Rubric:

It is the near future; no children have been born for twenty-five years and the youngest person on earth has just died. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiatt, the old are despairing and the young cruel.

Theo Faren lives a peaceful life, until a chance encounter with a young woman, the last pregnant woman on earth, leads him on a desperate journey. Suddenly he faces great danger and agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind.

SkyRider's comments:

This is an engrossing yet disturbing book. Rather than concentrate on the potential reasons for the sterility of the human race in the near future, P.D. James chooses to concentrate on what the prospect of imminent extinction does to our society and her dystopic vision isn't particularly pretty. People are driven by despair and have no real motivating force to their lives leading to the breakdown of society and infrastructure. Although there is a thriller plotline, what makes this book is not the story but the depth in which the world is fleshed out - it's entirely self-consistent and you can see how every factor derives from humanity's loss of hope.

I'm glad to have read this before seeing the film. They're entirely different animals, sharing the same basic premise and character names, but there the similarity stops. Both are good, but while the movie is firmly in the adventure mould, the book is more for those who are looking to be challenged about human nature.

Just off there now — should be on the shelf in ten minutes.