Psalms For the End of the World

by Cole Haddon

It's 1962 and physics student Grace Pulansky believes she has met the man of her dreams, Robert Jones, while serving up slices of pecan pie at the local diner. But then the FBI shows up, with their fedoras and off-the-rack business suits, and accuses him of being a bomb-planting mass-murderer.

Finding herself on the run with Jones across America's Southwest, the discoveries awaiting Gracie will undermine everything she knows about the universe. Her story will reveal how scores of lives - an identity-swapping rock star, a mourning lover in ancient China, Nazi hunters in pursuit of a terrible secret, a crazed artist in pre-revolutionary France, an astronaut struggling with a turbulent interplanetary future, and many more - are interconnected across space and time by love, grief, and quantum entanglement.

Spanning continents, centuries, and dimensions, this exquisitely crafted and madly inventive novel - a triple-disk, concept-album of a book - is a profound yet propulsive enquiry into the nature of reality - the perfect immersive read for fans of David Mitchell, Emily St. John Mandel, Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Ebooks, Time Travel, Historical Fiction, Novels

528 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2022

Reviews

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most inventive book you'll read this year.

A book unique in its complexity that will bend your brain during a wildly entertaining, beautifully written, cleverly imagined tale of humanity.

Loved it completely.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The publisher sent me an ARC for PSALMS, and I was delightfully thrilled. This is an emotionally potent debut; the language is on point, the characters unique, compelling, and properly damaged for us to invest our time in their ever-troubled lives. The story challenges your

Granted I’m biased because I adore multi-strand narratives that find ingenious and clever ways to collide. Mitchell’s CLOUD ATLAS comes to mind, so does Miller’s SIN CITY (the first 3 graphic novels). I’ll toss in Calvino’s IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT, for it sheer inventiveness reminded of PSALMS. However, PSALM takes things one step further, two steps deeper. The rich, complex characters fill out the far-out tapestry of the ricocheting-through-time-and-space plot.

Sometimes I feel the radiant magic that draws us to reading fiction past college (or even high school) has disappeared from literature in vain attempts at being “important” and “woke” or casually carousing in the Trauma Plot mode that overwhelms TV narratives as well as literature. What happens when you read this book is like a good magic trick - The Pledge, The Turn, and The Prestige… all executed with equal bravura.

[Mike Corley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time travel, alternate realities, wow this was a beautiful, strange one that totally caught me off guard. I can count the number of books that made me get choked up or teary on one hand, but this story managed it a few times in the run. Haddon wrote in a way that it sort of pulls at your heart and mind simultaneously. Something about it reminds me of Murakami in a way. Honestly, it was a bit exhausting at times but thankfully the chapters are short so if one character or storyline is overwhelming or not your cup of tea, the next chapter will introduce or follow another character who might speak to you more. I seriously don't know why more authors don't go this short chapter route, it makes me constantly want to read 'just one more'. Personally I really enjoyed the Gracie storyline and mystery because I felt like it was pretty ordinary at first, but then was totally upended halfway through. You won't know what hit you by the end of this read.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mind-bending, reality-altering corker of a novel. Hats off to Cole Haddon for this complex achievement. A book of this magnitude with so many dangling threads feels vast but so rewarding as connections are made and the reader grasps how this book hangs together. I really enjoyed Gracie and Bobby's story and the many, many additional stories threaded delicately together.

Psalms for the End of the World is an emotional kaleidoscope. The heart of this novel is about the personal experience of so many and how they come to be linked together. The cast of characters is wide, and fair to say, a bit confusing, but worth relaxing into the story with trust knowing it will all make sense further down the line. I loved the history jumping and the people living in all these differing timelines. Touching and sad, funny too. This novel delivers a story of epic scale with tenderness and compassion.

[Catherine Clapperton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spanning time, space and the earth, we're taking on a captivating journey explained from key character's view points.

Gracie meets Robert Jones in her local Diner in 1961 when the FBI suddenly turn up, accusing Him of being a mass murderer.

Without giving too many spoilers, I love how the book brings in so many interesting themes. It makes you question life as we know it.

What would you achieve if you didn't feel confined to society's expectations of you?

