Latest editorial
Nothing, says ANDY HEDGECOCK, can rescue this undistinguished amalgam of ponderous melodrama and shallow philosophical speculation
Chronicler of imminent chaos
Trevor Hoyle’s books may be set in futuristic or dystopian worlds but they tackle the big issues confronting us now, says ANDY HEDGECOCK
JAMIE BRITTON invites readers to visit 3,500 locals as part of a marathon artistic pub crawl
JOHN GREEN welcomes a valuable and incisive analysis of a world become hyperpolitical but without the mass movement institutions to represent it
JAMES WALSH is moved by a provocative and original take on the relationship between ecology and architecture, and a plea to work with, not against, the materials and minerals of our world
An immersive, participatory display by a queer Australian Aboriginal performer, and a rebellious unravelling of traditional Scottish dance
WHEN the original version of Trevor Hoyle’s The Last Gasp was published in 1983, it read like a prophetic SF thriller.
Hoyle blended a taut near-future plot with an epic thought experiment to challenge complacency about the consequences of global pollution. He flung down a gauntlet to his readers, daring them to contemplate the kind of ecological apocalypse that might result from the relentless abuse of military might, technological power and greed.
At the time the book gained a cult readership. But it drew little critical attention from a media more interested in celebrity, fashion and the cold war.
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KEN COCKBURN relishes the memoir of a translator, but wonders whether the autobiography underlying the impulse would make a better book
HENRY BELL welcomes a fine demonstration of the need to love the words themselves in the communication of political messages