Just Finished Reading: I, Warbot – The Dawn of Artificially Intelligent Conflict by Kenneth Payne (FP: 2021) [256pp] 

Anyone who has been paying attention to the news has, no doubt, witnessed the explosive increase in drone use and drone power on the battlefield – not only in Ukraine but elsewhere across the world. Drones, it seems, are it. Coupled with drones are the use of highly sophisticated missiles and (quite possibly) even more sophisticated missile defences. It's all VERY impressive. The smart missiles gain their smarts from the ability to self-guide after launch and some can even pick a second target if they ‘realise’ the first target has been destroyed. Some missiles can even respond with counter measures if detected. What they can’t do, of course, is think. They can’t really ‘decide’ what to do – they're programmed with a set of instructions which essentially follow a ‘IF this THEN...’ structure. They respond to the environment, sure, but only in a very limited fashion. 

Drones, no matter how good they are, are by and large, human controlled, human directed and human deployed. Generally, their ‘intelligence’ without human involvement is almost non-existent. Yet they are, as we’ve seen time and time again on video feeds VERY combat effective. Because of this both anti-drone and especially anti-missile systems need to be VERY good and, most importantly, VERY quick. This means that humans can’t really be ‘in the loop’ - they can’t really be given the final authority to engage an incoming target. With as little as a few seconds to respond, humans are just too SLOW. Machines, aided with still rudimentary AI is much better suited to this sort of thing and can detect, confirm and launch a response in the time it takes a human to start to recognise a threat. With the way things are clearly going that’s a BIG problem. 

Enter AI (Artificial Intelligence) or at least the hopes, the hype, the advertised AI. Its proponents and manufacturers tell us, and their military customers, that AI can (at least ultimately) solve their very real problems – kind of set a thief to catch (or shoot down) a thief. The problem is, naturally, that putting AI into a weapon – especially a disposable/kamikaze one – is going to be a LOT easier that putting one into a system to defend against them. Again, this will mean removing or reducing the humans in the loop to save vital seconds but there’s a real problem that militaries all over the world are facing – AI isn’t really all that good despite the hype. We are a LONG LONG way from Terminators or SkyNet (thankfully). AI is good, often VERY good, in narrow clearly defined tasks but take it just a bit out of its comfort zone and it falls apart or simply stops ‘unsure’ how to proceed. Not exactly something you want to happen with a missile defence network during a shooting war. 

These issues, and much more besides, are intelligently discussed in this fascinating book. The author certainly knows his way around the topic, not only from the military hardware side of things along with the tactical and strategic implications of such, but also AI research, breakthroughs in understanding the human brain, Game Theory, and the Philosophy of Mind. It was, for ME at least [grin], highly engaging. About the only ‘fault’ I could find – and it certainly wasn’t a fault of the author – is that despite its recent publication the pace of drone, missile and robot development has already made some observations in the book increasingly obsolete. But, that’s the danger of reading books, which take an appreciable time to become published (even in my hardback edition), on such topics. Taking this caveat into account this is still a very good accounting of the recent impact of AI on military technology and thinking both at the tactical and strategic level. Military AI is here to stay and will become ever more powerful and more deeply integrated into military forces across the world. I was particularly interested in the ‘half-way house’ of human-machine teams (such as the loyal wingman programme adding drones to aircraft to enhance their combined effectiveness) which are called Centaurs! How funky is that! Definitely recommended for science, technology and warfare geeks out there.  

Happy World Philosophy Day..!

From Wiki: Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak (18 August 1921 – 1 August 1943), also known as Lilya, was a fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. Historians' estimates for her total victories range from thirteen to fourteen solo victories and four to five shared kills in her 66 combat sorties. In about two years of operations, she was the first female fighter pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft, the first of two female fighter pilots who have earned the title of fighter ace and the holder of the record for the greatest number of kills by a female fighter pilot. She was shot down near Orel during the Battle of Kursk as she attacked a formation of German aircraft.

I've JUST passed 1.5 MILLION page views over night..... COOL.....!!!

That's not just 'some woman'.... That's Xena: Warrior Princess! OF COURSE she's happier with a sword in her hand! Duh!

