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Exile-and Glory by Jerry Pournelle
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Jerry Pournelle Edition: Hardcover Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2008-08-05 ISBN: 1416555633 Number of pages: 368 Publisher: Baen
Book Reviews of Exile-and GloryBook Review: An Earlier Look at the Future Summary: 5 Stars
Exile-And Glory (2008) is an omnibus edition of the Hansen Enterprises stories, including High Justice and Exiles to Glory. They are set in a future in which the US government -- and the other nations -- have managed to create a condition of high unemployment and inflation. The People's Alliance has taken control of both houses and the presidency in the USA with a promise of reform. The new reform government promises much, but delivers little.
Much of the population is receiving welfare and the free colleges are flooded with students attracted mostly by the free lunch. Many college graduates immediately go on welfare or find themselves working at meaningless jobs without any future.
High Justice (1974) is a collection of short stories about the role of international corporations in an increasingly socialistic world. The first few stories aren't even about Hansen Enterprises, but are about the major corporations in an environment where their home governments are the enemy.
A Matter of Sovereignty tells of the cooperation of a minor nation with a major corporation to their mutual benefit.
Power to the People shows the fate of a transplanted socialist in Southern Africa.
Enforcer illustrates the role of International Security Systems in the enforcement of contracts.
High Justice conveys the story of a dedicated populist who finds himself the scapegoat of political machinations.
Extreme Prejudice depicts the agonies of a CIA assassin who is ordered to kill a traitor within his organization.
Consort relates the political deals of Hansen Enterprises to establish a foothold of the Moon.
Tinker reveals a scheme to strike back at the major corporations and the consequences.
Exiles to Glory (1977) is a novella about two young people -- Kevin Senecal and Ellen MacMillan -- and their experiences together in space. Kevin is fleeing Earth to avoid a group of homicidal kids and to find a useful career. Ellen is paying her own way to Ceres in hopes of finding a meaningful job. Yet they aren't being fully truthful with each other.
These short stories and novella are tales of politics and high finance as well as technological advances. They portray the same view of dedicated space entrepreneurs as Firestar, but were published two decades earlier. Of course, the same wrongheaded ideas about profits and technology existed in the 1970s as today.
The corporate world can be rapacious as any alley mugger, but governments are institutionalized theft. Unfortunately, governments seem to be necessary to put down the robber barons. Yet the USA was built on the concept of government as a great experiment. It will never be perfect, but it can be changed in the direction of more perfection.
These tales expose the vices of both corporations and governments, but the governments herein are the greater evil. They describe a socialist USA in great -- and hideous -- detail. Despite the failure of the Soviet Union, many diehard leftwing liberals still advocate taxing their way to a bright future. Read it and weep for our species!
Highly recommended for Pournelle fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of political intrigues, corporate advances, and true love.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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