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Alongside Night
"A cautionary tale with a disturbing resemblance to past history and future possibilities" (Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate), "Alongside Night" portrays the last two weeks of the world's greatest superpower and ends on a triumphant note of hope.
334 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
February 26, 2012
Ideologues should not write novels, at least not without talking a few lessons in fluid language, development of characters, and the like. The basic story line behind this book isn't bad. A kind of action/adventure novel culminating in a revolution. But Schulman is less interested in developing the story, or creating sympathetic characters than in pushing his agorist party line. And before agorists who read this get all up in arms, yes, I know there is no agorist party. I know most agorists either individuals who quit the Libertarian Party to pursue a more truly anti-state path, or individuals who were never part of the party because they were anarchists, and so refused party politics from the start. But this doesn't prevent agorists in general and Schulman in particular from being ideologically partisan toward agorism.
The characters in this novel are completely wooden. They don't evoke sympathy even when put in what should be the most heart-rending situations. Their conversations are all ideology, no human feeling or real pleasure. I have yet to met an agorist face to face, but if they all talk like the characters in this book. I doubt I would want to. As to agorist "anarchy," as portrayed in this book: No thanks. Security checks that rival post-9-11 airport security to get into their agorist markets, military hierarchies fully intact for carrying out actions, forms of protective and other imprisonment. In fact, these anarchists seemed to have structures for carrying out all of the functions of the state. And since the state is network of relationships and activities of a specific sort, i.e., a set of functions, if you maintain those functions, regardless of what you choose to call it you still have a state.
The entire novel is agorist propaganda. But just in case you missed it, the publishers include several appendixes among which are at least three essays explaining the ideology.
If you like good literature, even if you are an agorist, avoid this book.
The characters in this novel are completely wooden. They don't evoke sympathy even when put in what should be the most heart-rending situations. Their conversations are all ideology, no human feeling or real pleasure. I have yet to met an agorist face to face, but if they all talk like the characters in this book. I doubt I would want to. As to agorist "anarchy," as portrayed in this book: No thanks. Security checks that rival post-9-11 airport security to get into their agorist markets, military hierarchies fully intact for carrying out actions, forms of protective and other imprisonment. In fact, these anarchists seemed to have structures for carrying out all of the functions of the state. And since the state is network of relationships and activities of a specific sort, i.e., a set of functions, if you maintain those functions, regardless of what you choose to call it you still have a state.
The entire novel is agorist propaganda. But just in case you missed it, the publishers include several appendixes among which are at least three essays explaining the ideology.
If you like good literature, even if you are an agorist, avoid this book.
February 20, 2009
Libertarian-based adventure novel following the adventures of a teenage boy who quickly comes to manhood in a dystopian future America. Of it, Milton Friedman, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, said "An absorbing novel -- science fiction, yet also a cautionary tale with a disturbing resemblance to past history and future possibilities." An edge-of-the-seat futurist adventure yarn, with just enough realism to it to raise the specter of threatening potentialities in our own future.
February 19, 2013
This book was recommended to me years ago when I left the Republican Party. I had other books in the hopper and never got around to it. The other day, I installed the Kindle app on my Galaxy S3 and downloaded the book and started reading. I was amazed. It seemed as though I was reading a newspaper article.
Granted, this IS a novel. I have read many reviews from other readers and they slam it because of ideology by the author; this is a novel folks. I believe they are missing the novel aspect of the book. I mean lets face it H.G. Wells never really invented a time machine. Did the characters have depth? Maybe not, but I enjoyed the book. Is this a great economic tome? No but it does describe a theory of what is possible.
*** SPOILER ***
The book revolves around a son who's father is an Economist that has been calling out the government out for years. Dr. Vreeland, fakes his own death in an attempt to escape the country with his family. Elliot, the son, is released early from school and only to find that it is a hoax. However, Elliot is sent on an errand and return to find his family gone and strangers in the house.
After narrowly escaping, with his own life, Elliot is determined to find his family of which he knows are being held by the "authorities". In the process he meets a revolutionary group that are willing to help him. He is lead to a hidden city (Galt's Gulch'ish) where he meets a girl that turns out to be the FBI director's daughter.
