Author: P.D. James
An all around decent dystopian novel. The novel was written in 1992 but set in late 2021. Humanity has lost the ability to reproduce due to some sort of disease specifically affecting mens sperm, and is dying out. (Funny, James guessed right that 2021 would have some sort of sickness associated with it, just missed the symptoms a bit).
The main character (Theo) is becoming increasingly complacent with society as it slowly declines. England has a semi-dictatorial ruler (Xan) who happens to be Theo’s cousin. Theo is approached by a lady who is a part of a small group who wants to enact changes in the government. Specifically:
They want to end the Quietus (state sponsored suicide. May people are suicidal since humanity is dying out anyway).
Shut down state sponsored porn shops (meant to help people stay stimulated as the desire for sex decreases since they can’t procreate).
Restore order to a prison on an island that the government has left inmates to their own devices and it has decayed into anarchy.
There were a couple other requests that I can’t remember and must not have been that important.
Theo is convinced to help the group by approaching Xan and requesting the changes. Xan doesn’t agree and basically has an excuse for why things are the way they are.
The group (excluding Theo) begin ramping up efforts and does things such as blowing up bridges and attempting to stop some of the Quietus’ from happening.
The government manages to capture one of them who the group knows will eventually give away their names as the government has drugs that can make people talk without the use of torture.
The group urgently asks for Theo’s help in escaping as they are being tracked and Theo will be able to help them escape to the country. The person sent to convince Theo tells him that the bonus reason why they especially need his help is because Julian (the woman Theo met originally and is attracted to) is pregnant. Theo doesn’t believe at first, but when he makes it to the group and sees and feels Julian’s stomach, he realizes it is true.
Julian and her husband want to have the baby in peace away from the police and government because they know if Xan learns about it, he will take the baby and claim it as part of his glory. Theo agrees to help. They manage to get an escape car and fill it with provisions from a person Theo used to know who had killed himself. We learn in the coming chapters that Rolf’s motivation for having this baby away from the government is more power based. He assumes once humanity learns his sperm works, they will overthrow Xan and make him the new ruler. Then he will repopulate the world. In a good sequence, Theo questions Rolf’s motivations. Many of Rolf’s plans sounded eerily similar to what Xan already does and what he and the group were supposedly fighting against. Rolf also failed to consider the fact that Xan could instead detain Rolf and use him as the necessary ingredient for procreation, but take the glory for himself. Julian’s and her midwifes motivations are more pure. They want the baby to be born free ultimately.
As they are driving to the country, they are mobbed by a group of Omega’s (the last generation born who many have become vicious and uncivilized). The Omega’s have a ritual of burning cars and killing one person. The group manages to escape the car but as the Omega’s catch up with and beat to death one of the group members named Luke. Luke was a priest and Julian and him had a special connection as she and him would pray together. Her husband Rolf was not a believer.
We learn shortly after the attack that Julians baby is actually Luke’s. Rolf is infuriated and disappears. The group assumes he has gone to Xan to tell him about the group since Rolf really seemed to only care about the power side and is now changing allegiances from the group, to the government.
The 3 remaining members of the group (Julian, her midwife, and Theo) make hasty plans to find shelter so they can have the baby without the government finding them. They end up managing to do so, but the government is right behind them. As the midwife goes searching for provisions, she is murdered by the police. Xan ends up finding the cabin with Julian and Theo and the newborn baby in it. He tells them that the baby and mother will be taken care of. That the government will double down on testing all sperm to see if there are other males who could repopulate, etc.
Xan asks Theo to join him. But Theo knows Xan only wants the power, so he pulls a gun on him. Rolf knew that Theo had a gun and told Xan. The gun had one bullet, but Rolf thought it was just an empty gun used to hold up people so they could steal their supplies. Based on this intel, Xan is not threatened by the gun and shoots at Theo hitting his arm. Theo shoots back with the single bullet and kills Xan.
The book ends with Theo putting on Xan’s ring. Julian wasn’t super excited about this as it kind of hints at Theo all of sudden feeling the rush that comes with all the power Xan had, but she lets it go as there is more important things at hand, namely the baby.
This was no 1984 level dystopian novel, but it held my attention on a long flight, so good enough for me.
I especially liked some of the descriptions of how people coped in society that was seemingly destined to become extinct. Dolls for example became a commodity. Women would buy them and essentially delude themselves into believing they were babies to escape the pain that they would never be mothers. They would walk around town and other “mothers” would pinch the dolls cheeks, speak baby-talk to them, etc. In one brutal scene, a woman approaches a mother and her “baby” and pretends to engage in the usual charade. But suddenly the woman grabs the doll by the legs and smashes it violently against a wall, shattering the porcelain. The “mother” is traumatized and attempts to pick up the pieces and fix her child.