The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Re-read.

So, it turns out this 1972 book that was "too edgy, too dystopic, too environmentally pessimistic" for its time turned out to be just about on-target for about 15 years ago. All the pathogens, fungus, chemical pollutants, all seemed to hit the ACTUAL dystopic levels.

And worse, the political ramifications, even though they appear different, sure seem right on target for today. Lies, lies, corruption, greed, lies, and a little obsfucution. Add in the racism angle, amp it up to realistic proportions for today, and then stir in the full eco-punk ethos.

John Brunner, already a fantastic SF author in any age, really called it on this one.

The darkness in these pages should have made everyone in the '70s perk up and pay attention. We ignored all the warnings, however, and here we are. Again. And now we live in John Brunner's novel.

Okay, maybe most of us no longer live in QUITE that much air pollution, where we have to wear gas masks, but I seem to recall days in the '90s where it was DAMN close before the cities cleaned up the breathable pea soup.

But damn, we never seem to learn, do we?

And yes, the story and the characters are quite fun. Serious, idealistic, or utterly corrupt and pretending for their very lives.

I'm reminded, all over again, why I read through Brunner's entire catalog in the early '90s and loved it.

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