Give Warning To the World (UQ1122) [Mass Market Paperback]

John Brunner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 16, 1974

Are the aliens among us? Are the chariots of the gods returning? If so-are they for us or against us?

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: DAW (July 16, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879971223
• ISBN-13: 978-0879971229
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,062,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The cover is warning enough- Stay Clear!, June 10, 2011

By 

M-I-K-E 2theD "2theD" (The Big Mango, Thailand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Give Warning To the World (UQ1122) (Mass Market Paperback)

Being a huge fan of John Brunner novels, new and old, I just can't pass up one of his novels even if it has a terrible cover like displayed above. Tragically, this novel only had a single edition published by DAW (#112) way back in 1974. This is rather tragic because it follows in the footsteps of another Brunner tragedy entitled The Wrong End of Time (1971), also by DAW (#61). Those footsteps include the scathing 2-star rating... rare for a Brunner novel.

Across the street from slum housing, a police stakeout is watching the habits of the red-headed landlady who is suspected of 'serving' males in Soho district with whips and leather. The house she inhabits is home to a elderly lady in the upstairs and Clyde, a Jamaican actor struck with curiosity about the treatment of the young lady next door to him- Sally. Previous tenants have been disappearing and the police are also onto this but they are unable to connect the landlady/dominatrix to the mystery.

When inventor and deep-thinker Nick is driving down the road, the same beautiful but strange lady bursts into his car seemingly involved in a hallucination. She is taken away by her landlord who then locks her in her room. Though she is dirty and depraved of nutrition, she is continually injected with drugs to keep her sedated and confused. Nick discusses the incident with his doctor friend Tom.

Eventually, all the characters meet each other through one way or another, which stinks of luckiness and coincidence, which, again follows in the footsteps of The Wrong End of Time. It's an unbelievable unfolding of coincidence and the follow through of poor choices borders on agonizing. I was nearly yelling at the Nick 'Go to the police!' and 'Stop drawing grand conclusions to specific degrees!' and yelling to Brunner 'Get on with it!' So, yea, it's bit torturous to say the least. It reads like a run-of-the-mill police mystery/heroic savior type of fiction... but then (there's always a 'but then!' in these types of pulp novels) there's a science fiction twist at the last third when it's revealed the planet Earth is in danger. This screams of B-grade sci-fi film quality! It's pathetic for a Brunner novel.

An almost redeemable aspect of Give Warning to the World is the fifteen pages (10% of the novel) where we learn the entire history of the aliens at hand by the monologue of one character (I hate when this happens). The invention of the alien Yem by Brunner is pretty enticing but the novel's plot just has a terrible flow. I really wish he could have re-written the Yem into a more astute novel. Period.

I knew it was gonna be a stinker, but as a Brunner completist I HAD to read it. Now that I'm down with it, it will go the same way as The Wrong of Time- to the dusty shelves of the second-hand book store where many curious souls will eventually lay eyes on the cover and slip it right back onto the shelf. The cover is warning enough to the world to stay clear of the contents within.