The book explores what it means to love, birth, life and death and indeed reality whilst also showing how interconnected events can often be.

Absolutely fascinating! I feel so lucky to have been provided a proof copy for an honest review. Out 1st Sept. I highly recommend!

[Michael Denison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The synopsis to this novel sang to me so I had to read it. I was as entranced as if I were listening to Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars for the first time, which is fitting due to a very Bowie like presence in this twisty time-wimey tale that intertwines simulations and the fates of many characters & many deaths throughout all of time. It reminds me of some of my favorite novels, like, Slaughterhouse-5, the Ocean at the End of the Lane, & Station Eleven, yet Cole has a unique voice and delivers a story that stands on its own. Highly recommended!!

[Ed Laroche · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning declaration of arrival by new author Cole Haddon. Refreshingly original, Psalms At The End Of The World (Love the title) tells the tale of multiple characters in different geographical locations and times. I found it to be a deep rumination on love, loss and the inherit interconnectivity of the human condition. I look forward to more from the author.

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent premise with lots and lots of promise which kind of fizzled out like flat champagne. My high hopes where dashed......

I did want to know about the Outside but the story remained strictly within the initial premises with no reveals and depth or weaving in of all the disparate threads of which there were many.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1962 Grace gets to know Robert in the diner where she works until one day everything is disrupted by the FBI who claim that Robert has been planting bombs and murdering people. Grace impulsively follows Robert as he goes on the run. This is just the start of an incredible story as you soon discover how many lives are connected to Grace and Robert’s experiences – not only across the world but spanning multiple times in history.

This is a truly epic story – there are so many ideas and emotions coming together in such a beautiful and fascinating book. I guarantee you will carry on thinking about it long after you have finished reading. The writing is excellent and every character has been thought out in such great detail.

Cole Haddon transports you to another time and place in a way that is so seamless, it was brilliant how he could switch the entire feel of the book from one chapter to the next. It is a complete rollercoaster of a story - just when you think there can’t be any more twists you’re hit with one that completely throws you. I loved that I never knew where the plot was heading.

I really did not want this book to end.

Thank you NetGalley and Headline Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

[Lindsey Corley · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you connect a diner waitress, a would be terrorist, an astronaut and a rockstar...among other characters, across time and reality? I'm still shocked by what Haddon managed to pull off here, somehow so intricate and yet powerfully simple. He juggled heady concepts and universal truths its hard to believe this is his first novel, looking forward to whatever he comes up with next. Really great book, excellent yet easy to digest with short chapters that keep you coming back for more.

[Kathleen Devlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's not something I would have normally picked up but I'm glad I did! The characters are beautifully written and the sci fi concept is a fascinating way to tell a story about how we are all connected in mysterious and unexpected ways. Highly recommend!!

[Theresa Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘He believed he could build a world, a perfect world, and that ridiculous arrogance, born of a need to overturn the sense of inadequacy and unimportance, of crippling fear that he was nothing and would never be more than nothing, was his undoing. The Company didn’t ruin Jones. Jones ruined Jones. And here he was again, take two, trying to remake the world yet again, and very likely about to mess it up as badly as he did the first time around. Fear is still driving his every decision. In the end, the world he was first born into isn’t much different from this one. He’s never felt such kinship with humans before. Life is life, as it turns out, however it begins, and fear is the high price of living.’

For such a complex novel, I found this incredibly easy to get swept up into. I can’t say that I always knew what was going on and why a particular character had been introduced, but by the end, everything made sense. In that vein, this is very much a story where you just need to almost exist within the moment and trust that the author is taking you somewhere magnificent.

It’s an impossible story to explain. There are many characters, so many, all existing across time and place. The story has time travel, inter-dimensional worlds, science fiction elements and a dystopian lens, and yet, it’s also historical fiction, contemporary fiction, futuristic, poetic, and uses a variety of formats to tell the overall story. This is an impressively unique and ambitious novel; it really is quite remarkable. And in the end, it all came down to love. A very different sort of love story, but a love story, nonetheless.

Highly recommended for readers who like complex, intelligent, and visionary stories that challenge the usual genre conventions.

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.

[Sarah Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow just wow this book is fabulous I adore a time travel novel and this one is vast ,complex and intelligent
From the start it is clear that the story is being told from multiple different points of view and at multiple times in history and is spread around the world
As you get deeper into the book you discover the complex and beautiful but sometimes traumatic stories of these people from African prince turned slave to a Jewish family in the Second World War and after .There are several characters that turn up repeatedly including a not so thinly disguised musician David Bowie complete with different coloured eyes .
The author cleverly slowly releases what turn out to be clues to what links these people .I loved the dawning understanding of the multiple worlds and what is behind them it was so gradual and fluid that I felt I’d understood it from the start .I hadn’t of course but there was no big reveal instead the author allows the full story to come out organically
This is a beautifully crafted book full or originality and wit ,yes it’s long but I was so glad I could spend time immersed in its pages .
Think Men I’m Black crossed with West world and you would be somewhere near
I loved the way when worlds were erased so were the chapter ends with some disappearing mud way through a sentence
Within the story by the author looks at anti-semitism and the racism suffered by black people on today’s world ,these heavy topics were covered in a way that was subtle and hard hitting at the same time .In the same way the slave trade and the Holocaust were backgrounds to some stories but I never felt lectured to
I would recommend to anyone who enjoys intelligent complex sci fi with a naturalistic time travel background full of interesting well defined characters .I loved this book
I was fortunate to be able to read this book early on NetGalley Uk
The book is published by Headline books 1st sSeptember 2022 it will be gifted by me this Christmas

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend of mine got this book early; she didn't tell me much except "you need to read this one."

And wow. I didn’t know what to expect when I saw the title and read the description, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the explosive and emotional ride I was about to go on. It’s the most compelling blend of literary fiction and science fiction, as well as historical fiction as it encompasses numerous time periods in seemingly well-researched detail. The novel also uses really fun devices such as interspersing fictional newspaper articles, emails, film reviews and press releases to add to the multi-layered and unique experience.
 
I was unsure how in the world all these various unrelated characters and multi-verse “dimensions” were going to work together as a cohesive book; but they slowly start to reveal a fascinating narrative connection but more, a thematic one. At its heart, this book is about what it means to feel connected, to feel loss and love. And it does it in surprising, sometimes quite confronting, but always interesting ways. Some of the chapters and passages made my jaw drop and challenged me; others took my breath away with their beauty.
 
I’m still reeling a bit after finishing it. On both an emotional and intellectual level, this novel gives a reader so much to digest. I honestly feel like I’d have to read it again – and I’d like to, after some distance – to fully appreciate all the complex threads the author weaves into this tapestry. It really makes you think, question, and appreciate the world we’re living in even as it presents an alternative idea about reality, and what it means to be “real.” It’s a doozy of a read in every sense, and one I’ll be thinking about in the days to come. You won’t look up at the stars – or in the mirror – quite the same again.

[Nigel]

Sadly calling this a DNF. I really like the Grace and Jones story thread but there were just toooo many other threads that left me disinterested unfortunately.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is completely unique and yet somewhat familiar. There really is no easy way to describe it that doesn’t risk highlighting the premise that makes up the real heart of the book. It’s a book I think has the potential to polarise readers, one that it took me the best part of a week to read and absorb​ because there is a lot going on and a lot to think about. 

It’s a book I really enjoyed, and that may seem a little strange to some as this is, potentially, as close as I’ve come to reading a science fiction style of novel for a very, very, long time. But beyond those elements which make us think long and hard about the very nature of existence, there is a mystery that feeds through the very centre of this novel. It is this that drew my attention, that and the moments of humour that have the capacity to both amuse some and, most likely, offend others.

This was a book I did need to concentrate on. There are so many threads, so many different stories that are told during the course of the story, that keeping track of the characters takes some doing. Ultimately, all roads lead in a very similar direction, but trying to guess what the ultimate destination might be seems almost impossible. 

There was a moment when certain truths are spelt out, when the author pulls readers sharply towards an unexpected truth, and from that point on, watching events unfold is done with a kind of knowing smugness in that we are far more aware than any of the characters we are watching. But the author has many surprises still up his sleeve, and there are many revelations yet to come that have the capacity to upend everything you thought you knew.

