Will I love Logan's Run?

Set in Earth's future, humanity has been reduced to an ideal population. Living in domed cities humans live and die by the hand of the city's central computer. In this world, humanity has staved off the perils of overpopulation by surrendering human existence to the central computer's machine mind. 

With an enforced life span of only 21 years and every possible need and desire supplied and maintained by a central artificial intelligence, humanity has stagnated. Are we, today, in the real world, exploring the same path Nolan and Johnson presented in this book? We seem incapable of the political and… show more.

This book embodies many of my favorite features of post-apocalyptic fiction—everything from rogue AI and hazardous underground encounters to trekking across devastated hellscapes. The concept of “Sanctuary” and its mythical connotations made a significant impression on me. The idea that there was a safe place, regardless of how bad things got, appealed to my sense of fairness in the universe and reinforced the idea that there is always hope.

I saw the 1976 film long before I discovered reading and love for dystopian fiction. The twenty-third century’s response to overpopulation is to ‘sleep’ on your twenty-first birthday, but those who refuse and choose to run are hunted down and killed by sandmen. As Last Day approaches, Logan 6 receives his final mission but discovers he is not ready to die.

I was shocked when I first read Logan’s Run. Partly because it is much harsher and darker than the film, but also because it painted a future I could not comprehend. I realised there are so many possible… show more.