The Status Civilization

This book is an odd one. I think it can only be read as social satire, and not subtle about it to my mind. The mandatory worship at the Church of Evil bit laid it on especially thick. The priests are not "father", but "uncle". They call you "nephew" rather than "son". Good exists in the world only because evil needs a contrast ...

This is a dark novel that begins with Will Barrent waking up on his way to a prison planet. His memories have been mostly wiped - he doesn't even know his name. They call him "402", his cell/room number, and tell him his name later when they tell him he has been exiled for murder. The first two-thirds of the novel is Will making his way through the society of this prison planet - he has been told that the show more place is run by the prisoners themselves and he should know that the average person lives only 3 years. He catches some breaks with very close calls, making me wonder how a person could manage even 3 weeks let alone 3 years. We get some glimpses of secondary characters but they weren't quite enough for me to flesh out the "normal" experiences of some of the other prisoners.

It is pretty clear that Will Barrent's path is not typical. Barrent doesn't accept his fate - he has a drive to escape and return to earth. He succeeds and the last third of the novel covers his escape and return to earth. The big reveal upon returning is pretty good; not something I would have guessed.

I haven't read Sheckley since I was a teenager probably. His "People Trap" really impressed me back then. This book dates to 1968. It was a satisfying read. The cover art of my book is by Jerome Podwill. It is quite interesting and what attracted me to this book. show less

The speaker held out his hands to quiet the murmur that ran through the auditorium. He said, "All of you are criminals. And all of you have one thing in common: an inability to obey the basic obligatory rules of human society. Those rules are necessary for civilization to function. By disobeying them, you have committed crimes against all mankind. Therefore mankind rejects you. You are grit in the machinery of civilization, and you have been sent to a world where your own sort is king. Here you can make your own rules, and die by them. Here is the freedom you lusted for; the uncontained and self-destroying freedom of a cancerous growth."

On arrival at the prison planet Omega, the memory-wiped prisoners,are told their names and crimes and show more left to make their way as best they can through the intricacies of the society that has developed among the prisoners who arrived before them. Will Barrent strikes it lucky on his first day on Omega when he survives his first encounter with one of Omega's violent holidays, but his non-conformist ways seem bound to get him into deep trouble sooner or later. I really liked how no-one would tell the newcomers anything they needed to know . . . if they were lucky they would find out before they made a fatal mistake.

To start with I found this book a fun read, but in the second half it became more interesting as it gives the reader a lot to think about. The rules and customs of Omega seemed illogical to the reader to start with, as well as to the new arrivals, but gradually the reasons for the warped nature of Omegan society and its relationship with what was happening back on Earth became clear. show less

More coherent than some of Sheckley's novels. The protagonist is memory-wiped prisoner accused of murder shipped with many others from Earth to the prison planet Omega. Coventry-style, Omega is run by criminals, with a stratified social system of privileges -- though this appears not to be the "status civilization" of the title. He quickly adapts and rises up in society, via a sequence of near-death battles every chapter or so. Eventually our hero connects with a rebel group hoping to send someone back to an Earth none of them can remember. The plot is pulp, put in place solely to let Sheckley use his short story strengths to present various inversions of social norms in the various segments of society he encounters.

Short, fast-paced, show more amusing. No classic but solid Sheckley. show less

Somehow in my early years of SF reading I missed all the Sheckley stories. Now that I am doing a personal survey of the Golden years of SF I'm glad I found him. This was a fun read and more. It has stuck with me since. He introduces interesting concepts worth more then a passing thought. What kind of world are we creating and do we have anyone to blame but ourselves? Better then an average three star book. I will read more Sheckley.

The novel starts off with the protagonist, Will Barrent, arriving on the planet of Omega in complete confusion. He is part of a group of prisoners, and his memories have been completely wiped out. He knows that he has committed a crime but doesn't know what he did. He has been given a life sentence on the prison planet of Omega. The planet is a place of complete chaos where crime and disorder rule. Barrent does what he can to survive, meanwhile non-conforming with the rules of the planet, which make those in charge want him dead. In the process of going through numerous trials where his life is in jeopardy, he becomes part of an underground society in Omega, whose ultimate goal is to get back to Earth.
This was a well-conceived and show more well-written novel. The author does a good job of getting into the head of Barrent, allowing the reader to feel the same confusion that his character must feel under those circumstances. The choices he makes are logical ones. Although he has been convicted of a crime, it is quickly apparent that he was not guilty of his crime. The society and the rules associated with it on Omega were fascinating. There are some comical aspects of the novel as well as good social commentary. The writing was solid and it was not overly long as most science fiction novels are. This was a good novel that I would recommend.
Carl Alves - author of Blood Street show less

A satire which examines notions of good and evil, of laws and their absence and the meaning of criminality. And it also looks at conformity and gets the chance to have a dig at the theme-park approach to leisure whilst it's at it.

Robert Sheckley was one of the best satirists in SF. This isn't my favourite work of his but the good bits are very good and its an effortless read, as much of his work is.

This book is about a massively distopian society where the knowledge of the rules is deliberately withheld. Knowledge is power, and the prison planet Omega is a mirror image of the Earth that condemns criminals to the hell that their crimes merit. Until you come to knowledge of the rules...especially the ones that rule both planets....