Just Finished Reading: Blood and Chrysanthemums by Nancy Baker (FP: 1994) [282pp] 

Even after 6 months Ardeth Alexander was still getting used to being dead, or undead or whatever the hell it was. Certainly none of her pop-culture references helped much. Not going out in the daylight was pretty obvious and she liked the fact that she was both faster and stronger than before despite not looking it. She really liked the fact that she didn’t have to kill people to just ‘get by’. The whole drinking people dry thing was just a myth. She could just sip a bit and tell them to forget the encounter. A half day later they’d be fine – probably. She could even ‘get by’ on animal blood. Sure, it tasted like shit but sometimes it was just easier. Her ‘maker’, Dimitri Rozokov, wasn’t much help in the whole “how do I live as a vampire” thing. Despite the fact he was 500 years old he wasn’t all that introspective on the subject – odd for a Russian. It didn’t help that he had only recently woken up from a century long nap and was struggling to adapt to the late-20th century. But they both had bigger fish to fry... The organisation that had capture Rozokov and, admittedly inadvertently, ‘turned’ Ardeth might still be out there looking for them – despite the fire and the carnage of their escape. There was definitely someone (or something?) seeking them. Why, they could only guess. Was it someone else looking for the secrets of immortality or something completely different? Was it friend, foe or something else entirely? Did they really want to find out? Did they really have a choice? Maybe, just maybe, the encounter could even provide both of them with some answers... 

This is my first return to the vampire genre for SEVEN years! I can hardly believe it. I used to be SO into the whole vamp thing. One of the (many) things I liked about it was the variety of interpretations surrounding the core ideas. This was another one where the vampires were immune to holy water, crosses and actually anything Christian/religious but could be harmed by ultrasonic blasts... One thing that I did find most intriguing was the fact that they had little idea of where they came from or indeed (for one in particular) what exactly they were. In this ‘universe’ they are vanishingly rare creatures and are a world or two away from the vampire houses etc that seem to populate most of the genre today. Their biggest problems – apart from sunlight – seem to be long-distance travel, accumulating enough money to ‘live’ and the constant fear of being discovered.  

This is actually the middle book of a trilogy (all out of print I think) but missing out on the first book wasn’t a huge issue. Early on there was a 3-4 page ‘flashback’ that explained much that had happened previously and a sprinkling of other information throughout. The writing was pretty solid, all of the characters were well formed and I liked Ardeth quite a bit. I’ll definitely be keeping a look out for the other books and will scoop them up if I come across them. A more than reasonable vampire tale and recommended if you can source a copy. 

The Last 10 Movies – November 2024 Edition 

Well, that was quick. TEN movies already... That might (partially) explain why my book review pile is at rock bottom. I have been trying to watch the James Bond films that dropped recently on Prime, but it looks like a bunch of them are going soon. Presumably they’ll be back at some point so I can continue. As previously I’ve also been dipping into OLD SF movies to feed a small bit of my ongoing desire to launch back into Sci-Fi reading. Hopefully that’ll be happening a bit more NEXT year. Anyway – MOVIES: 

Stargate: The Ark of Truth (2008) 

One of the movies used to finish the run of the TV series. I’d seen parts of it before on YouTube and wasn’t overly impressed overall. One more movie to come (I think). 

Dr No (1962) 

The first Bond film (although not the first book) with Sean Connery [my 2nd fave Bond I think]. Set the tone for all subsequent films with womanising secret agent beating back the forces of chaos with fists, guns and quips. Reasonable. 

Dark Star (1974) 

This definitely had the feel of a student project – except the student was John Carpenter. Based around a spaceship crew tasked with destroying rogue planets who have been away from civilisation for FAR too long and are seriously in need of relief. Had a real Vietnam war vibe. STRANGE but fun in places. 

From Russia With Love (1963) 

The second Bond film. This time (mostly) based in Turkey and on a train. Involved rather a convoluted plot to kill Bond. Some nice set pieces. Reasonable. 

Total Recall (1990) 

One of my favourite Arnie flics of the period. This stands up quite well despite its age. Being a PK Dick story it's both weird and philosophically interesting. Is it real or is it Memorex? Oh, and Rachel Ticotin really reminded me of my Uni ‘girlfriend’ - it was probably the hairdo... 

Goldfinger (1964) 

The third Bond film and, I think, one of the best of the early ones. A decently tight plot with some good ideas. Plus, it had the laser scene and the classic line ‘No, I expect you to die...’. 

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) 

Arguably the best of the Terminator franchise with Arnie sent back in time to PROTECT John Connor this time whilst fighting off the liquid alloy upgrade. Some very nice set-pieces and LOTS of fun explosions. 

