Book Title: Children of Thunder
Narrative Type: Fiction
Original Language: English
Publisher: wings books
Intended Audience: Young Adults,Adults
Publication Year: 1995
Type: Novel
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Author: John Brunner
Features: Dust Jacket
Genre: Adventure,Fantasy,Science Fiction
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Three complete novels by John Brunner 1995 hardcover
Condition:
Soft Spine
General wear and tear
Children of Thunder
Science writer Peter Levin sensed a major story behind Claudia Moriss's research into juvenile deliquency. For the American sociologist had uncovered a disturbing pattern of crimes that were unusual even in the rapidly deteriorating society of 1990s Britain.
David had made a fortune creating highly addictive designer drugs. Sheila, alone and unarmed, had killed a Marine commando. Roger, a boarding school student, ran a sex-ring that catered to the most depraved tastes. All of their offenses went unpunished. And all of the criminals were barely fourteen years old.
As Claudia's research turned up further cases, Peter realized they were on to much more than just a story. For these children were either the last hope for Mankind's survival...or the beginning of the end of what it meant to be human.
The tides of time
First there was the end.
After weeks of running from pursuers, Gene and Stacy finally found refuge on an isolated island.
But around them the island changed - and so did they.
The Crucible of time
There are some incredibly smart things Brunner does in this novel. The story is told from the perspective of a world of intelligent aliens as they reach out to discover the universe in which they live. They have to do that in ways that are very different from our own history in details (for example, they live under water where access to the night sky is limited, which puts a crimp in early astronomy), but very similar in the abstract. The similarities arise for the simple reason that the universe in which they live is THE universe. The message here is deep & subtle & important: reality is what it is, & no matter what kind of body you have, no matter what specific environmental niche you occupy, if you are smart enough to wonder about the world you live in, & clever enough to discover ways to ask your questions well, you will discover the same immutable facts about the nature of things. Brunner shows this without ever giving a lecture or explicitly making the point. It's a story telling tour de force that really puts the science solidly in the center of science fiction.
