The Lanague Chronicles

Rating:
Summary: Political philosophy meets Sci-Fi
Review: F. Paul Wilson is my favorite author (and Repairman Jack is my favorite fictional character) so I have made it a point of late to seek out older, out-of-print works by Dr. Wilson to read between his new releases. I was fortunate enough to find a used copy of this book through Amazon and have thoroughly enjoyed the read.

For those of you familiar only with Paul's current works, this book answers the question of how things might be if humankind abandoned its socialist/statist tendencies and embraced a philosophy of true freedom. This is Peter LaNague's lifelong goal. It is also the kind of world in which Repairman Jack (and I, for that matter) would prefer to live. Imagine a time when the planets of "occupied space" are loosely confederated according to their common economic and security interests, but without the central control and coercion we have in today's world (in every country, to a greater or lesser degree). Government (such as it is) takes no more than 5% of income, and in return does only that which it should do, which is very, very little. Free trade and market forces determine outcomes (as should be the case) rather than government policies. There is no legislature, because people should not be making rules for each other. Citizens are bound by a social contract among themselves. The LaNague Chronicles is must reading for political scientists, politicians (not that they would change their evil ways), and all of us working stiffs who keep the world turning despite well-meaning (?) meddling by the powers that be.

If you believe in true Freedom, you will find yourself at the end of this book wishing that you could step into F. Paul Wilson's future world.

By the way, this book is also top-notch science fiction. It contains the best explanation I have read in fiction of why time travel is not possible without corresponding space travel. After all, everything in the universe is constantly moving. If I went forward or back in time even one nanosecond, I would not still be sitting at this keyboard. I can't believe that I didn't think of that until reading Paul's explanation. Duh!

One final note: I am not an anarchist. Still, if Jefferson and Madison were alive today and saw what their heirs had done to the great experiment in limited government they began, they would wonder why they bothered. If they had known what indignities would be imposed upon Americans under the Constitution they wrote, they would have walked out of the Constitutional Convention. If you think you live in a free country, read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Play around in future history
Review: In the tradition of other scifi authors who create an entire "history of the future", like Larry Niven's Known Space, Herbert's Dune, Asimov's Empire and Foundation, and Heinlein's Future History, F. Paul Wilson creates a timeline one thousand years long, interweaving two main movements -- one which follows a single man, Steven Dart, and one which follows a single ideology, the LaNague Federation.

This book is actually the incorporation of two novels with several short stories, set in the same timeline (and presented in chronological order, similar to Heinlein's The Past Through Tomorrow). An Enemy of the State, which you can find as a standalone novel in used book stores, tells of the bloodless, economic revolution which brought about the LaNague Federation. Wheels Within Wheels tells of a ruthless revolt =against= the LaNague Federation, to dismantle its protection of free trade and freedom from taxes.

The short story series centers around Steven Dart, aka The Healer, a man who finds himself become potentially immortal through a chance encounter with an alien which takes up residence in his body with him. He is little touched by the politics and economics of the LaNague Federation - he is interested in pursuing ideas and extending knowledge. He finds there is something else out there which threatens humanity's existence. A strange disease called "the horrors" strikes people at random, turning normal people into terrified catatonics; Steven finds that his alien symbiote can help him destroy this disease, individual by individual, but later he comes up against the source of this plague itself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - Wilson draws you on, leaving questions open, forcing you to read further so that you can find out how things develop. If you like the idea of building a universe and exhaustively playing around in it, this book is for you.

Rating:
Summary: Play around in future history
Review: In the tradition of other scifi authors who create an entire "history of the future", like Larry Niven's Known Space, Herbert's Dune, Asimov's Empire and Foundation, and Heinlein's Future History, F. Paul Wilson creates a timeline one thousand years long, interweaving two main movements -- one which follows a single man, Steven Dart, and one which follows a single ideology, the LaNague Federation.

This book is actually the incorporation of two novels with several short stories, set in the same timeline (and presented in chronological order, similar to Heinlein's The Past Through Tomorrow). An Enemy of the State, which you can find as a standalone novel in used book stores, tells of the bloodless, economic revolution which brought about the LaNague Federation. Wheels Within Wheels tells of a ruthless revolt =against= the LaNague Federation, to dismantle its protection of free trade and freedom from taxes.

The short story series centers around Steven Dart, aka The Healer, a man who finds himself become potentially immortal through a chance encounter with an alien which takes up residence in his body with him. He is little touched by the politics and economics of the LaNague Federation - he is interested in pursuing ideas and extending knowledge. He finds there is something else out there which threatens humanity's existence. A strange disease called "the horrors" strikes people at random, turning normal people into terrified catatonics; Steven finds that his alien symbiote can help him destroy this disease, individual by individual, but later he comes up against the source of this plague itself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - Wilson draws you on, leaving questions open, forcing you to read further so that you can find out how things develop. If you like the idea of building a universe and exhaustively playing around in it, this book is for you.

Rating:
Summary: Changed My Life
Review: Kind of a silly statement---"this book changed my life!"---but it's literally true. "Enemy of the State" opened my eyes to the theoretical possibility of real, paradigm-annihilating revolutionary change---without resorting to the tried-and-false methods of violent revolution replacing the former dictatorial regime with another ("cutting off the old head and replacing it with a new one", as Wilson writes). This is the kind of book that makes you restate your assumptions, and often change them.

Rating:
Summary: A "Must Read". It's on my reread shelf.
Review: The story starts as an engaging yarn about revoulution and tyranny, and ends up discussing the proper role of government, and the possible evils of central banks, all buried in a fast paced story. Great stuff. The best parts of this could have been written by Heinlein, in that you have a good story that also teaches ideas.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent, engaging book
Review: This book sucked me in. A combination of some of his earlier sci-fi books, it describes a complex and fascinating universe, with an intricate plot spanning millenia. Loved this book. Had some political philosophy mixed in, interesting. Closest I could come to describe it is extreme libertarian or a combo of anarchy and capitalism.

Rating:
Summary: A "Must Read". It's on my reread shelf.
Review: Wilson paints a vista much wider in scope than the limits of the story. He keeps the reader begging for more, creating a fascinating main story seems to occupy only a small portion of his landscape. reminiscent of the best of Heinlien, only with broader scope. Wilson creates a realistic universe with realistic characters. As the pages page tick off I found myself re-reading entire chapters just to prolong the experience of what the author has created. Re-read this book every few years and with each reading you will find more detail, more subtlty and richness. You will regret reaching the final page.

Rating:
Summary: You will wish this book will never end
Review: Wilson paints a vista much wider in scope than the limits of the story. He keeps the reader begging for more, creating a fascinating main story seems to occupy only a small portion of his landscape. reminiscent of the best of Heinlien, only with broader scope. Wilson creates a realistic universe with realistic characters. As the pages page tick off I found myself re-reading entire chapters just to prolong the experience of what the author has created. Re-read this book every few years and with each reading you will find more detail, more subtlty and richness. You will regret reaching the final page.

Rating:
Summary: Lanague Chronicles
Review: You'll be hooked from the start.

This book has a lot to teach people about real life without being too cynical and nasty. The story is engaging with enough grounding in the truth of modern politics and government to be a believable future possibilty. One of the best books I have read.

Rating:
Summary: Lanague Chronicles
Review: You'll be hooked from the start.

This book has a lot to teach people about real life without being too cynical and nasty. The story is engaging with enough grounding in the truth of modern politics and government to be a believable future possibilty. One of the best books I have read.