Product Description

A virus has wiped out 95 per cent of the world's population in just a few weeks, leaving the remaining 5 per cent to stay alive in a world devoid of the most basic amenities - electricity, transport and medicine. The few survivors of the human race are forced to fall back on the most primitive skills in order to live and re-establish some semblance of law and order. Abby Grant, widowed by the plague, moves through this new dark age with determination, sustained by hope that her son, who fled his boarding school at the onset, has survived. She knows she must relearn the skills on which civilisation was built. With others, she founds a commune and the group return to the soil. But marauding bands threaten their existence. For Abby, there's a chance for a new life and love when she encounters James Garland, the fourteenth Earl of Woodhouse, who is engaged in a desperate fight to save his ancestral home. But more important, she must find her son.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31725 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
"A highly readable adventure story and an equally interesting glimpse back to the Seventies - before computers, mobiles and the least tinge of multiculturalism" (David Sexton EVENING STANDARD )

"Nation's novel is based on his original cult series...and is all the better for it, being far, far more gritty and realistic" (SUNDAY SUN )

"This is radically different to the much-loved original television program, and it is also a fine piece of British post-apocalyptic fiction" (DEATHRAY )

About the Author
Terry Nation was born in 1930 in Wales. After briefly joining his father's furniture-making business and attempting stand-up comedy, Nation turned his hand to writing and worked on radio scripts for The Goon Show and a range of TV dramas such as The Saint, The Avengers, Z Cars, The Baron, The Champions, Department S and The Persuaders. He also went on to write about 100 episodes of Doctor Who and worked on popular American TV series. He died in Los Angeles in 1997.

Customer Reviews

A great read, with a twist ending
I remember this series from the 70s though only got round to seeing it all last year (I only saw a few episodes originally as it was always bed-time!) The book follows the first series quite closely until about two thirds of the way though when it suddenly follows a new tack. Apparently this is the way Terry Nation would have liked the TV series to go but creative differences took over.

It's certainly a page turner and has you thinking how things would be these days if something similar happened. Ideal material for relaxing by the pool on holiday but probably not for the more sensitive reader. Gritty realism is the order of the day and the twist at the end is truly gut-wrenching.

Brilliant!!!!
Picked this book up in a charity shop and thought I would give it a go and was hooked straight away! Definately makes you think about the chances of a pandemic virus and about how we take things for granted. Very well written with a clever twist!

Don't be fooled by the Cover.
If you're following the BBC remake series of Survivors it's worth being aware that the Terry Nation Novel has more in common with the 1970s original.

That said, the remade series, (though following similar storylines), is a poor imitation of the original, and the book, (of which both series are based),is again much better and darker than either television adaptations.

In short ... read the book ... (it's very good), but understand it only has passing similarities to the series most current on BBC 1.