The book kept me engaged most of the time and I enjoyed the references to Rand, Hayek, Von Mises etc.
Granted, this IS a novel. I have read many reviews from other readers and they slam it because of ideology by the author; this is a novel folks. I believe they are missing the novel aspect of the book. I mean lets face it H.G. Wells never really invented a time machine. Did the characters have depth? Maybe not, but I enjoyed the book. Is this a great economic tome? No but it does describe a theory of what is possible.
*** SPOILER ***
The book revolves around a son who's father is an Economist that has been calling out the government out for years. Dr. Vreeland, fakes his own death in an attempt to escape the country with his family. Elliot, the son, is released early from school and only to find that it is a hoax. However, Elliot is sent on an errand and return to find his family gone and strangers in the house.
After narrowly escaping, with his own life, Elliot is determined to find his family of which he knows are being held by the "authorities". In the process he meets a revolutionary group that are willing to help him. He is lead to a hidden city (Galt's Gulch'ish) where he meets a girl that turns out to be the FBI director's daughter.
The book kept me engaged most of the time and I enjoyed the references to Rand, Hayek, Von Mises etc.
August 19, 2008
Maybe I'm not enough of an economist to get this book, but good god. As far as I'm concerned, you could lock all copies of this one in the same underwater vault where I'd like to hide everything ever penned by Ayn Rand. If there is one thing I hate more than whiny libertarian characters, it's underage, endlessly noble, upperclass libertarian characters who believe in anarchocapitalistic revolution.
Seriously. The story was no great shakes. The protagonist bumped along, the sex interest was ideal in every way (she can fight! she can fuck! she believes in the ideals of open markets and hates taxation!), a few people died to make the reader feel that the economic revolution was justified, and so on. Blah blah blah. I got mine, screw you.
final thought: Not worth reading, not worth any further blogging about.
(epicdystopia.blogspot.com)
Seriously. The story was no great shakes. The protagonist bumped along, the sex interest was ideal in every way (she can fight! she can fuck! she believes in the ideals of open markets and hates taxation!), a few people died to make the reader feel that the economic revolution was justified, and so on. Blah blah blah. I got mine, screw you.
final thought: Not worth reading, not worth any further blogging about.
(epicdystopia.blogspot.com)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2012
Excellent book! it will make an agorist out of you. Far from being a screed, though, it's also a first-class adventure thriller.
August 14, 2020
This is a mixed review because most versions of this book come with several essays tacked on after the book. The story itself is three stars. I heard this referred to as "the agorist's 'Atlas Shrugged'". I can easily see that even though it's length is about 1/4 that of 'Atlas Shrugged' (about four times the length of John Galt's monologue.) It is concise and offers a refreshingly different perspective but this is were the good parts end. The book came off as self-important proselytizing populated by caricatures instead of characters. The ending was so abrupt that it had the feel of "and then they woke up".
The saving grace is the essays included at the end. These help provide a great deal of context for the story line as well as general food for thought. I might have enjoyed the story more if these were at the beginning, but any book that needs that much background is in itself incomplete.
The saving grace is the essays included at the end. These help provide a great deal of context for the story line as well as general food for thought. I might have enjoyed the story more if these were at the beginning, but any book that needs that much background is in itself incomplete.
August 20, 2025
Libertarian wet dream. The best part was when the prostitute soiled her panties.
June 30, 2020
The story is passable for a dime-store novel, but the author keeps beating the reader over the head with their politics. Even as a libertarian myself I couldn't help but roll my eyes when some point of economics or agorist theory was awkwardly shoehorned into the dialogue (which was often). Apart from that, in the audible version, many of the characters were performed with rather poorly executed accents. I'm a bit sad to say, this is a 'not recommended'.
May 1, 2012
This review was of the kindle version. Don't bother with it, it's horribly formatted to the point of being unreadable, with font size changing, indents on every line in some passages, and has no table of contents.