Thunderball (1965) 

The fourth Bond film based around the theft of a British nuclear bomber (complete with two nukes). A slow start but reasonable once it got going. It did make me realise just how many women tend to DIE around Bond though... 

Dark Angel (1990) - AKA ‘I Come In Peace’. 

Cop buddy film with Dolph Lundgren hunting down an alien drug-dealer on the streets of Houston. I’d actually forgotten just how BAD this movie was. Terrible acting and very silly plot.  

The Secret Life of Pets (2016) 

By the numbers animation about a group of pets from an apartment block who go on a quest to rescue two of their friends. Some nice/funny moments but uninspired overall. 

Happy Birthday: Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed radio, theatre, film, and television.

Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "one of the most accomplished actors of the century". A lifetime member of the Actors Studio, he won an Emmy, was the first male actor to win the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, and was nominated for two Academy Awards.

Meredith established himself as a leading man in Hollywood with critically acclaimed performances as Mio Romagna in Winterset (1936), George Milton in Of Mice and Men (1939), and Ernie Pyle in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945).

Meredith was known later in his career for his appearances on The Twilight Zone and for portraying The Penguin in the 1960s TV series Batman and boxing trainer Mickey Goldmill in the Rocky film series. For his performances in The Day of the Locust (1975) and Rocky (1976), he received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He later appeared in the comedy Foul Play (1978) and the fantasy film Clash of the Titans (1981). He narrated numerous films and documentaries during his long career.

Just Finished Reading: The Unthinkable – Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why by Amanda Ripley (FP: 2008/2009) [229pp] 

When tragedy strikes why do some walk away when others die? Is it the luck of the draw? Is it just because they happened to be sitting next to the emergency exit or had popped out for a breath of fresh air during a fire? Or the fact that they went to the bathroom moments before the shooting started? Or is it something more and can that something be learnt? This is the heart of the authors investigation. 

Although the majority of the examples and interviews in these pages are US based, there’s a lot of general knowledge and advice throughout this intriguing book. Covering 9/11, a diplomatic hostage incident in South America, a stampede in Mecca, a fire at a club in Beverly Hills, the shooting at Virgina Tech and much besides the author shows what people do, how the human brain reacts to dangerous surprises and why such reactions – often (ironically) hardwired for survival – could determine life or death. Following the initial shock there is often a period of disbelief: this isn’t happening or why is this happening to me? Getting stuck there will, all too often, get you killed. Once disbelief has been banished the question is: what next? Strangely the most common reaction is to do nothing, to wait for direction or rescue. This too could get you killed. Once moving on to doing ‘something’, what exactly do you do? Again, the standard reaction is to see what others are doing. There is, often, safety in numbers – but it can also result in argument, discussion, group think and, again, death. What needs to be done is a quick analysis of what happened, where it leaves you and how to get out. So, where are your exits? Do you know how to get to the fire escape? Can you (or indeed should you) break that window? Do you know if it’s safe to open that door? Do you take anything with you? Do you help others? Surprisingly numerous studies have shown that people hardly ever panic but are actually very polite, will wait their turn and help others who are struggling. Which, ironically, can make evacuations take much longer than the buildings or aircrafts designers anticipated. 

This is an often fascinating and surprisingly multilayered look at how people react in ‘unthinkable’ situations. The author interviewed survivors asking them what they did, what they saw other people do (some of whom didn’t make it) and what they assigned their survival to. She also spoke to experts in the field to get their take on things including those who study the human brain to see why some people panic, some freeze and some take charge. I’m not sure if (as per the tag-line on my copy) that this book might save your life someday, but it does give a LOT of good advice and observations. One of my favourites is the idea of what to do after you check into a hotel. After you’ve dropped your bags in your room, you leave, find the nearest fire exit and follow it to reception discovering exactly where it goes and if there are any problems en route. Now THAT could indeed save your life! A very interesting read and definitely recommended. 

Just Finished Reading: The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa (FP: 2021) [244pp] 

After enjoying the authors previous novel – The Travelling Cat Chronicles – I was looking forward to her next work. I was not disappointed. Rather than a novel, this was a selection of short stories featuring cats (obviously) and how they affected their owners during a change or crisis in their lives. Oddly (at least in my mind) almost all, if not actually all, the cats in question were strays picked up by various characters in various ways. Whether that’s a standard way to have a cat in your life – in Japan or elsewhere – I don’t know. My last cat arrived in a roundabout way, via the landlady of a friend's girlfriend... 

