Outbreak by Marianne Ruuth

Review by Red Bonney

I blame LoisAbductions Inc and InCoHerEnt for this. I can't read a book now without reviewing it. Any little slip of a book. The copious amounts of rum help too. (Host here... hehehe, my work here is done.)

First thing I have to say is that this book was written in 1977. Which might explain what I thought was basically a B-movie in print. It was about a Utopian society that was foolishly run by men. I mean by foolish power men. Everyone in the society was a blue eyed, blond haired specimen of human being, labeling themselves a "Primaries". Everyone else, presumably the dark eyed, dark haired people, were, as a result, called "Secondaries". The secondaries were servants, or to put it another way, slaves to the Primaries and thought to be other than human. It was illegal for a secondary to mate a primary. Not only illegal, but immoral.

It's meant to be a metaphor, the whole book, for racism, but it's very generalized, very black and white, not to put too find a point on it. It's supposed to shock the readers with it's immorality. I was shocked, but at the many typos and bad grammar. The dialogue was overly simplified, but I was able to think my way through, rewrite it in my head, so to speak. Still, it was almost embarrassing.

But getting past all the technicalities, the story takes you through some intense bigotry, from both sides. It's a fine piece of societal commentary. It's a warning against the dangers of technology and a reminder to look at history and learn the hard lessons. A glimpse at one possible future.

Then, there's the romantic subplot. Oona, a "Primary" woman tries to escape the coils of her perfect society, because perfection doesn't sit very well with her. Perfection consists of a drugged, semi-conscious existence, where most people are pliable and easily controlled by the all knowing, all powerful Father. In her bid for freedom, she meets Garth, a tough, worldly-wise Secondary man. From the very start, she feels an attraction to him, but she is confused by her feelings, having only ever been taught that such a relationship is an abomination, that he isn't really human the way she is.

Of course, it's not always black and white, sometimes it's hard to tell who to root for. That's what makes it a fun story. It's a little tattered around the edges, metaphorically speaking, but I think it's worth wading through. If you like early futuristic sci-fi ... well, it's not a great book, but if you're a die hard, it won't take you long to get through it.