z1235:I'm pushing this up on my reading list. Though it may take a year before I get to it, kudos on the effort and for the positive endorsements.
I am so glad you are interested! Whenever you do get to it, I hope you enjoy!
Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under - Mencken
Best of luck brother, thanks for having the courage to express yourself combined with an entrepreneurial risk. Based on the positive reviews, I will start reading this as well.
DannyM:Best of luck brother, thanks for having the courage to express yourself combined with an entrepreneurial risk. Based on the positive reviews, I will start reading this as well.
Thanks alot! I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think when you're done!
This had me hooked. Like one of the Amazon reviewers said, clear your to-do list. Household chores have been neglected as much as possible to finish the book.
At the point where Layla wanted prostitution banned, I started thinking about restrictive covenants. That would be an interesting theme to explore in a sequel or any other offshoot of this world. Suppose some people gathered together and agreed to form an association where certain activities would be banned on their property? How much effort would they expend to enforce the agreement? Would the security companies arbitrate disagreements?
econbuff:This had me hooked. Like one of the Amazon reviewers said, clear your to-do list. Household chores have been neglected as much as possible to finish the book.
Thank you so much! I'm so pleased you liked it!
econbuff:At the point where Layla wanted prostitution banned, I started thinking about restrictive covenants. That would be an interesting theme to explore in a sequel or any other offshoot of this world. Suppose some people gathered together and agreed to form an association where certain activities would be banned on their property? How much effort would they expend to enforce the agreement? Would the security companies arbitrate disagreements?
I think restrictive covenants are an important part of a free society. With restrictive covenants one always thinks, of course, of Hans Hermann Hoppe. My only point of disagreement with him is that I think he envisions a world of neighborhoods with tightly restrictive covenants... unless I am misreading him. I, however, tend to think that most areas will be more relaxed. I think covenants will be used to draw lines such as when noise becomes noise pollution and things like that. Hoppe's contention that homosexuals would need to be excluded from covenant communities who were focused on families is, frankly, grossly obtuse (although he has been unfairly attacked by people who either have not understood his argument or are deliberately creating strawmen). For the most part, Hoppe is brilliant and his contribution to libertarianism is enormous.
As for a sequel, I have an idea I am kicking around in my head, and covenant communities would be part of the story. I also have a couple non-sequels I am thinking of and am not sure what I will write next.
Thank you so much for your support!
That's funny, I was also going to mention Hoppe, thinking of the Gaians and how that kind of goes along with the idea of needing to exclude groups that are inimical to the beliefs of the community. Of course, the Gaians are an extreme case as their goal really was to destroy the free community, and therefore were not worthy of protection, which Alistair probably realized too late.
Covenant communities brings to mind "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.
Did you actually read his book? This sounds remarkably like the mischaracterization by various anti-libertarians on this forum who never read the book. I forget the page offhand, but as a footnote where he discusses gays he cites Rothbard on "Greenwich Village-style multi-cultural" (i.e. socially tolerant) communities.
Actually, as I was writing this I remembered that Kinsella posted about this reecntly, and he even bolds this footnote I'm talking about.
(I suppose you also envision some covenant based groups could be more radically fundamentalist and not even tolerate homosexuals at all, but that is not what you are equating with a covenant-based libertarian society per se.) In support of this interpretation, I note that on p. 212 you explicitly state that what gays do in private is their own business, and you write: “To avoid any misunderstanding, it might be useful to point out that the predicted rise in discrimination in a purely libertarian world does not imply that the form and extent of discrimination will be the same or similar everywhere. To the contrary, a libertarian world could and likely would be one with a great variety of locally separated communities engaging distinctly different and far-reaching discrimination” (“e.g. nudists discriminating against bathing suits,” as Tucker points out in Idiot Patrol). You then favorably quote Rothbard, from his 1991 Rothbard-Rockwell Report article, “The ‘New Fusionism’: A Movement For Our Time”: In a country, or a world, of totally private property, including streets, and private contractual neighborhoods consisting of property-owners, these owners can make any sort of neighborhood-contracts they wish. In practice, then, the country would be a truly “gorgeous mosaic,” … ranging from rowdy Greenwich Village-type contractual neighborhoods, to socially conservative homogeneous WASP neighborhoods. Remember that all deeds and covenants would once again be totally legal and enforceable, with no meddling government restrictions upon them. So that considering the drug question, if a proprietary neighborhood contracted that no one would use drugs, and Jones violated the contract and used them, he fellow community-contractors could simply enforce the contract and kick him out. Or, since no advance contract can allow for all conceivable circumstances, suppose that Smith became so personally obnoxious that his fellow neighborhood-owners wanted him ejected. They would then have to buy him out—-probably on terms set contractually in advance in accordance with some “obnoxious” clause.