The story? Man's family is kidnapped in a future world where inflation is high, currency is worthless, and gold is illegal. Theoretically this is a dystopia but darned if I know why: the book really doesn't go into much detail except for a couple of gang scenes. The main character seems comfortable enough.
Our salvation? The Agorists, people who greet each other with Laissez-faire! and guard their enclaves worse than the TSA scans people for flights. Oh, they are drug dealers and have a taste for the X-files, and love gold reserve banking. And Robert Heinlein, science fiction author of choice for the lunatic right fringe. You can also get a nice Bank AnarchoCard while you are considering working in a bordello to pay the rent in gold grams. Just be careful, they sell nuclear bombs.
I can get weird utopian scenarios. I suffered through Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston and Anthem. But when I reach 50% of the book and don't really care about the revolutionary side one bit, or at least get them in some way, I close the book and move on.
Extra wincing is due to afterwords, painfully earnest and completely paranoid. Honestly, if you like libertarian politics and science fiction, there are actual GOOD authors to get, like Neal Stephenson or Bruce Sterling. This book is painful to read, formatted for Kindle like crap, and not even up to Ayn Rand style potboiler standards.
The story? Man's family is kidnapped in a future world where inflation is high, currency is worthless, and gold is illegal. Theoretically this is a dystopia but darned if I know why: the book really doesn't go into much detail except for a couple of gang scenes. The main character seems comfortable enough.
Our salvation? The Agorists, people who greet each other with Laissez-faire! and guard their enclaves worse than the TSA scans people for flights. Oh, they are drug dealers and have a taste for the X-files, and love gold reserve banking. And Robert Heinlein, science fiction author of choice for the lunatic right fringe. You can also get a nice Bank AnarchoCard while you are considering working in a bordello to pay the rent in gold grams. Just be careful, they sell nuclear bombs.
I can get weird utopian scenarios. I suffered through Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston and Anthem. But when I reach 50% of the book and don't really care about the revolutionary side one bit, or at least get them in some way, I close the book and move on.
Extra wincing is due to afterwords, painfully earnest and completely paranoid. Honestly, if you like libertarian politics and science fiction, there are actual GOOD authors to get, like Neal Stephenson or Bruce Sterling. This book is painful to read, formatted for Kindle like crap, and not even up to Ayn Rand style potboiler standards.
February 16, 2014
As a novel this would class as 'barely adequate'. The plot is dry and not well realised, the characters are rather wooden and the dialogue seems unrealistic and stilted. If you are looking for quality literature; this isn't it.
On the other hand it is a good essay on how societal collapse without mass violence might look and what alternatives an Agorist model might provide. I was reading it for the latter and got it.
As long as you go into reading Alongside Night with this. realistic, expectation then you shouldn't be too disappointed. If you want a quality novel that also serves as a grounding in anarchist theory (albeit of a different flavour) then read The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin.
On the other hand it is a good essay on how societal collapse without mass violence might look and what alternatives an Agorist model might provide. I was reading it for the latter and got it.
As long as you go into reading Alongside Night with this. realistic, expectation then you shouldn't be too disappointed. If you want a quality novel that also serves as a grounding in anarchist theory (albeit of a different flavour) then read The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin.
December 26, 2011
I loved this book. While it was written in the 1970's, it could have easily been written yesterday. It's almost like Schulman is a prophet looking through the veil of time to see our current financial and political environment.
This book combines action, politics, economics, and other topics into one of the most exciting rides you will ever have. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's into dystopian fiction!
This book combines action, politics, economics, and other topics into one of the most exciting rides you will ever have. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's into dystopian fiction!
June 16, 2018
Pretty sloppy writing style.
August 17, 2018
So terrible it's funny.
June 18, 2020
This novel takes place twenty years in the future (the edition I read was published in 1979 and set in the year 2001). The setting is the United States, which is in the midst of an economic apocalypse. Since the government printed a glut of paper-money, inflation runs rampant: a cup of coffee costs $500, a short cab-ride goes for $2,000, a night in a motel fetches over $10,000. The value of the (fiat) US dollar to the (gold-based) Eurofranc is dropping like a rock. The price of gold is skyrocketing.
