Colony (1978)

Another science fiction book that confirms my theory that Minnesota is the safest place to be in the event of a global revolution/apocalypse!
Colony is the story of David Adams, a test-tube baby engineered and raised in Island One, the first (and so far, only) residential space station. The situation back on earth is nearing disaster, with population at 7.28 billion, there just aren't enough resources to go around, and a lot of them are in the hands of the huge international corporations. The World Government tries to help, but unfortunately also takes the brunt of the blame for the struggles of the populace. Various revolutionary groups threaten and David tries to fix things. This is a rough summary, and if this was the entire plot, the book would be a lot better. Unfortunately, it also contains several irritating subplots which might serve to deepen the characterization of supporting roles, but mostly just distract and seem unnecessary. Also, David spends a lot of time first trying to get to earth, and then trying to get from one part of it to another, which is also extensively described without adding much to the plot. I think it's an attempt at suspense-building, but it's not as effective as one would hope. The book is just about 75 pages too long, otherwise it's a fantastic future history.
I really think that my mild distaste for it comes more from having been reading it during the most recent (2010) election cycle and marveling at the similarities of what people are currently asking from the government and what the book describes. This is fantastic for a writer to be so forward-thinking as to be so predictive, but it is also upsetting because I think we might not be far off from the calamities that befall the fictional United States described within the text. ( )