The End of Everything by M. John Harrison: audiobook vs book, which should you choose?
A 208-page novel on the Booker shortlist. It moves between characters, does not explain what has happened, and ends on blank pages.
Short answer: for The End of Everything audiobook vs book choice, we say read it on Kindle (100% confidence, clear cut). The End of Everything audiobook is read by Russ Bain and runs 3 hours 50 minutes (3h 50m), unabridged. The prose is literary and the story is nonlinear, and nothing confirmed points to audio.
Read it on Kindle
Literary prose and a nonlinear story, with nothing confirmed that points to audio.
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Confidence 100%, which puts it in the clear cut band. Bands run from close call at 50 to 64, through leaning at 65 to 79 and clear at 80 to 94, up to clear cut at 95 and above.
The audiobook at a glance
| Recording | Russ Bain (Serpent's Tail Audio) |
|---|---|
| Narrator | Russ Bain, solo |
| Length | 3 hours 50 minutes (3h 50m) |
| At 1.5x | 2h 33m |
| At 2x | 1h 55m |
| Abridged or unabridged | Unabridged |
| Audio publisher and year | Serpent's Tail Audio, 18 June 2026 |
| Print length | 208 pages (Serpent's Tail hardback) |
In the US: Penguin Audio, 13 October 2026, read by Russ Bain at the same length.
Lengths checked 13 October 2026. Speed times are calculated from the listed length.
The End of Everything
M. John Harrison
- Genre
- Literary fiction
- Published
- 2026
- Length
- 208 pages (hardback)
- On audio
- 3 hrs 50 mins
- Narrated by
- Russ Bain
On this page
Why we reached this verdict
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions. They are based on research into what most people find easier to follow in each format, not on whether the book is any good.
Listening: nothing confirmed, 0 points. Reading: jumping timelines (8), literary or dense prose (7), 15 points. 100% of the confirmed points favour reading, so the verdict is read it on Kindle at 100% confidence (clear cut).
The recording in detail
- Narrated by
- Russ Bain, a London-based voice artist originally from Scotland, unabridged
- Publisher
- Serpent's Tail Audio, released with the hardback on 18 June 2026
- Listener reception
- 3.6 out of 5 from 37 ratings on Audible UK at the time of writing
- What audio adds
- A short audiobook with one narrator, for a dry, unsettling book
- What you miss
- The blank pages after the ending, italic emphasis and the run of question marks The Scotsman quotes
What this book actually is
The End of Everything is M. John Harrison's new novel, published by Serpent's Tail in hardback, ebook and audio on 18 June 2026, at 208 pages. It is on the 2026 Booker Prize shortlist, and the winner is announced on 9 November. Harrison, who judged the prize in 2022, has not been nominated before.
Years after a crisis whose exact nature is unclear, Phillip Tennent scrapes a living collecting what washes up from the Channel. The setting is the English coast, from Kent up into Suffolk. The Booker reading guide describes chapters that are short, “often only a few pages”, cutting between characters and moments, and a point of view that moves from Phillip towards his aunt Marnie. A minor character's notebooks sit at the centre of the book.
The case for reading it
The book deliberately holds information back. Harrison has said he wanted readers to share his characters' uncertainty, and The Scotsman describes prose that gives “details and specifics but no overall description”. The extract on the Booker site has long sentences strung on semicolons and colons, then a short line like “They both laughed.” In print you can slow down, reread and spot the detail that matters later.
The printed book also has a few things the audiobook cannot reproduce: italic emphasis, a run of question marks (“arrival? emergence? invasion?”), and the blank pages that, according to the FT's review, follow the ending. How the notebooks are laid out in the printed book is not described anywhere we checked.
The case for listening to it
The case for audio is length and tone. At 3 hours 50 minutes unabridged, it is a single sitting at 2x, and the judges say there were “moments we found ourselves laughing aloud”. Dry, deadpan humour often works better spoken than read.
Russ Bain lists Scottish, British and North American among his accents. Listener response on Audible UK is mixed: one review calls the reading “a tad flat” and suggests that may be deliberate, and another praises the “very British laugh tucked away in its darkness”.
The audiobook in detail
Serpent's Tail Audio released the unabridged recording on 18 June 2026, the same day as the hardback. It runs 3 hours 50 minutes, about 2 hours 33 minutes at 1.5x and 1 hour 55 minutes at 2x. No bonus PDF is listed.
Russ Bain is a voice artist based in London and originally from Scotland. His Audible credits include Clear by Carys Davies, a three-hour reading Kirkus praised for how it blended three viewpoints, and Poor Things by Alasdair Gray, which he co-narrates. How he handles the changing names, the creature's speech or the notebook section is not documented.
Who should ignore this verdict
Booker readers working through the shortlist on a deadline: under four hours is the quickest way through this one. Anyone who enjoys a deadpan reading and is happy not to have everything explained, which is what the book intends anyway. And anyone coming back to it a second time, who already knows where the story moves between characters.
Read differently from most people? The app, coming soon, will let you switch off any of the thirteen checks. Get notified →
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Start hereHow we decide
The thirteen questions behind every verdict on this site.
Questions people ask
Who narrates The End of Everything audiobook by M. John Harrison?
The End of Everything audiobook is read by Russ Bain, solo and unabridged, for Serpent's Tail Audio (18 June 2026).
How long is The End of Everything audiobook?
The End of Everything audiobook is 3 hours 50 minutes (3h 50m) long, unabridged, read by Russ Bain. That is 2h 33m at 1.5x and 1h 55m at 2x (calculated).
Is The End of Everything audiobook abridged?
No. The End of Everything audiobook is unabridged. There is no dramatisation or shorter version.
Should I read or listen to The End of Everything?
Read it on our checks (100% confidence, clear cut). The prose is literary and the story is nonlinear, and nothing confirmed points to audio.
Is The End of Everything a sequel?
No. It is a standalone novel. One reviewer calls it a companion piece to The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again, but it is not part of a numbered series.
When is the 2026 Booker Prize winner announced?
Monday 9 November 2026, at Old Billingsgate in London. The End of Everything is one of six books on the shortlist.
Do you agree with this verdict?
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How this verdict was reached
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions, set in advance and applied identically to every title. They are based on research into what readers and listeners generally find easier to follow in each format, not on personal preference, and they are published in full so you can check the reasoning yourself. Verdicts are never paid for, sponsored or influenced by affiliate partners.
- The criteria: read the thirteen questions in full.
- What we checked for this book: the Serpent's Tail and Audible UK listings, the Blackwell's and Waterstones hardback pages, the Booker Prize reading guide, extract and author interview, and reviews describing the book's structure.
- Verdict last reviewed: 23 October 2026. Editions and narrators change, so verdicts are rechecked annually.
- Prefer different criteria? The app, coming soon, will let you change which of the thirteen questions matter to you.
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