(I suppose you also envision some covenant based groups could be more radically fundamentalist and not even tolerate homosexuals at all, but that is not what you are equating with a covenant-based libertarian society per se.)
In support of this interpretation, I note that on p. 212 you explicitly state that what gays do in private is their own business, and you write: “To avoid any misunderstanding, it might be useful to point out that the predicted rise in discrimination in a purely libertarian world does not imply that the form and extent of discrimination will be the same or similar everywhere. To the contrary, a libertarian world could and likely would be one with a great variety of locally separated communities engaging distinctly different and far-reaching discrimination” (“e.g. nudists discriminating against bathing suits,” as Tucker points out in Idiot Patrol). You then favorably quote Rothbard, from his 1991 Rothbard-Rockwell Report article, “The ‘New Fusionism’: A Movement For Our Time”:
In a country, or a world, of totally private property, including streets, and private contractual neighborhoods consisting of property-owners, these owners can make any sort of neighborhood-contracts they wish. In practice, then, the country would be a truly “gorgeous mosaic,” … ranging from rowdy Greenwich Village-type contractual neighborhoods, to socially conservative homogeneous WASP neighborhoods. Remember that all deeds and covenants would once again be totally legal and enforceable, with no meddling government restrictions upon them. So that considering the drug question, if a proprietary neighborhood contracted that no one would use drugs, and Jones violated the contract and used them, he fellow community-contractors could simply enforce the contract and kick him out. Or, since no advance contract can allow for all conceivable circumstances, suppose that Smith became so personally obnoxious that his fellow neighborhood-owners wanted him ejected. They would then have to buy him out—-probably on terms set contractually in advance in accordance with some “obnoxious” clause.
Anyhow, I never make time for reading fiction, but I wish you the best of luck with your book.
Democracy means the opportunity to be everyone's slave.—Karl Kraus.
Finished yesterday!
This book is fantastic, but it is truly an investment of time and you must be willing to finish the first 100—150 pages before you are hooked on the plot. I suggest 15-20 pages a day for a week until you’re hooked on the story; you will finish the next 500+ pages in the following week (it is so good). One of the most entertaining books I’ve read in a long time! The conversations between the characters are very rich in thought and the applications of anarchy and arbitration are top notch!
Given this, I think about 50 pages of added details could be removed from the story without effecting the book, but this may only be my opinion because I was rushing to finish it near the end of the book.
I couldn’t recommend this story enough for fiction and nonfiction lovers!
Read until you have something to write...Write until you have nothing to write...when you have nothing to write, read...read until you have something to write...Jeremiah
Hey Jeremiah, you should write a review and submit it for consideration as a Mises Daily. :)
econbuff:Of course, the Gaians are an extreme case as their goal really was to destroy the free community, and therefore were not worthy of protection, which Alistair probably realized too late.
Exactly. Pro-environment needs to be pro-human or else there is no good to it.
econbuff:Covenant communities brings to mind "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.
Haven't read it, but it's on my to-do list.
E. R. Olovetto:Anyhow, I never make time for reading fiction, but I wish you the best of luck with your book.
Thanks for the well-wishing! I am not sure if I made my point clear enough before, because I don't think what you posted is refuting the point I made.
Take care!
Jeremiah Dyke:Finished yesterday!
Awesome!
I have had a few note that it starts slow, and I agree, but I often prefer that, especially in a longer work. I like to ease in, establish some things, plant some seeds... however I did try to include some important plot points at the beginning. I hope it wasn't too slow!
Jeremiah Dyke:One of the most entertaining books I’ve read in a long time!
Thanks a lot! I appreciate all you've done!
Grayson Lilburne:Hey Jeremiah, you should write a review and submit it for consideration as a Mises Daily.
