Drowned World - post III

Just as life in the hot but bearable drowned world of London becomes stable and Kernans for now has put his desire to embrace the return to the neo-Triassic period on hold Ballard twists the story again.

The waters of the lagoon are disturbed by the alligator army that accompanies the pirates and looters of Strangman’s private army. This odd figure, who in many respects represents the past but as a result is like a ghost, shakes up the trio. He drains the lagoon and forces them to confront the past and contemplate the future.

But Kernans cannot put off his search for an alternative and as the pressure to fight the water, heat and the inevitability of the future overtakes those around him he strikes out for the South. There he meets Hardman a visible reminder of the death that waits but he cannot stop his journey as a "second Adam searching for the forgotten paradise of the reborn sun”.

A review will come eventually…