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Stark (novel)
Encyclopedia
Stark is a 1989 novel by comedian Ben Elton
. It was commercially and critically successful in the United Kingdom
and Australia
. It was Elton's first novel, and launched his writing career. Stark was reprinted 23 times in its first year, and ultimately sold well over a million copies, making Elton one of a small number of novelists to sell more than a million copies of his or her first book. The novel was adapted into Stark
, a television miniseries
.
It is a comedy
with environmental themes. The comedy style has been compared with the literary works of Douglas Adams
and Grant Naylor
. It is set mainly in Australia
, in a dystopia
n near-future, and the lead protagonist
is an expat
Englishman. The story is told from the point of view of a large number of characters, and the point of view often temporarily shifts to that of an animal. Much of the early plot takes place in Carlton, a fictional town south of Perth, Western Australia
. Most of the rest of the novel takes place in Kalgoorkatta and Bullens Creek, in the Western Australia
n desert. The final scene takes place at an unspecified location in outer space, perhaps on the Moon.
during the late 1980s
. It describes a world in which big business
and the ultra-rich are uncaring. It also skewers environmental activists
, as being unwilling to take decisive action or willing to take actions that are self-destructive and ineffectual.
The book often deals with serious themes and then delivers comic relief
. These comic diversions usually come to an abrupt end, often due to the hapless sudden death of a gag character. The comedy draws on Elton's typical fodder. The book contains crude and cringe humour, with characters often experience flatulence
and drunkenness
, and running afoul of the law. The narrative also pokes fun at religion
, place names and foreigners
. The capricious and sometimes unjust nature of male-female relationships
is a constant theme. Corporate culture
and military culture
are ridiculed. As in much of Elton's comic work, the central character is an unsuccessful, self-loathing, 'farty' skinny Englishman
who has trouble relating to women. The book's prominent themes include:
Using crude intimidatory tactics, they purchase land from Aboriginals in Western Australia, to use as a launch site. They sell stocks and commodities to raise cash, selling the assets at the same time and in high volumes, to engineer a worldwide crash of the stockmarkets and lower the price of the resources they need. They buy the Moon from the United States government, along with the hardware to reach it.
Six vessels are designed to travel to the Moon, three of which will carry humans. There is room for 250 humans on the craft. The vessels are named 'Star Arks', referencing the Biblical story of Noah's Ark. The Star Arks contain human and animal embryos in suspended animation, as well as resources needed for life support. The Star Arks are prepared under the cover story that the consortium is building a desert hotel and retreat.
CD and his friends form a group called 'EcoAction'. Each of them has his or her own reason for fighting the consortium, with the ostensible collective goal of trying to protect the environment. They take direct action against the consortium's activities, and in the process uncover the conspiracy. They infiltrate the launch site and wreak havoc against the plan. CD and one of the conspirators, Sly Moorcock, compete for the affections of Rachel, who eventually joins the conspiracy as Sly's intended partner.
EcoAction try to warn the rest of the world about the plan, but they are not taken seriously. The conspiracy kill many of those who have investigated or uncovered the conspiracy. Rachel turns on Sly at the last minute with the intention of sabotaging the launch, but he overpowers her and tries to abduct her. She escapes and rejoins the surviving members of EcoAction. The Stark Conspiracy blast off, but find that their existence is frustrating and lonely. Sly Moorcock eventually commits suicide. The narrative ends with an admonishment for the world's consumers over their inaction on environmental issues in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
and animal
. The main protagonist
s are an ensemble of humans who form the EcoAction team. The main antagonist
s are a small ensemble of humans who form the Stark Conspiracy. There are also numerous gag character
s, who are introduced for the purposes of narrating a humorous tale, and then quickly discarded. These characters are often animals. For example, Mrs Pastel is introduced as eating mussels, Dave the dolphin
is born, and Iggy the iguana
eats a fly, and all die very shortly after being introduced into the story. Most of the human characters are derided by the narrative for comedic effect and as a vehicle for social commentary.
