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Mutant 59: The Plastic-Eaters
A BIOLOGICAL TIME BOMB?
"In the shaft leading to the [ventilation] grille a mindless, groping mass of malodorous corruption was thrusting its way silently towards the surface. Buoyed up by bubbling foam it steadily rose. Single units in an obscene abrogation of normal order divided and made two. Two became four and four, eight. Endlessly supplied with food, each unit absorbed nutrient and in a soft, ancient certainty fulfilled its only purpose — to multiply, to extend and to multiply...
"In the Coburg Street control room of the London Underground system, there was a full emergency... In a dozen tunnels, trains ground down to a halt. Hordes of terrified commuters made their way anxiously along dark, musty tunnels to the lights and safety of the next station. There were minor explosions, fires, and the failure of a million wires and cables. As the dissolution of plastic proceeded and accelerated in rate, the elegant order of the system gradually turned into complete chaos.
"On the surface, in the freezing December air, the smell of the rotting plastic began to hang permanently in the air. A cloying, wet, rotting smell similar to the smell of long-dead flesh. It filled streets and homes, basements and factories. Traffic lights failed, causing irresolvable jams.... The breakdown of plastic spread into Broadcasting House.... A gas main with polypropylene seals on its pressure regulators erupted into flame.... Plastic cold-water pipes softened, ballooned, and burst, flooding into shops, homes, and restaurants.
"Slowly and inexorably, the rate of dissolution increased; failures occurred in increasing succession until, within forty-eight hours, the centre of London had become a freezing chaos without light, heat, or communication."
"In the shaft leading to the [ventilation] grille a mindless, groping mass of malodorous corruption was thrusting its way silently towards the surface. Buoyed up by bubbling foam it steadily rose. Single units in an obscene abrogation of normal order divided and made two. Two became four and four, eight. Endlessly supplied with food, each unit absorbed nutrient and in a soft, ancient certainty fulfilled its only purpose — to multiply, to extend and to multiply...
"In the Coburg Street control room of the London Underground system, there was a full emergency... In a dozen tunnels, trains ground down to a halt. Hordes of terrified commuters made their way anxiously along dark, musty tunnels to the lights and safety of the next station. There were minor explosions, fires, and the failure of a million wires and cables. As the dissolution of plastic proceeded and accelerated in rate, the elegant order of the system gradually turned into complete chaos.
"On the surface, in the freezing December air, the smell of the rotting plastic began to hang permanently in the air. A cloying, wet, rotting smell similar to the smell of long-dead flesh. It filled streets and homes, basements and factories. Traffic lights failed, causing irresolvable jams.... The breakdown of plastic spread into Broadcasting House.... A gas main with polypropylene seals on its pressure regulators erupted into flame.... Plastic cold-water pipes softened, ballooned, and burst, flooding into shops, homes, and restaurants.
"Slowly and inexorably, the rate of dissolution increased; failures occurred in increasing succession until, within forty-eight hours, the centre of London had become a freezing chaos without light, heat, or communication."
250 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
23 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Kit Pedler
29 books6 followersChristopher Magnus Howard "Kit" Pedler was a British medical scientist, science fiction author and writer on science in general.
He was the head of the electron microscopy department at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University of London, where he published a number of papers. Pedler's first television contribution was for the BBC programme Tomorrow's World.
In the mid-1960s, Pedler became the unofficial scientific adviser to the Doctor Who production team. Hired by Innes Lloyd to inject more hard science into the stories, Pedler formed a particular writing partnership with Gerry Davis, the programme's story editor. Their interest in the problems of science changing and endangering human life led them to create the Cybermen.
Pedler wrote three scripts for Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet, The Moonbase and The Tomb of the Cybermen. He also submitted the story outlines that became The War Machines, The Wheel in Space and The Invasion.
Pedler and Davis devised and co-wrote Doomwatch, a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme which ran on BBC One for three seasons from 1970 to 1972 (37 50-minute episodes plus one unshown) covered a government department that worked to combat technological and environmental disasters. Pedler and Davis contributed to only the first two series.
Pedler and Davis re-used the plot of the first episode of the series, The Plastic Eaters, for their 1971 novel Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters.
His non-fiction book The Quest for Gaia gave practical advice on creating an ecologically sustainable lifestyle, using James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis.
He died of a heart attack at his home in Doddington, Kent, while completing production of Mind Over Matter, a series for Thames Television on the paranormal that he presented with Tony Bastable.
Pedler is buried at All Saints' Church in the Kent village of Graveney, where he lived before moving to nearby Doddington.
His daughter is novelist Carol Topolski
He was the head of the electron microscopy department at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University of London, where he published a number of papers. Pedler's first television contribution was for the BBC programme Tomorrow's World.
In the mid-1960s, Pedler became the unofficial scientific adviser to the Doctor Who production team. Hired by Innes Lloyd to inject more hard science into the stories, Pedler formed a particular writing partnership with Gerry Davis, the programme's story editor. Their interest in the problems of science changing and endangering human life led them to create the Cybermen.
Pedler wrote three scripts for Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet, The Moonbase and The Tomb of the Cybermen. He also submitted the story outlines that became The War Machines, The Wheel in Space and The Invasion.
Pedler and Davis devised and co-wrote Doomwatch, a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme which ran on BBC One for three seasons from 1970 to 1972 (37 50-minute episodes plus one unshown) covered a government department that worked to combat technological and environmental disasters. Pedler and Davis contributed to only the first two series.
