SciFiMike
  • Home
  • SF Radio
  • Book Reviews
  • SF Links
  • Contact

SciFiMike Quick Review: Anthem

28/2/2016

0 Comments

 
anthem cover

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand introduces her philosophy of Objectivism, with its central idea of the supremacy of the individual over the collective, in this short novella.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

In a future Dark Ages, we meet Equality 7-2521, a humble street sweeper, who has forbidden thoughts relating to himself and his ambition to become a scholar. Such thoughts are blasphemy in a society where a man has no independence and must submit to the great “We”.

Our protagonist discovers artefacts from the “Unmentionable Times”, before the Dark Ages, and proceeds to rediscover electricity. His discovery is not welcomed, however, and he flees from the city along with his lover (individual love is also forbidden).

The couple stumble upon a house from the Unmentionable Times stocked with books, from which Equality 7-2521 learns the forbidden word, “I”. He vows to teach individualism to mankind in order to usher in a better future.

There were no surprises in this story for anyone familiar with the author’s philosophy, but I found it an enjoyable page-turner none the less. Worth reading just for the quasi-biblical prose style and the effort the author must have put in trying not to use the word “I” throughout the story.


                                                   SciFiMike Rating ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

        Books Reviewed

    A Quantum Murder by Peter F. Hamilton.

    Adventures In Time And Space edited by Raymond J. Healy and J. Francis McComas.

    American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

    Anthem by Ayn Rand.

    Baby Is Three — The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume 6 by Theodore Sturgeon.

    Beowulf translated by J. R. R. Tolkien.

    Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.

    Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks.

    Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.

    Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

    Eon by Greg Bear.

    Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes.

    Flux by Stephen Baxter.

    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

    Futuristic Violence And Fancy Suits by David Wong.

    Gateways To Forever by Mike Ashley.

    Golden Son by Pierce Brown.

    Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.

    In Search of Wonder by Damon Knight.

    John Dies At The End by David Wong.

    Killdozer! — The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume 3 by Theodore Sturgeon.

    Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson.

    Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny.

    Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald.

    Microcosmic God — The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume 2 by Theodore Sturgeon.

    Mindstar Rising by Peter F. Hamilton.

    Morning Star by Pierce Brown.

    Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

    Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold.

    Perdido Street Station by China Miéville.

    Raft by Stephen Baxter.

    Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.

    Red Rising by Pierce Brown.

    Ring by Stephen Baxter.

    Sea-Horse In The Sky by Edmund Cooper.

    The Abyss Beyond Dreams by Peter F. Hamilton.

    The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories by Angela Carter.

    The Compleat Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt.

    The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold.

    The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem.

    The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton.

    The Eighty Minute Hour by Brian Aldiss.

    The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton.

    The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe.

    The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North.

    The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem.

    The Game Is Altered by Mez Packer.

    The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey.

    The Godmakers by Frank Herbert.

    The God Stalker Chronicles by P. C. Hodgell.

    The Gunslinger by Stephen King.

    The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman.

    The Last Man by Mary Shelley.

    The Last Starship From Earth by John Boyd.

    The Martian by Andy Weir.

    The Menace From Earth by Robert A. Heinlein.

    The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe.

    The Perfect Host — The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume 5 by Theodore Sturgeon.

    The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks.

    The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith.

    The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

    The Science Fiction Hall of Fame edited by Robert Silverberg.

    The Syndic by C. M. Kornbluth.

    The Temporal Void by Peter F. Hamilton.

    The Time Machines by Mike Ashley.

    The Ultimate Egoist — The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume 1 by Theodore Sturgeon.

    The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley.

    The Way The Future Was by Frederik Pohl.

    Thunder And Roses — The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume 4 by Theodore Sturgeon.

    Timelike Infinity by Stephen Baxter.

    Transformations by Mike Ashley.

    Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin.

    Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks.

    Whipping Star by Frank Herbert.

    Wool by Hugh Howey.
    Free counters!
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.