July Books 1) Children of the Atom

1) Children of the Atom, by Wilmar H. Shiras

On that list of the 100 most influential sf books that was going round a year or so ago, this was the only one whose author I simply had never heard of. It is set twenty years in the future (ie 1973), and revolves around the assembling of a group of children whose parents all died after a nuclear accident in 1959, and who all display exceptional intelligence. At the end of the book, the children decide that they must integrate into the mainstream of society.

It’s obviously at least in part a parable of fandom / geekdom, but a rather effective one. Definitely an under-rated classic.

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