James Nicoll Reviews

I can now say one of my pieces became unpublishable via one of my usual venues due to a USSC decision. 

Democracy offers a thorough vetting of candidates, first by the party apparatus, then by the opposing party’s hostile opsec, the scrutiny of electoral officials, the diligent press, and finally the keen insight of the voting public. Were this not sufficient, state officials and courts are ever vigilant for official wrongdoing. It should be nigh-impossible for a head of government to be corrupt or if corrupt, to avoid punishment for any significant length of time. Indeed, as a noted philosopher once observed ​“when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal, by definition.”

Just as science fiction authors embrace impossible faster-than-light drives for the sake of plot, so too have a few embraced the clearly nonsensical prospect of a head of government who indulges in corruption or even more serious transgressions. American fiction of the 1970s and 1980s seemed particularly fascinated with the idea of presidents gone horribly wrong, a literary craze as inexplicable to modern minds as the popularity of pet rocks, mood rings, and the novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

The Texas-Israeli War: 1999 by Jake Saunders and Howard Waldrop (1974)

Despite the distractions of a global exchange that killed 90% of the human population, followed by a civil war between Texas, and the federal government, the United States still has a legitimately elected president. Unfortunately, he is unable to perform the duties of his office, as he is a prisoner in the state of Texas.

Sol Inglestein and Myra Kalan’s mercenaries are charged with recovering the president. It will be a daunting task. Texas has no intention of letting the president escape. Furthermore, the American vice president enjoys being de facto head of state and will do everything in his power to ensure that the president does not return.

The authors appear to have discovered a loophole in the infallibility of the democratic process by imagining that a vice president could be corrupt. The authors also managed to write the least Waldropian novel actually (co-)written by Howard Waldrop.

The Doonesbury Chronicles by G. B. Trudeau (1975)

Trudeau’s slice-of-life four-panel comic strip was initially focused on the lives of American undergraduates at Walden College. This tight focus soon broadened, allowing Trudeau to incorporate characters from all walks of life and from several countries (starting with the US).

Few Doonesbury characters were as memorable as President Richard M. Nixon.

Nixon remained steadfastly off-stage, appearing only as voice bubbles above television sets. Nevertheless, Trudeau painted a vivid picture of a president relentlessly stonewalling investigations, efforts as fascinating as they were doomed.

I understand that readers might find Trudeau’s Nixon implausible. The strip wasn’t tethered to mere verisimilitude. It also featured talking plants. But Trudeau understood that plausibility sometimes needs to take a back-seat to entertainment.

Those talking plants are also why I insist on seeing Doonesbury as science fiction. Or at least fantasy.

The Whenabouts of Burr by Michael Kurland (1975)

President Gosport is not so much corrupt as paranoid. He views his Republican enemies with enormous suspicion. Gosport views his supposed Democratic allies with even greater suspicion. No doubt both parties would leap on the faintest hint of scandal to bring him down! To protect himself from the appearance of imaginary impropriety, Gosport embraces actual impropriety.

When someone replaces the American Constitution with an almost identical duplicate, Gosport does not turn to the FBI, whom he distrusts even more intensely than he does his colleagues. Having quietly transformed the Bureau of Weights and Measures into his own checks and balances-free private investigation agency, Gosport entrusts Field Observer Nathan Hale (Nate) Swift with the task of recovering the Constitution before the theft becomes public knowledge.

There may be a lesson here: someone so determined to avoid blame for something not blameworthy that he conducts a coverup for which he can be blamed.

Consort by Jerry Pournelle (1975)

America loved messianic candidate Greg Tolland’s anticorruption policies. Tolland’s People’s Alliance was swept into power. Too bad that what Tolland objected to wasn’t corrupt practices, per se. It was that other people were feeding at the public trough. Now it was his turn at the trough

America’s misfortune is visionary industrialist Laurie Jo Hansen’s opportunity. Hansen’s bid to establish off-world colonies requires resources that only Tolland can provide. Hansen can prove that Tolland is corrupt. If Tolland wants to avoid embarrassing revelations, Tolland has no choice but to do what Hansen demands.

Consort is an unusual book. Not because there’s a president who lies to the public (as odd as that might seem) but because he never gets his comeuppance. Nor are there any consequences for Hansen, the blackmailer. This story probably could not have been made into a movie under the Hays Code.

Single Combat by Dean Ing (1983)

Having survived World War IV, Vice President Young was elevated to the office of president when his predecessor died. Confident that this indicated that he was favored by God, President Young set out to transform the newly streamlined America, little bothered by questions like ​“is any of this legal?”

Ted Quantrill and fellow members of Section T are ordered to help Young’s bold initiative by murdering his opponents. When Ted joined Section T, he didn’t think he was joining a death squad. Nor did many of his squad mates. The leaders of Section T foresaw that some members might have qualms and took measures. That’s why all Section T agents have a remotely-detonatable bomb implanted in their heads.

I note, as is my wont, that all of the above-mentioned works were written by men. I looked for and did not find any such books written by women. Yes, there are books about emperors, dictators, and oligarchs, but no books about democratic corruption. I must have overlooked some obvious examples. Feel free to remind me of the books I’ve neglected in comments on More Words, Deeper Hole.