This Time of Darkness

Some books stay with you in your mind, even years later. Some books even help shape who you are. When I was about 10 or 11 I read “This Time of Darkness” by HM Hoover. After the “Hunger Games” the plotline sounds cliché, a dystopian setting after the fall of civilisation, a young girl defying the system – of course it was published in 1980 so it beat the Hunger Games to it just a little.

I just re-read the book, I was all prepared to enjoy it purely as nostalgia – but by Jove! (I'm refusing to use “OMG” ) it was a smegging good read. The adventure side was just as good as I remembered, but I understood so many more references which made it seriously, seriously DARK in places. As a child I guess I had a much more innocent interpretation of some of the events. This makes the Hunger Games look positively utopian.

The moral side is darn good without being preachy. The main character, Amy, is pretty streetwise and a bit cynical after growing up in a hell hole, but there is a moment where it hits her, as she stares at the corpse of a man who was probably intending to kill her, somewhere someone will be waiting for him to come home, someone will cry when he doesn't... even killers have mothers.

I remember that scene, it stuck with me and probably ruined my enjoyment of mindless violence from then on.

If you would like to read this book (only 161 pages) The book is hard to find, tragically it is very little known, but I recommend it for everyone from about ages 8 to 800.