In a futile attempt to dampen the inflation, the government has imposed iron-fisted wage-and-price controls. This only leads to a shortage of basic goods; if anyone wants to buy anything, they have to resort to trade in the illegal black market (which the Libertarians call the "counter-economy").
And soon, the government is resorting to more and more dictatorial measures to impose its will and "restore order."
Against this backdrop, the (libertarian) Aurora Cadre strives to overthrow the US government, and replace it with a system which safeguards true social and economic freedom.
The result is a book which the Sci-Fi Review called "the best Libertarian novel since Atlas Shrugged." Author Anthony Burgess praised the pace of the book--revealing that he read the book cover-to-cover in one 8-hour sitting.
My own experience with the book wasn't quite as exciting as Burgess's, but the book nonetheless held my interest. It was an interesting airing of Libertarian economic principles (a la Milton Friedman).
My edition of the book closes with an economic speech by the author, J. Neil Schulman, entitled "Are We Alongside Night?", published in New Libertarian in 1980.
In the speech, Schulman describes his book this way:
My intent with Alongside Night was to show, by dramatic example, the major preconditions for the achievement of a free society
My theme: freedom works
My context: the political-economic mess that the theories of Austrian economics say must end in collapse...the sort of economic collapse that historically has led to a Man on Horseback taking over Napoleon after the 1790s hyperinflation in France; Hitler after the crack-up in 1923 Weimar Germany.
My plot: the events leading up to and culminating in the collapse of the American economy, and the arising of the underground economy given conscious identity by libertarian revolutionaries.
Mr. Schulman indeed succeeds at the foregoing aims. I enjoyed--and was informed by--this book.
It's also worth noting that, in Schulman's speech, he praises the books On the Brink by Ben Stein and The Crash of '79 by Paul Erdman. I think it would be interesting to compare and contrast Schulman's book with Stein's and Erdman's.
In a futile attempt to dampen the inflation, the government has imposed iron-fisted wage-and-price controls. This only leads to a shortage of basic goods; if anyone wants to buy anything, they have to resort to trade in the illegal black market (which the Libertarians call the "counter-economy").
And soon, the government is resorting to more and more dictatorial measures to impose its will and "restore order."
Against this backdrop, the (libertarian) Aurora Cadre strives to overthrow the US government, and replace it with a system which safeguards true social and economic freedom.
The result is a book which the Sci-Fi Review called "the best Libertarian novel since Atlas Shrugged." Author Anthony Burgess praised the pace of the book--revealing that he read the book cover-to-cover in one 8-hour sitting.
My own experience with the book wasn't quite as exciting as Burgess's, but the book nonetheless held my interest. It was an interesting airing of Libertarian economic principles (a la Milton Friedman).
My edition of the book closes with an economic speech by the author, J. Neil Schulman, entitled "Are We Alongside Night?", published in New Libertarian in 1980.
In the speech, Schulman describes his book this way:
My intent with Alongside Night was to show, by dramatic example, the major preconditions for the achievement of a free society
My theme: freedom works
My context: the political-economic mess that the theories of Austrian economics say must end in collapse...the sort of economic collapse that historically has led to a Man on Horseback taking over Napoleon after the 1790s hyperinflation in France; Hitler after the crack-up in 1923 Weimar Germany.
My plot: the events leading up to and culminating in the collapse of the American economy, and the arising of the underground economy given conscious identity by libertarian revolutionaries.
Mr. Schulman indeed succeeds at the foregoing aims. I enjoyed--and was informed by--this book.
It's also worth noting that, in Schulman's speech, he praises the books On the Brink by Ben Stein and The Crash of '79 by Paul Erdman. I think it would be interesting to compare and contrast Schulman's book with Stein's and Erdman's.
