Levie, it turns out, spent his early teen years writing on and off. As he grew, he took on a variety of careers that included beet picking, student teaching, and tending a cemetery. It was while working as a personal assistant to military personnel that he became interested in just how large insects could grow after a heated debate amongst army colleagues over fifties era sci-fi movies. Levie investigated the matter, he writes in his bio, and says the ultimate answer to the question is the book.
The story appears set in some post-nuclear holocaust where insects have become enormous and man has lost his history. The hero this time around is a man named Tall who sets off to discover the origins of his species.
"But as he roamed he became more and more aware that mankind was a stranger in this insect world, that there were no other creatures remotely like men. Then where had his people come from?" (Back jacket blurb.)
Had nature run amok?
1 comment:
Thanks for the brief review. My older brother bought the Ace when it came out and passed it on to me after he read it. He and I discussed the book's ending but couldn't agree. He didn't know what to make of it.
But MY take is not that the insects all became big but that a diminutive version of man was created in a post-nuclear attempt to preserve some kind of human stamp.
My reasons include discovery by Tall and Co. of the enormous skeleton above the White Room wall (is this the last of normal sized humans), the crazy strength of the insect-sized humans, and the strange but ENORMOUS growth that blocks out the sky for miles (is this a normal-size tree?) found near the IW's new digs.
But I agree, the book is GREAT!!!
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