Pedler and Davis re-used the plot of the first episode of the series, The Plastic Eaters, for their 1971 novel Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters.
His non-fiction book The Quest for Gaia gave practical advice on creating an ecologically sustainable lifestyle, using James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis.
He died of a heart attack at his home in Doddington, Kent, while completing production of Mind Over Matter, a series for Thames Television on the paranormal that he presented with Tony Bastable.
Pedler is buried at All Saints' Church in the Kent village of Graveney, where he lived before moving to nearby Doddington.
His daughter is novelist Carol Topolski
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
September 28, 2019
For a long time now, I have been disturbed by the over abundance and overuse of plastics. For a quarter of a century, I've worked in the warehouse of a large furniture retailer. I've dealt with bails made from plastic packaging that most people never see. I saw this book on a shelf at a restaurant. It was there merely as decor. The title interested me, so I asked the waitress if they would part with it, and with complete indifference, she handed it over.
First published in 1970, this book hits the mark as far as showing our over dependency on plastics. What if there was a mutant bacteria released that turned plastics into bubbling liquid? Well, even in 1970, (spoiler alert!) the city of London shuts down completely and thousands of people die (this is mentioned on the book jacket btw). It was written by two individuals: Dr. Kit Pedler, an expert in "experimental biology", and Gerry Davis, a Londoner who has primarily written for both British and Canadian television. "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters" the novel, is an expanded version of an episode they wrote for the British television Doomwatch series. I have never heard of it before learning of this book - seems like a rather cool series. The novel read like a TV script, fast paced and packed with a series of short dramatic scenes and events. The main lesson is clear, yet the underlying one that impressed me was the pointing out of the reluctance of large corporations for taking any responsibility for the damage caused to the environment and humanity, for the sake of monetary prophet. Had a novel like this been written today, it would still have relevance and impact, yet it is interesting to consider that the signs of trouble were apparent as far back as 50 years ago.
First published in 1970, this book hits the mark as far as showing our over dependency on plastics. What if there was a mutant bacteria released that turned plastics into bubbling liquid? Well, even in 1970, (spoiler alert!) the city of London shuts down completely and thousands of people die (this is mentioned on the book jacket btw). It was written by two individuals: Dr. Kit Pedler, an expert in "experimental biology", and Gerry Davis, a Londoner who has primarily written for both British and Canadian television. "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters" the novel, is an expanded version of an episode they wrote for the British television Doomwatch series. I have never heard of it before learning of this book - seems like a rather cool series. The novel read like a TV script, fast paced and packed with a series of short dramatic scenes and events. The main lesson is clear, yet the underlying one that impressed me was the pointing out of the reluctance of large corporations for taking any responsibility for the damage caused to the environment and humanity, for the sake of monetary prophet. Had a novel like this been written today, it would still have relevance and impact, yet it is interesting to consider that the signs of trouble were apparent as far back as 50 years ago.
December 25, 2020
Still a very worthwile read!
May 17, 2022
When I first read this in the early '80s, I was a cynical undergrad with a taste for the absurd; Mutant 59 struck me then as over-the-top and darkly funny. Nearly forty years later, I'm a bit more weathered and the world a more pandemic-scarred place. This book is still overwrought in places, leaning into territory often associated with Terry Gilliam films and morbid laughs are unavoidable where I think pathos was the aim, but this reading was more a grim experience than my first. The cautionary core of the story, though, is stronger now than in 1971, since lab researchers are actively trying to generate plastic-reducing bacteria and plastics are even more integral globally.
The pacing, characters, and slice-of-life vignettes all clearly demonstrate Pedler & Davis' experiences creating and writing for TV, particularly "Doctor Who" and "Doomwatch" (this book is an expansion of the first episode of the latter); the problem here is that this reads way too much like a TV story treatment than a true novel: it's difficult to develop a sense of Reader Comfort along the way. The minor plot with the jewel heist, for instance, is truly unnecessary and pedestrian. Also, the book is indeed dated, with the casual smoking, gender stereotypes, cheap gay jokes, and "Mad Men" corporate meetings, but the thick, cliched arch-Britishness of it all is so.....well, it's exactly what Douglas Adams lampooned with the Vogons and Arthur Dent.
All this being said, this short, dark, fascinating, and weirdly funny novel would (in the right hands) make a brilliantly entertaining movie. As it stands, it's still a decent summer read, especially if you like "Quatermass and the Pit" or mucking about in a Tardis.
The pacing, characters, and slice-of-life vignettes all clearly demonstrate Pedler & Davis' experiences creating and writing for TV, particularly "Doctor Who" and "Doomwatch" (this book is an expansion of the first episode of the latter); the problem here is that this reads way too much like a TV story treatment than a true novel: it's difficult to develop a sense of Reader Comfort along the way. The minor plot with the jewel heist, for instance, is truly unnecessary and pedestrian. Also, the book is indeed dated, with the casual smoking, gender stereotypes, cheap gay jokes, and "Mad Men" corporate meetings, but the thick, cliched arch-Britishness of it all is so.....well, it's exactly what Douglas Adams lampooned with the Vogons and Arthur Dent.
All this being said, this short, dark, fascinating, and weirdly funny novel would (in the right hands) make a brilliantly entertaining movie. As it stands, it's still a decent summer read, especially if you like "Quatermass and the Pit" or mucking about in a Tardis.
August 16, 2016
It is a bit old. Not bad but a bit boring some parts. It looks like it is written to be made a movie.
