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Bio of a Space Tyrant #4
Executive
To pursue his ultimate goals, the tyrant of Jupiter disguises himself as a rebel leader in this sci-fi saga from the New York Times–bestselling author. He was shaping his times as no one before him dared, mercilessly scourging an entire planet of crime and corruption wherever he found them—and destroying anyone who stood in his way. Absolute dictator of the United States of Jupiter, Hope Hubris was destined to become the most hated and feared man of an era, a tyrant charged with countless heinous acts and sexual cruelties. Yet justice remained his fiercest passion. Now, to insure his goals, Hope would assume an alternate identity and become a rebel—the brilliant leader in a revolution dedicated to his own overthrow. To fulfill his dreams, he would sacrifice love . . . and plunge headlong into madness . . . Executive.
394 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1985
82 people are currently reading
934 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
441 books4,215 followersThough he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
March 11, 2015
Hope Hubris becomes El Presidentae
5 May 2012
One of the reviews of this book suggested that Hope Hubris is like a Bill Clinton with a cabinet full of Monica Lewinsky's, however while when I read this book it wouldn't have occurred to me (and the Bill Clinton reference wouldn't have either) and when I think back to it from this point in time I would have to disagree and suggest that the character seems to be based more on Charlie Wilson, US Senator and the subject of the film 'Charlie Wilson's War'. The reason that I say this, other than the suggestion from the film that Wilson's staff was composed entirely of females, is that he would have been active around the time that this book was written, and while Hubris in this book was president, and Wilson wasn't, the idea that Hubris' entire cabinet was made up of women causes me to make this connection.
Now, while I really don't know anything about Wilson's sexual escapades, and I really do not want to speculate on what I do not know, I cannot say the same thing about Hubris in this novel. In fact the entire series seems to be a story about Hubris' sexual escapades with some science fiction and political commentary thrown in for good measure. In any case, in this book Hubris manages to become president, however from what I remember there was nothing hugely urgent in the set up of this world that would have triggered a shift to a dictatorship. One of the things that I have noticed in my historical studies is that when a country shifts from a democracy to a dictatorship there is usually a significant cause for this to happen. Germany, for instance, was in economic collapse; France was in chaos after the revolution, the Roman government had ceased to function; and Athens had found itself on the losing side of a thirty year war. In this story, written in the 80s during the Regan administration, does not have anything near as disastrous to cause such a political shift.
With Hubris' elevation to perpetual president we see him come in with all of these reforms to make Jupiter a much better place for people to live. For instance he socialises all of the main industries (which, in my position, I do not have a problem with, though it is very suggestive of communism where the means of production is controlled by the state) and he also legalises the use of drugs, though if people wish to use them they have to register with the government. It is interesting that Anthony talks about controlling the means of production, because this is a book that was written in the 80s during a time when the cold war was intensifying. I was under the impression that anything that reeked of communism would not have been appreciated, so I am surprised that in this book Anthony is taking a socialistic stance with his proposed reforms. Maybe it is because he set this series in the future that enabled him to get away with it, but since his allegory is so poor I am surprised that nobody would have picked it up back then.
Drug registration is an interesting thing, and I raised the idea with a number of my friends back when I read this book. In a way I liked the idea, not because you register yourself, but because it gives drug users access to drugs. However, a lot of drug users did not seem to like the idea of registration with the government. I suspect because of the idea that not only is drug use a personal matter, because it is also illegal (in most places) there is an reluctance to tell the government that you are a user and seeking permission from the government to use them is somewhat anathema. However, the concern comes down to whether it is possible to regulate drug use in that manner. The reason I say that is because the more drugs that you use, the more resistant you become to the drug. It is the law of diminishing returns in action. So, the question would be, how would the government effectively regulate the use of drugs, especially since if there is a specific quota for people to use, it still does not stop a black market economy in drug use. The reason is this: if Tom is an addict and needs more than others, then the quota is not going to effectively meet his appetite. However, Jack is not a user, but registers as one and buys up his quota, and with this quota he then sells it to Tom so that Tom can meet his habit. Then there is the concern that the government could arrest everybody on the registration list and put them through treatment.
