The Guardians (novel)
Front cover of first edition
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| Author | John Christopher |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's soft science fiction, dystopian novel |
| Publisher | Hamish Hamilton |
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Publication date
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1970 |
| Pages | 156 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 10718971 |
| 823/.9/14 | |
| LC Class | PZ7.C457 Gu3 |
The Guardians is a young-adult science fiction novel written by John Christopher and published by Hamilton in 1970.
Set in the year 2052, it depicts an authoritarian England divided into two distinct societies: the modern, overpopulated "Conurbs" and the aristocratic, rarefied "County". Crowded city districts and all-pervasive technology make up the Conurbs while manors and rolling countrysides typical of 19th-century England make up the County. The story follows a young Conurban orphan named Rob as he experiences life in both worlds, uncovering truths and choosing sides in the process.
Christopher (Sam Youd) and The Guardians won the annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize from The Guardian newspaper, coincidentally, which is judged by a panel of British children's writers. In 1976 he won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in category youth fiction for the German-language edition, Die Wächter.
In 1986 the German TV station ARD broadcast a film adaptation under that title.
Rob is a 13 year old orphan following the death of his father. There is considerable suspicion and secrecy surrounding his death. Rob is sent away to a State boarding school where harsh disciplinary measures and ritual bullying by seniors soon make life intolerable; in his desperation, he devises a plan of escaping to the County, reasoning that he will avoid detection there much more easily than anywhere in the heavily-surveillanced Conurbs. He is further driven by the fact that his mother was also from the County and had herself crossed over into the Conurbs to be with his father.
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