Off to a great start with ‘The Goodbye Cat’ a story told from the point of view of Kota, a new cat in the Sakuraba family who is ‘promised’ to go to Heaven if he lives long enough and fills out the correct forms. Both funny and quite sad. ‘Bringing Up Baby’ might have been my favourite tale if it wasn’t for two later ones. It told of a socially inept husband of a long-suffering wife who despaired of him ever being able to cope with their new baby – until he finds a kitten in a discarded pizza box and adopts it. Looking after such a small and needy creature (Spin, the cat that is!) turns him into the husband and father she most needed. A very heart-warming story. 'Cat Island' was a bit of a mystical one revolving around a young boy coming to terms with his father's second wife helped by an old woman who is much more than she seems to be. 

The last two in the collection were a surprise. At first, I thought ‘Finding Hachi’ was an earlier draft of Travelling Cat, but it turned out to be an expansion of the novels plot where we learned more about the main characters first cat and his early family tragedy. In ‘Life is Not Always Kind’, the final story, we learn even more about the background of the Travelling Cat’s main character Satoru Miyawaki and his second cat Nana. I was really pleased to be immersed in that lovely narrative again.

Not only are these stories bound to be loved by anyone who is remotely a fan of felines they also give lots of little insights into Japanese culture which is fascinating in its own right. The author has a real eye for life's daily drama too. 

One additional thing that I loved about this book was that each story was preceded by an excellent drawing of a cat by someone who both clearly knew and loved cats. You can see the quality of his work on the cover too. The artist’s name is Yukata Murakami and you’ll be seeing examples of some of his work in future. I’m already looking forward to the author's next book which, as far as I can tell, is a series of short stories based around train travel. Highly recommended although the more sensitive might need a tissue or two ready. 

Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel. 

A View from the Other Side of the Pond: The US Election 

I’m really not going to say much or anything that hasn’t really already been said. I almost decided not to post anything at all, but... I know many people, not just in the US itself, are disappointed (or even appalled) by Trump winning the Presidential election (again) and I’m one of them. Personally, I think it's a bad decision and I’m glad (yet again) not to be a US citizen or to live in the US. Apart from a few who will undoubtedly get richer because of it and Trump himself who will now escape prison for good (no doubt), I think that most people who voted for this will eventually regret it for one reason or another once the honeymoon glow has faded. It is, I think, just a matter of time and circumstance. 

A few things that I think will happen next is that the existence of NATO as we presently know it is not long for this world. It will probably cease to exist in the next 5 years. This is not actually a terrible thing. NATO has struggled to find a role for itself in the post-Cold War world. Without the Soviet Union to oppose why would it even need to exist? Of course, a resurgent Russia has added a frisson of use but still... If the US does leave NATO (as I suspect it will in Trump’s presidency) I suspect that it will reconstitute itself as a European alliance along with Scandinavia and the UK. This will be more than enough to contain Russia’s expansionary desires in Europe. Afterall, from being believed to be the 2nd best military force in the world we now KNOW that Russia is the 2nd best force in Ukraine. Handling any further aggression in Europe is not beyond our capabilities. 

Speaking of Ukraine, I’m fairly certain that one of the first things that Trump will do is pull the plug on any US aid to that country. This will have two consequences – it will lengthen the war by 6-12 months and it will hurt the US economy. It will not (I strongly suspect) stop the war or force the Ukrainians to capitulate. It will result in more Ukrainians, Russians and, now, North Koreans dying but Trump doesn’t give a rat's ass about any of that. After the Ukrainian victory next year or in 2026 I suspect that Ukraine will be welcomed into both the EU and the European Defence Alliance as a very valuable partner. 

As to the rest, I suspect that the US and the world at large will inevitably become a more dangerous place – especially if, as is likely, that America falls back into isolationism. China, I expect, is looking forward to expanding its influence around the world without US interference. I expect that the new administration will leave various treaties and treaty obligations pretty swiftly after January 2025. I don’t think it will leave the UN but even that is a possibility. China would probably be delighted if they did as they would dominate the UN Security Council and all that followed from that fact.  

On the upside, because I’m nothing if not an eternal optimist, at least Florida will never be hit by a hurricane ever again – now that trump and his MAGA minions will have unrestricted access to the Democrat weather technology. Although I suspect that the conspiracy theory twonks have already decided that the tech has been destroyed so that Trump can’t help his buddies in Florida – the BASTARDS!  

Happy Birthday: Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by exposure to light. He assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, which were universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. He argued in favor of the hypothesis, which has since been accepted, that the high surface temperatures of Venus are the result of the greenhouse effect.

