Rating: Summary: "Guns & Ammo" magazine liked the book very much Review: "Guns & Ammo" magazine review:
BACK IN PRINT
Some time ago in this column I reviewed author L. Neil Smith's then-new novel "Pallas" as recommended reading for all gun fanciers. Now I'm happy to report that "The Probability Broach", his award-
winning first novel, is back in print. Unlike the futuristic "Pallas",
which is set on an asteroid, "The Probability Broach" envisions an alternate version of present-day Earth. Here, history took a different turn around the time of the American Revolution, and individual liberty -- including the right to own and carry arms -- is actually taken quite seriously. My only complaint about "The Probability Broach" is that this vision of what might have been
makes the state of the world today seem even more dreary and depressing....
-- "Newsbreak" by Bill O'Brien, in "Guns & Ammo" magazine, August 1997, p. 16
Rating: Summary: Clash of the authoritarian state vs. free individuals Review: "The Probability Broach" blasts Denver Police Detective "Win" Bear from his less-than-comfortable normal life to a strange new reality. He is in an alternate United States, where subtle and not so subtle changes in our history have completely altered the present. For example, the Continental Congress only meets in times of crisis. Only slightly less strange are the talking gorillas, chimps and whales.
A history lesson, mixed well with Libertarian ideas, and smothered in action, "The Probability Broach" satisfies on every count.
Rating: Summary: Forget the politics! This is a FUN book! Review: ... I love it. It made me think. Not too many novels do that. Sure, The Probability Broach is a little heavy handed at times and the characters could have stepped out of a Heinlein novel. And I don't think that anarchy is the perfect solution for any civilization. But within those boundaries, Smith has crafted a world similar to ours but with a society whose viewpoint is at right angles to ours (well, maybe 45 degrees, since I tend to agree with Smith on a lot of his points about personal rights and personal liberties.) We all get a mindset from our parents, our friends, our religion, and, of course, our government. In the extreme that has led to atrocities like the Nazi party and the current terrorist threats. But what if these people had been brought up to learn to 1) think 2) respect others by staying out of their lives 3) depend on themselves to support and defend themselves 4) think that what they earn is theirs 5) let competition flourish? The world might be just a wee bit different. Not everyone will like this book. I happen to. It made me examine some of my convictions - and where I got them from. They didn't change, but I'm sure that Smith would argue that that's my right. So, buy the book. Read it. Don't worry too much about my personal bete noire of limited characterization. This is a thinking Science Fiction book. It may make you angry or it may make you giggle with glee, but it WILL make you think. By that criterion, this is a very good book. And don't forget that some books discussing or praising a different political or social outlook have turned out to be classics. Ever read Utopia, Gulliver's Travels, or Atlas Shrugged? If not, you should. So, read The Probability Broach with an open mind. Agree with its philosophy or don't agree with it. At least you'll start thinking, and if your mind doesn't immediately lock up at that prospect, you'll open yourself up to looking at a different way of doing things. Would Smith's society work? Personally, I'm doubtful. But is it nice to think and examine the possibilities in your head. And as I said, any novel that prompts you to that is worth the price of admission.
Rating: Summary: Definitive L. Neil Smith: fish out of water meets weirdos Review: ...and ends up liking them. L. Neil Smith's authoritative book, now unexpurgated, points out that not all Science Fiction has to revolve around militaristic governments where the rights of the individual exist only when they serve the state.
Detective Win Bear is pulled from a pre-apocolyptic society to a strange new place where the virtue of selfishness is readily apparent. It is so different that Det. Bear resists the idea. However, his philosophical journey is complicated by his investigation, and subsequent hijinks, so the story is less of a lecture and more of an adventure with political undertones.
The point of the book, however, is that there is always another way, especially in science fiction. When you suspend your disbelief that such a society could never form because of a subtle difference in history, then you can objectively examine the system and see if it could work. L. Neil Smith's scenarios make it work.
