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royzee's review
3.0
Bought a copy of this off ebay so I could revisit this classic, shame it is not available on Kindle. It was an ex-library book and for all I know the very copy I read way back in 77, in fact I know precisely when I finished it first time around. Argh was it really January 78 amid the grim weather and post-NY gloom?
Anyway it is November 2020 now and about as gloomy given prevailing confinement of one and all as the UK confronts a continuing threat. Perhaps this was prescient of Mr P, the populous having to confront an invisible agent of our own creation intent on our dissolution in furtherance of its own survival. No, that is silly, it could not happen could it, we have a responsive leadership to rely on. But just like in Pedler's UK of the 70s the protagonist spends much of the book in a state of frustration with his government. Only after a catastrophe as depicted on the cover shown here but not mine, do they sit up and listen - sound familiar? Soon enough as the pages run out the plot gets wrapped up but not in some pretty bow, no, this is dystopia of a different cut. In fact it kind of echoes the Mad Cow Disease we had in the 90s, massive casualties but not actual deaths to overload the underfunded health system.
A competent tale from the author who gave us many other treats such Doomwatch Mutant 59 the Plastic Eaters.... and The Cybermen!
My final comment for now is that it is quite laboured at times and could well have been under 200 pages rather than nearer 300 (another reason this would have been nice to have on the Kindle than a smelly library book).
Now for a warning bit so do not read past here if you want to get the most from the book.
I know this was written nearly half a century ago but had they not considered catalytic converters on everyday cars etc? Catalysis was advanced back then and it would have had to be the economics and legislation that would have come into play before we all had them. This would surely fix the problem so the contentious world without personal transport powered by petrol cars would not arise. Electric motor vehicles were also about such as milk floats. So too Shell and co could have changed the recipe for petrol so there were solutions in the cupboard. For this and other reasons I found this novel rather less satisfying than Mutant 59.
Anyway it is November 2020 now and about as gloomy given prevailing confinement of one and all as the UK confronts a continuing threat. Perhaps this was prescient of Mr P, the populous having to confront an invisible agent of our own creation intent on our dissolution in furtherance of its own survival. No, that is silly, it could not happen could it, we have a responsive leadership to rely on. But just like in Pedler's UK of the 70s the protagonist spends much of the book in a state of frustration with his government. Only after a catastrophe as depicted on the cover shown here but not mine, do they sit up and listen - sound familiar? Soon enough as the pages run out the plot gets wrapped up but not in some pretty bow, no, this is dystopia of a different cut. In fact it kind of echoes the Mad Cow Disease we had in the 90s, massive casualties but not actual deaths to overload the underfunded health system.
A competent tale from the author who gave us many other treats such Doomwatch Mutant 59 the Plastic Eaters.... and The Cybermen!
My final comment for now is that it is quite laboured at times and could well have been under 200 pages rather than nearer 300 (another reason this would have been nice to have on the Kindle than a smelly library book).
Now for a warning bit so do not read past here if you want to get the most from the book.
I know this was written nearly half a century ago but had they not considered catalytic converters on everyday cars etc? Catalysis was advanced back then and it would have had to be the economics and legislation that would have come into play before we all had them. This would surely fix the problem so the contentious world without personal transport powered by petrol cars would not arise. Electric motor vehicles were also about such as milk floats. So too Shell and co could have changed the recipe for petrol so there were solutions in the cupboard. For this and other reasons I found this novel rather less satisfying than Mutant 59.
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