So This Is How It Ends

Plot summary

The beginning of the novel contains changing plots that will later become entwined as the story progresses.

The book begins by introducing a man named Bill Nichols, a policeman in New York City. He is currently investigating a mysterious house fire whom a little girl by the name of Kali survived. Out of the havoc that was reaped, it seems highly suspicious that out of all of the destruction a little girl survived. He believes it as luck and dismisses any suspician, leaving the fate of Kali unknown. The setting shifts to Chile, where a boy by the birth name of Catequil and the nickname of Tigre sits in class. The clouds roll in as he sits there, bored. The clouds take control and the boy jumps from class to run outside and enjoy the storm. He loses consciousness and faints. Meanwhile, an Egyptian tomb is broken into by someone who is obviously a child. There, an ancient artifact said to be god like, is stolen by Amon. He escapes, knowing this artifact will help him. Finally, the story shifts to Gus. Gus is just getting home from a night out with his girlfriend Lisa and another couple. As his three friends drop Gus off, the conversation shifts into one about a very famous pop singer by the name of Venus. The other couple discusses her concerts and of how the teenage pop star seems to enchant all of her fans. After Gus tells them he has never heard her music, the other couple lends him a copy of Venus's album. Gus gets out of the car, waves his friends goodbye and proceeds to walk into his house. He goes to play the CD when the door rings, and his brother's girlfriend comes in. She announces that Gus's parents along with his brother, Andrew, have been in a horrible car wreck. Meanwhile, what is regarded as Venus's most disliked song by music critics (discussing the end of the world) plays.

The book forwards to December 21, 2012. All of the characters previously mentioned are around the age of 16. Bill Nichols, the firefighter who rescued Kali, was married to Kali's mother and had three girls with her. He died, leaving Kali to support her mother and three younger sisters. Kali is stuck trying to balance a job she hates but needs, along with fulfilling her school requirements. As a result, she is portrayed as a very angry teenager. Tigre has grown up with a very controlling, rude girlfriend named Vicky, whom upon finding out that she's cheating on him, Vicky says he's too weak, crushing Tigre's confidence. Subsequently, he runs away, simultaneously conjuring up a storm. Amon, who is still in Egypt, is somehow aware of the day's significance. The story then shifts to Gus, who is now living in Los Angeles with his older brother Andrew. Andrew had survived the wreck, but his parents had died. Both still coping with the death of their parents, the brothers live with each other, and Andrew is working in a theatre business. On December 21, Andrew prepares the set for the now 16-year-old sedutive pop sensation, Venus, whom Gus is now a fan of. After realizing how much work was needed to set up for Venus's arrival, Andrew requests Gus's helping, telling Gus to stay clear of the pop star, as she is a bit of a diva. As both arrive at the theater Gus and Andrew are separated due to what their jobs entailed. Gus finishes his job and leaves the room when he hears a crash. Upon returning to the room he finds an extremely attractive, tom-boyish girl who looked less perfect to Venus-whom he assumed to be some sort of relative. However she was in fact Venus, and when Gus returns the two begin to bond. Venus genuinely happy that she was able to spend time with someone who wasn't obsessed with worshipping her, and Gus very happy now that he was with a girl-since Lisa had dumped him. However, when the girls true identity-Venus is identified, Gus reacts the way expected-reverence. Venus's bodyguard escorts her away, and Andrew soon scolded Gus for "bothering" Venus. Later, a faulty prop nearly kills Venus, and thanks to Gus she was saved. Then an earthquake began, and the two teenagers fled from the theatre building, hoping that everyone else made it out alive. The two teens ran into the night feeling the shift. Kali feels the quake, and experiences the shift. Tigre slept when the shift hit him, And Amon was ready and awake. When the shift completed Amon stood up, ready for what was to come.

Characters

The main characters in the book are:

Other characters include: