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Reader Reviews | |
Review by Annett Grosser-Rogoff (300413) Rating (7/10) Review
by Annett Grosser-Rogoff The story describes a world of enormously potent associations and unions where people are kept under control with the help of telepaths. Murder does not exist anymore as these so called 'Espers' can see the intention before the crime has happened. In seventy years no-one who tried has successfully evaded capture. Despite this level of control; Ben Reich, the CEO of Monarch - one of the leading business corporations - decides to kill his biggest business rival to increase his own influence, take over his company to prevent being swallowed up and figures that if he can convince an Esper to help cover up his thoughts, he can avoid getting caught if he's dauntless enough. However, it seems implausible that no-one has tried this in the last seventy years, but maybe the Esper Guild penalties for assisting lawbreakers are such a big put-off. Reich’s adversary is police-chief Lincoln Powell - one of the more powerful Espers. This results in an incredibly speedy story that maintains to stay surprising and intoxicating. Bester superbly manages to blend together the Sci-Fi with the crime/thriller genre without losing the grip on fans of either group. Up to this point the story flows very well, but it takes a turn for the worse, when Reich is revealed to be not just a killer, but also a rare type of person who can change society. The vagueness of this is not explained well and leaves a bitter after-taste. The whole concept is interesting because it’s hugely based on the view of ego and superego by Freud that was quite widespread at the time the story was written. Altogether
this is a very influential book that kept its relevance over the
years and is certainly worth reading more than once. |
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