ironduke
March 31st, 2005, 08:35 AM
Hi, I'm trying to find a paperback novel I read about a decade ago, but I can't remember the title, or the author.
In the book, Earth's major cities are no-go areas ruled by gangs, and are completely cordoned off. The top stories of some skyscrapers are still occupied. The world capital (biggest city in the world not completely cut off) is in Italy, I believe, perhaps Sicily, but I don't remember the name.
The suburbs are still populated, and one of the characters in the story reminisces about how when he was in college they'd go driving as near a big city as possible for thrills. Later on in the story he is forced by gang members from one of the cities to bring them to a department store, where everything is completely automated and there are no employees. His boots are taken and stuffed with newspaper so they'd fit one of the gang members. He later finds out that the leader of that gang is actually somebody from the outside sent in to try to fix the situation in the city.
Later on in the story, a bunch of scientists are expelled from Earth on a spaceship, and after a few generations there is fighting and warfare on the ship. A bunch of children are the only ones left after so many hundreds of years. An older man tries to set them up as well as he can before completely isolating himself from them. But the children burn the books meant to educated them for fuel, and form a primitive society on the spaceship. Their ruler, the oldest of them, a girl, wears an electric blanket as a robe. Later on, the children hunt down the man who is still alive and very old, and he begins to teach them.
In the book, Earth's major cities are no-go areas ruled by gangs, and are completely cordoned off. The top stories of some skyscrapers are still occupied. The world capital (biggest city in the world not completely cut off) is in Italy, I believe, perhaps Sicily, but I don't remember the name.
The suburbs are still populated, and one of the characters in the story reminisces about how when he was in college they'd go driving as near a big city as possible for thrills. Later on in the story he is forced by gang members from one of the cities to bring them to a department store, where everything is completely automated and there are no employees. His boots are taken and stuffed with newspaper so they'd fit one of the gang members. He later finds out that the leader of that gang is actually somebody from the outside sent in to try to fix the situation in the city.
Later on in the story, a bunch of scientists are expelled from Earth on a spaceship, and after a few generations there is fighting and warfare on the ship. A bunch of children are the only ones left after so many hundreds of years. An older man tries to set them up as well as he can before completely isolating himself from them. But the children burn the books meant to educated them for fuel, and form a primitive society on the spaceship. Their ruler, the oldest of them, a girl, wears an electric blanket as a robe. Later on, the children hunt down the man who is still alive and very old, and he begins to teach them.