January 12, 2017
Turpinu savu Fantastikas pasaulē sērijas izlasīšanas projektu. Šis solās būt daudz interesantāks, jo liela daļa no grāmatām ne tikai ir palikušas atmiņā kā labas no bērnu dienām, bet pārlasot joprojām tur savu līmeni. Atceros, kā apmēram desmit gadu vecumā izlasīju šo grāmatu pirmoreiz, tehnogēnās katastrofas apmēri mani pārsteidza un lika aizdomāties.
Londonā kāds biologs – entuziasts, nolēmis atrisināt piesārņojuma problēmu, viņš meklē baktēriju, kura spētu sadalīt plastmasu. Nelaimīgas sakritības rezultātā pētnieks mirst un viņa izgudrojums nonāk brīvībā. Mūsdienu civilizācija uz plastmasu balstās daudz vairāk nekā jebkad, un šķietami nekaitīga baktērija spēj nodarīt lielu postu. Taču to neviens nepamana, pirms Londonā nesāk notikt grūti izskaidrojamas katastrofas.
Šī nu ir īsta bioloģiskā laika bumba. Grāmata ir aktuāla arī mūsdienās; specializētie organismi, nanoroboti nav nekas jauns un nebija nekāda atklāsme arī pirms četrdesmit gadiem. To, ka organismu bioloģiskajai uzlabošanai var būt sekas, saprata jau tajā laikā. Es te nerunāju par anti ĢMO, bet par to, ka radot unikālu organisma ekosistēmā ir vērts padomāt par tā kontroles mehānismiem. Plastmasas ēdājs šajā grāmatā bija perfekta problēmas ilustrācija. Cilvēks jau diendienā nemaz tā daudz neaizdomājas par plastmasas izplatību savā dzīvē. Un tādēļ plastmasas ēdājs kā veco Rimi maisiņu notīrītājs varētu šķist efektīvāks par atkritumu šķirošanu. Šis ir tieši tāds stāsts.
Grāmata pēc būtības ir dažādu katastrofu norišu apraksts, kurā autori, nebaidīšos no šī vārda, ar prieku apslaktē tūkstošiem nosacītos londoniešus. Gandrīz kā nopietnā bojevikā saduras milzu mašīnas, kuras ved cianīdu, ripo dzelzs trubas un pūlis samin vājākos. Metro vagoni tuneļos sprāgst vienā laidā, un cilvēki pārvēršas pelnos. Kā zombiju filmās ir ieviesta totāla karantīna, kura nepalīdz. Vienu vārdu sakot, viss ir slikti, un vienīgā cerība ir uz galveno varoni Džerardu.
Džerards nāk no Kanādas, un katram muļķim ir skaidrs, ka īstens britu glābējs var būt tikai no bijušās kolonijas. Viņš ir šķīries no sievas un brīvs cilvēks. Taču jaunā darbavieta viņam nepatīk. Tās vadītājs viņa acīs ir zaudējis jebkādu cieņu. Īsts mežonīgais kapitālists, kurš izgudro labas lietas, taču tai pat laikā nedomā par atbildību, kas jāuzņemas izgudrotājam. Viss grāmatas centrālais temats ir – izgudrotājiem jābūt atbildīgiem par saviem izgudrojumiem. Ja šādas atbildības nav, ja izgudrotājs ir gatavs iet pāri līķiem, lai tikai sakaustu vēl vairāk piķi, tad tas nav ētiski un pie laba gala tas nenovedīs. Šī sadaļa gan bija aiz matiem pievilkta, jo arī man radās jautājums, tāpat kā Džerarda šefam, kā es, izgudrojot jaunu inovatīvu plastmasu, varu paredzēt, ka kaut kur kāds pustraks vientuļnieks ir radījis baktēriju, kura ēdīs tieši manu produktu. Te vietām autori cenšas sajaukt cēloņus ar sekām.
Bet nu atpakaļ pie kanādieša, nekā daudz jau par viņu nevar pateikt, romāns ir vairāk piedzīvojums nevis mīlas stāsts. Tādēļ varonis ir drošsirdīgs kartona gabals, kas ar pilnu krūti metas iekšā piedzīvojumos un viņam acīs iekrīt sava šefa sieva. Tad nu mums vienā persona ir zinātnieks, dumpinieks, ugunsdzēsējs un akrobāts. Izcila kombinācija, sevišķi, ja ar gāzes degli jālaužas ārā no Londonas metro dziļumiem.
Lieku 8 no 10 ballēm, tēma ir aktuāla, par zinātnes atbildību citu cilvēku priekšā, veiksmīgi aprakstītas tehnogēniskās katastrofas, labs piedzīvojums. No varoņiem neko daudz gan nevajag gaidīt, viņi ir tikai zobratiņi. Nu un beigas bija ar ironiju. Šajā sērijā šī ir droši lasāma.
Londonā kāds biologs – entuziasts, nolēmis atrisināt piesārņojuma problēmu, viņš meklē baktēriju, kura spētu sadalīt plastmasu. Nelaimīgas sakritības rezultātā pētnieks mirst un viņa izgudrojums nonāk brīvībā. Mūsdienu civilizācija uz plastmasu balstās daudz vairāk nekā jebkad, un šķietami nekaitīga baktērija spēj nodarīt lielu postu. Taču to neviens nepamana, pirms Londonā nesāk notikt grūti izskaidrojamas katastrofas.
