Shield

Reading in this day and age, it seems a bit stilted. The portrayal of w-women isn't the worst but I felt like the main female character was more a plot device and except for attempts at adding a romantic element, the char could have been a man. For that matter, if the book was written now, the main (male) character could have been a woman and it wouldn't have made any difference.

The book is full of discourses on democracy, philosophy, sociology ... Talks about world government and why or why not it could work.

I really like Anderson's fantasy books better than his SF ones. I probably should have stopped reading this or jumped to see how it ended. Anderson seems to be ultimately optimistic about the human race.

This is basically libertarian wish fullfillment. Koskinen comes back from Mars with the secret of a personal (but expandable) near-impregnable shielding device. Everybody wants it, specifically a gang boss, the Chinese, the Department of Military Security (a foreshadowing of Homeland Security, though run by Marcus, a power-hungry bureaucracy based (like Ed Garver in the van Rijn tales) on J. Edgar Hoover, the Egalitarian Party (who are not in fact Egalitarians --they want voting restricted to or skewed in favor of the smart and successful) and others. Koskinen (eventually joined by Vivienne, originally an adventuress working against him) is betrayed by almost everyone at one point or another,but finally stands off Marcus in an ultimate show more showdown and is rescued by the regular American armed forces, though the ending is bittersweet, as Vivienne leaves him, for (she says) his own good. The plot is very similar to "Strange Bedfellows" in Seven Conquests, which I hope to review soon. show less

I was really impressed with this book. It has everything in perfect measure - action, politics, romance, science - and the characterisation is superb. An intelligent, strong-willed, motivated woman who isn't an emotional deadzone? Written in the 60s? (it's more likely than you think!). Characters had their own motivations and goals that intersected, and I would love to read about some of the others that crossed paths with the protagonists - the Polish insurrectionist, the crime boss, the martians. It's a really rich world.

This is exactly what good sci fi should be. Likeable characters, complex worldbuilding, tight pacing and rational plotting. I would love to see this adapted for film or tv, or even radio. Anything to bring it to a show more wider audience.

www.solelyfictional.org show less

Under-appreciated. A little dated now, in a few ways, but still there's a lot more insight & thoughtfulness here than in, say, Heinlein or Haldeman.

The female character is a person in her own right, with her own agency & motivations & intelligence & history... she could almost be tagged as a hero. The hero himself has a lot of learning & growing up to do, but fortunately he retains his innocence and optimism until the end so we can root for him. The villains, well, most of them are people first, bad guys second.

It would (still, with only minor updates) make a good movie. Lots of adventure, a little romance, a good but complex hero, nuanced but not complex themes, fun visuals.

Astronaut Peter Koskinen returns from Mars with a personal force field device, the "Shield," developed with Martians, protecting him from all known weapons. Earth is a chaotic, militarized society after nuclear war, and various factions—government, gangsters, anarchists chase Koskinen to seize the ultimate military weapon, forcing him to go on the run, leading to adventures and discussions of libertarian politics as he tries to keep the Shield out of the wrong hands.