as a 'Robert J Sawyer' imprint book by the publisher). It ranges from worship of music stars, populations that are more and more medicated to make them 'normal', boredom with space exploration, worry about the future, and possibly the singularity.

Martha Nova is a singer who predicts the future. She has a son who may have been fathered by the sole survivor of the Mars mission that provoked a collective yawn. The most powerful organization in the US is the Mental Health department, which exerts a lot of control over everyone. And they are worried about Martha Nova, who is launching a new album long awaited for by her cult-like fans, the Children. And the world may be coming to an end.

The story meanders all over the place, and for the plot-obsessed, there isn't really a plot, but the story is engrossing, and the writing is beautiful, invoking a wide range of emotions. I came out of it feeling like the world wasn't exactly right.

[Shawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very slow with uninteresting characters.