Flight from Rebirth

This is the second book I've read by this author (or this author's pseudonym anyway) and they've both been great. Like any sci-fi some of it is a little old-fashioned, but in this one there are some really prescient things. For one thing is the conflict between 1% and 99% only in this case it's brainpower not wealth that determines who is the 1%. The police in this also seem to operate similarly to the "precogs" in "Minority Report." Given the recent NSA scandal it's also amusing how the author suggests every democracy trends towards becoming a police state before trending back towards democracy. So maybe there's hope yet.

That is all.

In my quest to review classic SF literature I am striving to find authors beyond the usual suspects. J.T. McIntosh is a pleasant discovery. He is one of the better but forgotten writers of the 50s and 60s.

This book gives us a glimpse into our future society.

His writing is not heavy science tech but it is certainly not Space Opera. He has a great understanding of human psychology and society.

I also enjoyed "Born Leader" and "Time for a Change".

3.5 stars
Originally posted at FanLit.

I picked up Flight from Rebirth by J.T. McIntosh because it was on sale at Audible. I wasnƒ??t familiar with the book or the author (J.T. McIntosh is a penname of James Murdoch MacGregor, a Scottish writer).

The story is about a man named Benny Rice who appears to be a pleasant mentally challenged man who works at a low-level job in a futuristic United States. It soon becomes apparent to the reader that Benny is a lot more functional than he seems. McIntosh teases us with this until the end ƒ?? who is Benny? Is he really mentally challenged? If not, why is he pretending to be? Who is he hiding from, and why? Add to that his societyƒ??s strange process of Rebirth ƒ?? reincarnation for the few show more people whoƒ??ve proved themselves worthy to carry on the human genome ƒ?? and youƒ??ve got quite a mystery.

It was this mystery and the fast pace that kept me intrigued by Flight from... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/flight-from-rebirth/ show less