WILD JACK

Once again John Christopher has created a world with a clean, simplistic dichotomy, and this time the defenders of liberty must hold out against the blandishments of a materialistic utopia, 23rd century London, where a lucky, civilized few monopolize the benefits of atomic energy and the labor of a servant class. Clive Anderson, scion of a leading councillor, is more than satisfied with his life as a hedonist aristocrat until a plot against his father sucks him into the web of political oppression. First sent to an island prison Clive strikes an alliance with two proto rebels, Tony and Sunyo; later, when the boys escape to the mainland forests — supposedly populated by savage "outlanders" — they are recruited by outlaw leader Wild Jack and his band of expert bowmen known (what else?) as the "men in green." Neither the plot nor the range of Clive's personal choices (he becomes a rebel by necessity not inclination) would strain the most lackadaisical reader but Christopher, an economical and indeed parsimonious writer, draws the battle lines with a clarity that makes it difficult to opt out. Surely, we haven't seen the last of Wild Jack and his continued escapades ought to rival the journey to the White Mountains in popularity.