Something like a British White Noise. Ballard's final novel contains many arresting images but it doesn't all hang together. Recalls, in a different context, his childhood experiences. A British occupation and a British internment. ( )

JG Ballard's thoughts and ideas fascinate me. The model of the western world he held in his head contained more predictive power than anyone else I've read, although that was not his purpose. As he often said, his books are warnings not predictions. So it is with Kingdom Come, an exploration of the connection between consumerism and fascism by way of a whodunnit.

The idea behind this novel is compelling and demonstrably realistic. It's especially haunting for me because it is set in the area I grew up and, in particular, explored as a teenager.

Ultimately, though, I found Kingdom Come unsatisfying because it leads with the idea instead of the story – a problem I find throughout Ballard's novels. And, as always, the characterisation is poor. If Ballard had mastered storytelling, then I suspect he'd be better know than Orwell.

Even so, four stars because the idea, and its exploration, is more original and thought provoking than 99% of novels, and I'd rather read this – and did – than a lot of the stuff being deified of late.
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3.5 Oh Ballard. ( )

I am really on a roll with picking books that I don't like. I had some reservations when I requested this one, but the idea of the suburban mall as a catalyst for dystopia, and "the darker forces at work beneath the gloss of consumerism and flag-waving patriotism" lured me into picking it up. I navigated Part I fairly well, got lost somewhere in the middle, and it was a downward rush through the action at the end.

Oh well, I gave it a try, and now I know that this particular author and subgenre aren't quite my cup of tea. ( )

Runaway consumerism at its worst. ( )