Synopsis:
In this blistering science fiction epic, Sunday Times bestselling author Richard Swan presents a thrilling tale of survival and an eviscerating examination of totalitarianism.
WHO GIVES YOU LIFE?
PATER AETERNUS.
Katherine Fuller’s husband is dead. As an esteemed member of Pater Aeternus – governing party of the fascist, galaxy-spanning Decurion Empire – he has left behind an estate of immeasurable wealth. And Katherine is going to inherit it.
WHO GIVES YOU PURPOSE?
PATER AETERNUS.
Life under the Eternal Father is rigidly stratified, surveilled, and controlled – each new day to be endured, not lived. But with Katherine’s newfound fortune, she is presented with a rare and dangerous opportunity: purchase a virgin world, and create a better, fairer society.
WHO GIVES YOU JOY?
PATER AETERNUS.
But the Empire cannot allow its wayward daughter to succeed. And as Katherine works in secret, recruiting allies she’s not even sure she can trust, she will discover exactly how far Pater Aeternus is willing to go to stop her. Because Katherine is going to create something nobody has seen for many years.
A democracy.
1984 meets The Man in the High Castle in gripping sci-fi The Infinite State from Richard Swan, which begins at a flashpoint in the lives of a widowed party member, a disgraced investigator, and a hypersled pilot – entangled in a plot to escape the suffocating authority of a fascist state.
Review:
WOW. This is going to become a classic. A book that sheds an unflinching light on the current state of our world. I need everyone to read this.
A wealthy widow plots to escape a fascist, galaxy-spanning regime known as the Decurion Empire by creating a free society on an unsettled planet, defying the totalitarian Pater Aeternus. Think North Korea meets Donald Trump meets 1984.
This is heavy-handed. I usually prefer more nuance, but this one slaps you in the face; it dares you to look away at its clear comparisons.
It covers a lot of theory in an approachable manner. As someone who studied Government and Politics, Law, and dystopian Literature; this fed the nerd in me. However, I can understand people bouncing off the lecturer-like nature of this novel.
These matters were not even concealed from view. They were everywhere, for those who cared to look. But a lifetime of subtle manipulation, of logical-sounding explanations issued by impressive men with polished affects in imposing uniforms, of comfortable, conforming groupthink within her privileged and wealthy social circle, had formed some sort of mental shield in which all of these things could be safely ignored.
Think of all of the dystopian classics that are being banned condensed into this sci fi book with a modern voice, reflecting on current politics and societal climate without finger pointing directly.
An empire which prizes fertility, salaries pregnancy, and rewards large clutches of children – where motherhood has stratified into a strict hierarchy.
A galaxy where there exists an Alliance different empires and planets has pledged to which is easily defied and known as being toothless.
“The citizens of the Empire believe that there is some quality to it which makes it better than every other society in the galaxy.”
An Empire where its people are prevented and discouraged from thinking about anything that make them more receptive to anything but Pater Aeternus.
These characters are trapped by helplessness and self-loathing. Surrounded by sadists who happen to be their leaders and ‘tragic accidents’.
This is a wordy book. It is heavy and dark and disturbing. I already want to reread it.
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