Šī nu ir īsta bioloģiskā laika bumba. Grāmata ir aktuāla arī mūsdienās; specializētie organismi, nanoroboti nav nekas jauns un nebija nekāda atklāsme arī pirms četrdesmit gadiem. To, ka organismu bioloģiskajai uzlabošanai var būt sekas, saprata jau tajā laikā. Es te nerunāju par anti ĢMO, bet par to, ka radot unikālu organisma ekosistēmā ir vērts padomāt par tā kontroles mehānismiem. Plastmasas ēdājs šajā grāmatā bija perfekta problēmas ilustrācija. Cilvēks jau diendienā nemaz tā daudz neaizdomājas par plastmasas izplatību savā dzīvē. Un tādēļ plastmasas ēdājs kā veco Rimi maisiņu notīrītājs varētu šķist efektīvāks par atkritumu šķirošanu. Šis ir tieši tāds stāsts.
Grāmata pēc būtības ir dažādu katastrofu norišu apraksts, kurā autori, nebaidīšos no šī vārda, ar prieku apslaktē tūkstošiem nosacītos londoniešus. Gandrīz kā nopietnā bojevikā saduras milzu mašīnas, kuras ved cianīdu, ripo dzelzs trubas un pūlis samin vājākos. Metro vagoni tuneļos sprāgst vienā laidā, un cilvēki pārvēršas pelnos. Kā zombiju filmās ir ieviesta totāla karantīna, kura nepalīdz. Vienu vārdu sakot, viss ir slikti, un vienīgā cerība ir uz galveno varoni Džerardu.
Džerards nāk no Kanādas, un katram muļķim ir skaidrs, ka īstens britu glābējs var būt tikai no bijušās kolonijas. Viņš ir šķīries no sievas un brīvs cilvēks. Taču jaunā darbavieta viņam nepatīk. Tās vadītājs viņa acīs ir zaudējis jebkādu cieņu. Īsts mežonīgais kapitālists, kurš izgudro labas lietas, taču tai pat laikā nedomā par atbildību, kas jāuzņemas izgudrotājam. Viss grāmatas centrālais temats ir – izgudrotājiem jābūt atbildīgiem par saviem izgudrojumiem. Ja šādas atbildības nav, ja izgudrotājs ir gatavs iet pāri līķiem, lai tikai sakaustu vēl vairāk piķi, tad tas nav ētiski un pie laba gala tas nenovedīs. Šī sadaļa gan bija aiz matiem pievilkta, jo arī man radās jautājums, tāpat kā Džerarda šefam, kā es, izgudrojot jaunu inovatīvu plastmasu, varu paredzēt, ka kaut kur kāds pustraks vientuļnieks ir radījis baktēriju, kura ēdīs tieši manu produktu. Te vietām autori cenšas sajaukt cēloņus ar sekām.
Bet nu atpakaļ pie kanādieša, nekā daudz jau par viņu nevar pateikt, romāns ir vairāk piedzīvojums nevis mīlas stāsts. Tādēļ varonis ir drošsirdīgs kartona gabals, kas ar pilnu krūti metas iekšā piedzīvojumos un viņam acīs iekrīt sava šefa sieva. Tad nu mums vienā persona ir zinātnieks, dumpinieks, ugunsdzēsējs un akrobāts. Izcila kombinācija, sevišķi, ja ar gāzes degli jālaužas ārā no Londonas metro dziļumiem.
Lieku 8 no 10 ballēm, tēma ir aktuāla, par zinātnes atbildību citu cilvēku priekšā, veiksmīgi aprakstītas tehnogēniskās katastrofas, labs piedzīvojums. No varoņiem neko daudz gan nevajag gaidīt, viņi ir tikai zobratiņi. Nu un beigas bija ar ironiju. Šajā sērijā šī ir droši lasāma.
September 17, 2017
I almost gave this 4 stars, because I genuinely enjoyed reading it. It was easy, quick, and more than a little bit fun. But really, it's not super well-written - not only is the copyediting bad but it's coauthored and I don't think they did a good job of editing it into one voice. It's also a bit painful at moments, with its cultural cues (e.g., casual misogyny) aging poorly.
But, if you don't mind reading 1970s bad fiction, it's fun! It's even a bit prescient at moments, which is a good sign for sci fi I think.
But, if you don't mind reading 1970s bad fiction, it's fun! It's even a bit prescient at moments, which is a good sign for sci fi I think.
June 21, 2025
Ah, pulp fiction. This was, objectively, a terrible book. But so entertaining!
April 10, 2014
Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters was one of my favorite sci-fi novels in high school. It's a fairly good story for seventies sci-fi, barring a couple of minor plotholes. This book has some good characterization, given the stereotypes that the characters really are. But it's an enjoyable book, with a little more action than The Andromeda Strain, at least on the part of the main characters.
FYI: The story was also used as the basis for the first episode of the British TV show Doomwatch. This is much better than the show, given the usual inadequacies of television, even the superior British kind.
FYI: The story was also used as the basis for the first episode of the British TV show Doomwatch. This is much better than the show, given the usual inadequacies of television, even the superior British kind.
April 18, 2018
A mite "paperback SF" but a very interesting concept.
I read this in 1972 when the idea of a plastic eating enzyme was definitely SF. But now?
https://newatlas.com/plastic-eating-e...
I read this in 1972 when the idea of a plastic eating enzyme was definitely SF. But now?
https://newatlas.com/plastic-eating-e...
May 5, 2022
A great, easy to read story, but with underlying themes to make you think
March 30, 2025
I was looking for pulp style sci-fi and this was referenced in a recent climate change non-fiction book I’d read. It hit the mark! Bonus points: I found a used hard cover edition with the (worn) original slipcover, still with pulp pages-feel.
