With Killing Time , Carr fell off the rails. This excruciatingly puerile ending belongs in a 1930's era Astounding Science Fiction pulp magazine. Unfortunately for the unsuspecting reader, Carr is not joking, and he ought. At least HIS dismal portrait of planet earth gone to wild dogs is funny on purpose. In A Friend of the Earth , global warming is permanent.
Rain forests are deserts, most animals are extinct, and Southern California is drowning in storms.
Boyle's planet ain't coming back from THIS death march, no WAY, man. Still, for no apparent good reason, Boyle inserts an insipid happy ending. Tyrone and Andrea fall back in love. They leave the madness behind and march off to chop wood, carry water and find happiness in the hills while the world ends. Chop wood, carry water and make babies while the world ends.