The Alliance by Gerald Lund

[MrShorty]

I'm in the middle of a book my daughter suggested to me. It's an old book ('83) written by Gerald Lund (who also wrote The Work and the Glory). It's science fiction set in the near future after "The Termination" (aka nuclear holocaust). We follow the story of Eric Lloyd who is a member of a small village living in what was Star Valley Wyoming. The village is surviving on what they managed to gather before the holocaust and what they can gather from the land around them. One day, a company from the Alliance of Four Cities visits and captures the community. They are taken to Shalev, a new city built up to preserve western civilization. Among the founders of the city is a brain scientist who develops an implant that causes intense whenever the implantee feels certain negative emotions (like anger). Through these implants, the people of Shalev have developed a society free of crime, anger, poverty -- a nice little utopia. Eric and some friends decide to take exception to this society, and decide they want no part.

That's as far as I've got so far. It has an interesting premise about free will/choice vs. conditioning. I'll have to keep reading to see how they make out trying to avoid being forced into this society.

[DaZebra]

That's a great book! I loved the idea of tazer-gun things. Deadly weapons set to a not-so-deadly function. It made me laugh.

Yeah. Awesome book. I might have to read Work and the Glory just to get more of GL's words in mah head.

[MrShorty]

I loved the idea of tazer-gun things. Deadly weapons set to a not-so-deadly function.

You know what I find interesting. The Major was very fond of his "not so deadly" weapons, until he saw that he was losing control over some of his people. At which point he didn't hesitate to apply deadly force to people to keep them under this thumb.

I guess it always seems interesting to me in these kind of stories how "benevolent" the leadership acts, until the people start to make choices away from the leadership. Characters like the Major seem unable to let people choose for themselves.

[DaZebra]

Benevolent, my...never mind. I think the Major was one of the more predictable, and, shall I say, cliche characters in the story. "I'm so powerful, completely in control" to, by the end, "I am all but admitting that I am a coward by hiding behind the few who are still waveringly loyal." Although I did feel sorry for him when his house blew up. I'd feel sorry for just about anyone if their house blew up.