Happy to pass along my copy to other readers who might want it!
Happy to pass along my copy to other readers who might want it!
January 31, 2020
True story: I should've read this book way back in 1972. Or was it 73? I was young, but I was a rabid sci-fi fan and I'd managed to talk my parents into allowing me to join the Science Fiction Book Club. You probably remember deal: you get three books for free--just pay shipping--then you had to buy four more over the course of the next year.
Four books in a year? I figured that wouldn't be an issue. The books on my want-list were:
The Hugo Winners (I mean, really)
The Gods Themselves (I was big into Asimov then)
and,
Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater. (I liked the title)
A few weeks later I got a postcard from New York City, I think. It informed me that "Mutant 59" was no longer available, but I could pick a third book if I liked. I shrugged and selected "The Foundation Trilogy", and a few weeks after that I got my books and didn't give "Mutant 59" another thought.
Fast forward then to 2020. I have just been gifted a new Kindle Paperwhite by my son. The first books I bought to add to this new piece were by Cherie Priest and Priya Sharma...and then I began to consider future titles. And somewhere along the line, the thought of THAT BOOK came to me. Was "Mutant 59" available as an ebook? Well, of course it was, and of course I had to have it. So here, only 47 years late, is my book report for "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater".
First of all, let me state what should be obvious: this is a plot with some serious teeth. Consider just how deeply plastics are entwined in our lives. So much we do, so many tools we use rely on the stuff. What would happen if all of a sudden a mutant strain of bacteria caused plastics to fail catastrophically? Sometimes explosively?
Even in the 70s this was true, and you're going to learn a lot about the stuff over the course of the book, and just what sorts of disasters could occur...because a lot DOES happen in this book! This is as much a disaster novel as, say, something like "The Poseidon Adventure" or "The Glass Inferno". Fact is, I'm sort of surprised this wasn't made into a film, because it seems the perfect fodder for an Irwin Allen sort of epic. Having noted this, a quickie Google search finds that while it didn't make it that far, Mutant 59 did get onto the small screen, on a TV show called "Doomwatch". Not coincidentally, the writers of the show, Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis (Doctor Who veterans) borrowed their plot and turned it into a novel. Yes, THIS novel.
You can see the TV influence in the book. It's a series of vignettes that interconnect and carry the story along. It sort of works, although the continuity tends to suffer and characters don't get developed as they might. Especially when the layers of science come into play. Mind you, this is Science Fiction, there SHOULD be science, and Pedler was the science consultant for the Whovians. But who needs to know THIS much about plastics and bacteria? We do, it seems, and we get plenty of it. Along with an interesting description of the London Underground, as our protagonists become trapped there while tracking down another report of fizzy plastic goop and end up the subject of an unlikely rescue. I jest, but it really is Irwin Allen level stuff. Fun, but it does tend to make your eyes roll.
All that said, I still really enjoyed the story. Luke Gerrard and Anne Kramer are at least an interesting couple, and I might've given the book four stars but for the glitches in translation from book to ebook, which are a bit jarring. That sort of thing just should be inexcusable in 2020. It's not as if I paid full hardcover price for this. Or even Book Club price. But editing is editing, and it should be done properly. The work the writers put into the story deserve that much.
I must also add that the story ends with an obvious opening for a sequel...on Mars, no less. I would loved to have seen that happen, but sadly, Pedler passed away in the early 80s. There's an opportunity here...
Four books in a year? I figured that wouldn't be an issue. The books on my want-list were:
The Hugo Winners (I mean, really)
The Gods Themselves (I was big into Asimov then)
and,
Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater. (I liked the title)
A few weeks later I got a postcard from New York City, I think. It informed me that "Mutant 59" was no longer available, but I could pick a third book if I liked. I shrugged and selected "The Foundation Trilogy", and a few weeks after that I got my books and didn't give "Mutant 59" another thought.
Fast forward then to 2020. I have just been gifted a new Kindle Paperwhite by my son. The first books I bought to add to this new piece were by Cherie Priest and Priya Sharma...and then I began to consider future titles. And somewhere along the line, the thought of THAT BOOK came to me. Was "Mutant 59" available as an ebook? Well, of course it was, and of course I had to have it. So here, only 47 years late, is my book report for "Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater".
First of all, let me state what should be obvious: this is a plot with some serious teeth. Consider just how deeply plastics are entwined in our lives. So much we do, so many tools we use rely on the stuff. What would happen if all of a sudden a mutant strain of bacteria caused plastics to fail catastrophically? Sometimes explosively?
Even in the 70s this was true, and you're going to learn a lot about the stuff over the course of the book, and just what sorts of disasters could occur...because a lot DOES happen in this book! This is as much a disaster novel as, say, something like "The Poseidon Adventure" or "The Glass Inferno". Fact is, I'm sort of surprised this wasn't made into a film, because it seems the perfect fodder for an Irwin Allen sort of epic. Having noted this, a quickie Google search finds that while it didn't make it that far, Mutant 59 did get onto the small screen, on a TV show called "Doomwatch". Not coincidentally, the writers of the show, Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis (Doctor Who veterans) borrowed their plot and turned it into a novel. Yes, THIS novel.
