This is no country he knows, and no place he ever wants to see, even in the shuttered madness of his worst dreams. But Richard Jane survived. He walks because he has no choice and at the end of this molten road, running along the spine of a burned, battered country, his son may be alive. The sky crawls with venomous cloud and burning rain while the land is a scorched sprawl of rubble and corpses. Rats have risen from the depths to gorge on the carrion, and a glittering dust coats everything. It hides a terrible secret as new horrors take root. He walks on, with one hope.
One
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"A significant contribution to an illustrious post-apocalyptic tradition that includes I Am Legend, The Day of the Triffids, Riddley Walker, The Road, and 28 Days Later . . . an absolute triumph: a novel that shows that literary horror still holds enormous potential to move and challenge its readership." —Strange Horizons
"Refreshingly literate take on the post-apocalyptic struggle . . . Williams has proven he is up there with the heavyweights in horror literature." —Horrorscope
About the Author
Conrad Williams is also the author of London Revenant, Use Once Then Destroy, and The Unblemished, for which he won the International Horror Guild Award for Best Novel. He is also the winner of the Littlewood Arc Prize and the British Fantasy Award.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
71 of 73 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"One" paints an uncompromising portrait of the world's end. Though bearing echoes of preceding post-apocalyptic works, it blazes an original trail by instilling a numbing atmosphere of stark, stripped down survival. Man has fallen down the evolutionary ladder, and it's doubtful as to whether he'll rise, ever again.
In a flash, ethereal fire wipes away everything. Richard Jane is an undersea diver employed by an oil company. He and his team are submerged at the time of the 'Event', protected by miles of sea overhead. It comes with a crackling hiss of the intercom, then an underwater downpour of dead, bleeding fish - everywhere. Jane and his team are the only ones to initially survive, their entire company on the surface killed.
Of his comrades, Jane alone makes it to shore. From there begins an agonizing trek to London. What's happened? Who's at fault? Was the cause natural, mechanical...or war? Eventually, Jane encounters others, even welcomes a nurse and a young boy as his regular companions, but deep inside one desire smolders into an obsession: get to London, find his only son Stanley, the joy of his life. Has Stanley survived the world's end, is he numbered among the dead...or has something much, much worse happened to him?
Years pass. Survivors band together in pockets all over London. Something like life continues, but it is hard, emaciated, caustic. Still nothing is known about the 'Event', except this: after it, something came on the winds, from the sky and beyond...and infested the dead. They now walk, blindly, senseless, devouring human men and dragging off the women for awful, unknown designs. A desperate plan has been hatched to raft across the London Channel, yet Jane still hunts the dark, wet corners of a crumbling London, despondently searching for a son he no longer believes has survived... but still can't let go of, regardless.
Though post-apocalyptic tales have been "done before", Conrad avoids all the obvious cliches. Even the requisite "zombies" read differently, though they do bear a resemblance to those in "The Rising" and "Dead City" because wildlife is infected, also. However, Conrad proves an oft-argued point: a horror staple doesn't have to be dried up or over-told. The real center of this novel is Jane's sense of loss, his quest to find Stanley. In many ways, everything else serves as compelling backdrop matter.
Also, William's vision of a post-apocalyptic world is very realistic. There's no grand battle for humanity's future ("Terminator: Salvation"). There's no Mother Abigail drawing together good souls against a didactic evil like Randall Flagg ("The Stand"). There aren't even diabolical zombies readers can root against, such as Brian Keene's wonderful creations, led by the maniacal Ob ("The Rising"). There's no kitschy explanation of the "Event". Just a horrible end, scrabbling survivors, new kinds of predators, and slim hope for all.
In a flash, ethereal fire wipes away everything. Richard Jane is an undersea diver employed by an oil company. He and his team are submerged at the time of the 'Event', protected by miles of sea overhead. It comes with a crackling hiss of the intercom, then an underwater downpour of dead, bleeding fish - everywhere. Jane and his team are the only ones to initially survive, their entire company on the surface killed.
Of his comrades, Jane alone makes it to shore. From there begins an agonizing trek to London. What's happened? Who's at fault? Was the cause natural, mechanical...or war? Eventually, Jane encounters others, even welcomes a nurse and a young boy as his regular companions, but deep inside one desire smolders into an obsession: get to London, find his only son Stanley, the joy of his life. Has Stanley survived the world's end, is he numbered among the dead...or has something much, much worse happened to him?
Years pass. Survivors band together in pockets all over London. Something like life continues, but it is hard, emaciated, caustic. Still nothing is known about the 'Event', except this: after it, something came on the winds, from the sky and beyond...and infested the dead. They now walk, blindly, senseless, devouring human men and dragging off the women for awful, unknown designs. A desperate plan has been hatched to raft across the London Channel, yet Jane still hunts the dark, wet corners of a crumbling London, despondently searching for a son he no longer believes has survived... but still can't let go of, regardless.
