The Children of Men

The Children of Men by P.D. James

3.0 Stars

This book is divided into two parts - the first is excellent – 4 stars. The society and the main character, Theo, are well described. The society where humans are no longer capable of reproducing is complacent and apathetic. Theo is an example of this society, incapable of loving anyone and going through the motions of his life, until he meets Julian and her group of rebels. He begins to question some of the procedures of society. The Warden of England, Theo's cousin and dictator in all but name, is an egocentric person, but not truly evil. In his efforts to make society safe and pleasant for its remaining years, he makes some policies that are rather chilling and downright scary if one actually thinks about them (i.e. things like this could be happening now). The second part of the book is rather weak – 2 stars. The rebel characters are not well developed and are rather weak in personality and intelligence. It's almost as if the book needed an ending with some action, so one was written very quickly.