The storyline starts out with the news that a deadly, resilient plant virus known as the Chung-Li virus has virtually wiped all cereal crops, including rice, in China. Due to an initial Chinese government decision to suppress details of the ensuing famine, the full scale of the disaster is not made known until it is quite too late. Vaccine developed hastily by Western countries proves ultimately to be ineffective and before long, the virus has rapidly spread, reaching Europe including England and wiping out all the cereal crops (with the exception of potatoes) and grass of that particular region. Life in England starts breaking down with catastrophic consequences and the story then focuses on the attempts of the protagonist John Custance, his family and close friends, to reach safety in northern England where his brother has a farm newly set up for potato farming.

Initially the reader may gain the impression of the novel being a THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS clone but as the story progresses, it is clear that this is not the case. Whereas John Wyndham attempted to portray English middle-class values as being the best defence against total societal breakdown, John Christopher provides no such assurances. The transformation of Custance from comfortably middle-class Londoner through a deterioration of personality to that of a feudal clan chieftain is indeed very disturbing and the atmosphere throughout the novel is one of constant potential violence as people prepare to wage war on one another .... for a scrap of food. The depiction(s) of Custance's right-hand man, Harold Pirrie, as an expert rifle marksman and a cold, calculating killer are chilling in the extreme. Add to that, the summary justice meted out by Custance and his followers to a gang of marauders who kidnap and rape Custance's wife and young daughter and the cold-blooded shooting of an unfortunate family seeking to defend their household and you have a novel of quite brutal savagery. Very rarely throughout the book is any chance of salvation offered and the novel's conclusion I found to be shockingly nihilistic. With scant details provided of the Chung-Li virus and the news of the Chinese famine provided at second-hand, the novel is very much a study of mankind's primal instincts and the lengths individuals will go to preserve their very existence.

Every sci-fi reader should read this book. The novel is a subdued warning against complacency and the possible consequences of such complacency. This is very much relevant in today's world of GM-modified foods and resistant strains of disease culture. If such a scenario unfolded in present-day Western society, then all I can say is ...... God help the lot of us.


Chung-Li in the 70s.... GM today?   July 5, 2002
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I think John Christopher was ahead of his time with this story. The story centres around the end of all the world's grasses and what happens specifically to a small English group trying to get to a safe haven. The social dynamic is fascinating and I see mirrors of this in much later books possibly not quite as well done. The What If scenario keeps me coming back to read this over and over again. Would I do as well in the same situation? I hope so. This book cries out to be turned into a well made film but obviously brought up to date inm a sympathetic manner. I'd love to see this and his other books brought up to date - I'd definitely go for them.