The Drowned World
★★★★★Read Jan 1, 1994
I really like Ballard's writing: I've been sold on him ever since seeing the RE/Search edition of The Atrocity Exhibition and then reading Crash, one of my favourite novels ever. The Drowned World is an ok read, a little dull. The apocalypse is the world has gotten hot: ice caps melt, cities flood and then silt in, humans have to move to the poles.
The book itself borrows way too much mood from Heart of Darkness: lots of internal strife and jungles and madmen and all that. Some nice scenes of exploring ruined, underwater London. A bit of breakdown of human morality.
Goodreads readers give it 3.46★, from 21,653 ratings. I gave it 2★, −1.5, where I'm usually −0.9: I rated it like most.
Readers call it Science Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic, Classics, Fantasy, Apocalyptic, Speculative Fiction, 20th Century.