Forge of the Elders

"Forge of the Elders" is a science fiction novel by L. Neil Smith. The Earth has been 'united' under the United World Soviet, the last vestiges of individualism are being suppressed for the collective - the Earth essentially now mirrors Soviet Russia. Resources are scarce, and the global economy is faltering. So, three 80 year old space shuttles are taken out of mothballs, kitted out and launched - crewed by potential enemies of the state, so to speak, to colonize an asteroid that appears to have resources usable to prop up the state of the world.

It's a good read - although the contrast of collectivism to individualism appears rather heavy handed through out the book. I could be wrong on this, but I think that that's an interesting device to set up the (somewhat) unexpected conclusion. It's a struggle between the extremes of Randian individualism and warped collectivism - with an obvious editorial in favour of individualism and capitalism.

Not a bad book.