I've finished 'Backlash' by Lynda LaPlante and 'Death of Grass' by John Christopher (also known in some parts of the world as No Blade of Grass). The former was a police procedural - a man is pulled over by the police for erratic driving and they find a body in the back of the van. When they investigate further, more murders begin to come to light.
Death of Grass was written in the 1950s, so in some respects is dated (attitudes towards women would be one notable one). The premise of the story was that a virus hits China killing off their crops and leading to a famine which has reached devastating proportions before the news is leaked outside their borders, by which time the virus has spread to the neighbouring countries as well. As the virus spreads, despite countermeasures being deployed, the virus mutates taking in more and more grass based plants. The story takes place in Britain and is how the country reacts. An architect takes his family and some acquaintances and head for his brother's farm in the country. It's interesting, in the breakdown of society (dystopic/apocalyptic future type of thing), in considering how with all the genetic modification of wheat crops and over dependence of so many of the world's societies on those. I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy fairly recently and this almost felt like it was its predecessor, both in the era in which it was written but also in the state of civilization.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2017-05-11 02:39 pm (UTC)Death of Grass was written in the 1950s, so in some respects is dated (attitudes towards women would be one notable one). The premise of the story was that a virus hits China killing off their crops and leading to a famine which has reached devastating proportions before the news is leaked outside their borders, by which time the virus has spread to the neighbouring countries as well. As the virus spreads, despite countermeasures being deployed, the virus mutates taking in more and more grass based plants. The story takes place in Britain and is how the country reacts. An architect takes his family and some acquaintances and head for his brother's farm in the country. It's interesting, in the breakdown of society (dystopic/apocalyptic future type of thing), in considering how with all the genetic modification of wheat crops and over dependence of so many of the world's societies on those. I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy fairly recently and this almost felt like it was its predecessor, both in the era in which it was written but also in the state of civilization.