Small Government Book Fan Club discussion

I'm about half way through this and I'm surprised. I'd had this on my "to read" list for a long, long time. Finally picked it up as it touched on another discussion. Another friend thought I might not like it as it's very dark.

And it is very dark. I'm a Christian and there are places here where Christians and Christianity are insulted. I've read other books where my beliefs were insulted, and oddly it didn't kill me or immediately convert me to some other belief system... Funny huh? There are a few other things I think of as flaws in the thinking behind the book, but so far I haven't succumbed to any brainwashing...

Still there's an amazing strain of libertarian thought behind this one. I plan to review it when I'm through but if it doesn't take some kind of huge nose dive I plan to read the sequels.

I'd be interested in seeing what anyone else thinks about it.

Hmmm, I don't generally do dark... But looking forward to your review!

The "dark" is very much part of the story here, not done "just to be dark".

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Still there's an amazing strain of libertarian thought behind this one."

I haven't read this yet but the interview in the back of my copy makes this seem rather unlikely. The "catastrophic event" of a Republican controlled Congress resulting in the "unchecked extremes" of "American capitalism, stripped of its egalitarian pretense" because it "frees the multinational corporations from even the shadow of government control."

Seriously????

This is what people are afraid of nowadays? Multinational corporations? O-kay.

The book in question takes place in a future world where the "Corporations" have become the oppressors that's true. Many science fiction books go down one road or the other, the government or the corporations. While I think that is the "less likely" outcome of today's world that only sets up the vehicle of the novel. It's a world where the government moved to become all powerful, the "elite" of society were those with money ad control so the "became one".

The conflict in the book (which is well plotted and carries the conflict in a good story) comes between the "group" and the "individual". If you've read much Ayn Rand and especially if you're familiar with Nietzsche you'll see it here. These however are all the influences in the book. He even quotes Robert Heinlein.

I stated in my review that I can't agree with all in the book. I can't agree with all the thought processes, the conclusions nor the assumptions. I can say it's well written, interesting and thought provoking. It's also dark and definitely for adult readers.