Name that book?

August 16, 2008 1:57 AM

BookFilter: I read a story a long time ago about a sort of near-future sci-fi-ish setting where all human beings in the world were rendered sterile thanks to a man-made virus, but I can't remember what it was called. Help!

Random facts:

- the protagonist was a female scientist-type who was a bit crazy. She's the one who eventually engineers the virus.
- the book wasn't really about the virus - it was about something else - but the virus was what came out of it
- the epilogue is told from the POV of the scientist's son, who she was pregnant with at the time of the virus, and who is one of the youngest humans alive because birth rates ground to a halt not long after. By that time the scientist is locked up in a maximum-security prison / mental institution type place and he visits her there.
- I think the son's father didn't play a part at all in the story, or his part was insignificant enough that I don't remember it

I'm reasonably sure it was a novel or a medium-length story - probably not a short story because it had chapters and definitely not a series. Other than that, I can't remember a thing.

Anyone..?

posted by Xany to writing & language (23 comments total)

Wiki has a list of SciFi with species wide infertility, though the list isn't especially long.

Could it be The Handmaid's Tale?
posted by paisley henosis at 2:34 AM on August 16, 2008

Er.. the Handmaid's Tale doesn't involve any viruses or prison. It's about religious fundamentalists taking over the USA.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 2:45 AM on August 16, 2008

"Greybeard" by Brian Aldiss?
"Children of Men" by P.D. James?
"The White Plague" by Frank Herbert?
posted by TheophileEscargot at 3:47 AM on August 16, 2008

I agree about Greybeard by Aldiss. Check that one out.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 5:04 AM on August 16, 2008

While not directly related, I'd encourage you to check out the brilliant Y the Last Man series of comics. It has a very similar theme.
posted by Ponderance at 5:29 AM on August 16, 2008

Hm. It doesn't seem to be any of those. :( Greybeard would fit but I'm positive it was a virus and not nuclear fallout that resulted in mass infertility .. also the virus worked by specifically affecting how sperm and eggs were produced or screwed up the genetics in some manner. (Although I now have a few more books for my reading list... thanks!)

Other random facts that might be relevant: I remember thinking the virus itself was a sort of deus ex machina deal - the people were running around trying to do something else, and then the protagonist decided to kill the entire human race.

And the last generation of children were called the ... Youth? Young? Something with a capital Y.
posted by Xany at 5:58 AM on August 16, 2008

Oryx and Crake?
posted by coevals at 6:12 AM on August 16, 2008

I am seconding Ponderance. Y the Last Man is indeed well worth your time and fits the subject you described nicely.
posted by vkxmai at 7:03 AM on August 16, 2008

Oryx and Crake?
posted by Happy Dave at 7:04 AM on August 16, 2008

Oooh, snap coevals!
posted by Happy Dave at 7:05 AM on August 16, 2008

Counting Heads by David Marusek? It was a short story before he expanded it ("We Were Out of Our Minds with Joy").
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 8:28 AM on August 16, 2008

Not Oryx and Crake--main character is a male and told from his POV. Excellent book though.
posted by calistasm at 9:29 AM on August 16, 2008

Are you sure it isn't Children of Men by P.D. James? I've only seen the movie, but I know the book was quite different. I read about the book on some blog, and they said that some of the differences were that in the book, it's men rather than women who are sterile and the main character is the pregnant woman.
posted by Loudmax at 10:05 AM on August 16, 2008

Any little detail can help with this sort of identification. For example, what do you mean by "A long time ago"? Does that mean 5 years? 15 years? 25 years? The longer ago you read it the easier the ID will probably be as it narrows the possibilities tremendously.
posted by Justinian at 10:15 AM on August 16, 2008

eg COUNTING HEADS, which is a good book, is from 2007. So if you tell us "a long time ago" was 20 years, it's obviously not that. But different people have radically different ideas of what "long" means.
posted by Justinian at 10:16 AM on August 16, 2008

Until I read the [more inside] I was sure it was Galapagos by Vonnegut.
posted by schyler523 at 11:01 AM on August 16, 2008

Justinian - oops, probably about <5>
I'm quite sure it's not Children of Men. The book I'm thinking of ends with infertility, not has it as its premise.

... hopefully I'm not imagining things ...
posted by Xany at 7:29 PM on August 16, 2008

Arslan, by Engh? Not likely, but...
posted by QIbHom at 8:19 PM on August 16, 2008

Sounds like Oryx and Crake.
posted by zardoz at 11:16 PM on August 16, 2008

I dunno, part of the description sounds a bit like ORYX AND CRAKE but other parts don't sound much like it. On the other hand, it's from 2003 so the timeline works out exactly.
posted by Justinian at 11:40 AM on August 17, 2008

Don't worry, it's not Children of Men. I've read it and there are no viruses or scientists.
posted by lhall at 2:07 PM on August 17, 2008

Kalki by Gore Vidal
posted by andreap at 4:03 PM on August 17, 2008

Standard reminder: rec.arts.sf.written is usually very good at solving these.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:05 PM on August 20, 2008