Logan’s Run – Short Summary
Two writers, William F. Nolan and George Johnson are the authors of the dystopian classic, Logan’s Run. Few people realized that there was ever a classic dystopian book and thought that the movies come from the first Logan’s Run film which was produced in 1976. Various remakes, as well as sequels, followed, while there is indeed an original book written in 1967.
The book is a much better version than any of the films and there are numerous deviating points and the film simply could not communicate that it was a dystopian product of its time. At the time of publication, there was youth demonstrations and social upheavals.
Logan’s Run, the classic dystopian book is about a dystopic ageist society that wants to avoid overpopulation, unrest and war and a revolt against the old establishment by the young generation.
Logan’s Run – Age Just a Number
In this dystopia, a humongous computer governs the entire world where no human is allowed to live longer than 21 years in the world of 2116. In the palms of everyone’s hands is an embedded flower crystal that changes colour as the person ages.
Until you are six years old, it blinks yellow, from seven to thirteen it blinks blue and blinking red until twenty years. Then it starts to blink red and black until Last Day arrives on your 21st birthday and it goes black. This means you are at the end of the road, not figuratively, but literally.
This is when you have to go to the Sleepshop, and you will be euthanised. As humanity does, obviously you want to live longer and those that want to avoid death try to escape and runs towards Sanctuary. This is where Logan 3 comes in, he is also part of the Sandman which are operatives that hunt down runners and kill them.
While Logan isn’t a hero for most of the book, he does become a traditional hero figure after he started to develop sympathy for the runners. When he meets with Jessica 6 who also runs when she turned 21 at the same time as him, they both run through the assistance of Francis, who is also a Sandman, but at the same time someone who has always helped runners.
Francis revealed to Jessica and Logan that he is indeed 42-years old but that he has a faulty palm crystal and with the help of plastic surgery remained young-looking in order to continue working within the system to help others escape.
The Digital Age
Since the computer which controls the global infrastructure is starting to malfunction it is imperative that Francis help others or society will die with the computer. You need to disregard the Logan’s Run movies you have watched, as the dystopian brilliance of the first book is far more intense and an excellent read.
Buy Now : Logan’s Run
Also See : Actual Possibility That the Human Race Will End: The 6th Extinction
