Feeling lazy today, so no mammoth research project. Just a short pointer to a lost treasure of science fiction. Aristoi, by Walter Jon Williams.

Have you ever tried to daydream a perfect world? I know I have. What Williams portrays so vividly in this novel is precisely that, a world where things have started to go seriously right. No poverty, no warfare, no disease for the most part, and a system of meritocratic governance that is a model of fairness and transparency. Plus, we haven't been assimilated by hyperintelligent robots.

In a word, boring. But not for long! Some folks are never satisfied, be life ever so pleasant. They get fractious and restless, looking for great causes to lend meaning to their lives. Lucky for us readers. It makes for a more dramatic story arc, involving conspiracy, murder, revolution, and the greatest crime in human history. Really.

I have long been mystified as to this book's lack of popularity. I loved it from the very first page, and thought it would win prizes, go to multiple printings, become an acknowledged classic. That turned out not to be the case, though it did get good word of mouth. Too talky? Who knows. It has a great deal in common with The Golden Age, which I brought to your attention here. Both books go pedal to the metal showing just how very rich and strange the future might be.

Do you think maybe Williams should have have left the (male) protagonist's impregnation of his (male) lover till later in the book? Unenlightened readers might have been put off by that. No worries, guys! He falls in love with a nice lady doctor in chapter two and remains straight for the next 200 pages! Don't be scared!

The whole multiple personalities thing might also have put people off. See, in the future it's discovered that given the right stimuli, nearly anyone can support multiple personas of varying intelligence and empathy. Simultaneously. This is not viewed as a mental disorder, but rather as an enhancement or empowerment. Think of the possibilities for delegating authority. If you can't do it, people feel sorry for you. It's a novel idea, one I've not seen too often before, and a bit tricky to read at first. It also leads to considerable comic effect as we evesdrop on the protagonists internal conferencing. One of his sub-personalities is an utterly oily political type, with a propensity for "handling" people. Yet another is a devout paranoid, prone to seeing the worst in everyday encounters. "He's going for a weapon...kill him, KILL HIM!". Usually it's not a weapon. Usually he isn't allowed to "drive".

The book may start off a little slow, with our hero playing a bit too much of the foppish artiste, but have patience. There's bloodletting in bucketloads by the time you reach the home stretch. And while the main character is a self-satisfied nance, he's got steel where it counts. Oh, and there's lots of languid, decadent fooling around too...

If you want more than just my word for it, the very fine blogger Brad DeLong also liked it. And unlike lazy me, he showed enough initiative to provide a couple of excerpts. Fair warning though, this one has a spoiler in it. It can also be accessed at the bottom of the prior link, so resist temptation if you value spontaneity.

If you like the book, you might be interested in this interview with its author.

And just for the hell of it, here's an interview with John C. Wright. It's well worth checking out.