The Pastel City by M. John Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before we had the Fallout games or Mad Max, we had certain authors who set foot on the bleak, desolate, post-apocalyptic wastelands who said, "What if we jumped ahead by thousands of years after our super-high-tech society has collapsed like the Roman Empire had, devolve it back to the stage of Knights and warring factions, maintain some of the laser weapons, and turn powertools into maces and swords, and mechanical birds to pluck the eyes out of our enemies."

Right-o! I'm on board.

Now make the writing evocative and depressing and full of verve and striving against impossible odds. Golems and brain-stealing robots against heroes of the oldest caliber. Make sure it draws you in and never goes tongue-in-cheek.

Then you'll have this one. :) 1972.

Yes, we've had many like this over the years, but sometimes, the best writing is the most elegant. :)


View all my reviews