The Fungus
3 journalers for this copy...
I first encountered this tale via audiobook, and enjoyed it enough to hunt up a releasable copy; got this softcover from an online seller. (It was also published as Death Spore.) It's a kind of dark-comedy/horror story, with truly awful things happening but with an overall tone of wry amusement. In some ways it reminded me of John Wyndham's style - specifically, his book Trouble with Lichen.
This edition has an introduction by Roy Kettle, who, with John Brosnan, wrote the book under the pseudonym "Harry Adam Knight". Kettle describes the book's origins and history, and closes with a tantalizing hint of interest in a film version - though that has yet to happen.
The book opens with several characters going about their lives - until they bump into a tall blonde woman, a meeting that means little to them but will change them permanently, as various types of fungi begin to grow and take over their bodies. As people discover the transformations, panic begins to spread...
Flashback to the origin of all this, as a scientist trying to solve world hunger by creating genetically modified mushrooms inadvertently unleashes a plague that causes all native fungi and yeasts to grow and grow and grow. Her estranged husband, also a researcher, gets tapped to try and find her and their two children once the scope of the disaster is known, leading to a nightmarish quest into the heart of the now-fungus-laden city. And while most of the original victims of the fungus died, it seems that the fungus is mutating, finding ways to absorb the knowledge of its victims and maintain some semblance of life...
Plenty of gruesome scenes, occasional hope-spots as one character or another finds a way to stay safe and/or to fight back, and some nifty reveals as to the true nature of the plague, some fascinating side-plots, and a nightmarish climactic battle. Will humanity survive, or is fungus the next step in evolution? Read it and see!
[There's a TV Tropes page on the novel.]
This edition has an introduction by Roy Kettle, who, with John Brosnan, wrote the book under the pseudonym "Harry Adam Knight". Kettle describes the book's origins and history, and closes with a tantalizing hint of interest in a film version - though that has yet to happen.
The book opens with several characters going about their lives - until they bump into a tall blonde woman, a meeting that means little to them but will change them permanently, as various types of fungi begin to grow and take over their bodies. As people discover the transformations, panic begins to spread...
Flashback to the origin of all this, as a scientist trying to solve world hunger by creating genetically modified mushrooms inadvertently unleashes a plague that causes all native fungi and yeasts to grow and grow and grow. Her estranged husband, also a researcher, gets tapped to try and find her and their two children once the scope of the disaster is known, leading to a nightmarish quest into the heart of the now-fungus-laden city. And while most of the original victims of the fungus died, it seems that the fungus is mutating, finding ways to absorb the knowledge of its victims and maintain some semblance of life...
Plenty of gruesome scenes, occasional hope-spots as one character or another finds a way to stay safe and/or to fight back, and some nifty reveals as to the true nature of the plague, some fascinating side-plots, and a nightmarish climactic battle. Will humanity survive, or is fungus the next step in evolution? Read it and see!
[There's a TV Tropes page on the novel.]
I'm adding this book to the Bookbox of the Apocalypse, which will be on its way to its next stop soon. Hope someone enjoys it!
*** Released for the 2020 What's in a Name challenge, for the embedded "Gus" in the title. ***
*** Released for the 2020 Science Fiction challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2020 What's in a Name challenge, for the embedded "Gus" in the title. ***
*** Released for the 2020 Science Fiction challenge. ***
Received in the The Bookbox of the Apocalypse & Other Realities
I picked this one out of Spatial's Bookbox of the Apocalypse & Other Realities. The minute I saw the title, I knew I had to give this a read. I am a bit of an amature mushroom hunter. Perfect! Thanks for sharing!
