One of the themes I am exploring in the sequel to Newton’s Ark is the impact that our environment has on society.

When the survivors in Faraday’s Mine find their environment radically changed from the comfortable existence they knew before, they are confronted with making some social and political and economic changes that make sense in their new context but which nevertheless seem at best repugnant and at worst downright immoral.

The relationships between the sexes are fundamental to the organisation of society as demonstrated by the growing social problems China is experiencing due to increasingly distorted sex ratios. Imagine then that a group of a few hundred survivors find themselves in a position where a) they believe they are all that is left of humanity and b) there are two men for every woman. What would they do to encourage procreation? How might the roles of men and women change? To what extent would changes be imposed by the group rather than chosen freely by individuals?