Master of Life and Death

Rating:
Summary: Good Plot; Old Technology
Review: I enjoyed the book for the interesting plot, which focuses on the overpopulation problem of Earth in the 23rd century. The plot threads include the development of a faster-than-light spaceship for colonization of other planets; terraforming Venus; and the redistribution and euthenasia of Earth's inhabitants. The main character, Roy Walton, director of The Bureau of Population Equalization (POPEEK) has his hands full with his obnoxious brother Fred, who tries to blackmail him. Director Walton also has to deal with trying to hide a crime he committed, and with the discovery of the serum for producing immortality. (Just what an overpopulated world needs, right?) It's not a thick book, so character development and description is minimal. The technology in the book (a "voicewrite", a "telefax", and pneumatic tubes for sending messages) are obsolete in 1999, but what can you expect from a novel written in the 1950's? I don't plan on rereading this book; it's going into my "used paperbacks for sale" box. --- Miandra Case Editor-in-Chief of H.O.P.E., publisher of "Online Fantasy Fans" (O.F.F.)