May 31, 2021
Inflation is soaring, driven by nonstop printing presses. The police are threatening to strike en masse. DC is actively failing. A young man is on the run, his family imprisoned for his father's economic condemnation of state policies, and discovers an alternative society, run on gold currency and voluntary exchange rather than coercion and violence. As an engorged Jabba the State chokes to death from its own excesses, the 'revolutionary agorist cadre' demonstrates what the future of the American people can be. A thriller doubling as an ideological argument (think Jack London's socialist Iron Heel, Larken Rose's Iron Web, or Rand's Atlas Shrugged, but smaller), it's great fun for those who are already mostly on-board. I would have been interested in my reaction had I read this as a 'left'-libertarian, some twelve years ago. Adding to the interest of this particular edition is the inclusion of numerous essays on agorism by Shulman, Conkin, and others.
March 22, 2020
Nothing much to be said about Alongside Night by J. Neil Schulman.
It is a story from the perspective of a young boy named Elliot Vreeland during an economic collapse in the United States. His father is an economist, and the government agents want to apprehend him. When Elliot comes home from school after learning his father died (which was just a ruse), he was told to get some coins because his family is going to be on the run.
However, when he came back, his family disappeared. Basically, just leaving Elliot alone to fend for himself when the agents arrived at his home. He managed to escape and joined an organization that wants to fight the government agents. That’s just it. The battle happened but it didn’t even avert the economic crisis.
It is a story from the perspective of a young boy named Elliot Vreeland during an economic collapse in the United States. His father is an economist, and the government agents want to apprehend him. When Elliot comes home from school after learning his father died (which was just a ruse), he was told to get some coins because his family is going to be on the run.
However, when he came back, his family disappeared. Basically, just leaving Elliot alone to fend for himself when the agents arrived at his home. He managed to escape and joined an organization that wants to fight the government agents. That’s just it. The battle happened but it didn’t even avert the economic crisis.
October 27, 2021
Granted that I am not an agorist myself, the dystopian society Alongside Night presented frighteningly resembles the direction the society is going now. I have no doubt the way going forward is to create a parallel economy and engage in counter-economics, but it felt very rushed in the end without going into details on how the agorist society came about.
Alongside Night is the ultimate agorist fiction, but I really wished Schulman could focus on the writing a little bit more than just preaching.
Alongside Night is the ultimate agorist fiction, but I really wished Schulman could focus on the writing a little bit more than just preaching.
September 13, 2018
This is a bit of science-fiction that describes an agorian revolution (not brought on by an armed uprising, but by the economic collapse of the United States due to fiat monetary policy). Is it realistic? Personally, I don't think that agorist and ancap concepts are really viable for mankind, but this is one of the best written stories about how one might happen and work that I have read. Recommended.
April 11, 2025
This book is super fast and easy to read while at the same time exploring thought provoking concepts about economics and freedom. It has a good deal of action and intrigue without being over the top. Probably the only book I’ve read that explores what the world would be like if true capitalism controlled all things government controls and paints this in a positive light. It was outside my normal reading wheelhouse yet I enjoyed it immensely.
December 3, 2021
A very thought provoking book. Highlighted the importance of how you store value and the implications of inflation.
The story lost my interest at times but I found the premise of a US monetary collapse a very interesting possibility to think about. As inflation now reaches the highest level in my lifetime it feels very relevant today.
The story lost my interest at times but I found the premise of a US monetary collapse a very interesting possibility to think about. As inflation now reaches the highest level in my lifetime it feels very relevant today.
February 20, 2022
Decided to read it due to its libertarian views and content. Initially truly enjoyed the story line and did believe that the story would become more vivid and encapsulating. However, the story and protagonists turned out to be a bit shallow with an abrupt ending of the book. I do believe that each chapter could have been developed further outlining agorism in more detail.
July 14, 2018
***3.25 stars***
A lesson in economics? Interesting but not quite my cup of tea. The story itself was good though there were generic pitfalls in the plot.
A lesson in economics? Interesting but not quite my cup of tea. The story itself was good though there were generic pitfalls in the plot.
June 12, 2020
A simple, short story about voluntarism in the U.S. amid the financial collapse of the US Dollar.
October 2, 2021
An interesting read on libertarian economics. Story was sort of lacking.
May 9, 2023
The 70s, man.