I won't complain! ;-) Am I allowed to second that, or does it require a neutral third party?
Withur We will be available for $12.99 on Kindle from Amazon in the next couple days!
Finished the book a little over a week ago, and was pleasantly surprised by several things: the natural pace and style in what could be considered an overtly political novel, the same qualities together with great editing in a first time novel, and finally the scope and quality of storytelling. Most important to me was the success in giving life to a protagonist who embodies an ideal while maintaining humanity and avoiding caricature. This would be an impressive effort even by a veteran author; it is much more so by a newcomer. I very much enjoyed it, very strongly recommend it, and hope there is more to follow.
God blessed me
I'm a free man
With no place free to go
FNU-LNU:Finished the book a little over a week ago, and was pleasantly surprised by several things: the natural pace and style in what could be considered an overtly political novel, the same qualities together with great editing in a first time novel, and finally the scope and quality of storytelling. Most important to me was the success in giving life to a protagonist who embodies an ideal while maintaining humanity and avoiding caricature. This would be an impressive effort even by a veteran author; it is much more so by a newcomer. I very much enjoyed it, very strongly recommend it, and hope there is more to follow.
Thank you so much, FNU-LNU! It's always wonderful to hear that someone enjoyed your efforts. I will definitely be writing another, although it may be a year or two before it is ready.
Awesome. I look forward to reading it!
The Download Free PDF option on your website isn't working.How can I get a free PDF of this to download(if there is such a thing)?
I find this interesting.I'm not often into fiction but this looks quite exiciting to see how anarchy would play out in a fictional society.
I don't really want to comment or read anything here.I have near zero in common with many of you.I may return periodically when there's something you need to know.
Near Mutualist/Libertarian Socialist.
MPP:Awesome. I look forward to reading it!
Thanks, MPP! I hope you enjoy it!
Scott F: The Download Free PDF option on your website isn't working.How can I get a free PDF of this to download(if there is such a thing)? I find this interesting.I'm not often into fiction but this looks quite exiciting to see how anarchy would play out in a fictional society.
Hmmm. I tried it and it worked. Let's hope it's because there is sooooo much traffic, eh?
Send me an email through the website - malexander@withurwe.com - and I will be happy to send you the PDF version.
gocrew: Scott F: The Download Free PDF option on your website isn't working.How can I get a free PDF of this to download(if there is such a thing)? I find this interesting.I'm not often into fiction but this looks quite exiciting to see how anarchy would play out in a fictional society. Hmmm. I tried it and it worked. Let's hope it's because there is sooooo much traffic, eh? Send me an email through the website - malexander@withurwe.com - and I will be happy to send you the PDF version.
Thanks.I don't know what happens.I click on links to your site then the about author box always pops up quickly and it seems to disable me from clicking the download PDF button.Weird.
Scott F:Thanks.I don't know what happens.I click on links to your site then the about author box always pops up quickly and it seems to disable me from clicking the download PDF button.Weird.
I'm the last one to diagnose computer problems. I sent you the PDF... let me know if it didn't go through.
Thanks for your support and I hope you enjoy!
Congratulations, man! I'm trying to get one of my books published right now, so I can understand how difficult of a process it is. That's quite an achievement. I can't wait to read it one day!
Just want to congratulate you again! It really is quite an accomplishment to complete and publish a book of this size. I'm considering a purchase, but still waiting for a larger consensus to see what's up.
Thanks for the great story. Though I have to admit I was soooooo hoping that annoying Stephanie would end up getting shipped to Srillium.
What about that Harcourt guy at the Transportation office? It seemed to me that he wanted Alistair to see his code - or was I just reading too much into it?
Brian Anderson:Congratulations, man! I'm trying to get one of my books published right now, so I can understand how difficult of a process it is. That's quite an achievement. I can't wait to read it one day!
Best of luck to you, my friend! And you don't have to wait if you are short on funds: go to www.withurwe.com and you can download the PDF version for free!
Of course, if you want to buy 30 copies and pass them out to friends and relatives, I suppose that would be ok ;-)
econ student:Just want to congratulate you again! It really is quite an accomplishment to complete and publish a book of this size. I'm considering a purchase, but still waiting for a larger consensus to see what's up.
Thanks again! You know you can take it for a free test drive, right?
www.withurwe.com
Talk to you soon!
