The Genocides
Cover of first edition (paperback)
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| Author | Thomas M. Disch |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Berkley Books |
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Publication date
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1965 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 143 pp |
The Genocides is a 1965 science fiction novel written by American author Thomas M. Disch. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965.
The Genocides describes the genocide of humans by aliens who seed Earth with enormous crop plants. The Plants are massive and rapidly out-compete terrestrial flora, forming a monoculture. They appear unwholesome to the native fauna, and starvation seems inevitable.
The novel opens with a small rural community struggling for survival on the border of Lake Superior. Urban society appears to have collapsed by this point. The community, led by Anderson and his family, eke out an existence by siphoning sap from the Plants to irrigate their corn crop. Anderson is a conservative and religious man, harsh and uncompromising. His focus on survival has kept the community alive long after many have died. His rules include the harsh treatment of outsiders who are routinely killed unless they are of use to the community.
Newcomers arrive bringing with them news of spherical machines that are incinerating every trace of humanity left on Earth, including burning the abandoned cities and remaining survivors. Most of the newcomers are killed and, the novel implies, ground into sausage meat and consumed. The two remaining have useful skills: Alice is a nurse and Jeremiah a mining engineer.
Jeremiah vows a personal revenge on Anderson and his family, but begins by ingratiating himself in the community. Jeremiah courts Anderson's thirteen-year-old daughter, Blossom. He befriends Anderson's educated son, Buddy.
During the harsh winter, the spherical machines come to incinerate the community. Jeremiah sees his revenge coming to fruition. Those who survive the initial conflagration flee into a cave. There they discover the Plants' roots are hollow and form a massive and interlocking underground network. Jeremiah suggests they go deeper, pointing out that they will be able to escape the winter underground.
They discover the "fruit" of the plants is housed in the root system: a nutritious pulp the community begins to consume. Anderson, who lost his wife Lady when fleeing, is weakened. When he is bitten by a rat, gangrene sets in and he declines quickly. His final words to his brutish son, Neil, are to let Jeremiah take over leading the community and to allow Jeremiah to marry Blossom. Neil is angered by these words, and murders Anderson. The nurse Alice sees the signs of murder on Anderson, but Neil murders her before she can share her revelation. The community breaks up.
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