I have said a lot regard sex in Anthony's book, and to be honest with you, it does not stop here. Some even suggest that it starts to get even more kinkier and dodgier. However, once again, we see the law of diminishing returns in play again. With sex it is pretty much the same as with drugs, and some even suggest that sex is in itself a drug. Now I do not have anything against sex, I like sex, as do a lot of people, but once again I believe that there must be a context in which it is used, otherwise it simply becomes like another drug: boring and dull and in need of being spiced up a bit. I guess this is why people, as they grow older, want to get kinkier and kinkier, and more brazen and experimental in their exploits. As for me, I'm just a one woman man, and to be honest with you, I am more than satisfied with that. It is not the idea of sex with a beautiful woman that drives me, but rather a relationship that peaks my interest. In the end, meaningless sex is little more than that, meaningless.
5 May 2012
One of the reviews of this book suggested that Hope Hubris is like a Bill Clinton with a cabinet full of Monica Lewinsky's, however while when I read this book it wouldn't have occurred to me (and the Bill Clinton reference wouldn't have either) and when I think back to it from this point in time I would have to disagree and suggest that the character seems to be based more on Charlie Wilson, US Senator and the subject of the film 'Charlie Wilson's War'. The reason that I say this, other than the suggestion from the film that Wilson's staff was composed entirely of females, is that he would have been active around the time that this book was written, and while Hubris in this book was president, and Wilson wasn't, the idea that Hubris' entire cabinet was made up of women causes me to make this connection.
Now, while I really don't know anything about Wilson's sexual escapades, and I really do not want to speculate on what I do not know, I cannot say the same thing about Hubris in this novel. In fact the entire series seems to be a story about Hubris' sexual escapades with some science fiction and political commentary thrown in for good measure. In any case, in this book Hubris manages to become president, however from what I remember there was nothing hugely urgent in the set up of this world that would have triggered a shift to a dictatorship. One of the things that I have noticed in my historical studies is that when a country shifts from a democracy to a dictatorship there is usually a significant cause for this to happen. Germany, for instance, was in economic collapse; France was in chaos after the revolution, the Roman government had ceased to function; and Athens had found itself on the losing side of a thirty year war. In this story, written in the 80s during the Regan administration, does not have anything near as disastrous to cause such a political shift.
With Hubris' elevation to perpetual president we see him come in with all of these reforms to make Jupiter a much better place for people to live. For instance he socialises all of the main industries (which, in my position, I do not have a problem with, though it is very suggestive of communism where the means of production is controlled by the state) and he also legalises the use of drugs, though if people wish to use them they have to register with the government. It is interesting that Anthony talks about controlling the means of production, because this is a book that was written in the 80s during a time when the cold war was intensifying. I was under the impression that anything that reeked of communism would not have been appreciated, so I am surprised that in this book Anthony is taking a socialistic stance with his proposed reforms. Maybe it is because he set this series in the future that enabled him to get away with it, but since his allegory is so poor I am surprised that nobody would have picked it up back then.
Drug registration is an interesting thing, and I raised the idea with a number of my friends back when I read this book. In a way I liked the idea, not because you register yourself, but because it gives drug users access to drugs. However, a lot of drug users did not seem to like the idea of registration with the government. I suspect because of the idea that not only is drug use a personal matter, because it is also illegal (in most places) there is an reluctance to tell the government that you are a user and seeking permission from the government to use them is somewhat anathema. However, the concern comes down to whether it is possible to regulate drug use in that manner. The reason I say that is because the more drugs that you use, the more resistant you become to the drug. It is the law of diminishing returns in action. So, the question would be, how would the government effectively regulate the use of drugs, especially since if there is a specific quota for people to use, it still does not stop a black market economy in drug use. The reason is this: if Tom is an addict and needs more than others, then the quota is not going to effectively meet his appetite. However, Jack is not a user, but registers as one and buys up his quota, and with this quota he then sells it to Tom so that Tom can meet his habit. Then there is the concern that the government could arrest everybody on the registration list and put them through treatment.
