“A bitter aftertaste and a fantasy of how we all could live” - Robbie Williams. “This Is The Next Century” starts where “Backpacking Centurion” ended.

Long term backpacker Jonny Blair had lived his dream of visiting 100 countries by the age of 34. However, it certainly didn’t end there as another century was swiftly swallowed with aplomb, to feature in the next book hattrick.

Aftershot is the start of that hattrick. From the deserts of Tunisia, this book will take us to Bangladesh and The Faroe Islands.

An extra fascination in lesser known countries appears in this volume, with Austenasia, Podjistan, Adammia, Karakalpakstan and Ladonia all ready for this perpetual tourist. This is the most brutal yet with the extreme horrors of Chernobyl, Auschwitz and a “Taliban” Football Stadium covered in their gory, here.

This is gory days loyal, as opposed to the more common glory days loyal. The quiz question is - by the end of Aftershot, will Jonny have ended up in magnetic Kyrgyzstan, will he have returned to the gaping skyscrapers of the Kong or will this Ulsterman still be on the move? “Tomorrow never knows what it doesn’t know too soon” - Noel Gallagher.

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