Though post-apocalyptic tales have been "done before", Conrad avoids all the obvious cliches. Even the requisite "zombies" read differently, though they do bear a resemblance to those in "The Rising" and "Dead City" because wildlife is infected, also. However, Conrad proves an oft-argued point: a horror staple doesn't have to be dried up or over-told. The real center of this novel is Jane's sense of loss, his quest to find Stanley. In many ways, everything else serves as compelling backdrop matter.
Also, William's vision of a post-apocalyptic world is very realistic. There's no grand battle for humanity's future ("Terminator: Salvation"). There's no Mother Abigail drawing together good souls against a didactic evil like Randall Flagg ("The Stand"). There aren't even diabolical zombies readers can root against, such as Brian Keene's wonderful creations, led by the maniacal Ob ("The Rising"). There's no kitschy explanation of the "Event". Just a horrible end, scrabbling survivors, new kinds of predators, and slim hope for all.
80 of 88 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am an avid reader of post-apocalyptic fiction and happened to stumble upon this work. After reading several reviews I decided to give it a try. I wished I hadn't.
I wanted to quit after roughly 30%. I pressed on hoping I had just hit a rough patch. After 75%, I found that I had to force the "on" switch of my Kindle.
The initial apocalyptic event is interesting and imaginative, yet the author stumbles on several small technical details early on. Oh well, we can overlook those. The main plot of the first part of this story holds it's consistency; our hero is determined to return home to his 5 year old son and is forced to walk a considerable distance, but it's in the details that the author looses credibility. As an example, the author illustrates our hero enduring a dust storm only several paragraphs after telling us about the incessant rain. Is it hot or is it cold? It's windy, but quiet? It is difficult to form a mental image of the stage where this story is set when the details keep shifting.
OK, so our story has no credibility due to inconsistency, but every great story is truly about the characters, right? It's in the arena of character development this story falls apart. After finishing 75% of the story I believe our hero has the weakest stomach on the planet as the author has described him vomiting no less than 15 times. Throughout the entirety of the work there are innumerable long flashbacks as the main character thinks about his son and remembers their time together. By the halfway mark of this story I was convinced I had experienced every excruciating detail of the child's five years. The second part of this story occurs ten years after the initial event and yet our hero continues to have a pathological fixation on this boy. I understand where some madness would be commonplace and understandable in the story the author is telling here, but don't ask the reader to share it.
As much as I wanted to enjoy this story, I couldn't. If you are willing to skip paragraphs or more accurately, pages and pages of erroneous, confusing, and illogical detail, to get to a somewhat interesting plot maybe it's for you.
I wanted to quit after roughly 30%. I pressed on hoping I had just hit a rough patch. After 75%, I found that I had to force the "on" switch of my Kindle.
The initial apocalyptic event is interesting and imaginative, yet the author stumbles on several small technical details early on. Oh well, we can overlook those. The main plot of the first part of this story holds it's consistency; our hero is determined to return home to his 5 year old son and is forced to walk a considerable distance, but it's in the details that the author looses credibility. As an example, the author illustrates our hero enduring a dust storm only several paragraphs after telling us about the incessant rain. Is it hot or is it cold? It's windy, but quiet? It is difficult to form a mental image of the stage where this story is set when the details keep shifting.
OK, so our story has no credibility due to inconsistency, but every great story is truly about the characters, right? It's in the arena of character development this story falls apart. After finishing 75% of the story I believe our hero has the weakest stomach on the planet as the author has described him vomiting no less than 15 times. Throughout the entirety of the work there are innumerable long flashbacks as the main character thinks about his son and remembers their time together. By the halfway mark of this story I was convinced I had experienced every excruciating detail of the child's five years. The second part of this story occurs ten years after the initial event and yet our hero continues to have a pathological fixation on this boy. I understand where some madness would be commonplace and understandable in the story the author is telling here, but don't ask the reader to share it.
As much as I wanted to enjoy this story, I couldn't. If you are willing to skip paragraphs or more accurately, pages and pages of erroneous, confusing, and illogical detail, to get to a somewhat interesting plot maybe it's for you.
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"One" is my first exposure to Conrad Williams. It is a brutally disturbing story, unflinching in its depiction of the collapse of civilization and the struggle of humans to survive when everything has been stripped away.
I am an avid post-apocalyptic fan...rehearsing the end of the world from my reading chair is one of my favorite things to do (yeh, I am a sick puppy). Williams story here is a brilliant one, no doubt. The only clue to what actually causes the world's end is in the "introduction", where he thanks a scientist for helping him understand the effects of a gamma ray burst. The story begins with something causing massive death from what looks like microwaves cooking humanity from the inside out. Nothing works, the sky is blasted, corpses litter the landscape...and it seems as if Richard Jane, the story's protagonist, may be the only survivor.
I like the fact that Williams never attempts to explain what destroyed the planet, or even if it is a global or localized phenomenon. What he deals with is the raw human emotions of loss, fear, rage, and bitter confusion. And hope, as Jane searches for his son and joins with other survivors who are just looking for a way to survive.
