A review by rachel_abby_reads
The Alliance by Gerald N. Lund
4.0
My first response when I read this book was that the author had clearly identified the problem in any utopian vision: people are able to choose what they wish to do, and they might well not conform to the utopian vision described.
This book is a post-apocalyptic view of America. The Alliance from the title is a political/social organization that has developed a computerized brain implant that controls actions by stimulating electrical shock in response to emotions and actions deemed socially unacceptable (it can also deliver a fatal shock when triggered by authorized government agents). This implant has produced a false utopia, with no crime or violence, but where free will is sharply controlled. So great is this society that it has a negative growth rate and can only increase by dragging people in by the hair.
The Alliance's military hijacks a village with a determined and intelligent young man who over throws the whole system (not by himself, of course, but he is the central figure of the revolution).
This book is a post-apocalyptic view of America. The Alliance from the title is a political/social organization that has developed a computerized brain implant that controls actions by stimulating electrical shock in response to emotions and actions deemed socially unacceptable (it can also deliver a fatal shock when triggered by authorized government agents). This implant has produced a false utopia, with no crime or violence, but where free will is sharply controlled. So great is this society that it has a negative growth rate and can only increase by dragging people in by the hair.
The Alliance's military hijacks a village with a determined and intelligent young man who over throws the whole system (not by himself, of course, but he is the central figure of the revolution).