My first reaction to this book is a strong desire to have read it before having seen the movie. But not being in possession of a time machine, instead I had the experience of landmarking the pitons the screenplay was hung on.

Ultimately, though, I think the novel was vastly superior in its nuance and moral ambiguity. One of the things that most irked me about the movie of Children of Men was the cliche, America-centric view of those who’d been banished, that sea of brown skin where people were violent and evil.

This happened in the book too, it’s true, though it was a tangential aspect, and more attention paid to the causes than the results.

And the part where pets really had become substitute children… on the whole far more creepy and thoughtful.

Read this one!