I have said a lot regard sex in Anthony's book, and to be honest with you, it does not stop here. Some even suggest that it starts to get even more kinkier and dodgier. However, once again, we see the law of diminishing returns in play again. With sex it is pretty much the same as with drugs, and some even suggest that sex is in itself a drug. Now I do not have anything against sex, I like sex, as do a lot of people, but once again I believe that there must be a context in which it is used, otherwise it simply becomes like another drug: boring and dull and in need of being spiced up a bit. I guess this is why people, as they grow older, want to get kinkier and kinkier, and more brazen and experimental in their exploits. As for me, I'm just a one woman man, and to be honest with you, I am more than satisfied with that. It is not the idea of sex with a beautiful woman that drives me, but rather a relationship that peaks my interest. In the end, meaningless sex is little more than that, meaningless.
September 26, 2017
It's not the sort of action I thought I'd be enjoying; the series seems to have flattened off a little here, but life is sometimes I suppose like that. Probably not a series I'll come to rereading again, but I'm glad I picked them up to finish them at last.
December 3, 2022
I'm interested enough to finish the book, number 4, and read book 5. it's easy reading.
August 8, 2016
I loved the first three books in this series, but this one tested me. There are certain aspects, spoken about in other reviews, that disturbed me greatly. And yet...I suppose I can't fault Mr. Anthony for pushing the boundaries. After all, the series begins with the graphic rape and murder of Hope's entire family and never really lets off in detail; why then wouldn't Piers Anthony continue to push us out of our comfort zones this late in the game? Yes, there's a romance between a fifty-something year old man and a fifteen year old girl, which is highly disturbing in its own right but yet seems to fall in step with everything else that happens in the series. It's meant to make you mad or uncomfortable or disgusted; that's what Mr. Anthony has been doing since the start of the series. Don't change your tunes now, folks, not at the end. If you made it through the other three books then you've seen your fair share of violence, fanfare, and uncomfortable situations, and if you haven't embraced it (or at least accepted that that's the way this series goes) then clearly these books aren't for you.
April 1, 2015
Book four in the series falls flat. (This review is of the 1985 Avon mass market paperback edition)
After 3 good books (I've only read #2, but other reviewers seem to think the others are just as good), the final book in the Bio of A Space Tyrant series goes completely off the deep end.
Hope, now in his 50's, develops an even stranger appetite for kinky sex which degenerates into an unhealthy affair with a minor.
And he becomes a dictator to boot (all in the best interest of Jupiter, of course). Just like every other tin-horn dictator that starts out to clean things up, he becomes a tyrant. And he has the same attitude: the peeepuuul just don't have enough sense to make their own decisions, while "those of us" in power are blessed with all the insight necessary.
Unlike every other dictatorship of its kind in "real life", the fictional version, although plagued by many problems that can't be dispelled with a wave of Hope's magic wand, eventually improves the lives of his subjects.
I'll give Anthony this, he realized that in the end, the people won't stand for it.
After 3 good books (I've only read #2, but other reviewers seem to think the others are just as good), the final book in the Bio of A Space Tyrant series goes completely off the deep end.
Hope, now in his 50's, develops an even stranger appetite for kinky sex which degenerates into an unhealthy affair with a minor.
And he becomes a dictator to boot (all in the best interest of Jupiter, of course). Just like every other tin-horn dictator that starts out to clean things up, he becomes a tyrant. And he has the same attitude: the peeepuuul just don't have enough sense to make their own decisions, while "those of us" in power are blessed with all the insight necessary.
Unlike every other dictatorship of its kind in "real life", the fictional version, although plagued by many problems that can't be dispelled with a wave of Hope's magic wand, eventually improves the lives of his subjects.
I'll give Anthony this, he realized that in the end, the people won't stand for it.
September 24, 2014
This was going swimmingly until the chap set out to justify a sexual relationship with a 15 year old 'idiot savant' on the grounds that 'She loves me'.
Nope. Just nope.
Nope. Just nope.
December 22, 2024
Couldn't finish this book. Disgusted.
