Customer Reviews

Pallas

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The thing that most intrigues me about Smith's fiction is that, even though I know he's going to preach libertarianism to me, I also know he's going to slip in at least one new thought I'd never considered. I just never know when it's coming, or from what direction.

So...was the invention of agriculture really a positive turning point in human history? I must admit the question had never occurred to me.

The characterizations are stronger in this novel than in some of his earlier work. I get the impression that he's more confident, finding his own voice rather than trying to be Heinlein.

You can find things to quibble with. The Pallas society is a bit self-consciously old-west. In an environment where all guns have to be imported from Earth I couldn't get past how casually Emerson acquired an extraordinary speciman. The ending left me a bit unsatisfied.

But all in all it's a very fine novel; engrossing and thought-provoking as almost all Smith books are, and highly entertaining. There are very few contemporary authors that I follow around to see when the next book is due; Smith has become one of them.

Not many science fiction writers can actually create a new world populated by heroic, but real people - AND convey a sense of dynamic IDEAS about society and technology that yoju would WANT the future to become. L. Neil Smith has done just that with "Pallas", arguably his BEST BOOK ever (until the upcoming "Ceres", that is! :-) Pallas tells the story of a child inventor who grows up to become a hero amidst the largely, but not exclusively, liberty-loving colony on Pallas asteroid. While the enemy is obvious, the plot twists and turns are not. In science-fiction, its the IDEAS that count, and this book ROCKS with them. As good, if not better, than Robert Heinlein and Fred Pohl. Buy and read this book and enjoy!

L. Neil Smith's vivid portrayl of absolute personal freedom versus the politically correct utopia is mind opening. Not only does this book show exactly the reason our forefathers put specifically into our constitiution our right to bear arms, but it also shows how things could have been if we hadn't felt the urgent need to get rid of our personal responsibilites by giving them over to a government. The clashes between Emerson Ngu and his arch enemy Gibson Altman are completely realistic, the plot flows true-to-life, and even though Smith is a bit heavy handed with libertarian rhetoric, it doesn't take anything away from the story. Besides, aren't most of us, in our most private thoughts, sick and tired of the intrusions we allow our government to make?

Pallas is something very rare inaSci-Fi read, it provoked me into thinking about the nature of our society. I wasn't a liberatrian before this but I seriously considering it now. I am ordering copies for my two nephews, maybe it'll also start them thinking. Though the novel ends on an optomistic note, probably in the real world men like Altman will win out and we will all live in Greeley.

"Pallas" reminds me a great deal of another novel by Mr. Smith that I greatly admired, "The Probability Broach". In that novel he first introduced the concept of citizen's arming themselves and anarchy ruling rather than a government. I will not soon forget the Presidental election in that novel where the entire Country voted -None of the Above- into the Presidental office and it was accepted! "Pallas" has returned to this concept, but through fresh eyes. The author does not assume that we have read his other novels or have heard of his unique ideas of government before (a trait that I noticed in several of his other novels). The story follows a young man who escapes from a socialistic colony and learns to stand on his own two feet in a "wild west" style fronteer town set on the asteriod of Pallas. The future technology descriptions and ideas are logical and very detailed, reminding me somewhat of Robert A. Heinlein's work. While I have many qualms about letting anarchy rule the day, I have to admit that I have been a fan of Mr. Smith's for many years and I hope to see more novels of this caliber (if you will forgive the pun) from him.

L. Neil Smith is famous -- or infamous, depending on your take of the subject -- for his heavy-handed political sermons, even to the point where the sermons seem entirely detached from the story he is trying to tell.

_Pallas_, fortunately, is mostly free of irrelevant libertarian proselytizing (Smith's politics are still evident, but they are worked into the story skillfully and in a way that makes sense), and it becomes wonderfully clear that when Smith just sets out to tell a story, he really does a pretty damn good job. This book does contain flaws, however, which keep it at 4 stars instead of 5 -- Smith, for one thing, is remarkably poor at painting his characters in shades of gray. He seems to make some gamely attempts to do so throughout the book, but for all that, his characters either fall solidly in the "good" or "evil" camps.

Related to this is another serious problem with this book (and Smith's writing in general, actually): his characters are simply not fleshed out very well, and it makes it hard to empathize with them. Smith's style of characterization is essentially to take some odd trait, attach the trait to a name, then pass it off for a character. This is why, in my opinion, his supporting characters especially come across as caricatures, which detracts somewhat from the story.

However, in spite of these problems (and others), I found myself liking _Pallas_ a great deal. Whatever his flaws in characerization, Smith is a remarkable wordsmith, and some of the concepts introduced in this book, regardless of their real-life feasibility, are fascinating. _Pallas_ is an enjoyable read with flaws that are easily overlooked while being carried along by Smith's skilled, and at times captivating, prose.

Some people don't like thought in their books.

If you're one of those people, don't bother with 'Pallas' or anything else by L. Neil Smith.

It's entertaining, provoking, challenging, and cerebral, in a way very reminiscent of Heinlein. That is high praise, indeed. He puts forward ideas and concepts that might be difficult to grapple with, but they are worthwhile. There's action, adventure, interesting characters and ideas (both the 'good' and 'evil' ones are interesting, which is rare; most authors get one or the other down). The only thing I didn't like was the ending. Seemed a bit of a cop out. Not enough to cripple the book, but not up to par with the rest.

Great job, Smith.

In a world where individual freedom is under seige from both sides of an obsolete political spectrum, Pallas and the other works of L. Neil Smith are a godsend. In Pallas, Smith conveys a simple message: Freedom. This freedom has been absent from most of the world throughout human history, and it's about time that we start striving to obtain the free market society that Smith envisions.

I read this BEFORE I read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. While this book has some similarities, I think Neil has done a much better job than Heinlein's classic novel when it comes to giving detail about being a "rational anarchist". Pallas is exciting, fun, sarcastic, sad, loving, forgiving, and even a bit preachy, but less overtly than his book "The Probability Broach." I found the story of the life of Emerson Ngu to be one of the most moving things I have ever read. Neil even switches his style of writing towards the last half of the book. Quite honestly, it is probably THE best book I have ever read. If you are closed minded about Anarchy, individual freedoms, guns, cigars, and sex, you won't like this book (and you might want to do a sanity check on yourself)! I would so enjoy living in a world like this!

Mr. Smith displays a combination so rarely found in accessible authors: a wonderful style backed by a coherent, intelligent worldview and philosophy. By no means does the philosophy bog down the story, but instead I see a human realism oftentimes absent from the plastic utopias offered by Star Trek etc.