Customer Reviews

Oath of Fealty

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Todos Santos is a gigantic self-governing building, or arcology, built near L.A. Needless to say, the arcology, which is quite successful and productive, is the target of protesters. When three protesters sneak into the works of the arcology, and make it appear that they are going to blow up crucial equipment, two of them get killed for their trouble. L.A. insists on the arrest of the Todos Santos manager who ordered them killed. Todos Santos (the point of the Oath of Fealty of the title is that responsibilities and loyalties run both up and down)seek to get him out by whatever means necessary.

While it is an interesting concept, there is a problem--this is very much a one-note melody. Niven makes the point that people living in such a structure would be different from what we are used to, and he makes it, and makes it until you're tired. And while the Todos Santos people are clearly all saints, fighting the good fight, you're left wondering what would happen if they were using the many resources at their disposal in a less worthy cause . . .

Still, a good read, with interesting characters, and it leaves you thinking, which is always a Good Thing.

If you're reading this then I hope you give it a fair consideration in comparison to some of the unflattering comments made by the others reviewers of this fascinating novel.

Niven and Pournelle put together a really good read that puts to test the idea that a free society cannot truly be free without restraint. Look, I'll be honest here - I don't drink, don't carry guns, or play amateur pharmacologist; so in many ways the Arcology crafted by the authors is a dream come true for a prude like myself. And I suspect many other boring centrists who would like to live a socially committed life without dealing with the politically correct demagogues beating their personal drums or the flame spewing radicals that seems to draw the worst from both conservatives and liberals alike. The Arcology is in many way boring - which is the point.

It's worth noting that I agree that the idea of a sustainable, self-enclosed "fort" is likely impractical in the real world. In order for Todos Santos to hold sway over the County of Los Angeles (and the US in general) the authors have proposed an intriguing, but unrealistic, means of control. Specifically a gigantic iceberg. I won't get too much into this, hopefully you'll pick-up your own copy and find out for yourself. But when you get down to it - it's impossible for the managers of Todos Santos to control what is beyond their arcology. And the iceberg is the only real "defense" that it has from the outside affecting what happens in the inside.

BTW, simplistic comparisons of the Arcology to Soviet-era society or 1960's era US public housing is clearly misguided. I could waste time on a point by point deconstruction of that kind of shoot-from-the-hip mentality. However, I choose to forgive the ignorant like I forgive the young, which is often the same group.

Finally, I would like to address the comment made by the reader in England. He correctly points out that there are already signs of the Todos Santos Arcology appearing in the real world. We've all seen the gated communities where the wealthy have set up their ideal environment. And the technology parks where industries have set up shop for themselves. Lastly look at one of today's marvels: The Mall Of America. In many ways we're seeing elements of Todos Santos being brought to life. Again, I doubt that the Arcology can actually exist as it's described in Oath Of Fealty, but it showcases insights into our evolving society that both authors foresaw nearly twenty years ago.

A fairly involving story, though not terribly exciting. Set perhaps thirty years after 1984, it centers around a wonderful self-contained superskyscraper with the benefits of benevolent Big Brother's cameras everywhere. What is striking is not the plot, but rather the facility with which the authors dismiss what would seem to be the obvious danger of a kind of techno-fascism. The sociology of Niven/Pournelle collaborations is always striking, as with Heinlein's work, and this story is set in a believable near-future with immediately relevant issues; London, I am told, is now blanketed by security cameras. Nomads, we are told, lived drastically different lives from Roman citizens, who lived differently from americans in the 20th century (I am drastically paraphrasing as my copy is not at hand). Each of these peoples would have been shocked at how the others lived, so of course we may be shocked at the idea of having cameras in our apartments, but that is just a sort of evolutionary step in civilization. We can combine Right-libertarian laws and social mores with "If I'm not doing anything Wrong, why should I mind being watched?". Of course the fictional guards and administrators are rational with regard to what's Wrong, so the system works great. Those vigorously opposed to the superskyscraper are portrayed as ignorant illogical fools. I am reminded of the writings of Ayn Rand, or for that matter the writings of various communists; A view of society that is entirely too certain of itself. The protagonists are so wise that they would never condemn anything that didn't need to be condemned- though if they did they would do so for 250000 people in .004 seconds. Not as much fun as most Niven+Pournelle stuff, but interesting as a picture of near-present-day technology and social ideas.

The book was introduced by Niven and Pournelle as an explication of the philosophy of Rational Libertarianism. In that role, it is quite successful if the reader has a public school grasp of basic history and political philosophy.

In former times those who prized liberty and order but liberty above all migrated to Coventry or the American West. R.A.H sent his libertarians to the moon and beyond. In the context of this book- absent space flight, an Urban Monad makes sense. One reviewer is reminded of the apartment blocks of the Soviet Steppes or HUD housing enclaves and points up the creative contrast. Another, not meeting the criteria outlined in paragraph one (above) fails to grasp the irony and misses the underlying theme of the work all together.

Political polemic takes a back seat to this creative and swashbuckling novel. It stands with the works of Heinlein and bypasses the ponderous pontifications of Ayn Rand.

Highly recommended for the flexible, thinking reader.

