What happens to society when there is no future?
4 stars
This novel was published in 1992 a few years before the inciting event of "Year Omega" depicted as marking the end of human fertility worldwide. It starts out slowly describing the coming of age of the two of the major characters, cousins Xan and Theo, the first eventually becoming the highest official in the UK and the other an Oxford don. Twenty-five years after Year Omega the response in the UK has been a clampdown on the aging populace designed to maintain civic order in its waning years. In the middle section, Theo gets involved with a secret group of five dissatisfied subjects of the regime. Because of his ties to the ruling Council of England where he used to serve as chief advisor to Xan who had set himself up as head, they prevailed on him to bring a set of reform conditions before the ruling Council. These were …
This novel was published in 1992 a few years before the inciting event of "Year Omega" depicted as marking the end of human fertility worldwide. It starts out slowly describing the coming of age of the two of the major characters, cousins Xan and Theo, the first eventually becoming the highest official in the UK and the other an Oxford don. Twenty-five years after Year Omega the response in the UK has been a clampdown on the aging populace designed to maintain civic order in its waning years. In the middle section, Theo gets involved with a secret group of five dissatisfied subjects of the regime. Because of his ties to the ruling Council of England where he used to serve as chief advisor to Xan who had set himself up as head, they prevailed on him to bring a set of reform conditions before the ruling Council. These were dismissed, but Xan then had his attention on whoever was responsible for this ever after. In the last part, the group soon turns activist and draws Theo even more firmly in, revealing their greatest secret: that one of their members is pregnant. They flee across England to the Welsh border, find out there is a manhunt for them, and when they double back towards safety are attacked by rampaging Omega youth. There are also touching lyrical scenes that heighten our feeling for the imperiled dissidents which I think were written quite well. They end up having to commit crimes to reach the secluded hiding place they chose, where the last two members, Theo and expectant mother plan to have the birth take place. This was for me the most gripping section, which culminates in a showdown.
This novel turns out to be more of a social science fiction novel than a hard science fiction tale. It is devoted to exploring what happens to the minds of people when they discover there is no long-term future for them. I feel as though the storytelling was in a very English style with English ways of thinking, and the audiobook narration only increased this impression.