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| Cover art by Paul Lehr |
| THE OVERMAN CULTURE Edmund Cooper New York: Berkley Medallion, June 1976 |
Rating: 5.0 High |
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| ISBN-13 978-0-425-03155-1 | ||||
| ISBN 0-425-03155-1 | 191pp. | SC | $1.25 | |
Julius Overman was rich, and eccentric — and very wise. He saw a disaster coming, and used his wealth to finance a possible solution. His plan worked, though he was not around to see it succeed.
Much later, a group of children are growing up in London as World War II rages beyond the city's force field. Almost daily, zeppelins are attacked by jet fighters. Winston Churchill and the Queen assure the children there is nothing to fear, and keep them at their lessons.
All the children have solicitous parents. They attend Central London High School, where the teachers are careful to give them plenty of leisure time. The ongoing war never injures them, causes shortages of food and other supplies, or damages the city. Life is good. But young Michael Faraday has a problem: He can bleed. Others of the children can too; but many cannot. This is the central dilemma of a world which to Michael feels wrong, as in things not adding up to a coherent reality.
Michael and a few friends, all of whom can bleed, undertake a grand project: to find out what's really going on. The answers will shake them to the very core of their beings.
This is one of the more affecting SF novels I have read.1 It is a well-constructed tale, and an engrossing read. Top marks, and I rate it a keeper.
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