October 22, 2024
I have read only a few books by Piers Anthony, and have disliked most of them. But this was a gift from a family member who knows I have an interest in cheesy old science fiction, so I felt obligated to actually read it.
Executive is volume 4 of a series known as Bio of a Space Tyrant – a 1980s series from Piers Anthony that, based on this volume, challenges the line between science fiction and male pornography. I have not read any of the other volumes in the series. The series follows the career of Hope Hubris as he moves from the status of refugee up the political ladder in a settled Solar System. At the opening of this volume, the Constitutional Convention to Balance the Budget has just declared him to be head of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government of United States of North Jupiter.
The setting is a nearly identical translation of 1980s Earth. Jupiter is America, North Jupiter is the United States, and Spanish-speaking South Jupiter is Latin America, The Red Spot is Mexico, Saturn is the Soviet Union, Ganymede is Cuba, etc., etc., etc. But democracy is a corrupt obstacle to progress, when you already know what needs to be done. By overthrowing the USNJ constitution, Hope and his sister Spirit can quickly make decisions and command them to be implemented. This allows Hope to serve as Anthony’s mouthpiece for numerous simplistic “solutions” to the political, economic, and social problems of the day. For example, overpopulation is solved by releasing infertility drugs into the water supply and illegal immigration is solved by economically forcing the South Jupiter countries to do the same. Crime is solved by making recreational drugs legal. Healthcare affordability is solved by giving everyone a lifetime expenditure cap, after which the elderly die off. In the end, there is a popular resistance, but not before all the policies of his benevolent dictatorship are on track for working.
The other theme here is a sexual landscape that is the bastard child of libertarianism and 1960s free love. Hope fills his inner circle of advisors with nubile women who share him sexually. His cabinet is filled with women who were his ex-wives and lovers, apparently from earlier volumes in the series, but who still have feelings for him. Many of them are the product of a Space Navy that requires regular and willing sexual activity between all men and women. (Not much mention of anything other than heterosexual sex). The most extreme situations are 1) he is approached for virtual sexual relationship, by an unknown inexperienced woman, who turns out to be , and 2) apparently a rape by Hope was justified in an earlier volume of the series, and the victim is one of those who now still love him. I don’t often give “trigger warnings,” but these two are both way over the line for me.
This novel, and probably the whole series, is too much yuck combined with juvenile politics for me.
Executive is volume 4 of a series known as Bio of a Space Tyrant – a 1980s series from Piers Anthony that, based on this volume, challenges the line between science fiction and male pornography. I have not read any of the other volumes in the series. The series follows the career of Hope Hubris as he moves from the status of refugee up the political ladder in a settled Solar System. At the opening of this volume, the Constitutional Convention to Balance the Budget has just declared him to be head of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government of United States of North Jupiter.
The setting is a nearly identical translation of 1980s Earth. Jupiter is America, North Jupiter is the United States, and Spanish-speaking South Jupiter is Latin America, The Red Spot is Mexico, Saturn is the Soviet Union, Ganymede is Cuba, etc., etc., etc. But democracy is a corrupt obstacle to progress, when you already know what needs to be done. By overthrowing the USNJ constitution, Hope and his sister Spirit can quickly make decisions and command them to be implemented. This allows Hope to serve as Anthony’s mouthpiece for numerous simplistic “solutions” to the political, economic, and social problems of the day. For example, overpopulation is solved by releasing infertility drugs into the water supply and illegal immigration is solved by economically forcing the South Jupiter countries to do the same. Crime is solved by making recreational drugs legal. Healthcare affordability is solved by giving everyone a lifetime expenditure cap, after which the elderly die off. In the end, there is a popular resistance, but not before all the policies of his benevolent dictatorship are on track for working.
The other theme here is a sexual landscape that is the bastard child of libertarianism and 1960s free love. Hope fills his inner circle of advisors with nubile women who share him sexually. His cabinet is filled with women who were his ex-wives and lovers, apparently from earlier volumes in the series, but who still have feelings for him. Many of them are the product of a Space Navy that requires regular and willing sexual activity between all men and women. (Not much mention of anything other than heterosexual sex). The most extreme situations are 1) he is approached for virtual sexual relationship, by an unknown inexperienced woman, who turns out to be , and 2) apparently a rape by Hope was justified in an earlier volume of the series, and the victim is one of those who now still love him. I don’t often give “trigger warnings,” but these two are both way over the line for me.
