It isn’t long before we start to hear radio reports of a new plague that started in Calcutta, India. In this case, the lead character is a 15-year-old boy called Neil Miller who lives with his grandparents in Winchelsea, England. I’m sure you will be as amazed as I to discover that this book has a hint of a sniff of the post-apocalyptic about it. I just read the first, Empty World (1977). It was only recently that I discovered Christopher had written a couple of other books of which I was previously unaware. The cover of Empty World (Click image to see a larger version) And, before we know it, we’re back in post-apocalyptic territory. The English Channel is transformed into a muddy desert, and the description of our protagonists trekking from Guernsey to England is both moving and chilling. Everything starts well, until a massive series of powerful earthquakes on a worldwide scale reduce towns and cities to rubble and plunge the few survivors into barbarism. Its publication provoked considerable reaction amongst its readers on account of its portrayal of the British government’s response to the unfolding worldwide crisis.Īnd then there was A Wrinkle in the Skin (1965), which commences on the island of Guernsey. Also known as No Blade of Grass in America (because the publisher thought the original title might confuse potential buyers into thinking the book was a treatise on gardening), this post-apocalyptic tale concerns a virus that kills off all forms of grass, including rice and wheat. I re-read all four books just a few weeks ago and they are still as good as they ever were - I only wish I could return to being 14 again so I could enjoy them for the first time.Īnother classic Christopher was The Death of Grass (1956). Shortly before his capping ceremony, our hero, Will Parker, hears about a place where a small group of people remain free and uncapped, and he sets out on an adventure that eventually results in the overthrowing of our alien masters.
As a result, human society is largely pastoral, with few habitations larger than villages and with a lifestyle reminiscent of the Middle Ages. Humans are controlled from the age of 14 by implants called “Caps”, which suppress curiosity and creativity. Humanity has been enslaved by “Tripods,” which are gigantic three-legged walking machines piloted by unseen alien entities. The original trilogy describes a post-apocalyptic world about 100 years in our future. I think my first exposure to Christopher was his Tripods Trilogy, which was written in the late 1960s, and which is now known as the Tripods Collection because he added a prequel in 1988 explaining how everything came to be.
When I was younger, one teller of science fiction takes I really liked was English author Sam Youd, who wrote under the pen name of John Christopher.
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