The central characters of Gracie and Jones I did come to like pretty quickly. Good news as they lead reads on one heck of a journey. There are so many characters, all very clearly defined and unique, whose stories we become invested in for very different reasons, but in some respects this was one of the great challenges of the book. Keeping track of just where were were in both time and space. From 18th century France to a near future that is scarily believable, North and South America, London and many places in between and beyond. 

There was one poignant moment in which the story talks of King Charles III, pages I read just a day after this became very much our new reality. Whilst it was a fleeting reference, it is just one of many factual references that infuse the novel, giving readers a real sense of time.

There is a strong sense of tension that informs the story, particularly as Jones is forced on the run, accused of a crime he could not have committed. But it is more the way in which the book questions the very fabric of reality - of the meaning of life, time, and religion - and makes the reader also think about the possibilities of a kind of virtual reality that is where the power of the book lies. At least I think it is. Maybe I didn’t really read the book after all. Who knows?

If you like your books to be unique, mind-bending and challenging, packed with great narrative and characters who will occupy far too much of your thoughts, this could well be the book for you. There are some moments that will make you stop and pause and wonder if you really read what you think you did, but just go with it. The rewards will be rich.

[Jordan Mechner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greatly enjoyed this epic, intelligent, ambitious adventure -- multiple lives, loves and timelines intersecting through different historical eras, with a sci-fi premise that's so simple yet somehow explains EVERYTHING, like the Matrix. Since I was a kid, I've been fascinated and haunted by the idea of a mysterious tune that sticks in the mind of people in different times and places, with no other sign that they're connected. Cole Haddon tackles that and much else in this multi-layered story, and makes it work. My kind of book.

[Elad Vernik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute must-read. Huge in scope and by far one of the most innovative books I’ve read, it’s a literary achievement that takes you on a mind-bending ride across multiple storylines spanning time, space and dimensions. A lot is being discussed - the human condition, art, the digital world and quantum entanglement, Samsara - the endless cycle of suffering, the atrocities people have brought on each other throughout history, down to individual matters of love, loss and grief – told through the life stories of multiple characters in short and sometimes fragmented chapters. using concepts from pop culture, historical and modern times - the book’s own concept and stories are being revealed bit by bit as plot connections are always made, to be wrapped up perfectly at the end. This is a book you want to binge-read.

The writing style is fresh, unique and very visual. Mr. Haddon conjures up characters’ intricate life stories in a blink of an eye, which serves to emphasise the overall concept of the book. The fragmented storylines told in relatively short chapters demand focus, but again serve perfectly to the book’s concept and readers are rewarded with a very creative and out-of-the-box storytelling experience with an emotional impact.

Psalms has all the elements of a successful sci-fi piece of art – excellent storytelling about technology and how it affects lives, existentialism, philosophy and time travel, lots of action, blood, gore and sex filled with social commentary and mixed with a tinge of dark humour. As such, Psalms for the end of the world Is a literary achievement and should be considered for a Goodreads choice award.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me about 50 pages to get into this one, but it was so rewarding once I just let it happen! A unique way to tell a story about the pain, disconnection and confusion of being alive. It's ultimately very beautiful and optimistic but there's brutality and grief and weirdness along the way -- and isn't that what it means to be human? Haddon has a special skill to interweave all these characters, storylines and big ideas. If you like elevated sci fi meets historical fiction, with a cool edge, this one is for you. But it really must be experienced, it's a hard one to describe! It definitely got me thinking, and that's when I know it's a good read.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking for a mind-bending Sci-Fi novel that will transport you to multiple worlds/ dimensions? This is the novel to read! Author Cole Haddon has written an adventurous epic of what seems, at first, like separate short stories that begin to intertwine to reveal surprising connections between characters throughout different time periods and realities. You won’t be disappointed at the end. Instead, you’ll want to reread it in order to follow the character arcs more closely the second time and search for “aha moments” you missed during the first read-through. Well done, Mr. Haddon, well done.

[Joshua James · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inventive, sprawling epic that will move and touch your soul... damn, that's all I can say, damn... what a great novel. It covers so much, so efficiently that the reader themselves often lose track of the time... this is a must read. Fantastic work!

