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Post by dem bones on Jun 1, 2008 20:27:17 GMT
Guy N. Smith - Throwback (Arrow, 1998, 1990: originally NEL, 1985) Primitive, Pre-human, They Swarmed Across The Face Of The LandBlurb There were screams from the crowd ... sheer panic and human terror
A searing jumble of images swam before her – then reflected in the plate glass, she saw herself; skin now reddened, blotched, scabbed; eyes deep sunk, just red-rimmed pinpoints; hair matted on her once smooth scalp.
Terrified, she looked around her. Bawling, mauling men, women and children were mutating back to primitives. The age of the throwback had arrived ...
THROWBACKAdventures of Jackie Quinn who, as with all the other residents of Shrewsbury (and, as it later transpires, most of Britain) has succumbed to the terrible biological plague and become a violent, drooling, sex-crazed cannibal - almost! Jackie still retains enough of her old self to realise that sanctuary - if not salvation - lies with her estranged husband, Jon on his organic farm and the novel follows her attempts to reach him. Meanwhile, Jon and his latest lover Sylvia Atkinson are among the few who've avoided being thrown back although surely it would be better fun to go with the flow on this one? When I first read this I was surprised and perhaps even a little disappointed that it wasn't the mindless gore-fest I'd expected. There are some very bloody scenes for sure - notably nice Jon's encounter with the pitchfork-wielding savage that had once been his neighbour, old Bill Gwyther - and Smith has wisely decided that animals are not immune from germ warfare - but this just ain't as ludicrously wonderful as his earlier ecological disaster classics. File under: dead beat descendant
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 2, 2008 11:52:17 GMT
I like this one. It's definitely odd, but there are traces of humanity remaining within those hideous creatures. Sure I've got a different cover to this one.
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Post by jkdunham on Jun 2, 2008 22:18:50 GMT
Sure I've got a different cover to this one. This is the one I've got. Thinking about it now, I'm not sure I ever finished it. I remember reading it as part of a long run of Guy N. Smiths a while back but this may have been the one I stalled on. Not sure why because I also remember quite liking it. Maybe because I'd just read Cannibals not long before and really enjoyed that and then found this a bit too similar. Maybe it was just a Guy N. Smith too far. |
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Post by killercrab on Jun 2, 2008 23:30:05 GMT
'Maybe it was just a Guy N. Smith too far.'
Best line of the day ...
KC
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Post by steppedonwolf on Apr 25, 2009 12:57:35 GMT
Always enjoyed this one. Like Wolfcurse this is an underrated book.
Shame both editions have such feeble covers, though.
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Post by corpsecandle on Sept 12, 2012 13:51:44 GMT
Sure I've got a different cover to this one. This is the one I've got. Thinking about it now, I'm not sure I ever finished it. I remember reading it as part of a long run of Guy N. Smiths a while back but this may have been the one I stalled on. Not sure why because I also remember quite liking it. Maybe because I'd just read Cannibals not long before and really enjoyed that and then found this a bit too similar. Maybe it was just a Guy N. Smith too far. This was the second Smith book I picked up at a carboot sale (first being Wolfcurse) and it's great fun with a twist ending that was really quite romantic. I love the way the book opened at the heart of the action, it certianly doesn't drop it's pace. A great place to start for anyone trying to get into Smiths work. Also I have a thing for cold war secret weapon horror stories, there is something wonderfully 2000 A.D about this book  |
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Post by pbsplatter on Jan 10, 2023 17:11:05 GMT
Guy N. Smith - Throwback (Arrow, 1998, 1990: originally NEL, 1985) Primitive, Pre-human, They Swarmed Across The Face Of The LandBlurb There were screams from the crowd ... sheer panic and human terror
A searing jumble of images swam before her – then reflected in the plate glass, she saw herself; skin now reddened, blotched, scabbed; eyes deep sunk, just red-rimmed pinpoints; hair matted on her once smooth scalp.
Terrified, she looked around her. Bawling, mauling men, women and children were mutating back to primitives. The age of the throwback had arrived ...
THROWBACKAdventures of Jackie Quinn who, as with all the other residents of Shrewsbury (and, as it later transpires, most of Britain) has succumbed to the terrible biological plague and become a violent, drooling, sex-crazed cannibal - almost! Jackie still retains enough of her old self to realise that sanctuary - if not salvation - lies with her estranged husband, Jon on his organic farm and the novel follows her attempts to reach him. Meanwhile, Jon and his latest lover Sylvia Atkinson are among the few who've avoided being thrown back although surely it would be better fun to go with the flow on this one? When I first read this I was surprised and perhaps even a little disappointed that it wasn't the mindless gore-fest I'd expected. There are some very bloody scenes for sure - notably nice Jon's encounter with the pitchfork-wielding savage that had once been his neighbour, old Bill Gwyther - and Smith has wisely decided that animals are not immune from germ warfare - but this just ain't as ludicrously wonderful as his earlier ecological disaster classics. File under: dead beat descendant Agreed; this one just didn’t do it for me. There were some elements of this I thought were great; the depictions of the Throwbacks being confused by modernity, and the descriptions of the Throwbacks trying to keep their “humanity” and the thought process was all good. And agreed that having plants and animals affected by the bio weapon was good too. But most of this book was just dull survival stuff; I wanted more of the actual breakdown of society. |
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Post by helrunar on Mar 16, 2023 21:35:52 GMT
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Post by andydecker on Mar 17, 2023 9:33:19 GMT
Nice blog. A bit tiring if you read too much of it, but its fair.
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