Survivors / by Terry Nation

[Kim Allen Scott]

I'll admit it. Sometimes I pick up a book just because I enjoyed a movie or television show based on it.  BBC produced an interesting post-apocalyptic series for two seasons in 2008 based on this book and I rather liked it, but the book turned out to have some problems.

"Survivors" is a rather dated novel by now (published in 1975) and it describes a society decimated by a flu-like virus.  Complications for those few who do not die include dealing with the sheer mass of unburied dead, the slow decay of built infastructure such as bridges and roads, and of course the breakdown of society which has no police or law.  Abby Grant finds herself as the leader of a group thrown together by chance, and held together by her personality, as they try to rebuild their own version of English country life while dealing with nasty raiders and looters.

When first written, long before the Ebola crisis or any of the current "zombie" films and shows, "Survivors" must have really seen as groudbreaking fiction.  At this late date it is hard to read it without noticing the lack of any character development depth and a somewhat choppy narrative style.  That being said, it is somewhat interesting and can be read in an afternoon (which is rare for me) so I will give it a mild recommendation to my friends here.

(By the way, I understand BBC also filmed a short series based on this book in 1976 if you can find it and are interested enough to pursue it.)