Initially an assistant professor at Harvard, Sagan later moved to Cornell University, where he spent most of his career. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books. He wrote many popular science books, such as The Dragons of Eden, Broca's Brain, Pale Blue Dot and The Demon-Haunted World. He also co-wrote and narrated the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which became the most widely watched series in the history of American public television: Cosmos has been seen by at least 500 million people in 60 countries. A book, also called Cosmos, was published to accompany the series. Sagan also wrote a science-fiction novel, published in 1985, called Contact, which became the basis for the 1997 film Contact. His papers, comprising 595,000 items, are archived in the Library of Congress.

Sagan was a popular public advocate of skeptical scientific inquiry and the scientific method; he pioneered the field of exobiology and promoted the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life (SETI). He spent most of his career as a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, where he directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies. Sagan and his works received numerous awards and honors, including the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction (for his book The Dragons of Eden), and (for Cosmos: A Personal Voyage) two Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award, and the Hugo Award. He married three times and had five children. After developing myelodysplasia, Sagan died of pneumonia at the age of 62 on December 20, 1996.

[Cosmos, the TV series, had a HUGE impact on me - and millions of others - and really turned me on to all things cosmic, well that and reading copious amounts of SF. Sagan was an important part of me growing up...]

Interesting... and timely....

Just Finished Reading: Stopping the Next Pandemic – How Covid-19 Can Help Us Save Humanity by Debora MacKenzie (FP: 2020/2021) [331pp] 

It’s difficult to argue against the idea that the global pandemic caused by Covid-19 caught the world unprepared – the question is: Should it have caught us by surprise? From what I’ve read so far, including this often-excellent book, the answer is a resounding No. 

Whilst it's true that the last global pandemic to have the impact that Covid did was a century ago – The so-called ‘Spanish Flu’ (putting, of course, the on-going AIDS issue to one side) - it can’t be claimed that our collective memory simply failed us. In recent memory we’ve had SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika and other more exotic viruses that have either become pandemic or very nearly so. So, why the apparent complacency? What’s worse of course is that we know, for certain, that the world will experience a deadly pandemic every year – it’s called The Flu. Although there are vaccines available at least in the prosperous countries [I had mine on Tuesday at a reasonably nearby pharmacy for £20 - from next year (when I hit 65) it’ll be free and at my local doctor's surgery which is a 5-minute walk away] So, again, why did Covid catch SO many countries by surprise? 

Part of that reason lies with China who, as we now know, covered up the original cases, downplayed the severity of the virus and delayed both the news that it was transmissible between people and the details of its genome. These delays, of at least a month if not longer, seriously hampered the global response. But it goes much further than that. It’s now been all but confirmed that what we call Covid-19 originated in bats. These bats, local to Wuhan, were known about and the epidemiological community knew about the chance that transmission to humans was more than possible. Indeed, locals to the bat cave were discovered to have antigens to Covid BEFORE it even became an epidemic in China and probably a year or more before it became a pandemic. So why was nothing done at that point? 

Naturally a big part of the problem – as with anything – is with the time, resources and money required to address known (and unknown!) problems. The bat researchers were operating on a shoestring and didn’t have the money to do much more than swab the bats and note the fact of the viruses (LOTS of them apparently bats being VERY interesting creatures in that regard – more later!) were there and needed someone to look into it. On top of this oversight was the fact that global surveillance of possible viral outbreaks had been drastically cutback just about everywhere. Non-profits and NGOs were left to take up some of the slack from the grossly underfunded WHO. In too many cases we didn’t see it coming for the simple reason that no one was looking. 

Being a global issue you would assume (as I naively did) that there would be global agencies (and not just the WHO) who monitor such things. There is instead a patchwork of agencies – government or otherwise – interested individuals and whistle-blowers who inform the rest of the world what’s happening on their small patch of global real-estate. Clearly that’s not good enough but the hope for an organisation with a truly global reach is probably dead-on-arrival especially with the recent election of Donald Trump. This means, as you are right to expect, more nasty surprises in our collective future. 