This novel, and probably the whole series, is too much yuck combined with juvenile politics for me.
June 10, 2022
I read a lot of Piers Anthony as a teenager but only the first in this series and I can't recall anything else of his being as disturbing as these. I know novels are fiction and can't always be seen as an extension of the author but these have got me a little concerned about Anthony. All of the books are heavy on sexuality and a lack of morality, especially as the main character has no problem engaging in intimate relations with, almost literally, every woman he meets. But this one broke the camel when the, now 52, 'protagonist' seduces a 15 year old autistic girl and rationalizes it because 'she seduced him first' through a virtual reality helmet. Oh but he restrains himself from doing anything with her physically until she 'asks for it' because, clearly, a 15 year old autistic girl who sees him as a heroic father figure knows exactly what she's asking for. (Sarcasm intended) Yikes. The morality of the whole series bothers me but the sequence mentioned above was nauseating. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with Piers Anthony?
Read
March 3, 2025DNF
I gave up at Chapter 6, when yet another adopted child of Our Protagonist started talking about "modes" -- which gave me really, really bad memories of Virtual Mode, the horrifically bad first book in Anthony's Fractal Mode series.
Before then, this was just basically soft porn, dull political arguments from the 1980s, and a thinly veiled sci-fi version of the Cuban Missle Crisis.
Our Protagonist, newly split from his wife, now bangs any female under the sun, which gets surprisingly monotonous. I thought I better quit before he banged his daughters.
Shame. The series had such promise.
I gave up at Chapter 6, when yet another adopted child of Our Protagonist started talking about "modes" -- which gave me really, really bad memories of Virtual Mode, the horrifically bad first book in Anthony's Fractal Mode series.
Before then, this was just basically soft porn, dull political arguments from the 1980s, and a thinly veiled sci-fi version of the Cuban Missle Crisis.
Our Protagonist, newly split from his wife, now bangs any female under the sun, which gets surprisingly monotonous. I thought I better quit before he banged his daughters.
Shame. The series had such promise.
Read
June 30, 2019The fourth volume in the series about Hope Hubris, and his amazing life throughout the solar system. Again, this work seems to mirror all too closely certain geopolitical situations confronting leaders on Earth in the late twentieth century. The parallels to the American form of creating a tripartite (legislative, judicial, executive) government through a constitutional convention provides much of basis for the plot in this work. Not remembered.
May 15, 2017
This book went a little off the deepend for me, but still a good base story.
May 22, 2017
Maybe this is not the best series - frankly, it could be quite disturbing, but I like story of Hope Hubris.
January 30, 2018
Predictable.
July 26, 2018
This was a great book. Still reading the series.
April 28, 2019
Already on to book five. Really good epic saga.
December 14, 2019
weaker than the previous three in the series... but still interesting. moving on to statesman.
September 7, 2022
An interesting play on sex and politics. Very Americain but a good yarn. A man's got to do what a man's got to do.
December 1, 2022
There were parts of this I didn't like, but overall I found it to be an engaging read.
October 6, 2024
One word = blueprint
October 3, 2012
Another fine chapter in the life of Hope Hubris. An education in what good could be achieved if the self serving lobbyists, corrupt political figures and greedy executives were taken out of the equation and the government really was for the people and able to do what was necessary for them. Unfortunately for Hubris, it is also the tale of how power can corrupt and how the people didn't always want to pay the price for what they wanted.
A lot of politics but done in a way that immediately relates to the modern US administration so is easy to follow. Again, there are some taboos discussed but they all fit in perfectly to project the personality and psychology of the Space Tyrant and his rise and fall from grace.
A lot of politics but done in a way that immediately relates to the modern US administration so is easy to follow. Again, there are some taboos discussed but they all fit in perfectly to project the personality and psychology of the Space Tyrant and his rise and fall from grace.
