The Probability Broach [Paperback]

L. Neil Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 2001

Denver detective Win Bear, on the trail of a murderer, discovers much more than a killer. He accidentally stumbles upon the probability broach, a portal to a myriad of worlds--some wildly different from, others disconcertingly similar to our own. Win finds himself transported to an alternate Earth where Congress is in Colorado, everyone carries a gun, there are gorillas in the Senate, and public services are controlled by private businesses.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Contained ideas I wish could be shouted to the world, ideas that come from the American heritage of freedom and which could bring still greater individual liberty, greater technical progress."--Vernor Vinge, author of A Deepness in the Sky

"Pick up a new copy of the book and rediscover this exciting world, and reserve me a table at Meep's Texas Barbecue."--Prometheus

About the Author

L. Neil Smith is the two time winner of the Prometheus Award for Best Libertarian Fiction for his novels Pallas (1993) and The Probability Broach (1980). As founder and National Coordinator of the Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus, publisher of the on-line magazine The Libertarian Enterprise, and a Life member of the National Rifle Association, Smith is renowned for his prominence in the Libertarian movement, of which he has been a part of for more than thirty-five years. Author of more than twenty books, Smith has been hailed for his ability to combine adventure, humor, and rivetingly original political concepts to create more compellingly than any other writer, novels that embody Libertarian concepts. He currently resides in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his wife and daughter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Orb Books (December 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765301539
• ISBN-13: 978-0765301536
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #420,500 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Made Me Think, January 9, 2000

By 

John Gracy (Chattanooga TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Probability Broach (Paperback)

It has been a long time since I read a book that was both fun to read as well as made me think. I haven't figured out all of Mr. Smith's underlying philosophy since I have only read one book by him (The Probability Broach). His idea of stopping air piracy (everyone carries a gun on the aircraft: the airline just checks to make sure that the bullet will not disable the plane) is great. The notion of personal responsibility is great in these days when most people think that the government is supposed to take care of them (womb to the tomb). I liked his book enough that I am going to buy some more novels by him.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Intercontinua Chase and Shootout, January 21, 2003

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Probability Broach (Paperback)

Probability Broach is Smith's first novel. It is the story of a Denver Police Lieutenant Edward William Bear, called Win, who somehow find himself in a different continuum. This novel is followed by a direct sequel, The American Zone, which has some of the flavor but less of the excitement of this novel.

Win is on lunch break when he is called to the scene of a homicide. The victim, Vaughn L. Meiss, has been shot multiple times by a machine pistol, yet got off four shots with his own weapon, apparently to good effect. Meiss is a professor of Physics at Colorado State University and is also a card-carrying Propertarian. Since Meiss was killed in the vicinity of the Propertarian state headquarters, Win checks with the staff there and learns that Meiss was expected for an executive committee meeting. After interviewing the State Director, Jenny Noble, and other directors at the meeting, he finds that Meiss had been very excited by something and that the weapon that Meiss was carrying had been provided by the government to protect state secrets.

Win also interviews Dr. Otis Bealle, chairman of the CSU Physics department, and gets to see Meiss' office and laboratory. While he is in the lab, several men try to kill him with a machine pistol and other weapons. He accidentally hits the power switch on the gadget in the lab and then dives through an emergency exit, which happens to be an intercontinual portal. Shot, dazed and not very coherent, he stumbles out of the hole on the other side and is then blown through the air by an explosion. Looking for help, he finds a telecom booth containing a screen and a keyboard, where he enters "O" for operator, but the animated drawing that appears cannot find a listing for the Denver Police anywhere in the known solar system. He tries for Bealls' number, but finds no "Otis" listed. However, he sees an adjacent listing for Edward W. Bear, Consulting Detective.

The phone is busy, but the location is nearby, so he decides to walk -- make that stagger -- to the address. On the way, he refreshes himself, and his clothes, at a corner pit stop, later is pursued and shot by unknown persons in a long black hovercraft, and then lands face down in front of the other Bear's garage door. When he awakens, he is being treated by a medico with a beautiful voice and a mean electronarcosis gun. When he wakes up again, he discovers that the voice belongs to a gorgeous blonde named Clarissa Olson. He also meets the other Bear, called Ed, as well as Lucille Gallegos Kropotkin, a 136 year old war veteran, judge, and congressperson. Lucy is Ed's next door neighbor and totes two 50 caliber Gabbet Fairfax pistols when she is going on a raid; otherwise, she only carries one during normal everyday activities.

Win is now a resident of the North American Confederation governed under Propertarian principles as expounded by Albert Gallatin. The novel is full of political philosophy in between shootouts and chase scenes. The politics is interesting and even intriguing, but well integrated into the action.

This is a different kind of novel than most, much like Starship Troopers in its union of thought and action. It makes a good case for universal arming of the population and an even better case against governments of every kind. After 9/11, the idea of arming airline passengers doesn't seem so silly, does it?

Recommended for anyone who has seriously considered the nature of governments and individual freedom, but wants his polemic with some excitement.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive L. Neil Smith: fish out of water meets weirdos, June 29, 1997

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Probability Broach (Paperback)

...and ends up liking them. L. Neil Smith's authoritative book, now unexpurgated, points out that not all Science Fiction has to revolve around militaristic governments where the rights of the individual exist only when they serve the state.

Detective Win Bear is pulled from a pre-apocolyptic society to a strange new place where the virtue of selfishness is readily apparent. It is so different that Det. Bear resists the idea. However, his philosophical journey is complicated by his investigation, and subsequent hijinks, so the story is less of a lecture and more of an adventure with political undertones.

The point of the book, however, is that there is always another way, especially in science fiction. When you suspend your disbelief that such a society could never form because of a subtle difference in history, then you can objectively examine the system and see if it could work. L. Neil Smith's scenarios make it work.

While I cut my teeth on Smith's The Nagasaki Vector and Tom Paine Maru, the Probability Broach remains one of my favorites