Small, well appointed future. Semi detached.

If the ed of the world is nigh, then surely its only sensible to make alternative arrangements. Certainly the Earth has its points, but what most people need is something smaller and more maneageable.

Of course there are those who say thats planetary treason, but who cares what the weirdos and terrorists think? Not Nathan. All he cares is that his movies get made and that thee is someone there to see it.

In marketing terms, the end of the world will be very big. Anyone trying to save it should remember that. 

This, Ben Elton's third novel, continues what has become something of a tradition with Elton, in that his novels are themed around different environmental or human problems.

What Elton manages to do in these novels is create characers who portray characteristics which most people can sympathise with. In This Other Eden, Elton has created a story about the time when earth is on the brink of environment death. 

Pollution has brought the earth to the point that its no longer a case of getting a nice tan, its more of getting absolutely no contact with the sun at all.  Environmental catastrophes seem to happen on a spookily timed basis and people are buying Claustrospheres, home versions of the well known real life Eden Project in Cornwall.

According to environmentalists, Claustrospheres are the worst kind of treachery, arguing that if people don't have to look after the earth, they won't.

As with most of Elton's books, he manages to capture human nature so very, very well. I ound this book very funny, in an astonishingly thought provoking way. You can read this book as light reading then find yourself lying in bed later thinking about the ideas Elton presents with such clarity and humour. Well worth the read.