[Rex Obano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just brilliant from start to finish. Is this a debut novel? It is written with such clarity and inventiveness it is hard to believe it is. I cannot praise this high enough. Recommend.

[Alyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

fuck me. don’t talk to me until you’ve read this book. a beautiful, complex creation of the human condition. love love love.

[Annabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this novel, but it’s one of those near-impossible books to write about for many reasons; spoiling the plot is only one of them. It’s one of those sprawling, virtually uncategorisable novels. If I said take David Mitchell’s history-hopping Cloud Atlas, add a dash of the Man in Black and world-hopping doors of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, sprinkle with a bit of Westworld and The Matrix and infuse liberally with a love of David Bowie, you’re nearly there if you entangle the whole lot in a quantum sense! It’s a bit SF, a bit spec fic, a bit historical fic, a tiny bit fantasy, and there’s a love story, but Psalms for the End of the World is perhaps more a thriller than anything else. You can appreciate my dilemma in how to describe this novel now.

It begins in an American diner in 1962, where physics student and waitress Gracie is serving her regular customer Jones a slice of pie. But something is wrong today, when the FBI burst in accusing Jones of a bombing in the city, everything changes and Gracie, believing Jones didn't do it goes on the run with him. What's going on?

Well Haddon makes us wait, as we head off back to the 1770s and a chateau in France, where a painter Bertrand has disowned his son Xavier and his wife and shut himself in his attic, steadily going insane. No-one knows why, but something happened, and his paintings became full of horrors, few can look at them and not feel ill. A few pages later, we jump forward to Sydney, where a young Muslim believes Allah is speaking to him through his rabbit and telling him to make a bomb jacket. This routine of short chapters all set in different locations and time periods is how the story builds up. There is a large cast of characters including an astronaut on a spacewalk who sees the stars start to disappear, a samurai, a young film director in present-day LA, a pair of Jewish Nazi hunters chasing down escaped Nazis in the Black Forest in 1945, and many more.

Naturally, Jones and Gracie’s story is the primary focus, Jones being one of the keys to everything that’s going on. But also running through the novel is the story of Damien Syco, tortured 1970s rock star, aka ‘Moon Man’, now presumed dead in 2016, but maybe not… a posthumous album due. His story is primarily told via transcripts of newspaper and magazine articles and interviews, although if you keep your wits about you, you will encounter him for real in the novel. The Moon Man’s career is minutely influenced by that of David Bowie, and gives us a delicious sideways look at how he enjoyed acting out all his different characters and how people try to understand and surely overcomplicate the man and his music, however much of a genius he was. (And he was of course!)

Amazingly, it all begins to pull together, I don’t really want to say more. If you embark on reading this book, you need to discover its secrets for yourself. Despite the multiplicity of threads, they do entwine to make something that is more than their sum. Read my fuller review on my blog here: https://annabookbel.net/psalms-for-th...

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking for a mind-bending Sci-Fi novel that will transport you to multiple worlds/ dimensions? This is the novel to read! Author Cole Haddon has written an adventurous epic of what seems, at first, like separate short stories that begin to intertwine to reveal surprising connections between characters throughout different time periods and realities. You won’t be disappointed at the end. Instead, you’ll want to reread it in order to follow the character arcs more closely the second time and search for “aha moments” you missed during the first read-through. Well done, Mr. Haddon, well done.

[Kyle Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVED this book. Brilliant and beautifully written. A home run debut novel from Cole Haddon.

[Zac Gordon-Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, full of twists and mystery, kept me engaged all the way til the end. Wonder full story.

[Joeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totaal geschift verhaal, maar als ge er voor kiest om er in mee te gaan, heerlijk. Hoe alles uiteindelijk samen komt, is meesterlijk gedaan. Origineel, spannend maar niet simpel om te volgen.
4sterren

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I flew through this one! The short chapters make it really accessible for someone who doesn’t have long stretches of time — but I found myself MAKING the time to read just a little more each time I opened the book. The writing is incredibly rich, yet easy to consume, and the story is fresh. This book took me on a ride and has really stuck with me. Highly highly recommend.

[Margaret LeFauve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A journey told from many points of view that all add up to a nuanced, complex and resonate end. I loved so many different storylines and the overall mystery pulls each along to a moving conclusion.