Free Zone

Rating:
Summary: A mildly amusing stunt
Review: Today class, your assignment is to write a science fiction novel which uses at least fifty common science fiction themes. Free Zone is Charles Platt's answer to this challenge, and he proudly lists 71 themes at the end of the book. It's as light as a souffle, totally without substance. The characters are almost as hackneyed as the multitudinous themes, and the less said about them, the better. The one thing I really liked about the story was the idea of the Free Zone itself: after most state & federal government has collapsed, a section of Los Angeles secedes from the rest of the city and establishes formal anarchy, if that isn't a contradition in terms. The Zone includes LoveLand, the Mafia's X-rated answer to Disneyland. I wish Mr. Platt had stuck with that idea and developed it a little more, instead of running hog wild trying to bring off a meaningless literary stunt.

Rating:
Summary: A mildly amusing stunt
Review: Today class, your assignment is to write a science fiction novel which uses at least fifty common science fiction themes. Free Zone is Charles Platt's answer to this challenge, and he proudly lists 71 themes at the end of the book. It's as light as a souffle, totally without substance. The characters are almost as hackneyed as the multitudinous themes, and the less said about them, the better. The one thing I really liked about the story was the idea of the Free Zone itself: after most state & federal government has collapsed, a section of Los Angeles secedes from the rest of the city and establishes formal anarchy, if that isn't a contradition in terms. The Zone includes LoveLand, the Mafia's X-rated answer to Disneyland. I wish Mr. Platt had stuck with that idea and developed it a little more, instead of running hog wild trying to bring off a meaningless literary stunt.