A 50s/60s world where a viral plague wipes out all grasses on Earth - including rice and wheat. This is one of my favourite genres of fiction, yet somehow I was rather unmoved by the story. The prose felt very "formal", rather matter-of-fact, and left me detached from what was happening - not a problem I had with the contemporaneous "Day of the Triffids", for example. The ideas are strong, and the resolution striking, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. Odd from the author of the Tripods series, I expected better. ( )

Dark depressing tale of Englands descent into anarchy after a mutant virus wipes out all the grass in the world. Tipped off by a friend in government John Custance flees London for the safety of his brother's (potoato) farm in Westmorland. He finds himself the increasingly feudal leader of a growing band of desparate refugees. Morality and order crumble on a nightmare journey. I first read this at 14 (I was a fan of the Tripods trilogy) and it profoundly disturbed me - it now feels a little dated but has not lost the power to shock as the civilised, professional protagonists discard their morality to save their families and themselves. ( )

If you've read or are reading "the Road" you'll see a few things in common with this.

A virus is destroying the worlds rice crops, its OK though the scientists have found an answer. Only the resulting mutation now kills all of the grasses. John Custance gets an early warning of the measures the government are preparing to take through his friend Roger. Whilst they have a head start,its not a big lead and quite soon the fabric of society is fraying.

That's the main thrust, how people adapt & cope with the descent into feudalism and deal with the failure of society's structures. That the toss of a coin can bring about so much. ( )

click for review ( )

This book has recently been repunlished under Penguin Modern Classics, and I am so glad to see it back and recognised for what it is. Without a doubt this deserves to be remembered as a modern classic. This is one of the most disturbingly memorable books I ever read.

In the 1960s and 70s John Christopher's books destroyed civilisation in scores of novel and frightening ways. He is a master of the disaster story - but this is the one he wrote that sticks with me.

The story starts with a virus that kills cereals, and indeed all grasses, first in China (where the scale of the disaster is suppressed by a secretive regime) and then across the world as the virus spreads and a hastily developed vaccine fails to arrest the spread.

As all the cereal crops die, and grass also succumbs, the whole ecosystem starts to collapse. Grazing animals also starve, and the world quickly descends into chaos.

The story focuses on two brothers. One has a defensible farm, and the other must cross the now dangerous and violent length of England to reach him, where he might live in safety.

The book has some powerful messages in it, and as I say - it is rather disturbing. I read it when I was about 14 and could not get it out of my head for a long time after that. But that is a recommendation rather than a warning - it is a book to make you think, and it is a thoroughly good read. ( )