The animal characters are usually incompletely anthropomorphised
. The author gives them names that would be suitable for English-speaking humans, and describes their thoughts and point of view as though the animal were human. Animals are often portrayed as being more intelligent than humans. Their simple lifestyles are compared with human lifestyles, particularly to demonstrate the extent to which human consumption impacts on the environment. Late in the story, a camel
named Walter Culboon (named by a human character after two of the EcoAction characters who die) becomes integral to the effort to infiltrate the Stark base.
The Stark Conspiracy:
, a television miniseries
. It was a joint production by the BBC
and the ABC
(the British and Australian national broadcasters). Ben Elton played the lead role, with Colin Friels
as Sly and Jacqueline McKenzie
as Rachel. There were some differences between the novel and the miniseries; some characters were renamed, and the ending was different. Elton's subsequent two novels, Gridlock
and This Other Eden
, also deal with environmental themes and are set in a dystopian future.
Alternative 3
, a 1977 British television hoax masquerading as a documentary, shared some themes with Stark.
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
. It was commercially and critically successful in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It was Elton's first novel, and launched his writing career. Stark was reprinted 23 times in its first year, and ultimately sold well over a million copies, making Elton one of a small number of novelists to sell more than a million copies of his or her first book. The novel was adapted into Stark
Stark (TV miniseries)
Stark is a 1993 British-Australian television miniseries, based on the bestselling novel Stark by comedian Ben Elton. The three-episode series, directed by Nadia Tass, was an international coproduction between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting...
, a television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
.
It is a comedy
Comic novel
A comic novel is a work of fiction in which the writer not only seeks to amuse the reader, but also to make the reader think about controversial issues, sometimes with subtlety and as part of a carefully woven narrative; sometimes, above all other considerations...
with environmental themes. The comedy style has been compared with the literary works of Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
and Grant Naylor
Grant Naylor
Grant Naylor was the collective name used by writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor for their collaborative work, particularly the television series Red Dwarf. Grant and Naylor themselves called this pseudonym a "gestalt entity" Grant Naylor was the collective name used by writers Rob Grant and Doug...
. It is set mainly in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, in a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n near-future, and the lead protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
is an expat
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
Englishman. The story is told from the point of view of a large number of characters, and the point of view often temporarily shifts to that of an animal. Much of the early plot takes place in Carlton, a fictional town south of Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. Most of the rest of the novel takes place in Kalgoorkatta and Bullens Creek, in the Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
n desert. The final scene takes place at an unspecified location in outer space, perhaps on the Moon.
Themes
The novel is largely a satire of business, government and social attitudes toward environmentalismEnvironmental skepticism
Environmental skepticism is an umbrella term that describes those that argue that particular claims put forward by environmentalists and environmental scientists who support the first are false or exaggerated, along with those who are critical of environmentalism in general...
during the late 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
. It describes a world in which big business
Big Business
Big business is a term used to describe large corporations, in either an individual or collective sense. The term first came into use in a symbolic sense subsequent to the American Civil War, particularly after 1880, in connection with the combination movement that began in American business at...
and the ultra-rich are uncaring. It also skewers environmental activists
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
, as being unwilling to take decisive action or willing to take actions that are self-destructive and ineffectual.
The book often deals with serious themes and then delivers comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
. These comic diversions usually come to an abrupt end, often due to the hapless sudden death of a gag character. The comedy draws on Elton's typical fodder. The book contains crude and cringe humour, with characters often experience flatulence
Flatulence
Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...
and drunkenness
Drunkenness
Alcohol intoxication is a physiological state that occurs when a person has a high level of ethanol in his or her blood....
, and running afoul of the law. The narrative also pokes fun at religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, place names and foreigners
Alien (law)
In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...