You can see the TV influence in the book. It's a series of vignettes that interconnect and carry the story along. It sort of works, although the continuity tends to suffer and characters don't get developed as they might. Especially when the layers of science come into play. Mind you, this is Science Fiction, there SHOULD be science, and Pedler was the science consultant for the Whovians. But who needs to know THIS much about plastics and bacteria? We do, it seems, and we get plenty of it. Along with an interesting description of the London Underground, as our protagonists become trapped there while tracking down another report of fizzy plastic goop and end up the subject of an unlikely rescue. I jest, but it really is Irwin Allen level stuff. Fun, but it does tend to make your eyes roll.
All that said, I still really enjoyed the story. Luke Gerrard and Anne Kramer are at least an interesting couple, and I might've given the book four stars but for the glitches in translation from book to ebook, which are a bit jarring. That sort of thing just should be inexcusable in 2020. It's not as if I paid full hardcover price for this. Or even Book Club price. But editing is editing, and it should be done properly. The work the writers put into the story deserve that much.
I must also add that the story ends with an obvious opening for a sequel...on Mars, no less. I would loved to have seen that happen, but sadly, Pedler passed away in the early 80s. There's an opportunity here...
August 26, 2018
Plastic is not usually the focus of attention in science fiction, but why not? The first fully synthetic plastic material, bakelite, was developed in 1907, and most of the modern organic polymers that we collectively call “plastic” originated only in the 1950s. The world of the early twentieth century was not the Age of Plastic, though the last half of the century could be called that. In the heady days of World War II and the boom years that followed, plastic was even exciting, at least to some people. Dustin Hoffman was famously advised in The Graduate (1967) that “there’s a great future in plastics,” and though the line was humorous, it was also true. Thomas Pynchon (1973) invented a volume-changing plastic for his marvel of a novel, Gravity’s Rainbow. And in Pedler and Davis’ 1972 novel, plastic is eaten by bacteria, threatening the lives of millions.
SPOILER ALERT
Mutant 59 is not particularly original outside of its refreshing choice of plastics as subject matter. An earlier novel, The Clone (Thomas & Wilhelm, 1966), outlined how a city could be rendered uninhabitable (indeed, uninhabited) by a rapidly mutating organism. The relationships among the characters are cinematic, and in fact the book was expanded from the script of an episode of a TV series, Doomwatch (1970). People who deserve punishment predictably are killed, and people who are stuck in unhappy relationships fall in love. The story is supported by a healthy dose of good science, though with some flaws. Though it is true that some polymers can be degraded by bacteria, that they can mutate rapidly, and that failure of plastic components would wreak havoc on our infrastructure, it is not reasonable to have the plastic-eating bacteria mutate to digest all kinds of plastics. What we call “plastics” encompasses a broad range of compounds that are not as closely related chemically as they appear to be (hence the need to separate plastics for recycling into several different categories). And it is not easy for bacteria to attack polymers; they have a hard time even breaking down natural polymers like lignin, chitin, and cellulose. However, I did not let this knowledge disturb my enjoyment of the story. I did get the impression that it would have been better on the screen, where transgressions of this nature fly by so quickly as to go unnoticed, and where a happy ending is cathartic.
SPOILER ALERT
Mutant 59 is not particularly original outside of its refreshing choice of plastics as subject matter. An earlier novel, The Clone (Thomas & Wilhelm, 1966), outlined how a city could be rendered uninhabitable (indeed, uninhabited) by a rapidly mutating organism. The relationships among the characters are cinematic, and in fact the book was expanded from the script of an episode of a TV series, Doomwatch (1970). People who deserve punishment predictably are killed, and people who are stuck in unhappy relationships fall in love. The story is supported by a healthy dose of good science, though with some flaws. Though it is true that some polymers can be degraded by bacteria, that they can mutate rapidly, and that failure of plastic components would wreak havoc on our infrastructure, it is not reasonable to have the plastic-eating bacteria mutate to digest all kinds of plastics. What we call “plastics” encompasses a broad range of compounds that are not as closely related chemically as they appear to be (hence the need to separate plastics for recycling into several different categories). And it is not easy for bacteria to attack polymers; they have a hard time even breaking down natural polymers like lignin, chitin, and cellulose. However, I did not let this knowledge disturb my enjoyment of the story. I did get the impression that it would have been better on the screen, where transgressions of this nature fly by so quickly as to go unnoticed, and where a happy ending is cathartic.
July 29, 2017
Not a very well written book and not a very good premise either. Although I am not a scientist, I definitely understand the premise of the story and I just don't believe that it could actually happen.
Not being a scientist made the book hard to read in sections because they gave way too much scientific detail about how things were done, the experiments or the molecules behind a specific chemical compound.
The only redeeming quality of the book was the main male and female leads as well as the adventure that they went on. That kept me gripped to the book that I would have otherwise wanted to put down.
Not being a scientist made the book hard to read in sections because they gave way too much scientific detail about how things were done, the experiments or the molecules behind a specific chemical compound.
The only redeeming quality of the book was the main male and female leads as well as the adventure that they went on. That kept me gripped to the book that I would have otherwise wanted to put down.
September 30, 2017
Read this as an ex-library book in my teens.
Now given the mess of plastic in our oceans, doesn't this offer some future possibilities? A reasonable idea? There are many types of plastic: it doesn't have to be as destructively all-encompassing as in the book! And bacteria can be engineered to operate under specific conditions- say in the high salinity of the sea. It's not as if you couldn't coat plastic you wanted to protect for safety reasons...
A million plastic bottles alone enter the sea every minute! Fish are eating plastic instead of food...
