Peter R. S. Thomas

Tag: social commentary

  • Book Review: Make Room! Make Room!

    Book Review: Make Room! Make Room!

    I was gifted Harry Harrison’s 1966 dystopian novel Make Room! Make Room! for my birthday and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it was the basis for Soylent Green (a film I knew the plot of but haven’t seen), but that was about it. It’s set in a future was millions of people are crammed together in small cities and, like many dystopian stories from the 60s, it’s eerily prescient, while at the same time despite its accurate predictions, things haven’t become as bad as the book expected. (We’ve already passed the population levels that Harrison predicted would lead to some kind of apocalypse.)

    The worldbuilding is where the book really shines. The author explores how welfare policies actually make overpopulation worse, and how religious attitudes get weaponised to prevent birth control, which is clever social commentary. I found myself thinking about our own political debates while reading, which shows how relevant the book remains.

    The characters fit well in the world, my favourite of which is Sol, an older man whom the protagonist shares an apartment with. He has a great story arc, transforming from someone just trying to get by to a genuine radical. The author also does a good job of showing how the system forces characters like Andy (the protagonist) and Tab (the bodyguard of the protagonist’s love interest) into jobs where they hurt people they care about. 

    While the worldbuilding and social commentary works well, Make Room! is let down by its plot. There is a detective story moving things forward but, unlike Asimov’s Robots series where the mystery format actually explores the sci-fi concepts, Harrison’s storyline felt completely disconnected from everything interesting about his world. There was a missed opportunity to explore, for example, how law enforcement works in an overcrowded world. 

    And while the social issues and overcrowding remain relevant, Harrison doesn’t find an alternative vision for how gender works (e.g., in the same way that authors like Le Guin or Heinlein have). Shirl and other female characters exist mainly as domestic workers or objects, not really as full participants. And in a way that didn’t quite feel like part of the social commentary. 

    So if you’re interested in dystopian fiction or want to understand 1960s anxieties about population and environment, it’s definitely worth reading. Just don’t expect the plot to be as compelling as the world Harrison builds around it.

  • Book Review: Equal Rites

    Book Review: Equal Rites

    Terry Pratchett’s Equal Rites is a fun blend of fantasy and social commentary. It is told through the story of Eskarina Smith (known as Esk), a girl who accidentally inherits wizard magic in a world that insists women can only be witches.

    The characters are the book’s greatest strength. Esk is wonderfully ambitious, relentlessly driving the story forward with her determination to become a wizard. Granny Weatherwax is magnificently assertive and dominant—a true force of nature. Even Simon, the awkward young wizard, is delightfully written with genuine charm. All three develop beautifully throughout the story, their growth feeling organic rather than forced.

    Pratchett’s magic system lavishes the world with superb chaotic energy. The way magic literally seeks to escape from books, how the very walls of the Unseen University absorb magical energy and gain sentience—these details create a world where magic feels truly wild and dangerous… and real! The characters must navigate not just social obstacles but a fundamentally unstable magical environment that adds genuine tension to their journey.

    Perhaps most fascinating is Pratchett’s exploration of competing magical philosophies. Witch magic—practical, intuitive, and grounded in real-world problems—stands in sharp contrast to wizard magic, which is academic, hierarchical, and theoretical. This isn’t just for flavour; the genuine debates about different ways of knowing and learning that arise form a core part of the plot.

    Building on this, the satire of Unseen University spears traditional academic establishments everywhere (as someone who has worked in that environment, you can recognise some of the characters!). Pratchett sets focus on the politics, traditions, and resistance to change that plague many institutions. Indeed, there is an inherent contradiction between the University’s self-importance and its actual dysfunction that encapsulates the book’s themes.

    The story itself succeeds despite—or perhaps because of—its straightforward allegory. Yes, the gender dynamics critique is fairly obvious and somewhat on the nose, but Pratchett grounds it in genuine character motivations and real stakes. And to this day it remains eminently readable and relatable.