. The capricious and sometimes unjust nature of male-female relationships
Intimate relationship
An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...
is a constant theme. Corporate culture
Organizational culture
Organizational culture is defined as “A pattern of shared basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration" that have worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to...
and military culture
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
are ridiculed. As in much of Elton's comic work, the central character is an unsuccessful, self-loathing, 'farty' skinny Englishman
Englishman
Englishman may refer to:*English people*Grey Partridge*Jason Englishman, Canadian rock music singer and guitarist*Jenny-Bea Englishman, real name of the Canadien singer Esthero*Erald Briscoe, reggae musician who records under the name Englishman...
who has trouble relating to women. The book's prominent themes include:
- Air pollutionAir pollutionAir pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
- The Campaign for Nuclear DisarmamentCampaign for Nuclear DisarmamentThe Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
- Displacement of Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
from their land - Far rightFar rightFar-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
politics - FinanceFinance"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
- Global warmingGlobal warmingGlobal warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
- Nuclear powerNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
- RacismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
- Recreational drug useRecreational drug useRecreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
- Unrequited loveUnrequited loveUnrequited love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections...
- Uranium miningUranium miningUranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. The worldwide production of uranium in 2009 amounted to 50,572 tonnes, of which 27% was mined in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia are the top three producers and together account for 63% of world uranium...
- White supremacyWhite supremacyWhite supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
Synopsis
The protagonist, Colin "CD" Dobson, lives a humdrum life, at a critical point in history. The environment is being rapidly destroyed by a series of 'avalanches' - sudden upsets in the Earth's ecosystem that cause widespread destruction. The Stark conspiracy is a cabal of the world's richest and most influential men, who have long been aware that the planet's entire ecosystem is approaching total collapse. For decades they have been launching unmanned spacecraft loaded with supplies into orbit around the Earth and the Moon. Seeking to save their own lives and leave everyone else to suffer from 'total toxic overload', they secretly create a fleet of spacecraft with the intention of founding a colony on the Moon.Using crude intimidatory tactics, they purchase land from Aboriginals in Western Australia, to use as a launch site. They sell stocks and commodities to raise cash, selling the assets at the same time and in high volumes, to engineer a worldwide crash of the stockmarkets and lower the price of the resources they need. They buy the Moon from the United States government, along with the hardware to reach it.
Six vessels are designed to travel to the Moon, three of which will carry humans. There is room for 250 humans on the craft. The vessels are named 'Star Arks', referencing the Biblical story of Noah's Ark. The Star Arks contain human and animal embryos in suspended animation, as well as resources needed for life support. The Star Arks are prepared under the cover story that the consortium is building a desert hotel and retreat.
CD and his friends form a group called 'EcoAction'. Each of them has his or her own reason for fighting the consortium, with the ostensible collective goal of trying to protect the environment. They take direct action against the consortium's activities, and in the process uncover the conspiracy. They infiltrate the launch site and wreak havoc against the plan. CD and one of the conspirators, Sly Moorcock, compete for the affections of Rachel, who eventually joins the conspiracy as Sly's intended partner.
EcoAction try to warn the rest of the world about the plan, but they are not taken seriously. The conspiracy kill many of those who have investigated or uncovered the conspiracy. Rachel turns on Sly at the last minute with the intention of sabotaging the launch, but he overpowers her and tries to abduct her. She escapes and rejoins the surviving members of EcoAction. The Stark Conspiracy blast off, but find that their existence is frustrating and lonely. Sly Moorcock eventually commits suicide. The narrative ends with an admonishment for the world's consumers over their inaction on environmental issues in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Characters
The novel features a large number of characters, both humanHuman
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
and animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
. The main protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
s are an ensemble of humans who form the EcoAction team. The main antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
s are a small ensemble of humans who form the Stark Conspiracy. There are also numerous gag character
Gag character
A gag character is usually a character that is rarely used, and shows no personality except for the joke in comic strips and TV shows. Often, a gag character's usage is for only one joke.-How a gag character works:...
s, who are introduced for the purposes of narrating a humorous tale, and then quickly discarded. These characters are often animals. For example, Mrs Pastel is introduced as eating mussels, Dave the dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
is born, and Iggy the iguana
Iguana
Iguana is a herbivorous genus of lizard native to tropical areas of Central America and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena...
eats a fly, and all die very shortly after being introduced into the story. Most of the human characters are derided by the narrative for comedic effect and as a vehicle for social commentary.
