The Ringway virus

by Russell Foreman

Ringway Virus Foreman, Russell

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Fiction

292 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1977

Reviews

[Bex · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a time when I’d have thought this was a bit ridiculous and a tad boring in places yet in 2020 it suddenly seems reflective of the year.
From comments about new flu, countries calling the disease by their enemies names, comments on the slowness of government and a paragraph about how people didn’t take warnings seriously because of tourist season or politics it was like reading about this year with a much higher death rate. You couldn’t make up how much 1970’s novel reflects the current times if you tried.

The book was let down by an up in the air ending that had me looking to see if there was a sequel but alas there is no trace of one.

[Nadim · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was at school, there was this kid who tried to break the record for ringworm infections (he did - 47) Nothing to do with this cracking tale, of course. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s eerie how closely the spread of the virus described in this book paralleled the Covid-19 pandemic. Foreman clearly read widely and developed a very plausible tale of a runaway virus that ultimately knocks out a huge chunk of humanity. His references to the 1918 Spanish Flu reminded me of news reports comparing Covid to that earlier pandemic. The fact that this book was written in the mid-1970s boggles the mind. The author died in 2000, so was never able to see how closely he came to predicting the nature of a global pandemic. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. The book has its weaknesses. In some respects, gender and culture are dealt with rather insensitively, and the language feels a bit dated as a result. Also, there’s no such thing as a three-dimensional character throughout the whole narrative, and some of the interactions between people are kind of laughably moronic. The romance side stories are amateurish and rather ridiculous. It’s here that Foreman’s stereotyping of women is probably at its most egregious. Still, even in the face of all those drawbacks, this book was worth reading given its shockingly close estimation of how a worldwide pandemic would play out. The book moves at a quick pace and is rarely boring, and it’s clear that the author was considering issues that still resonate today, including global resource exploitation, chemical and nuclear waste, and general degradation of the environment. Maybe it’s just as well Foreman didn’t live long enough to see his fiction become a reality.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok, until the end.

[John Holdsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

solid story of a virus that wipes out most of humanity....ended too soon, could do with a sequel

[Umar Ismail]

I learn a lot