May 23, 2009
Although it has been portrayed as dystopian, "Alongside Night" does not imagine the future as bleak and hopeless, as "1984" and "A Brave New World" have done. Strong, yet inexperienced protagonist Elliot Vreeland, and his calculating but principled lover Lorimer, find themselves teamed up with the Revolutionary Agorist Cadre while the United States government is in it's death throes.
During this tumultuous time, Elliot's main concern is for his family, who have been abducted by agents of the government. Lor's main objective is to 'stick it to the man,' at which she is not always successful. Together Elliot and Lorimer navigate the confusing landscape of a New York City beset by transit strikes, communication black-outs, rationing, and lest we forget, THE F'ing MAN who has been ordered to apprehend them both. In so doing, these teenage lovers form a bond which is worthy of a sequel.
"Alongside Night" is a wonderful ride, but not without it's bumps. When Elliot is forced underground, he was finding ways of escaping his memories and feelings about his family. I think it would have been better for Elliot, and for me, if he had taken the opportunity to explore his memories and the feelings they provoked in him. This would lend more depth and meaning to his quest.
After reading this book, I can see why such luminaries as Thomas Szasz and Ron Paul have praised it so highly. "Alongside Night's" clear and positive message of a better society through market activity, as opposed to the coercive force of government, shows the as yet unreached potential of voluntary human interactivity for what it is... limitless.
During this tumultuous time, Elliot's main concern is for his family, who have been abducted by agents of the government. Lor's main objective is to 'stick it to the man,' at which she is not always successful. Together Elliot and Lorimer navigate the confusing landscape of a New York City beset by transit strikes, communication black-outs, rationing, and lest we forget, THE F'ing MAN who has been ordered to apprehend them both. In so doing, these teenage lovers form a bond which is worthy of a sequel.
"Alongside Night" is a wonderful ride, but not without it's bumps. When Elliot is forced underground, he was finding ways of escaping his memories and feelings about his family. I think it would have been better for Elliot, and for me, if he had taken the opportunity to explore his memories and the feelings they provoked in him. This would lend more depth and meaning to his quest.
After reading this book, I can see why such luminaries as Thomas Szasz and Ron Paul have praised it so highly. "Alongside Night's" clear and positive message of a better society through market activity, as opposed to the coercive force of government, shows the as yet unreached potential of voluntary human interactivity for what it is... limitless.
August 21, 2011
I've been putting off this review, because I couldn't quite think of how to describe my feelings about it. I'm totally down with the content and the message. I thought the revolutionaries and his vision of how they might operate were interesting.
I just couldn't shake the feeling while going through the book that it was a contrived parable dressed up as a novel. If I had the impression it was intended to appear contrived, it would have bothered me less, but I didn't get that feeling from it at all.
It was like he kept trying to remind me this was the real America (Mises on the shelf!), and really inflation like this really happened ($500 coffee! $10,000 hotel room!), and that these were real Agorists, and really, NoState Insurance and TANSTAAFL Cafe would totally be real places. The problem is he didn't convince me of any of that.
I also never got the impression that Elliot was all that concerned with his circumstances either. I mean sure, you gotta eat and sometimes you'll be waiting around, but given his situation I'd at least expect some anxiousness. Schulman never really convinced me of that. I never even felt like he was really trying to.
I don't know. I don't regret reading it or anything, but there has to be better liberty-oriented fiction out there. I've heard good things about The Moon is a Harsh Mistress...
I just couldn't shake the feeling while going through the book that it was a contrived parable dressed up as a novel. If I had the impression it was intended to appear contrived, it would have bothered me less, but I didn't get that feeling from it at all.
It was like he kept trying to remind me this was the real America (Mises on the shelf!), and really inflation like this really happened ($500 coffee! $10,000 hotel room!), and that these were real Agorists, and really, NoState Insurance and TANSTAAFL Cafe would totally be real places. The problem is he didn't convince me of any of that.
I also never got the impression that Elliot was all that concerned with his circumstances either. I mean sure, you gotta eat and sometimes you'll be waiting around, but given his situation I'd at least expect some anxiousness. Schulman never really convinced me of that. I never even felt like he was really trying to.
