Review: A Bright Shore

A Bright Shore by S.M. Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a 4-star review.

I'm only reviewing the first book as the rest of the series (total 4 books as of this moment) but the rest are just fantastic. They continue the story that begins here.

Scientists have discovered the existence of alternate Earths via something akin to string theory. They can only access adjacent "Earths" on the string. But from each successive "Earth" they think they can access ever further iterations of Earth.

The one they can access immediately is like our Earth except humanity never evolved on the new Earth. Some of the animals are a little different. Geographically there are some modest differences as well.

Coincidentally, the governments of our Earth are driving civilization into the ground. Rather than acknowledging reality, they pursue an ever-spiraling round of regulation and taxes to create opportunities to give away "free" stuff.

The authorial motivation to retell Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" renders the narrative paper-thin - excuse the pun. This is one of two weaknesses of the book. You can read the lines of "Atlas Shrugged" through the pages of "A Bright Shore".

People that value liberty gather like-minded people to their cause. They intend a mass exodus to the new Earth that will leave those that support ever-expanding government behind. Naturally, a few ne'er-do-wells make it through. More on that later.

The settlers expand out across North America. They eventually come in contact with an armed force from the next "Earth" along the string. These humans are not quite as technologically advanced, but they are ruthless in battle. Their means of traveling to this new Earth is more based on understanding where the versions of Earth almost touch so they can (more or less) just walk from one to the other.

They want this New Earth as much as our band of intrepid settlers. War ensues. Elements of the warrior band eventually learn a bit about what makes our settler tick; philosophically speaking. They flip to our side based on our promise of freedom. It seems that the political structure of the warrior band is inherently violent and authoritarian.

At the end of the book, our settlers and their new allies win the day.

Back at the new seat of government, one of those ne'er-do-wells has acquired control of the government and is using it to re-insert some of the collectivist ideas that ruined the Old Earth. The settlers, now an expanded group of military veterans, remove the government's access to the more valuable resources that allow it to control people and issue a threat to the ne'er-do-well that they do not enjoy the "consent of the governed" to introduce a large level of government control.

Yet, apparently, the ne'er-do-well did have "consent of the governed". They acquired it via deceptive politics and other acts of demagoguery, but they did get people to support them.

The idea that the endorsement of the military is needed to confirm the "consent of the governed" is the first step down a perilous road.

That step down that road and the tissue-thin cover over the ideas expressed in "Atlas Shrugged" are the only weak points in this book. Neither is an issue in the later books.

The other books will all get 5-stars from me without any additional review. Go read the entire series. It is well worth your money and your time.

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