Customer Reviews

An Enemy of the State (The LaNague Federation, Book 1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Unlike some other sci-fi future revolutions, the revolution in this book is bloodless and based solely on economics. Borrowing ideas from modern political science and economics, Wilson visits issues like the Gold Standard, libertarianism/anarchism, inflation, totalitarianism, market controls, and even gender attitudes in old civilizations vs. frontier developments (i.e., a frontier's success is dependent on getting new people, one of the easiest ways being women giving birth -- thus, women become baby factories and are devalued with regards to any other activity or idea.)

However, Wilson goes a little light on all the ideology; there are some strong personalities at play in this story of an empire's accelerated downfall. Just like in Asimov's Foundation Series, a small cabal is working to soften the impact of the inevitable crash of an overloaded empire; however, in Wilson's version, the impact is lessened by forcing a collapse in 5 years, as opposed to the expected 20. The leader of this movement, Peter LaNague, is from an odd frontier planet Tolive (for "to live"), founded by a group of people following the tenets of Kyfho (in the book, Kyfho is found to be very much in the vein of Heinlein's TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As a Free Lunch). But LaNague is up against the violent Droohin, leader of a rebel group whose plans were ruined by LaNague. A mysterious ultra-violent couple under LaNague's orders keeps Droohin in check, but one wonders if the tension can hold.

I found the book fascinating in its development. Wilson keeps you as well as the other conspirators in the dark as to the overarching plan - LaNague plays it close to the chest so that the movement is not betrayed. This becomes a focal point in the interaction between LaNague and his fellow subversives, his wife, and even the government which he brings down.

Wilson draws from the tradition (and has some sly nods to in the naming of some characters and spacecraft) of Frank Herbert's Dune, Robert Heinlein's Future History, Isaac Asimov's Foundation, and the detailed technical aspects of Larry Niven's work.

So many sci-fi novels delve into the tiniest details concerning weapons, transportation, intelligent computers, etc. while ignoring the most fundamental aspects of one of the most powerful forces in society, namely economics. Wilson manages to tell the story of a revolution centered on economics, and he doesn't "dumb down" the theory behind it. He cleverly illustrates the human effects of economic forces by sympathetically telling the stories of both the initiators of these forces and their victims.

This is not a shoot-em-up type of story. All of the characters are motivated by ideology, and Wilson does a good job of humanizing even the most villainous among them while at the same time presenting a hero who is vulnerable himself to the same vices of his opponents.

Never judge a book by its cover, right? Well I did when I pulled this one off the shelf at my neighborhood paperback re-seller. I had never heard of F. Paul Wilson before but was stretching my wings in anti-state philosophy. Collapse the STATE by exposing the sand of it's foundation; faulty economic policy. LaNague is a cross between Guy Fawkes and Robin Hood! Now I am a F. Paul Wilson addict, especially his Repairman Jack series. An Enemy of the State is a friend of mine...
:)

Originally written in the 1970s, in the context of stagflation, F. Paul Wilson's ENEMY OF THE STATE has renewed relevance today, with the likelihood of high price inflation hanging like a sword of Damocles over the United States thanks to the Fed's recent money-creation spree.

This book is set an the future on a group of planets ruled by the Outworld Imperium, an oppressive, declining, semi-democratic empire. Wilson chronicles a small cabal's efforts to achieve a genuinely libertarian revolution. It is led by a charismatic-if-somewhat-aloof man named Peter LaNague, an adherent to a libertarian philosophy known as "Kyfho" (an acronym for "Keep Your F@#*%&*g Hands Off" -- gotta love it!) Because of his strong belief in libertarian principles, LaNague's challenge is to effect a revolution with as little violence or loss of life as possible, and to ensure that the "old boss" is not replaced with a "new boss." Instead, LaNague wants there to be "no boss."

How LaNague pulls this all off is quite clever -- I won't reveal everything, but let's just say a crucial part of his strategy is turning the government's tendency towards inflation against it. To me it was quite inspiring and extremely relevant.

Any libertarian-leaning scifi fan will love this book. It's clearly in the tradition of such classics as Heinlein's THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS (there's even a brief reference to that book in ENEMY, a tip of the hat by Wilson to Heinlein.) My only (minor) complaint about ENEMY OF THE STATE is its brevity -- normally I'm a big proponent of concision in books, but in this case I found myself wanting more!

I love F. Paul Wilson's LaNague Federation series of stories, and I was overjoyed to find that they had finally been made available for the Kindle. However, I was extremely upset to find that the last three chapters of the book were left out of the electronic version of the book. Chapters 19, 20, and 21 are absent from the book, which is odd, as the Epilogue managed to be included. So we have this odd jump to the end and I can't believe people who read this version weren't scratching their head and asking questions.

The only acceptable solution for this is for the company that did the translation to ebook format go back and fix it.

UPDATE: Amazon has worked with the publisher to get the missing material added. I was very happy with how Amazon responded to this issue, and I only hope they continue working to get the highest quality ebooks for their customers.

This is the most incredible book I've ever read (barring the Tolkien Trilogy), and I'm a huge Repairman Jack fan and this isn't a Repairman Jack book. It's not even a horror story, unless you consider our current economic crisis a horror. Years ago Wilson figured out that the way to topple a government, and, indeed, an entire planet, was through economic manipulation. This is the story of a very patient people who hatched a plan that took years to implement. Every time I read a page I would look up at the news on TV then back down to the page and say, that's us! This is the book that started the KYFHO craze. The only clue I'll give is that KYFHO represents a phrase that starts with the word "Keep." You figure it out. Better still, buy the book. I've already bought several to send to friends. Political warning: F. Paul Wilson is a dedicated Libertarian. You will know this is you have read any of the Repairman Jack books. Progressives and Liberals may find Wilson's political premise distasteful. Libertarians, Republicans, and Conservatives will love it. If you are a Glenn Beck fan you will love this book, For those of the more liberal persuasion, the story is still intriguing and even you might find it hard to put the book down. Although the book deals with Earth outer space planetary colonies, it is not a science fiction book, so fans of horror and sci fi might be disappointed. If you like this book and haven't read any of the Repairman Jack series, I suggest them wholeheartedly. Just bear in mind that the RJ series is a horror series, especially in the beginning and, I have a feeling, at the very end (which hasn't been published yet).

I picked this up for free over a year ago and just now got around to reading it (my to-be-read pile on the Kindle is becoming quite large).

I use a modified version of the Baen criteria in judging science fiction: the technology and plot lines needs to be believable, you have to be able to relate to the characters, and if there are aliens don't gross me out or overly confuse me with strange names and abilities. This one hits meets all of my modified interpretation of the Baen criteria.

This book - while written a few decades ago - seems to have a lot of today's details involved with its plot: a government growing larger and larger, increasing unemployment, an ever-increasing public debt, and inflation growing unchecked. All combined with a growing discontent with the public and radical change being initiated.

I thought it was pretty good, and have the next one in the series but will wait a while to start it. While I picked it up for free, I think it is well worth the $2.99 Kindle price (pricing as of April 20, 2011).

I could not have been more bored. I bought this series because of the Repairman Jack books but they are a complete bore. I dragged through the first, but I wont bother with the 2nd or 3rd.