A cautionary tale about far-future America. It has some strange scientific ideas, but mainly it is a warning about the corrupting power of dictators and totalitarianism. The protagonist, a Thief, is a Robin-Hood type fighting with his allies against the government, but there's more to it. I thought this was interesting, in a scary way. ( )

Although this is part of the Rings series, like The Ring of Ritornel, this is a stand-alone novel. Rings is not a series in the modern sense; I’d call it a set of 3 books with a common theme - that history is cyclic and unless we learn lessons and change, we are doomed to repeat ourselves. This is neatly encapsulated by the first and last scenes in the novel: the same scenario happens in both, but the outcomes are different.

The book is set on Earth in the next couple of hundred years; the nations of Earth have coalesced into a handful of continental blocs and the threat of nuclear war is ever-present. The story is set in the capital city of the Western Empire (North and South America) which is a fascist tyranny that is now a slave-owning society. The government is opposed by a group calling themselves Thieves - they rob the wealthy and use the proceeds to purchase slaves from the charnel houses (where they are sold to for reprocessing once there is no further use for them).

Some 5 years previously, a space-ship crashed into the Ohio River. Oddly familiar, the only living being on board was a curious tarsier-like creature. Next day, an amnesiac was found on the banks of the river clutching the log-book of a spacecraft in the process of being built. Taken in by the Thieves, the man exhibited super-human physiology. Called Alar, the man turns into the lead actor in the struggle to overthrow the government.

Unlike The Ring of Ritornel, the main female character does have agency and the story does feature a person with disabilities (which also includes the main female character towards the end of the story).

Highly recommended.

A great science-fiction story involving a fugitive, solar study, and time travel. ( )