I thought this book was very well done. It certainly kept me interested from beginning to end reading about a city all condensed into one building run entirely by a private corporation. The story flowed well and was concise, consistent and the characters were believable. The whole concept of the building-city Todos Santos is not too far off from being a reality. Dont be surprised if one day you switcvh on your T.V. and see a story about a new building going up that will allow people to live and work in it. I think Niven and Pournell did a fine job.

Oath Of Fealty is a strange creation. Set in the near future, a sort of "America-plus" in which moon colonies and waldo-operated industries are established, a super-building or arcology called Todos Santos with its own culture built on the ruins of a Los Angeles slum fights for political survival and finds its own relevance and strength. A typical Niven-Pournelle plot if there ever was one. Perhaps their worst book ever (and I am a fan, folks), it nevertheless is a must-read for those who wish to understand a certain aspect of the evolution of American political and social trends, as well as the barest and most fundamental motives and prejudices of the authors.

Both critics and supporters in these Amazon reviews seem to miss the point in a way, though many insightful comments and spot-on brickbats have been submitted. But the overall impression that a recent rereading of the book left me with was that it represented the ultimate triumph of white middle-class paranoia. Written as it was in 1981, at the dawn of the Reagan era, how could it be anything else? It was a time when "white flight" went into its final phase as the inner cities emptied out into the suburbs, taxation was relieved for the upper class with all the consequences that would spawn for the disadvantaged, and a new philosophy of libertarian ideals merged with the right to form the philosophy of neoconservatism.

The characters in the book are written with a great deal of passion and insight, archetypes in this vision of a new America. There are the can-do upper management types - of course they are brilliant and sexy and unattached enough to end up sparking the obligatory romance. There is the "good minority" representative, who is finding his way through the upper levels of responsibility and reward. There is the resident genius, obviously a portrait of Niven himself with the obligatory "Forsooth!" and Irish coffee addiction. There are the crusty outsiders, tied to their old-style thinking, clinging to their hopeless resentments in the face of the inevitable. All of these and more fairly leap off the page with a speed and believability that is a credit to the writers' skill. We all know and have met people like this, though our view of their morality may quite differ from that of the authors.

What is disturbing in this fairy tale, and revealing of a dark side to the authors, is their portrayal of The Unlovely. Niven and Pournelle, having built their perfect combination of shopping mall and libertarian commune/condo, now defend it against all comers with pointed, poisonous attacks of the pen. Ecological activists are all terrorists, brainwashed lackeys, and bull dykes, did you know that? "Ecosimps," a character in these pages calls them. Black reverends who work on behalf of the slum community are naturally self-aggrandizing, pompous blowhards, and the poor blacks in those communities are in constant turmoil, ready to rip the heads off the authorities at the merest provocation. The L.A. police are ineffectual buffoons led by tired political hacks, without the slightest knowledge of forensics or search procedures. Meanwhile, the authors carefully avoid intentionally showing any apparent ugliness in the behavior or character of any of the arcology's inhabitants. No, the inhabitants are all productive parts of the enclosed society, completely setting aside the obvious dangers of insular thinking and the natural evolution of a stifling, possibly fatal parochialism.

Thus, the book falls down. Its flaws may be summed up in a phrase repeated many times by the authors in a deafening display of Heinleinian smugness: THINK OF IT AS EVOLUTION IN ACTION. In other words, the great new society created by self-reliance and the apotheosis of technology will weed out the misfits, the rapists, the "ecosimps," the "unlovely." But evolution also created the compassionate human being, who once freed from the chains of prejudice can sense a brotherhood with the disabled, the needy, the emotionally unbalanced, and those who don't agree with everything we hold dear, yes, even with two certain smug authors, bless their hearts. It will be a long time before that trait is weeded out of the gene pool.

Again, Larry and Jerry take a high concept and pull it off. Anyone who has ever lived in or operated a business in Los Angeles, or any big city, and dealt with inefficient, stifling bureaucracy, will find Todos Santos a breath of fresh air. The inhabitants of this archology CHOOSE to live there. This is in no way fascism. It is not the government that runs Todos Santos, but a very efficient corporation. The reason things work there is because everyone feels they have a stake in it. Jerry used to work for Sam Yorty, and knows a thing or two (or three!) about how city governments works, or in the case of Los Angeles, DOESNT! The reactions of Angelinos and terrorists hostile to the archology in their midst only serve to reinforce Todos Santos'raison d'tre. Think of it as evolution in action.

Only Niven and Pournelle can bring off a libertarian revolution in an environment most readers would consider more in keeping with the strictured life in the Soviet Union or a HUD project.

Upon signing the oath, the citizen of Todos Santos acquires the rights and immunities as well as the responsibilities invisioned by the founders of the American Republic.

There are ample opportunities for swash-buckling adventure as the upstart Arcology fights for an uneasy peace with an America that has abandoned the guiding principals that made it the last, great hope of freedom.

The best science fiction isn't about technology; it's about the impact that has on people and their lives. That is where Niven has always excelled. A few years along this book is still relevant, and the world it portrays - the "reverse ghetto" - is coming even closer!

Hmmm, feels like "Friday"...or any other of a number of
great Heinlein books. Great characters, concepts and
plenty of action. This is also a decent cross-over
as a mystery title, similar to the Niven/Barnes
collaborations ("DreamPark" et. al.) If you liked what Larry and Jerry did with "The Mote in God's Eye"
you are bound to enjoy this. My only question is where
do I sign up to live in that building?