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From: erspert@athena.mit.edu (Ellen R. Spertus)
Newsgroups: alt.individualism,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf-lovers,talk.philosophy.misc,talk.politics.theory
Subject: Books with Allusions to Objectivism, Libertarianism, or Individualism
Keywords: libertarian, objectivist, individualist, sf
Message-ID: <3582@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: 9 Mar 88 01:40:28 GMT
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: erspert@athena.mit.edu (Ellen R. Spertus)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 50

As someone sympathetic to objectivism (small-o only) and other individualist
philsophies/politics, I have been collecting fiction, mostly science-fiction,
which are either about libertarianism or have allusions.  I'm listing the
books I know of here and would love to hear from other people.  Any replies
sent to me will be summarized and posted.  I would also like to see a list
of Prometheus Award winners, if anyone has one.

Most famous is Robert Heinlein's _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, which has a
revolution on the moon which parallels the American revolution (i.e. is
libertarian).  One character is asked if he is a Randite, and another is
called their John Galt.

L. Neil Smith has written a series of books (of varying quality) about an
alternate universe whose history diverged shortly after the American 
Revolution, with the result being that this America lived up to the ideals
of the revolution.  The first and best book in the series is _The Probability
Broach_, with hilarious allusions and caricatures.  There are about six
other books in the series.

F. Paul Wilson wrote my favorite book on this list, _An Enemy of the State_,
recently out of print, about an anarchist revolution.  Of all the books here,
it is the closest to being truly philosophical.  Among other things, Wilson
shows the difference between nihilists and (individualist) anarchists.  Very
good reading.  The mentor of the hero is named Adrynna!  I'll leave you that
one to figure out yourself :-).  Wilson has written two other science fiction
books that I know of: _Healer_ and _Wheels Within Wheels_ which are not as
blatantly individualist but still pretty good.  I've read one of his many
horror books, which contains an allusion to Rand near the beginning.  (A
doctor states that if a socialist medical law passes, he'll "shrug".)

F. Neil Shulman, the final member in the libertarian-authors-with-first-
initial-and-four-letter-middle-name clique, has written _Alongside Night_
and Prometheus Award winning _The Rainbow Cadenza_.  _Alongside Night_ is
a short light book set in an America in the not too distant future.  It
is fun to read but the writing isn't great.  The writing and characterization
are a lot better in _Alongside Night_, which is set in the more distant
future.

James Hogan wrote Prometheus Award winning _Voyage from Yesteryear_ and
_Code of the Lifemaker_.  Neither have any explicit references to 
libertarianism or objectivism, but both are individualist.  My favorite
is _Code of the Lifemaker_ whose characters include a (fake) psychic
and a debunker obviously based on The Amazing Randi.  Both books are 
a little slow until the two differing groups meet, so skimming is
excusable (recommended?).

                                   Ellen

If you have trouble with netmail, snail address is:
Ellen Spertus/Goodale 503/3 Ames Street/Cambridge, MA 02139