If one thing is certain it’s that Covid-19 was far from the last global pandemic we’re going to witness. With out constant ‘exploitation’ of previously untouched natural resources, climate change impacts and ever speedier global transportation the next pandemic is a matter of when rather than if – and they’re getting more frequent. The next one could be a mild one – barely worse than the seasonal flu. Or it could be another 1918 version, or it could be the Black Death. Covid had a fatality rate of around 1-2% globally (although this seemingly innocuous figure hides a LOT of variation and was still 10-20 times as lethal as flu) and we know the disruption and death toll it caused. Now imagine a new virus with a 10-20% fatality rate. How would a just-in-time global economy cope with a seriously compromised transport system and worse? Thinking about it too deeply is frightening – to say the least. Are we prepared for the next one? We’re better prepared, that’s true but are we prepared enough? Only time will tell. 

This is the last of a set of 4 Covid/pandemic related reads starting with a general introduction, the Spanish flu, Covid in the US and now both looking back and forward. It’s been a fascinating reading process and this book was definitely one of the highlights of the bunch. I learnt a LOT from this author (who is honestly a great communicator) not least about the *weirdness* of bat physiology and metabolism. I’m definitely going to be reading more about those creatures as well as staying the HELL away from them whenever possible! If you have a mind anything like me (if so, I do feel sorry for you) you will lap this up and be thrilled, fascinated and appalled. Highly recommended and another highlight of the year. 

Well, America..... It seems that you have elected to live through a live Civics Experiment for the next 4-10 years..... The VERY best of luck with that. You're going to NEED it..... [shakes head]

Remember, remember!

The fifth of November,

The Gunpowder treason and plot;

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes and his companions

Did the scheme contrive,

To blow the King and Parliament

All up alive.

Threescore barrels, laid below,

To prove old England's overthrow.

But, by God's providence, him they catch,

With a dark lantern, lighting a match!

A stick and a stake

For King James's sake!

If you won't give me one,

I'll take two,

The better for me,

And the worse for you.

A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,

A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,

A pint of beer to wash it down,

And a jolly good fire to burn him.

Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!

Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!

Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Just Finished Reading: The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess (FP: 1962) [206pp] 

In a world of untold billions, the one-child policy was clear. No matter the circumstance, even if the child later died as he had, only one child could be born. She would spend the rest of her life childless. Not that her husband seemed put out by that. He had shown little interest in her since the birth and would show her even less now. It was no surprise that she found her brothers-in-law obvious attraction all the more compelling. But things in the outside world were changing. The daily ration had been reduced again and most people were often hungry. Rumours abounded of crop failures across the world followed by food riots and crackdowns. As famine spread across the globe Beatrice-Joanna did the only logical thing. She travelled north, away from collapsing London, to stay with her sister on her farm. With the hope of food and shelter and with a new, illegal, life growing inside her the future looks grim indeed. She has no idea how bad things are going to get... 

This was, to be honest, a weird one! 60’s SF is, more often than not, more than a little strange but this slim volume had the added ‘spice’ of being written by the author of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (which I tried to read some years ago but ended up DNFing it). Based in the usual projected – and now we know incorrect – heavily overpopulated world it showed the authorities, at least in Britain, struggling with the basic fact of too many mouths to feed. Not only is farming land at a premium but most sustenance is chemical slop produced in factories. There’s a one-child policy (not completely enforced for some reason), an official encouragement of homosexuality and a blind-eye turned to infanticide. None of this, as you might expect, had much effect on population growth. Interestingly the use of oral contraceptives had started in the US 2 years before publication and in the UK just prior to publication in December 1961, so I’m a bit curious as to why they failed to be mentioned – never mind used – to control population growth in the book. Even if personal use was restricted or just ignored by the general population it’d be quite easy to add it to food or water to radically reduce fertility. Likewise, they could just stop vaccinating people and let successive epidemics ‘thin the herd’. The fact that such methods were not used whilst crude propaganda was used certainly detracted from any feeling of realism. 

Some of the things that always ‘gets’ me in any kind of collapse scenario – which I think are nonsense over and above being narratively useful for the author – is how quickly any complex society falls, how quickly people turn to cannibalism (please!) and how quickly the general population declines. These are, I believe, simple narrative devices to reduce the plots complexity and decrease the total number of characters – both potential and actual – to reasonable proportions, plus they speed to transition from the original conditions to the new narrative. I think, and have long thought, this to be deeply unrealistic though. I think I need to read up on such things to see if my ‘reasonable assumptions’ actually hold water. 

Overall, this was a strange read on several levels. It was fairly well written, the main characters all had growth arcs which, in context, made a degree of sense but I think the story itself didn’t really ‘do’ it for me. Some of the underlying themes seemed silly at best and, at least to me, some were simply nonsensical. Readable but a little too weird.