T Barrett:Thanks for the great story. Though I have to admit I was soooooo hoping that annoying Stephanie would end up getting shipped to Srillium.
LOL! How about Travis?
T Barrett:What about that Harcourt guy at the Transportation office? It seemed to me that he wanted Alistair to see his code - or was I just reading too much into it?
Interesting perspective. I actually never considered that possibility. It is interesting hearing these things. My best friend is reading it right now and he was suspicious that when Captain Travis kept asking Stephanie how one could justify what the state does, he was trying to see if she was a libertarian because he secretly was too.
It's always fun to hear how other people are viewing your work. Unless they're rude.
@ gocrew
Count me as another fan of Withur We. It is one of the few science fiction books I have read that I had a hard time putting down. I spent a few nights staying up way too late because I just had to see what would happen next!
I particularly enjoyed the economics and libertarian ethics sprinkled about within the story. One of the characters even mentioned Ludwig von Mises' name! What a breath of fresh air.
Gracias, Jorge! Me alegraste el dia!
And in case I am making untrue assumptions based on your name: Thanks, Jorge! You brightened my day!
It was an accurate assumption. I'm bi...cultural that is.
I shared your friend's assumption on Travis. It was probably more my desire to see someone betray the state from the inside than any particular way you wrote the character. Part of the beauty of it is that it did keep me guessing on a great many of the characters motivations. Which is, in turn, what kept me reading the book for extended sittings. I have to sheepishly admit that I actually called in sick to work to finish the last 1/3 of it
T Barrett:I have to sheepishly admit that I actually called in sick to work to finish the last 1/3 of it
That's just freakin' awesome. I think that deserves its own update on the Facebook page!
Muchisimas gracias!
Finished your book a few days ago and I had to sign up here just so I could say thankyou and provide an endorsement for anyone wondering if they should bother.
This book is excellent and was difficult to put down. I read the whole thing as a PDF on my iPhone (a PayPal donate button on your website might get some attention from PDF downloaders btw). The book is even proving excellent for reflection. I like the division into 3 parts with each part providing a totally different perspective and being almost able to stand independent from each other.
I found part 2 the most difficult to put down, I even had a couple of nights of insomnia as my mind was buzzing. Even with the fatalistic undercurrent of the book, the whole thing was frankly inspiring, and inspired. I need a sequel now unfortunately; I hope you don't leave us without one because we need to revisit Srillium.
Well done and keep on churning this stuff out. I hope it's profitable for you.
Hilarious remark from one of the Amazon reviews:
I don't think it gives anything away to say that nothing comes easily and Alistair's life is seldom happy. He is, after all, a libertarian.
Arvee: Finished your book a few days ago and I had to sign up here just so I could say thankyou and provide an endorsement for anyone wondering if they should bother. This book is excellent and was difficult to put down. I read the whole thing as a PDF on my iPhone (a PayPal donate button on your website might get some attention from PDF downloaders btw). The book is even proving excellent for reflection. I like the division into 3 parts with each part providing a totally different perspective and being almost able to stand independent from each other. I found part 2 the most difficult to put down, I even had a couple of nights of insomnia as my mind was buzzing. Even with the fatalistic undercurrent of the book, the whole thing was frankly inspiring, and inspired. I need a sequel now unfortunately; I hope you don't leave us without one because we need to revisit Srillium. Well done and keep on churning this stuff out. I hope it's profitable for you.
That's so wonderful to read. Thank you so much! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it (and that it is sticking with you). At this point, I am pretty much determined to write a sequel, although I don't know if it will be my next book or not. I have another idea I am kicking around that might be my next project, but a sequel to Withur We seems pretty certain at this point.
A number of people have mentioned that they liked part 2 the best, which I am glad to hear. As I was writing it, I was worried it might be too didactic. Of course, this crowd is naturally inclined towards my perspective, so it will be interesting to see what others might think, but I am glad that part 2 is going over well.
Thanks again, my friend!
Consultant: Hilarious remark from one of the Amazon reviews: I don't think it gives anything away to say that nothing comes easily and Alistair's life is seldom happy. He is, after all, a libertarian.
Yeah, I laughed out loud when I read that!
