(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Welcome to Deathland, a postapocalyptic nuclear desert where kill or be killed is the law of the land. The radiation-damaged survivors of this ravaged region are consumed by the urge to murder each other, making partnership of any sort a lethal risk. But when two drifters forge an uneasy truce, the possibility of a new life beckons.

Written more than 50 years ago for an issue of Amazing Science Fiction, this 90+ page novella has me in two minds.

On one hand, this is a lovely glimpse back to the 60's and what was considered "dystopian" for its time. While the genre has been overrun of late (especially in YA fiction), I still gave this one its time. It isn't Leiber's fault that the genre has been done to death recently.

On the other hand, it just wasn't very interesting after about 30 pages. Lots of talking and very little action. But the concepts were there and, I think, would have made for the core of a really good full novel. It's a shame he didn't take it that far.

Certainly worth a read - just from a "historical" perspective...but I wouldn't read it again.


Paul
ARH

I think you probably have to be a die-hard sci-fi fan to enjoy this really rather banal and all too familiar post-apocalyptic novella. Ray and Alice are wandering a nuclear wasteland. Most of the US (and presumably the rest of the world) has been destroyed. Those who have survived seem to be ruled by a desire to murder, although thankfully a group of anti-murder stalwarts have banded together into Murderers Anonymous. Ray and Alice forge an uneasy liaison and then meet Pops, an MA member, with whom they go on a crazy adventure, the purpose of which I didn’t quite understand. It is true that Leiber broaches some serious themes in the novella - first published in 1960 and now feeling somewhat dated – about individual responsibility, the instinct for violence, war and co-operation but it’s all touched on rather sketchily and none of the characters are relatable. I was interested to explore some “classic” science fiction and to read something by Fritz Leiber, but it all left me underwhelmed.