Reviewed by K T Bowes for Readers' Favorite

Childless
Dr James Dobson/Kurt Bruner

In Childless, Dobson and Bruner have created a futuristic world based in the 2040's, which our 2014 world is frighteningly on its way towards emulating. Life has no significance or value in the future and people fall into two distinct categories, credits and debits, depending on how much of a financial contribution they are able to make to the economy. Childlessness has become the life of choice and those who do want children, opt for genetic engineering and the 'designer baby' to ensure that the child is unlikely to fall into the debit category in later life. Whilst
'blind conception' is frowned upon by the general populace, so are the sick and elderly, given the option of 'volunteering' for euthanasia in order to free up valuable resources for their families. This novel follows a group of characters, whose lives touch and cross over in their pursuit of personal goals. Each character has a different view of the world they live in and each occupies a different place in the economic scale, but every one of them has been irrevocably shaped by the skewed social values in which they have been raised.

There is a terrifying parity between the world of Childless and today's. Dobson and Bruner have shown immense skill in the placement of this novel. I wondered initially why it was set so far ahead, when I could see similarities with what is already in motion, but realised that surely, that is the point. Our world is still salvageable, the fictional one is not. This novel acts as a social barometer, warning what our future will look like if man continues to unpick the fabric of the family without regard. It is incredibly clever in its execution. The characters are all well drawn and the reader quickly becomes embroiled in their lives. The character of Matthew Adams is suitably beyond hope, manipulative and self-pitying to an infuriating degree and there are others with similar unpleasant traits. The detailed descriptions of personality, have given the authors' the right to exercise complete control over the reader's perception of their creations. For instance, other characters are more endearing, Julia, Maria and Troy, all of whom are trying to live good lives under a barrage of social influences which are impossible to ignore. It is not just that the reader chooses to 'like' or 'dislike' a character, they are led there willingly and 'told' how to regard the fictional person before them. That takes great writing ability. The pace is fast, with no opportunity for the reader to get bored and each turn of the page brings a fresh revelation or a new twist to the intrigue. It was a delight to listen to this novel, which has left a legacy of questioning, regarding what is already 'acceptable' by today's standards. I would definitely recommend it.