Oh god, this is such a necro. But a couple things I noticed/want clarified:
(BLATANT SPOILERS BELOW)
(1) I am not sure if this is intentional or not, but the fate of the surrendering Gaians in Floralel is a bit strange. They surrender, a couple assist Alistair's group in stopping the city from being levelled by missiles, Alistair has all the valuables transportered out of the city, and then has it destroyed... with the prisoners still inside?
I dunno, maybe I am reading into this too much, but it seems odd that Alistair (who does whatever he can to avoid shooting Civil Guard, and refuses to execute any after taking over the train) suddenly leaves those prisoners to get blown up.
(2) Okay, I am DEFINITELY looking into the following two a bit much, but how Earth end up with about 1/4th of the entire population of the galaxy (mentioned somewhere near the end, the Sol system having half of Humanity in it and Terra having half of that)? Judging by the fact that Rendral has 20 million people, Aldra has many more, and Aldra is small/insignificant on the large scale, that implies that Earth has about 100+ billion people on it. That isn't even taking into account that Aldra is 434 LY away from Earth, meaning there are probably loads of colonized planets along the way
(3) How are the systems upkeeping Srillium working? I mean, it is mentioned that the process of terraforming requires constant work and fine tuning (hence the destruction of the Alien civilizations at the end of the book), yet Srillium seems to need none at all. Barring the ye-olde Korean terminal protecting the atmosphere, there is nothing keeping things working.
(4) Is Srillium littered with Gaian cities, or what? 6 cities (might have miscounted) are looted, and yet they keep chucking missiles at captured cities.
If you can't answer some of these, that is understandable (since they are questions about somewhat obscure backstory :P )
Hola, My Buddy!
(1) The prisoners were not inside. It is quite possible that, through all the editing, I wound up with a final version where that sort of thing was left ambiguous. There was, in the first draft, a short chapter right after that one where things were wrapped up perhaps more clearly. In the interest of getting from 400,000 to 320,000 words, and of making sure a very long book did not dally too much, I cut that chapter.
You are quite correct: as much as Alistair detests the Gaians, he wouldn't do something like that!
(2) I believe I envisioned Earth as having around 20,000,000,000 people when I did my prep work, leaving about 40 billion outside the home system. Rendral is indeed a gigantic city by our standards, but Rendral was also meant to have a large chunk of Aldra's overall population (a lot of history which is only touched on in the Homesteaders segment). Aldra's overall population is well under a billion, due to their small start and near zero immigration. I believe I envisioned Kaldis as having the largest population outside of Sol, with just a few billion (I'd have to track down my notes). The total number of colonized worlds was probably around thirty or so.
(3) Good question! In developing Srillium, I needed to create a habitable planet, but one that wasn't worth enough to colonize, one that could be left to prisoners. Other than the powerful magnetosphere threatening the moon, it is fairly attractive in the book. I toyed with some sort of maintenance systems in the Gaian cities, but never developed it very far as it didn't affect my current story (more on that will come out in the sequel). Other than that, the proximity to a gas giant and the earthquakes caused by it, as well as the always increased prospect of meteors colliding with the planet due to the steep gravity well of the gas giant, were enough, I thought, to make it unattractive as a place for long term colonizing.
(4) Yeah, Srillium has all sorts of Gaian cities, each one tasked with patrolling a few million square miles or so of turf.
Thanks for the questions! :-)
Great book! I've only been reading for 5 days and I just started chapter 77. After the first 150 pages or so, it became hard to put down. :) As a science-fiction reader, this is certainly a winner. I ordered your book the other day, but I'm probably going to finish reading it as a pdf before I get it.
Also, i wanted to comment on point #1 in the above posts:
(1) The Gaians started to evacuate the city before they even took the command center I think. (I believe) One Gaian explains that when the "signal is given", the other cities order a missile be fired at the city. The Gaian then goes on to say that his brothers gave the signal before they reached the command center and after that signal is given the city is presumed lost.
I personally assumed while reading that most Gaians would be aware of this policy and/or that the brothers would warn all the Gaians to evacuate. Although, in hindsight, I guess one could think that some Gaians could be ignorant of what was happening, despite some sort of evacuation (at the least led by the brothers if not by some sort of automated warning system) after the signal is given and the time afterwards when Alistair and his party ransacked the city,