Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A solid read, 9 Feb 2007
This is a fast paced work, one that (although set in the near future)
reminds the reader of the current state of affairs in England and the UK
generally today.
The story (which is a follow up to the Novel 'English Dragon) is set in
early 21st Century England amid a back-drop of massive immigration,
political correctness, censorship, Islamic terrorism and over-bearing
state control.
In the narrative the protagonist Ben, his father Oliver and family find
they are in conflict with an ever encroaching political establishment
that seeks to undermine and erode free speech, traditions, values and
culture supplanting them for those of the European Union and free
market economy.
A criticism would be that the preceding novel 'English Dragon' should
have been set in the 1990's, making the link up with this sequel more
credible (perhaps a re-write/ re-release of English Dragon is needed?).
In any event, this is a narrative that could run and develop across
several books and perhaps more stories are in the pipeline from the
author.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Is this the end of England as we know it?, 25 Jul 2006
If you want an easy read which lulls you into a state of bliss before bedtime - DON'T read this book!
Bragg takes the reader to one possible future European state, which is paying the price of the "American Wars" in Afghanistan and Iraq coupled with the influx of new levels of multi-racialism, multi-culturalism and asylum seekers. The socialist England of 2009 has become a "region" of a (European) Union which seeks to outlaw free speech in the name of racial and religious tollerance.
Ben, Bragg's central character, a young man brought up by an anachronistic father, Oliver, attempts to make sense of his world and his place in it. After realising that he's in the wrong place at the wrong time, he hitchikes his way from France back to England in order to catch his au pair girlfriend before she permanently leaves for her native Czech Republic. It is against this backdrop, he starts to understand himself more as he talks with his numerous would-be chauffeurs.
With great style, Bragg seems to pinpoint where those in power are heading. Oliver never forces his view of his old-fashioned ideas of England and Englishness on his son, but somehow Ben starts to understand what his father is always talking about.
Although "Oak" is a sequel to Bragg's first novel, The English Dragon, "Oak" is self-contained. However, reading the first novel will help to understand how Oliver thinks.
"Oak" started life before the atrocities of London in July 2005, but Bragg accurately predicted the actions of the terrorists involved. Will his other predictions come true? Will we, the readers, fight against a social and cultural invasion aided by the government which threatens to erode the established English culture?
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