The story takes an odd twist just beyond the midway point, when a dust that has settled over the bodies of the dead turns out to be something other than dust. A strange new take on the zombie story results, and it is graphic, disturbing and shocking. The story moves inexorably to an ending which really resolves nothing, but is literate in the way it communicates how one man finds hope in the midst of hopelessness.
It is brilliantly conceived story, and has strong emotional impact. Williams is a master of portraying both external and internal landscapes, of getting into people's hearts and heads, and in making you squirm with disgust at the horror of a nightmare existence.
My only problem with the book is that the language is dense; it seems as if Williams is trying to make his mark as a literate horror writer. I possess a Master of Arts degree, and am working towards a Ph.D. I have written and published before. However, I stumbled over his wording, his use of descriptive language and his phrasing. His paragraphs were not structured well (in my humble opinion) and I often found myself having to re-read a page or two to follow the narrative. It may be an editing problem, but I suspect he was trying to come off as a poetic writer...it just got confusing and obtuse, at times.
Not always, though...and that is why I rate this a 4.5. It ranks as one of the best post-apocalyptics I have read...and I do appreciate a more literary (and brutalizing) approach to story telling...something that does not flinch from the horror of the story.
Highly recommended...and I have already ordered two more of Williams books.
I am an avid post-apocalyptic fan...rehearsing the end of the world from my reading chair is one of my favorite things to do (yeh, I am a sick puppy). Williams story here is a brilliant one, no doubt. The only clue to what actually causes the world's end is in the "introduction", where he thanks a scientist for helping him understand the effects of a gamma ray burst. The story begins with something causing massive death from what looks like microwaves cooking humanity from the inside out. Nothing works, the sky is blasted, corpses litter the landscape...and it seems as if Richard Jane, the story's protagonist, may be the only survivor.
I like the fact that Williams never attempts to explain what destroyed the planet, or even if it is a global or localized phenomenon. What he deals with is the raw human emotions of loss, fear, rage, and bitter confusion. And hope, as Jane searches for his son and joins with other survivors who are just looking for a way to survive.
The story takes an odd twist just beyond the midway point, when a dust that has settled over the bodies of the dead turns out to be something other than dust. A strange new take on the zombie story results, and it is graphic, disturbing and shocking. The story moves inexorably to an ending which really resolves nothing, but is literate in the way it communicates how one man finds hope in the midst of hopelessness.
It is brilliantly conceived story, and has strong emotional impact. Williams is a master of portraying both external and internal landscapes, of getting into people's hearts and heads, and in making you squirm with disgust at the horror of a nightmare existence.
My only problem with the book is that the language is dense; it seems as if Williams is trying to make his mark as a literate horror writer. I possess a Master of Arts degree, and am working towards a Ph.D. I have written and published before. However, I stumbled over his wording, his use of descriptive language and his phrasing. His paragraphs were not structured well (in my humble opinion) and I often found myself having to re-read a page or two to follow the narrative. It may be an editing problem, but I suspect he was trying to come off as a poetic writer...it just got confusing and obtuse, at times.
Not always, though...and that is why I rate this a 4.5. It ranks as one of the best post-apocalyptics I have read...and I do appreciate a more literary (and brutalizing) approach to story telling...something that does not flinch from the horror of the story.
Highly recommended...and I have already ordered two more of Williams books.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Wow but oh?
I've just sat and read this book straight almost without break. Did I like it? I'm not honestly sure. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sam Jones
Great book
First I bought this book and I was a little sceptical as I am more of a Zombie fan. This was somewhat out of my normal reading but I found this book a good read. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Scott
Not feeling it
There's nothing majorly significant about this book. In fact, I found it confusing - and not in a good way. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mf
Read nothing about this book before starting it.
Conrad Williams, <strong>One</strong> (Virgin Books, 2009)
I knew too much when I started this book, unfortunately. Read more
I knew too much when I started this book, unfortunately. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Robert P. Beveridge
Not what I expected
This book was written in two parts by the author. The first part was rather interesting. It was obvious that a catastrophic nuclear "event" caused the devistation and end to... Read more
Published 14 months ago by A. C.
That was a strange one...
I'm not sure what to make of this.
I'm no stranger to apocalyptic fiction, and this one was a new path to venture down. It's gritty, unforgiving and brutal. Read more
I'm no stranger to apocalyptic fiction, and this one was a new path to venture down. It's gritty, unforgiving and brutal. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Me read
Really drops off
It is regrettable when a book drops off as quickly as this one. What starts as an excellent story of survival in a PA world, quickly turns into a pseudo-zombie, psycho drama. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Lissa
Immersion into a Dark Place
Well written, original addition to a highly populated genre. The descriptions of a desolate, dark landscape are incredibly vivid, the characters (and even the "monsters") are very... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Tejaspics
entertaining, but too vague in some areas
Like many, I am an avid reader of post apocalyptic (PA) fiction. The character development in One is good. The world building is pretty good. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Jeffrey M. Jilg
Dark and unsatisfying post-apocalyptic tale
A nearby gamma-ray burst destroys virtually all life on the surface of the Earth. Only those who happened to be deeply buried (in a subway, deep basement, etc.) survive. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Utah Blaine
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