The Sheep Look Up

John Brunner

Language: English

Publisher: BenBella Books

Published: Aug 1, 1972

Description:

Nebula Award Finalist: A prophetic look at the potential consequences of the escalating destruction of the Earth

In a near future, the air pollution is so bad that everyone wears gas masks. The infant mortality rate is soaring, and birth defects, new diseases, and physical ailments of all kinds abound. The water is undrinkable—unless you’re poor and have no choice. Large corporations fighting over profits from gas masks, drinking water, and clean food tower over an ineffectual, corrupt government.

Environmentalist Austin Train is on the run. The “trainites,” a group of violent environmental activists, want him to lead their movement; the government wants him dead; and the media demands amusement. But Train just wants to survive.

More than a novel of science fiction, The Sheep Look Up is a skillful and frightening political and social commentary that takes its place next to other remarkable works of dystopian literature, such as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and George Orwell’s 1984.

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In THE SHEEP LOOK UP, Brunner returns to a style similar to that of the manically inventive STAND ON ZANZIBAR, and delivers another fast-paced, kaleidoscopically comprehensive view of a near future rife with looming ecological dangers and possibly about to be saved by an underground revolutionary movement--if its leader can survive the hostility of vested interests to deliver his message of hope.

"One of the most important science fiction authors. Brunner held a mirror up to reflect our foibles because he wanted to save us from ourselves."
--SF Site

For each generation, there is a writer meant to bend the rules of what we know. Hugo Award winner (Best Novel, STAND ON ZANZIBAR) and British science fiction master John Brunner remains one of the most influential and respected authors of all time, and now E-Reads is pleased to re-introduce many of his classic works. For readers familiar with his vision, it's a chance to re-examine his thoughtful worlds and words, while for new readers, Brunner's work proves itself the very definition of timeless.

Review

"A complex tragic masterpiece. John Brunner is the Rachel Carson of science fiction." -- Ian Watson

"Gripping on both an emotional and intellectual level" -- Booklist

"The best Brunner novel I've yet read . . . staggeringly controlled and dramatic.a work of art!" -- James Blish

"[This book] is, in my opinion and for all kinds of reasons, unquestionably the best SF novel ever written." -- John Grant, Joint Editor, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy**

About the Author

John Brunner was the author of dozens of science fiction novels, including Shockwave Rider and Stand on Zanzibar, which won the Hugo Award.  

Nebula Award Finalist: A prophetic look at the potential consequences of the escalating destruction of the Earth In a near future, the air pollution is so bad that everyone wears gas masks. The infant mortality rate is soaring, and birth defects, new diseases, and physical ailments of all kinds abound. The water is undrinkable-unless you're poor and have no choice. Large corporations fighting over profits from gas masks, drinking water, and clean food tower over an ineffectual, corrupt government. Environmentalist Austin Train is on the run. The "trainites," a group of violent environmental activists, want him to lead their movement; the government wants him dead; and the media demands amusement. But Train just wants to survive. More than a novel of science fiction, The Sheep Look Up is a skillful and frightening political and social commentary that takes its place next to other remarkable works of dystopian literature, such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and George Orwell's 1984.

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