Critical Reception
One reviewer noted that this book draws "on such well-known dystopias as A Clockwork Orange, Lord of the Flies, and A Canticle for Leibowitz", and "what is unique in Hoban's haunting vision of the future is his language" which is described as being similar to the Nadsat slang spoken in Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange. Library Journal called the book "a unique and beloved place among the few after-Armageddon classics". The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists stated that "The force and beauty and awfulness of Hoban's creation is shattering" and also praised the use of a crude "Chaucerian English" by the author. It was included in David Pringle's book Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels.
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