Edmund Cooper's "All Fool's Day" | Book review

Now this isn't a book I would usually pick up off the shelf with an interest in reading it, but with the three months of summer holiday I have before I'm due to return to university, I thought that I would like to spend this time reading books I have not read before.

Dad recommended this to me about a year ago and it's been sitting on my bookshelf for long enough, so I thought that it deserves a read!

This particular edition is a Coronet Books edition published in 1973 but you can get other copies from Amazon for a good price here.

The story follows the character Matthew Greville during the 1970s and early 1980s. He is the first suicide attempt victim from the sudden Omega Radiation tragedy from the sun. The reader learns in the first couple of chapters that the 1970s sees a near wipe out of mankind as the Omega Radiation triggers the human mind to want to commit suicide, which eventually kills off most of the human population. Greville is one of many survivors from this radiation and the story continues to follow him as he tries to survive the new ways of living.

To begin with, the novel really haunted me over the aspect of the radiation but all the same it made me curious as to the way in which the characters live their lives. Every so often I couldn't help that despite the storyline, Cooper added a little comical effect when describing certain moments. And despite the dark intentions throughout the novel, it started to become a little hopeful towards the end, but the little twist at the end does bring the reader back down to reality (although I won't give away too much!!)

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys science fiction novels that aren't always about space and aliens. However if you're a very squeamish person then this probably isn't the best book to read quietly on a Sunday afternoon...some moments are very graphic!

I hope you've enjoyed reading this review (it is my first one) and that I might have inspired some of you to read it if you haven't yet!

I will be back with a new post for you next week.

Goodbye for now!

Yours, Georgia x