Death of Grass by John Christopher

DEATH OF GRASS (aka No Blade of Grass) is a terrifyingly good book. Terrifying because in this day of genetically engineered crops the plot is plausible and you wish that it wasn’t.

It is dystopian (or doomsday) tale where the world is facing death by starvation. In DEATH OF GRASS the end of the world as we know it is brought about by the Chung-Li virus. This is a disease that starts in China and kills off all grass species – not just the grass on the front lawn but rice, wheat, barley and rye. Food staples for every human and most animals – especially the ones human‘s eat. China falls to famine, and then the virus spreads to South-East Asia, India and the Soviet Union, and before long grasses are dying in Great Britain.

In England John and his friend Roger continue to eat their bread and cakes feeling safe. John’s brother owns a farm in a valley in the north of England and feels that the virus is going to arrive in England, he urges John and his family to move in with him. John dismisses this and returns to his home in London. He believes the government when it assured Britons that a genetically engineered bio-weapon has been found to destroy the virus. Gradually John and Roger realise that the government has been lying, and the genetically engineered weapon has made things much worse. The virus has arrived and Britain now has little to no footstock to feed its residents. Almost immediately they learn that the government has come up with a plan to reduce the population, the two families have to get out of London and fast and head for the farm.

From this point DEATH OF GRASS focuses on the breakdown of society and is chilling in the way it portrays the desperation of people to survive. Life for the characters quickly becomes survival of the fittest and that life quickly gets very brutal. John and his friend are now heading north with their young family as society falls apart both civilly and morally, picking up guns and stragglers to strengthen their numbers. Will they reach safety? What is safety?

 Original, intelligent and moving story that makes you think.