The Children of Men by P. D. James (1994, Paperback, Reprint)

The Children of Men is a total departure for P.D. James whose intricate and fascinating murder mysteries have delighted fans for decades. This novel is essentially science fiction but without the science. If you can suspend your disbelief in the underlying scientific details which, even in 1994, are a bit silly, the story is worth reading for the beautifully drawn characters and the human story. I'm glad that I read this book and I was emotionally affected by the lives of the characters, but frankly I'm still not sure how much I liked it.

Flo
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I bought this book because I saw the movie with Clive Owen and Julianne Moore and became so interested in the story. The book does not have the violence or the suspense as the film. It follows Theo almost exclusively. The characters are different, and serve different roles than from the book. However, what it lacks in suspense is made up in background information and fills in some of the holes in the movie. Like the movie, it does have a positive ending, although the world is not saved quite yet. It's not particularly challenging in its reading and it should not take you too long to read it.

Sometimes it's hard to read a book written about the future when you are already living in the future. Where are the cell phones, computers, police? Certainly when he wrote this book he knew about computers and cell phones. And more importantly, he only skimmed the surface of what our world would be like if no one else was born. So many REAL issues without a mention. And the movie is NOTHING like the book. I don't recommmend this book.

I really liked this book. Set in apocalyptic London in the future, it has a good story and interesting ideas. An easy read.