The animal characters are usually incompletely anthropomorphised
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
. The author gives them names that would be suitable for English-speaking humans, and describes their thoughts and point of view as though the animal were human. Animals are often portrayed as being more intelligent than humans. Their simple lifestyles are compared with human lifestyles, particularly to demonstrate the extent to which human consumption impacts on the environment. Late in the story, a camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
named Walter Culboon (named by a human character after two of the EcoAction characters who die) becomes integral to the effort to infiltrate the Stark base.
Human characters
EcoAction:- Colin "CD" Dobson, a British-born loser living in Australia. He frequently acts out of a desire to impress women, in order to obtain sex.
- Rachel Kelly, CD's love interest, who eventually partners with Sly Moorcock.
- Zimmerman, a former Army commandoCommandoIn English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
who lost his genitals during a firefight in the Vietnam War. - Walter, an environmentalist and hippieHippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
who is close friends with Zimmerman. - Johnny and Maud Culboon, Aborigines whose land becomes the site of the Stark Conspiracy.
- Christine 'Chrissy' Kelly (apparently no relation to Rachel), an American journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
who investigates the financial dealings of the conspiracy.
The Stark Conspiracy:
- Silvester "Sly" Moorcock, a businessman who is indoctrinated into the Stark Conspiracy.
- Tex Slampacker, an American fast foodFast foodFast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
magnate. - Ocker Tyron, an Australian businessman whose rivalry with Moorcock causes tension.
- Mr Nagasyu, a Japanese technologyTechnologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
businessman. - Professor Durf, an ecological scientistEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
who heads the Domesday Group (the research arm of the Conspiracy). - Aristos Tyron, Ocker's hanger-onSycophantSycophancy means:# Obsequious flattery; servility.# The character or characteristic of a sycophant.Alternative phrases are often used such as:-Etymology:...
brother. - Gordon Gordon, a white power skinhead who intimidates the Indigenous people into giving up their land.
Connections with other works
Elton wrote a screenplay based on this novel, which was subsequently made as StarkStark (TV miniseries)
Stark is a 1993 British-Australian television miniseries, based on the bestselling novel Stark by comedian Ben Elton. The three-episode series, directed by Nadia Tass, was an international coproduction between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting...
, a television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
. It was a joint production by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and the ABC
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
(the British and Australian national broadcasters). Ben Elton played the lead role, with Colin Friels
Colin Friels
-Background and training:Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland. His mother was a mill worker and his father a joiner. He lived in Kilbirnie until 1963, when his family moved to Australia, arriving in Darwin, Northern Territory before settling in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows...
as Sly and Jacqueline McKenzie
Jacqueline McKenzie
Jacqueline Susan McKenzie is an Australian actress.McKenzie made her film debut in the 1987 film Wordplay and on stage in Child Dancing for Griffin Theatre Company. She made a strong impression in Romper Stomper , and over the next couple of years came to be regarded as one of Australia's most...
as Rachel. There were some differences between the novel and the miniseries; some characters were renamed, and the ending was different. Elton's subsequent two novels, Gridlock
Gridlock (novel)
Gridlock is a 1991 novel by Ben Elton.-Plot summary:The novel depicts a near-future London in which traffic congestion has reached almost critical levels, such that accidents in a few key places could bring the entire city's traffic network to a halt. The government is aware of the problem and...
and This Other Eden
This Other Eden (novel)
This Other Eden is a satirical novel written by Ben Elton.-Plot introduction:The novel is set in the reasonably near future. Earth is being devastated by Mankind's continued exploitation, and it seems obvious that the environment will collapse sometime in the near future...
, also deal with environmental themes and are set in a dystopian future.
Alternative 3
Alternative 3
Alternative 3 is a television programme, broadcast once only in the United Kingdom in 1977, and later broadcast in Australia and New Zealand, as a fictional hoax, an heir to Orson Welles' radio production of The War of the Worlds...
, a 1977 British television hoax masquerading as a documentary, shared some themes with Stark.