Dystopia

The absolute worst world would be the one featuring a psychotic American president  who is a convicted crook and a Russian asset starting wars, destroying the environment and making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Oh, sorry, I picked up a non fiction book by mistake!

Returning to fiction I would probably have to go back to my reading of dystopian novels which started in my teens and twenties but tapered off after that. Perhaps the pinnacle of those books for me were the John Wyndham novels of the 50s and 60s, especially Day of the Triffids. That novel takes place in a world where all but a few people are blind due to a spectacular meteor storm that was watched by people around the world. Into that world come plants called Triffids that can move, work together and feed off human beings. Oddly enough, the novel is quite hopeful in places, where you see the best of humanity amidst the wreckage of civilisation. However, for the most part, the blind are terrified, the few sighted people are in constant danger from the Triffids and from other human beings. Civilisation has completely collapsed, the veneer of cooperation has been replaced by the survival of the fittest, the crooks and violent men are in charge of their own little areas through thuggish intimidation and any outsiders are seen as a threat. *Checks to make sure this is still Day of the Triffids* In fact, the only positive is that with hardly any vehicles still running and with the Triffids holding sway in the towns and cities the natural environment is thriving! Who would have thought that those fighting the Triffids would actually be better off in at least one way?!

All sarcasm to one side, The Day of the Triffids is a fantastic novel that I highly recommend. My copy is signed by Janina Faye who starred in the film version.