Power Games: Politics in Speculative Fiction
A billionaire founds his own spacecraft development company when NASA stalls. Is it Elon Musk? No; his name is Laurence Poubelle, and he’s a character in Victor Koman’s novel Kings of the High Frontier.
A young ruler attempts to navigate the Machiavellian intrigues designed to sabotage their reign. Is it Queen Elizabeth the First’s cut-throat court? No; read Katherine Kurtz’s King Javan’s Year to find out more.
A religious group relies on communal ownership of property and cooperative agreements to run their community. Is it a kibbutz in Israel? No; it’s a group of Quakers who are founding a colony on another planet, in Molly Gloss’ novel The Dazzle of Day.
The “religious right” dominates the US government and elections are suspended as of 2016. A cautionary article from the Washington Post? No; a chilling 1940 novella by Robert Heinlein, “If this goes on …” from the collection “Revolt in 2100.”
These, and many other titles of speculative fiction, are featured in our current exhibit, “Power Games: Politics in Speculative Fiction,” on display in the Merril Collection reading room, on the 3rd floor of the Lillian H. Smith Branch. We explore structures of governance from the far right, totalitarianism, to the far left, anarchism.
2 thoughts on “Power Games: Politics in Speculative Fiction”
Interesting name for the spaceship billionaire in the first novel you mention. I don’t know of any other character with a name like that since the arsonist in Stephen King’s the Stand -who was called Trashcan. In French that’s Poubelle. It’s among my favourite French words.
Interesting name for the spaceship billionaire in the first novel you mention. I don’t know of any other character with a name like that since the arsonist in Stephen King’s the Stand -who was called Trashcan. In French that’s Poubelle. It’s among my favourite French words.