Lanague Chronicles

The LaNague Federation #1-3

by F. Paul Wilson

The Federation that toppled the repressive Imperium is threatened from within by a cadre of fanatics who are afraid of independence and diversity, and who plan to restore dictatorial rule to the planets of Occupied Space

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

672 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

About the author

Francis Paul Wilson is an author, born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies. In 1981 he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller, The Keep, and helped define the field throughout the rest of the decade. In the 1990s he became a true genre hopper, moving from science fiction to horror to medical thrillers and branching into interactive scripting for Disney Interactive and other multimedia companies. He, along with Matthew J. Costello, created and scripted FTL Newsfeed which ran daily on the Sci-Fi Channel from 1992-1996.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...

Reviews

[Skimpythong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odd but awesome libertarian fantasy.. Why can't all fantasy be like this? Why is it not a movie series? Hollywood seems to have no ideas and is making bad versions of prevoous awesome 80s hits. Sometimes reminds me of a good version of heinleins moon is a harsh mistress the bit I read of Heinleins book anyhow which I found unreadable as soon as there was a hot girl the guys were mooning over. I wish he has written more about the dog aliens. I wonder if he wrote other spinoffs.... Origin of the flinters and other stuff be awesome.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an omnibus edition composed of three separately published novels. I don't think you have to be a libertarian to like this book, but it helps. F. Paul Wilson is best known for his horror fiction, particularly his bestselling vampires-among-the-Nazis, The Keep. I rather enjoyed that pot-boiler, but I like his LaNague novels much more--but then I am a libertarian, and this is definitely libertarian science fiction. LaNague is at the center of An Enemy of the State, where he takes on the mantle of Robin Hood, but he only gets mentions in The Healer, which was the first novel published and Wheels Within Wheels, the novella placed in the middle of the central Healer novel here. Or maybe series of short stories? Because Healer reads like several interconnected short stories about the title character rather than a novel. Steve Dalt flees into a cave on a planet in "Occupied Space" and a bat-like creature lands on his head. Legend says 999 of a thousand will die when that happens--but Steve lives--with a traveler inside his mind that lends him immortality and special powers. The Wiki claims that Wilson's two influences are John W. Campbell and H.P. Lovecraft. You can see the Campbell in the earlier LaNague novels, and the earlier stories in Healer; these are very much space opera of the Star Trek kind. There are faster-than-life ships using warp drives and crystals and aliens and M-class planets even time-travel tech, but above all the first book An Enemy of the State was economic fiction as much or more as science fiction, weaving in economic theory on monetary policy into the yarn. There's definitely a Lovecraft aspect to Healer where you can more easily see this is by the author of The Keep. There's still a libertarian theme evident in Wheels Within Wheels and Healer, but it's more conventional science fiction. I'd name Wheels Within Wheels my favorite of the three if only because I like Jo Finch and Old Pete more then the central characters of the other parts. The LaNauge Chronicles is by no means a classic measured against the science fiction genre as a whole, but a solid four stars given I thoroughly enjoyed all the stories.

[C Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lanague Chronicles is not a single story, but a collection of shorts and novellas that are arranged in order of man's expansion into the stars.
The stories are very libertarian, and describe the heroes attempts to defeat all power-greedy politians who want to invade the life of the average person.
The stories are excellent in that characters will:
get so focused on the goal that they lose their values;
be upset, and obsessed by the death of a child;
will become legends over time while much of what they stood for is lost;
or lose all sense of time as they experience immortality.
So many great pictures in this book of humanity's best and worst potential.

[Nick Tomashot]

Sci Fi for Libertarians. Fantastic read and timely economic and political reading...

[Dale Rosso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilson does as great at writing Sci-Fi as he does Horror and thrillers, love the book.

[Chris Maguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating ideas. The preaching is couched very well in a satisfying story.