I don't know. I don't regret reading it or anything, but there has to be better liberty-oriented fiction out there. I've heard good things about The Moon is a Harsh Mistress...
March 26, 2014
Neil Schulman, in this novel, helped lay out the Agorist philosophy, which is a peaceful, non-political strategy of using underground voluntary cooperation and exchange (real freed markets) to work towards a stateless society.
I had fun reading Alongside Night. I am inspired by his overall vision of an underground Agora. If a counter-economy becomes that advanced before the inherent unsustainability of our current world economic system truly starts to manifest its destructive fruits, it would be a huge boon to the human race. Although it is impossible to predict the way such an economy would develop, this novel shows one possible form it could take.
I also like the overall story, from a bird's-eye view. However, I get the feeling that Schulman is not a natural novelist. Many plot advances seemed forced, or too coincidental, and I never developed any sort of connection with any of the characters.
Despite its shortcomings, I enjoyed it, which I suspect is mostly due to my sympathy with the author's vision. Additionally, since I can't imagine this winning anyone over to the cause of a completely voluntary society, I would only recommend it to others who are already inspired by such a vision.
I had fun reading Alongside Night. I am inspired by his overall vision of an underground Agora. If a counter-economy becomes that advanced before the inherent unsustainability of our current world economic system truly starts to manifest its destructive fruits, it would be a huge boon to the human race. Although it is impossible to predict the way such an economy would develop, this novel shows one possible form it could take.
I also like the overall story, from a bird's-eye view. However, I get the feeling that Schulman is not a natural novelist. Many plot advances seemed forced, or too coincidental, and I never developed any sort of connection with any of the characters.
Despite its shortcomings, I enjoyed it, which I suspect is mostly due to my sympathy with the author's vision. Additionally, since I can't imagine this winning anyone over to the cause of a completely voluntary society, I would only recommend it to others who are already inspired by such a vision.
April 24, 2025
(17 May, 2020)
Good story, good pacing and not the happiest of endings... not bad at all. It gets a bit strange when Schulman advances political ideas that could not, would not, work in real life.
I am not the biggest fan of most government-controlled things but libertarians are crazy if they think their ideals can be feasible within the framework of human society, supported by human intelligence, or, at the very least, by the present limits of said intelligence.
Right now, we have idiots who drive drunk, putting themselves, and everybody else on the road, at risk of serious injury or death; stupid-ass morons who take hard drugs even when they know they can be addictive; dumb cancer-loving fucks who smoke, enduring days, maybe weeks, of coughing, retching and gagging because the want to look cool in front of their so-called friends; gun-toting troglodytes who think more guns equals better odds of survival... wow!
All this with rules! Forget the political ideas and just enjoy the story.
Good story, good pacing and not the happiest of endings... not bad at all. It gets a bit strange when Schulman advances political ideas that could not, would not, work in real life.
I am not the biggest fan of most government-controlled things but libertarians are crazy if they think their ideals can be feasible within the framework of human society, supported by human intelligence, or, at the very least, by the present limits of said intelligence.
Right now, we have idiots who drive drunk, putting themselves, and everybody else on the road, at risk of serious injury or death; stupid-ass morons who take hard drugs even when they know they can be addictive; dumb cancer-loving fucks who smoke, enduring days, maybe weeks, of coughing, retching and gagging because the want to look cool in front of their so-called friends; gun-toting troglodytes who think more guns equals better odds of survival... wow!
All this with rules! Forget the political ideas and just enjoy the story.
March 8, 2025
Politics aside (or included) this novel is bad. It deserves to clobbered, but it’s not worth the time. To summarise, the writing is clunky (and even unconsciously racist), and the characters are boring econ-maxing ideologues. The main character is constantly talking about better books in the genre that I’d rather be reading. It’s a tragedy that libertarians are so dismissive of art. It means their fiction is going to suck as well. They desperately need a second lens to view the world. Milton Friedman gave this book a positive review. But it is kind of cute that he’s reading fan-fiction about him and his son taking down a statist dystopia. I’m almost certain his son, David, bought it for his dad.
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