The novel begins by plunging you into a world you can't quite recognize: it's familiar but there's something wrong, or at least different from what you're used to. For example, it starts like a movie, with a long shot of a building- but a "squat" building "only" thirty-four stories high. The building bears a name unlike any you've heard in real life- "Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Center"- and the motto of a World State you know doesn't exist. The camera eye then moves through a north window into the cold Fertilizing Room, and focus ....