Others: Overwhelmingly positive At first the virus wiping out grass and crops is of little concern to John Custance. It has decimated Asia, causing mass starvation and riots, but Europe is safe and a counter-virus is expected any day. Except, it turns out, the governments have been lying to their people. When the deadly disease hits Britain, society starts to descend into barbarism.
Genres: science fiction, horror, classics
Lists: …
J. G. Ballard
1965 · 240 pages · 3 reviews
Others: PositiveA key backlist title from the author of Cocaine Nights, Empire of the Sun and Crash, now in PerfectBound e-book.
What made the match, strongest first
Philip K. Dick
1964 · 238 pages · 3 reviews
Others: Mostly negativeThe Penultimate Truth is a 1964 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. The story is set in a future where the bulk of humanity is kept in large underground shelters. The people are told that World War III is being fought above them, when in reality the war ended years ago. The novel is based on Dick's 1953 short story "The Defenders". Dick also drew upon two other of his short stories for the plot of the novel: "The Mold of Yancy" and "The Unreconstructed M".
What made the match, strongest first
Philip K. Dick
1970 · 208 pages · 4 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveA Maze of Death is a 1970 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. Like many of Dick's novels, it portrays what appears to be a drab and harsh off-world human colony and explores the difference between reality and perception. It is, however, one of his few to examine the human death instinct and capacity for murder and is one of his darkest novels.
What made the match, strongest first
Jack London
1907 · 285 pages · 3 reviews
Others: PositiveGenerally considered to be "the earliest of the modern Dystopian," it chronicles the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States. It is arguably the novel in which Jack London's socialist views are most explicitly on display. A forerunner of soft science fiction novels and stories of the 1960s and 1970s, the book stresses future changes in society and politics while paying much less attention to technological changes.
What made the match, strongest first
Robert Silverberg
1972 · 256 pages · 5 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveFrom the back cover: David Selig is outwardly unimpressive. His early promise as a student and scholar is unrealised. He has no proper job, he has no girlfriend. But, inside, Selig has the power of a god, for he can probe other people's minds and read their thoughts and feelings. This extraordinary faculty defines his sense of self -- his power is him. But with the onset of middle age, Selig's capacity to read minds is failing fast, and he must struggle to come to terms with that loss -- to accept that he is dying inside...
What made the match, strongest first
Tanith Lee
1979 · 159 pages · 7 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveThe world called Indigo turned upside down for Magdala Cled one unexpected morning. From being that world's only genetic misfit, the shunned outcast of an otherwise ideal society. she became the focus of attention for mighty forces. Once they had installed her in the midst of the Electric Forest, with its weird trees and its super-luxurious private home, Magdala awoke to the potentials which were opening up all about her. And to realize also the peril that now seemed poised above Indigo... which only she, the hated one, could possibly circumvent. An extraordinary incursion into hard-core science fiction by the same brilliant and colorful talent that produced THE BIRTHGRAVE and DEATH'S MASTER.
What made the match, strongest first
Loved itthis is a stark and brutal look at how quickly society can unravel in the face of disaster. In this case, a virus which affects all forms of grass, including a what are arable staple crops like rice and corn and wheat and so on.
Loved itThe Death of Grass, relatively recent edition. Made a video about that. Great, great book.
Loved itReally interesting read, and I'm hoping to read a lot more in the same genre also from this time period.
