Fail State

On Zero Day of the first and last cyberwar in human history, the internet went dark, transport and power grids collapsed, and cities began to starve. Ten days later, millions have died from thirst and starvation, from violence and from the simple failure of the world’s machines to keep them alive.

This second instalment of John Birmingham’s End of Days trilogy finds James O’Donnell and his friends Rick, Michelle and Melissa hunkered down in the wilderness, where they know a horde of starving...