Riddley Walker

Riddley Walker (1980) is a dystopian science fiction novel by Russell Hoban. The novel is famous for its use of a phonetic, idiosyncratic version of English, spoken by the characters who live in a post-apocalyptic society. Riddley Walker won numerous awards, including the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1981.

Plot Summary

A young boy named Riddley Walker lives in Inland, the name given to the south of England 2,000 years after a nuclear war sent human society back to stone age levels of technology. Riddley and his community speak in a broken, phonetic version of English in a society which rarely writes anything down. On his 12th birthday, Riddley kills the last boar in the area. Three days later, his father dies while excavating an ancient machine from the ground. Later that day, Riddley also kills the elderly leader of a pack of wild dogs. The community begins to worry that the series of deaths involving Riddley is a bad sign. Riddley takes over his father’s job as the village’s connexion man. As the connexion man, he is given the job of interpreting the meaning of the puppet shows put on by the government. The puppet shows tell the story of

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