While I cut my teeth on Smith's The Nagasaki Vector and Tom Paine Maru, the Probability Broach remains one of my favorites
Rating: Summary: Phillip Marlowe meets the free wheeling future!! Review: A detective of the same cut as Phillip Marlowe is blasted into a parallel dimension where governments don't exist, freedom and responsibility rules, and prosperity is everywhere. There he uncovers a plot by the dreaded Federalists to institute a government upon the people and it's up to him and his anarchist buddies to stop them. Although a bit dated, I first read this novel in the early 80's and loved it. It was a great introduction to libertarianism and a wild ride to boot. One of my all time favorites.
Rating: Summary: Great exploration of libertarian alternatives Review: Andrea Millen Rich put it best when she said of this book: "A hard-boiled, chatty, slam-bang philosophical adventure... a fusion of Raymond Chandler, Robert Heinlein, and Ayn Rand (that's President Ayn Rand, this side of the broach)."
Rating: Summary: A 21st century gumshoe Novel. ***** Review: As a 20+ year collector of SF, I feel that this is a refreshing original. Having read it for the first time in 1983, I found that it is still as unique now as it was then. Mr. Smith creates a setting in which his detective gumshoe hero CAN be a hero and get the girl without the emotional baggage of a 'blade-runner'. The context of the story is that a run-of-the-mill cap in the process of solving a political murder stumbles into an alternate probability (similar to H. Beam Piper's Paratime series) that was created when a different word was used in the declaration of independence. What follows is a delightful action packed adventure that is full of understated witticisms and an occasional jab at the status quo. If you are a political partisan of a liberal or socialist bent, you will absolutely despise this book and throw it down in disgust; if you are an adult or are apolitical and don't take it as a gospel view of libertarianism but rather as what it is -- a good fiction tale that is meant to be entertaining -- you'll love it. On a scale from 1-10 I give it an 8.5
Rating: Summary: 90 percent of everything is Tax. Here is life with 0 Tax. Review: Contrary to the review a few down from the State of Israel, this book is a MUST read *IF* you have an open mind and are willing to take a look at a very real possiblity of what life might be like if there was no government. Its so ironic that the reviewer from Israel didn't like it, especially since the same goods and services over there cost 2 to 4 times what they cost over here, all due to taxation, socialistic government spending, currency devaluation, and inflation. What else but bad things have you heard about "anarchy" from people that have a stake in government? What could life be like now, if our country, from the beginning didn't Federalize? God-Forbid everything would cost 90% less than it does now and individual freedom reigns over majority rule. After this book, you realize what a huge burden government is on society. If you can't handle Freedom or fresh ideas about it, you certainly shouldn't waste your money on this book, you might actually learn something.
Rating: Summary: Required reading for non-big government liberals! Review: Fascinating look into an alternitive reality, one that is totally antithema to todays "big-government, it takes a village air-head liberal" Great fantasy read that takes your mind off of todays depressing state-of-the-state. It read well in 1980, and it reads well today! Hummm maybe it should be required reading for liberals as well. Detective Bear is gritty, and beliveable. The Chandler overtones only add to a gutsy style that pulls no punches, and puts you right into the book with the charecters. Everytime I read this book it turns into a nonstop readathon. Read it on a weekend, because you will miss work because its impossible to put down.
Rating: Summary: What an utter load of crap. Review: Gun toting children, talking gorillas, steam-powered (?) aircars and mile-long zeppelins: You'll find all of these while reading this book. Now it's OK if this was, say, a Douglas Adams book, but smith takes his ludicrous alternate history seriously. In Smith's opinion, if we only switched to an anarchist form of government, every human ailment would disappear instantaniously, along with some annoying laws of nature such as the conservation of energy, or the fact that animals can't think like humans. As to the characters... every character was ripped right out of a Heinlein book, and the bad guys are simply pathetic. I'd call it a "mustn't read". I'm sorry I ever did - although I got some cheap laughs out of it.
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