Children of the Dust

Rating:
Summary: First book I actually loved...
Review: Children of the dust is an awesome Sci-Fi novel, that has a great deal of description without letting it bog down the story. Lawrence does a superb job of capturing the struggle of 3 generations of one family through a nuclear holocaust, and the mutations that result from it. I would highly recomend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: First book I actually loved...
Review: Children of the dust is an awesome Sci-Fi novel, that has a great deal of description without letting it bog down the story. Lawrence does a superb job of capturing the struggle of 3 generations of one family through a nuclear holocaust, and the mutations that result from it. I would highly recomend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: One World Ends - A New World Begins
Review: Here is another book about a long-feared possibility - nuclear war.

The story begins on a May afternoon in England. The sirens wail and people panic - war has suddenly broken out between East and West and the bombs are falling. Very soon the war is over, and from that afternoon the world has changed forever...

Louise Lawrence writes a convincing story about the end of an old world and the start of a new one. There are three main characters in the book: Sarah, Ophelia and Simon. Each of these characters represent their respective generation. Through these people we see how the war has affected their lives and the world around them.

There have been many stories written about nuclear war, and I think that out of the ones I've read this is the most optimistic. It was the first book that made me think that life could actually continue and even improve after such an horrific event. Apart from the obvious theme of war, the book makes you think about issues like race, religion and evolution. Although this book is aimed at a teenage audience, people of all ages can appreciate it.

Rating:
Summary: Dull, Clue-less, depressing, and just plain boring!
Review: I found this book extremely strange and depressing. I mean, a book about a war, killing children by vomiting up blood. The book starts with Sarah, William, Catherine and Veronica. by the end of the chapter the only survivour is one of them. The book features mutants as the dominet species and that they are superior to humans. Its a load of rubbage. i found it quite boring and depressing, do not read it if your in a happy mood, because it will put you right off!!!

Rating:
Summary: Once you read this book you will never forget it
Review: I read this book as a part of my English course in High School and it is one of the few novels I read several times while I was in school. The story really makes you think, and shows you how the smallest thing can help you to survive the most difficult situation.

Rating:
Summary: It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
Review: Is it naïve of me to say that I usually go into a post-apocalyptic children's book with the vague hope of not encountering anything TOO depressing? Take Louise Lawrence's 1985 still-memorable hit, "Children of the Dust", for example. Now, I've read many many books in which the world has been hit by a plague/atomic bomb/alien invasion and our heroes must strive to adapt to an entirely new environment. However, my reaction to the first tale in this book (there are three, all woven together) was that the start of this story is dark, depressing, and woeful. I had a great deal of difficulty plowing through each page in an effort to reach the book's end. To my surprise, the final story made this slog well worth it. Therefore I tell you here and now that if you'd like to read "Children of the Dust" yet find yourself unaccountably depressed by the first tale in the book, keep going. It improves radically after a point.

The world has been covered in radiation. With war breaking out all over the world, fourteen-year-old Sarah discovers that she must care for her stepmother and step-siblings in their ramshackle home. In time, it becomes clear that while most of the family is dying of radiation sickness in one form or another, stepsister Catherine has taken the best precautions and is likely to survive the holocaust. To this end, Catherine is delivered into the home of a man who is able to care for her and protect her from the radiated world as Sarah and the remaining family members perish. In story number two, a bunker in England has also survived in which Catherine's father lives. He fathers young Ophelia, a child who cannot accept that the world outside her bunker is so harsh. Finally, in the final story we meet Ophelia's son Simon. The bunker has collapsed and Simon finds that the remaining humans in the world have mutated to adapt to harsh environmental conditions. Finding these mutants to be freaks, Simon initially rejects the new world. Only in time does he come to accept the changes and to see himself as less of a dinosaur and more a man who can make a difference in the lands of the children of the dust.

So there are a couple problems with this book, which I'll mention point blank. First of all, I doubt mutations in human beings could mutate and adapt to a world with increased radiation and zippo ozone layers in a single generation. Also, I think radiation can penetrate blankets and trash bags (which Sarah uses to protect Catherine). These small factual quibbles aside, the first story in this book entitled "Sarah" is awful. Really really painful to get through. After having read the whole book I can see why it was included... sort of. We need to establish the horrors of war and the trials taken to ensure Catherine's survival. Still, the second story "Ophelia" didn't seem much better. Again, it was interesting but deeply depressing. "Simon" on the other hand was great. Top notch. Had I edited this puppy I probably would have suggested to Louise Lawrence that she expand "Simon" and skip writing "Sarah" and "Ophelia" in the first place. Nonetheless, the books stand strongly all together. They are small testaments to human courage and the capacity we have for survival.

Credit where credit is due, this book is heads and tails better than more recent stories with grossly similar plots. I am thinking of "Hole In the Sky" by Pete Hautman. Both books involve most of the world's population dying in a plague/nuclear holocaust. In both cases there are mutated survivors. But while "Hole In the Sky" sees these mutants as insane zombies destined to destroy humanity as we know it, "Children of the Dust" is far more optimistic and (frankly) realistic in some senses. In her book, humans have learned from their mistakes. The future utopia is one in which humans live in a generalized communist/socialist society where energy is created through safe environmentally-friendly means. Weapons of any sort are frowned upon, which actually renders humanity stronger, and not weaker, without them. It's a portrait in which people like you and I are extinct, but the world is a better place as a result.

So in the canon of futuristic post-war children's books, this one certainly deserves to be remembered. Perhaps it's a little dour here and there. Honestly, with the swearing and references to sex (though in a scientific breeding kind of way) this is probably a story most appropriate for a pre-teen. There's also a bit of God-talk in the first story. I don't know what your own personal religious proclivities may be, but if you're uncomfortable with a book that contains some Christian quotations here and there, know that "Sarah" contains them tenfold. Otherwise, an interesting book that I recommend fully if not whole-heartedly.


Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read
Review: Louise Lawrence created a masterpiece when she wrote CHILDREN OF THE DUST. It's honesty and naivete evoke emotions you never knew you had. If you read this novel, please share it with a friend.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Wow. This book totally blew my mind. It is probably the best book ive ever read. It combines the factors of war and death with the joy of a new race, a super-race. This author sure has a lot of skill to write about something positive coming out of a nuclear attack! Thumbs up!