P. D. James plots this atmospheric and disturbing novel in the year 2021.

The human race has become infertile, and under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiatt, the Warden of England the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably, as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind.

Children of Men was adapted into a hit film in 2006. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, the film starred Clive Owen, Michael Caine and Julianne Moore.

Adrian's mini book review

An interesting premise, with no attempt at a scientific explanation of the cause, but focussed on how people and governments react. It could have been a lot shorter back if the author didn’t go into such verbose descriptions of Oxford other environs, some of which I wonder is it just showing off their knowledge or it's probably just not my preferred style of writing. Either way, things seem to speed up in the second half – perhaps on purpose to emphasise the urgency. She probably knows what she is doing :)

The humanity-wide infertility happens suddenly in the book, but it interesting to consider whether the same thinking processes and changes in society would happen, over a longer period of time,  in response to a falling population? And that's what we're heading for if there's no no life extension treatments available by the second half of this century. Taking it to the extreme, if the human race was at risk, would women be forced to reproduce? When would "at risk" occur - if the global population dropped under a million? Or would individual countries take things into their own hands to maintain their strength and power by banning risky behaviours and emigration? 

Thought provoking with some interesting twists and turns along the way.