![]() ![]() ![]() With none of the usual mechanisms of science fiction – not even a zombie, nor a Triffid (in tone, No Blade of Grass does bear more than a passing resemblance to John Wyndham’s classic book) – John Christopher shows why sometimes, all it takes to build a terrifying future is just a little imagination. Knowing this, and knowing vaguely the subject of No Blade of Grass, I was still not prepared for how brilliant – and how terrible – this book would be. Perhaps it was the effect of growing up in a city, but spending my summers in the country – I can only imagine. There is something in the dystopia, in the vision of a land from which millions upon millions have vanished, leaving only a few survivors, which appealed to me even when I was young. Christopher (pen name of author Samuel Youd) wrote many books for younger readers (early teens, essentially), but this is certainly not one of them. ![]() John Christopher’s No Blade of Grass (also known as The Death of Grass) is one of those books which has haunted me, and I’m going to have to find another copy just so I can finally read it again. I read and adored Christopher’s Tripods books as a boy, and was eager to finally read one of his well-loved books for adults. No Blade of Grass, by John Christopher (Simon & Schuster, 1966) ![]()
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