Logan's World is the follow-up to the novel and film Logan's Run.
Both were written by William F. Nolan, who also wrote some other memorable screenplays in the 70's such as Trilogy Of Terror and Burnt Offerings (and who can forget Karen Black running from a crazed Zuni fetish doll around her apartment?).
Logan's Run was written in 1967 and was made into a now a classic Sci-fi movie starring Michael York and Jenny Agutter. Logan's World was the first sequel published just after the film in 1977, followed by Logan's Search.
I haven't read the first book, but the basic plot of the film has a future society of 2274 living with all needs fulfilled, all luxuries available, but only until the age of 30. As you age, the glowing gem implanted in your hand changes colour, and at 30 you go black and must join Carousel, an ascension to rebirth. There is an underground network of people who don't believe in the rebirth and want to run out of the city to the fabled Sanctuary. They are constantly watched for by Sandmen, the security force who hunt down the Runners. In Logan's Run, Logan 5 is a Sandman who is instructed to go undercover posing as a Runner to dismantle the network. He meets up with Jessica 6 and they leave the city.
Logan's Run the novel is slightly different than the film, and so Logan's World picks up that story. Sanctuary is a massive spoked satelitte orbiting Mars called Argos, and the runners left Earth on lifeships. The Sandmen have discovered and destroyed the supply ships and Argos is dying. Logan, Jessica and their son Jaq leave for Earth on the last lifeship to stop the Sandmen. The giant Thinker computer system built in 1980 (!) that ran the cities has been disabled, and the pampered citizens have dispersed, becoming wilderness people. Logan fights many gypsy bandits and flies solo around the country trying to help his family. Jessica is taken by the bandits and Logan makes his way to a giant underground complex where she is being kept. The Thinker system is contained there and a rogue DeepSleep Sandman is trying to enable it once again, controlling the supplies of life itself and becoming the ruler of all the cities.
Maybe too much information if you aren't interested in the world of Logan's Run, but if you want to read the series - or just liked the movie - I'd recommend Logan's World. It had the same feel of the characters in the film, with some characters from Logan's Run making an appearance.
It has a feeling of Star Wars, where they have to infiltrate the complex, rescue the girl, pick up the sidekicks and then escape before the final destruction. I thought it struck a perfect balance between action, science fiction and adventure.
I've seen the movie many times, and it still holds up. Reading Logan's World, it was a pleasure to have another story in the series, another Logan adventure. They have been trying to remake the film many times over the years, the latest with Ryan Gosling as Logan.
My paperback copy is in great condition, but was an ex-library book, with a stamp on the title page and even the paper pocket on the inside back cover, complete with an IBM computer punched index card. You remember the ones where the librarian had to date stamp it in ink on the card? (This book due on the last day stamped) The jumble of dates range from Apr 16 1975 to Oct 0 1979. It reminded me of library visits when I was in school, and I thought was very charming in this book about massive IBM type computers running the world. The birth of computers where you had to input the information via punched cards, and now we are virtually paperless.
1977 / Paperback / 148 pages
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