January 10, 2015
The fourth in the Bio of a Space Tyrant books and the hardest to like so far. Hope Hubris has become the Tyrant of Jupiter and seeks to reform the economy via a set of reforms that seem, from the perspective of the early 21st century, hopelessly naive. Also his affair with his fifteen year old ward goes way over the creepy line.
But it is what it is, and it's important to keep in mind that this series is more like a dark satire than a set of aspirations. If you've read the first three, and any proper science fiction fan should read this series, then you can't not read this one too. Now on to book 5.
But it is what it is, and it's important to keep in mind that this series is more like a dark satire than a set of aspirations. If you've read the first three, and any proper science fiction fan should read this series, then you can't not read this one too. Now on to book 5.
May 29, 2010
Hope, with the backing of the military, has become dictator/tyrant of Jupiter. With the unlimited power available to a dictator, he begins to set right all of America's, errm, I mean Jupiter's problems. He has sex with his entire cabinet (all women), except for his daughter, but not excluding his paraplegic secretary. After she is killed in an assassination attempt he descends into insanity.
I think this one is fascinating just to see what Piers Anthony thinks the solutions are to some of our nation's problems.
I give this one an XXX rating for the excessive and weird sex.
I think this one is fascinating just to see what Piers Anthony thinks the solutions are to some of our nation's problems.
I give this one an XXX rating for the excessive and weird sex.
Read
July 28, 2011The best of the 6-book series so far. Hope Hubris has taken control, er, um, overturned the government of Jupiter and become a tyrant. As the book progresses, he makes some interesting choices that lead him down a road to being a bit crazy. I love the Utopian outlook on a society that can be formed by a tyrant who doesn't have the trappings of red tape bureaucracy.
Hope comes under more and more danger, and there are some *interesting* twists at the end. A find read in this series.
Hope comes under more and more danger, and there are some *interesting* twists at the end. A find read in this series.
February 12, 2012
First the whine... Again the Kindle version of the book needs a formatting proof pass. Line breaks were there should not be, wrong smart quotes, missing quotes, etc. Not major counts of these, but enough to break the reading flow.
This book is not my favorite in the series. Not sure why, maybe because of the sexual content, maybe because there's less of the "success against all odds," maybe something else, I'm not really really sure, and while I liked the book, it just isn't my favorite...
This book is not my favorite in the series. Not sure why, maybe because of the sexual content, maybe because there's less of the "success against all odds," maybe something else, I'm not really really sure, and while I liked the book, it just isn't my favorite...
November 4, 2015
This was a major step back in the series for me. Until now it has been about the strength of Hope's character that pulls him through seemingly impossible situations. There was a little of that on this book, but far too much time was devoted to Amber. She added no value to the story whatsoever.
The two "surprises" were both fairly obvious to me ahead of time and only made me roll my eyes that no one saw them coming.
The two "surprises" were both fairly obvious to me ahead of time and only made me roll my eyes that no one saw them coming.
April 9, 2013
This book was a good continuation of the story line up until the last chapter or two. Then the story unraveled like the character supposedly did. Things seemed fragmented and jumped forward without a lot of explanation, I was sorely dissapointed in the ending as well. I can only hope the 5th installment will reedem itself.
September 9, 2015
Some nostalgia value, but not very good overall. The protagonist becomes dictator and puts into place some interesting but not very well thought out social programs, interleaved with many sex scenes and occasional assassination attempts. The later part of the book kind of falls apart as the protagonist seems to get bored of being dictator, leading to an anticlimactic ending.
December 27, 2016
BIO of a Space Tyrant series was one of the best, hard core sci-fi reads when I was in school, and has always remained one of my favorite stories. Loved the arc of the character from book one to book five...so amazing to develop a character so much over a series like this. It was really brave in retrospect, but so glad he did it this way. Was a brilliant, thoughtful, well-written series.
July 11, 2011
This was my least favorite of these so far---- lots and lots about his sex life as he slowly becomes a bad tyrant instead of a good one. AND I thought I was reaching the end of this series, only to learn there are actually two more books! Will press on...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews