Title: Oath of Fealty Authors: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle LOC Call No.: PS3564.I9 O3 Subjects: City planning -- Arcologies -- fiction Science fiction Source: borrowed from Trudy Claspill Rating: good, thought-provoking science fiction with great characters Readings: March or April 1997

My friend Trudy lent this to me after the subject of arcologies came up in a conversation. The story is set in the not-too-distant future near Los Angeles at the recently-completed arcology Todos Santos. Los Angeles has grown to be even worse than it is now (which is worse than when the book was written in 1981). There is growing resentment toward arcologies and the corporations that run them, as well as their residents.

Todos Santos is a successful arcology that comes under "attack" politically as a result of a prank (gone horribly wrong) by three outsider college students. The aftermath of the prank creates massive repercussions for Los Angeles and Todos Santos.

Niven and Pournelle write well together. The story takes on the feel on a murder mystery at times (a la Niven & Barnes' DreamPark novels). The characters are well-developed (especially the one who utters the catchy phrase, "Think of it as evolution in action."). As with DreamPark, the reader ends up with a good feel for what arcology life might be like.

In short, I liked it.

Page created 5/27/97.
Last updated 03/17/03 14:33.

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