Now given the mess of plastic in our oceans, doesn't this offer some future possibilities? A reasonable idea? There are many types of plastic: it doesn't have to be as destructively all-encompassing as in the book! And bacteria can be engineered to operate under specific conditions- say in the high salinity of the sea. It's not as if you couldn't coat plastic you wanted to protect for safety reasons...
A million plastic bottles alone enter the sea every minute! Fish are eating plastic instead of food...
December 30, 2016
I read this when I was about twelve. The writing was wooden and the characters forgettable, but the premise has haunted me for years. I thought about it today when a friend posted "9 ways to use less plastic." I give it a four because I can still imagine something like this happening.
September 19, 2019
Liked it a lot, so easy to imagine that something like this can happen even today! (Questionable from the micro biology side about the way of getting Mutant 59, but this is a Horror fiction, right?)
September 11, 2023
I purchased my copy of this book used in hardback at a local antique mall earlier this year. Ah, this book is a real blast from the past. First published in 1971, for some reason my Mom had a copy in hardback on the bookshelf in the house where I grew up, and I first read it when I was maybe 12 years old, just a couple of years after it came out. While it is not anywhere near as in-your-face with foul language and sexual situations as most adult-oriented science fiction churned out nowadays, it was pretty titillating for a 12-year-old. Anyway, when I saw it on the shelf in the used book stall for the low low price of 4 bucks, I couldn't resist the chance to revisit the book and see how it has held up over the last almost 50 years. Short answer: it's held up not too badly, but...
The book takes place almost entirely in winter-time London at a date not specified but clearly the early 1970's. A genetically engineered bacterium has been inadvertently released into the city's sewer system. This bacterium was designed to consume plastics, with the original intention of eliminating the pollution of discarded plastic items. The bacteria gets out of the sewer system and begins consuming plastics in all kinds of locations. As plastic is consumed by these wee beasties, gas is given off - a smelly and potentially explosive mixture of ammonia, hydrogen, and methane, plus some other stuff. The biggest issue the bacteria cause is dissolving the plastic insulation on wires and cables, causing short circuits and power losses. In short order this causes the destruction of an airliner, the sinking of a nuclear submarine, the failure of a computer controlling the London automobile traffic signals, and the shorting of signal and power cables in the London Underground. Airliners, cars and subway trains crash, bacterial fart-gas explodes, and chaos ensues. The cause of the dissolving plastic is initially a mystery. To the rescue is Luke Gerrard, a Canadian ex-pat scientist living in London. He goes into the Tube tunnels to investigate the problem and is trapped there when the trains begin to crash. A large portion of the book takes place in the Underground as Gerrard and a small band of compatriots try to escape back to the surface. On my previous read of this book I hadn't thought to wonder why the bacteria is most active in the subway system, but now I realize that with the book taking place in winter, the subway is a place warm enough for the bugs to thrive. Anyway, eventually Gerrard finds his way out of the Tube, comes up with a way to vanquish the bacteria, and he even gets the girl. The book is fast paced. There is some backstory and character development provided for the main players, yet somehow they still seem two dimensional. The book seems prescient in its recognition that plastic pollution will become a major problem, but on the other hand it is pretty dated with many occurrences of day drinking, heavy smoking, casual misogyny, and even some gay-bashing. Despite these drawbacks, I felt it was definitely worth my time to take this trip down memory lane.
Lastly, in doing a little research on the book, I learned it is based on an episode of the BBC television show "Doomwatch" that was on the air sometime prior to 1971. Four out of five stars.
The book takes place almost entirely in winter-time London at a date not specified but clearly the early 1970's. A genetically engineered bacterium has been inadvertently released into the city's sewer system. This bacterium was designed to consume plastics, with the original intention of eliminating the pollution of discarded plastic items. The bacteria gets out of the sewer system and begins consuming plastics in all kinds of locations. As plastic is consumed by these wee beasties, gas is given off - a smelly and potentially explosive mixture of ammonia, hydrogen, and methane, plus some other stuff. The biggest issue the bacteria cause is dissolving the plastic insulation on wires and cables, causing short circuits and power losses. In short order this causes the destruction of an airliner, the sinking of a nuclear submarine, the failure of a computer controlling the London automobile traffic signals, and the shorting of signal and power cables in the London Underground. Airliners, cars and subway trains crash, bacterial fart-gas explodes, and chaos ensues. The cause of the dissolving plastic is initially a mystery. To the rescue is Luke Gerrard, a Canadian ex-pat scientist living in London. He goes into the Tube tunnels to investigate the problem and is trapped there when the trains begin to crash. A large portion of the book takes place in the Underground as Gerrard and a small band of compatriots try to escape back to the surface. On my previous read of this book I hadn't thought to wonder why the bacteria is most active in the subway system, but now I realize that with the book taking place in winter, the subway is a place warm enough for the bugs to thrive. Anyway, eventually Gerrard finds his way out of the Tube, comes up with a way to vanquish the bacteria, and he even gets the girl. The book is fast paced. There is some backstory and character development provided for the main players, yet somehow they still seem two dimensional. The book seems prescient in its recognition that plastic pollution will become a major problem, but on the other hand it is pretty dated with many occurrences of day drinking, heavy smoking, casual misogyny, and even some gay-bashing. Despite these drawbacks, I felt it was definitely worth my time to take this trip down memory lane.
Lastly, in doing a little research on the book, I learned it is based on an episode of the BBC television show "Doomwatch" that was on the air sometime prior to 1971. Four out of five stars.
