Published in 1962,
The Drowned Worldestablished Ballard's reputation as a formidable talent amongst science fiction writers. More popular and commercially successful than his first novel (
The Wind From Nowhere, 1962),
The Drowned Worldwas also critically acclaimed for its evocative prose style and ferocious imagination. Forty years later, the reach of Ballard's mesmerising poetics has earned the novel a place in science fiction's hall of fame. In 2001
The Drowned Worldwas remarketed as part of Gollancz's SF Masterworks series – a ‘library of the greatest SF ever written, chosen with the help of today's leading SF writers and editors.'
Set in 2145, The Drowned World is a haunting vision of post-apocalyptic London. Following the melting of the polar ice-caps through fluctuations in
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Citation: Baxter, Jeannette. "The Drowned World". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1018, accessed 12 December 2024.]