March 26, 2025
This was rather a disappointment. I was hoping for a scientific thriller in the mould of the Doomwatch T. V. series or the original Andromeda Strain film (not the ludicrous remake). There was _some_ of that (and it was decently done) but it was wrapped round a story which I realise follows the James Herbert approach (which is also quite tedious IMO). First when something really bad is happening (coordinated attacks by giant intelligent rats, trying to survive after an atomic strike on London) the men in the survivor group make things a lot worse by having a d**k swinging match about who will lead. The Herbert approach also relies on ridiculous coincidences (like two groups tripping over each other in a virtually deserted central London) and the "blind fate slap down": Survivors go to the limits of their strength to stay alive against one hazard and are then casually killed by something totally different. The faint strand of romantic interest is also almost totally ridiculous. As a Doomwatch fan I'm glad I read this for completeness but it is really a weak James Herbert novel with science frosting.
March 12, 2022
I found this book very disjointed. Far too many characters nearly all referred to by surname, I had trouble remembering who was who at points. As soon as I got involved in the characters the book suddenly went off on a tangent somewhere else. Some of the chapters are totally unnecessary, e.g. the whole Kramer plane crash section was pointless. The disintigrating bottle that underpins much of the story just doesn't work as a concept, more complex, more expensive and more waste than a simple recyclable plastic bottle (I can forgive them the micro plastics being washed down the drain as they wouldn't have been aware of them in 1971). And as for a London Underground employee leading people down tunnels with the electricity still on and trains running, don't get me started!! The whole London disaster is treated as a minor inconvenience. And the ending? So what? Once the bug had eaten all the plastic in the Martian probe it was doomed anyway, so it was pointless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2018
this was just god awful and after a little under 100 pages i gave up. i just could not force myself to finish this book. it's very dated (from the 1970's i believe) but even that could be forgiven if the book didn't jump around so much between the characters. you never got to truly get to know any of them and as such you just didn't care about them. the subject/plot of the book was interesting enough to get me to buy the book, but the actual story couldn't live up to the hype.
January 20, 2024
Mutant 59.
Brilliant book, it was mentioned about, after I commented on a FB Science post, about a proposed Plastic Eating Enzyme, being worked on? I said about the "old" Doomwatch TV series, that had an episode about out of control biological plastic eaters. I was informed that it was based on a Sc-Fi book. Whereas, the book, was an expansion of the TV episode, by the original authors, without the Doomwatch characters involved. Excellent Storyline.
Brilliant book, it was mentioned about, after I commented on a FB Science post, about a proposed Plastic Eating Enzyme, being worked on? I said about the "old" Doomwatch TV series, that had an episode about out of control biological plastic eaters. I was informed that it was based on a Sc-Fi book. Whereas, the book, was an expansion of the TV episode, by the original authors, without the Doomwatch characters involved. Excellent Storyline.
May 13, 2024
Gripping central idea but not a satisfying read
More than fifty years after it was written, this book dates a bit. It’s still a pacy tale with a gripping central idea: a bacteria that eats plastic developed with good intentions — what could go wrong? But the characters are unidimensional and therefore not very interesting so the book turns on the plot alone which in the context of a predictable ending is not enough to sustain it.
More than fifty years after it was written, this book dates a bit. It’s still a pacy tale with a gripping central idea: a bacteria that eats plastic developed with good intentions — what could go wrong? But the characters are unidimensional and therefore not very interesting so the book turns on the plot alone which in the context of a predictable ending is not enough to sustain it.
Read
October 25, 2023I read this novel when I was in high school, in the early 80s. I don't remember much after four decades, beyond the general premise and how it goes horribly wrong. I was put in mind of the book by recent reports of the real thing:
https://www.theguardian.com/environme...
What could possibly go wrong?
https://www.theguardian.com/environme...
What could possibly go wrong?
January 22, 2026
Felt like this was a waste of a good concept. Focused way too much on the science behind everything and not enough on any plot line or event that actually happened. Felt like they almost had a protagonist but kinda gave up on any kind of story around him.
Was a haphazard collection of random settings, mostly boring people, and a fairly boring solution to the problem of the mutant.
Was a haphazard collection of random settings, mostly boring people, and a fairly boring solution to the problem of the mutant.
May 1, 2018
1970s schlock horror
A true 1970s scientific horror story. I can almost hear the scenery flats shaking in the wind. A lovely story and although it came from a TV sieres, I am sure it would makes a great film....
A true 1970s scientific horror story. I can almost hear the scenery flats shaking in the wind. A lovely story and although it came from a TV sieres, I am sure it would makes a great film....
October 2, 2019
I thought the concept behind this book was brilliant, but found the writing lackluster and the editing quite bad— in some places there are missing letters in words, sentences that have two different kinds of punctuation at the end, and spelling errors.
April 16, 2020
Reads like a movie. Scientific methods, capitalism, public safety... Gaining trust.. A book with many technical details and interesting concept of how many things can go wrong if one does not talk about one's great ideas.
August 4, 2020
5/10
Starts like a disaster movie, or several disaster movies, but slowly becomes a pretty good story at its core. Unfortunately, random side-plots frequently obscure that core story. The novel is also obviously dated in terms of stereotyping.
Starts like a disaster movie, or several disaster movies, but slowly becomes a pretty good story at its core. Unfortunately, random side-plots frequently obscure that core story. The novel is also obviously dated in terms of stereotyping.
January 8, 2025
Mildly interesting story that hints at our plastic problem already back in 1972. A not so thrilling thriller. Drags in some places. A couple moments of eyeroll-inducing flirty interaction between female lead and the hero, stuff only old-school scifi guys could write.
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