By Max More
Powerless, one of six novels nominated so far for the next Prometheus Award for Best Novel, is the first novel I have read by Harry Turtledove. I chose to read it because of its anti-authoritarian message.
The structure and function of this alternate reality – in which communism has taken over the United States (and apparently much or all of the world) – seemed familiar and frighteningly plausible to me based on my study of the years under Lenin and Stalin.
Our protagonist is Charlie Simpkins, more of a regular guy than any kind of superhero. But he is a regular guy with more spine than most around him who buckle under every order and demand of the West Coast People’s Democratic Republic.
A GOOD CITIZEN WHO’S HAD ENOUGH
Charlie manages a small (state-owned) vegetable shop in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. Under threat of the hammer coming down on him, he has so far obeyed orders and been a “good” (obedient) citizen. But one day he is told to put up a ludicrous propaganda poster in his shop window. Charlie has had enough and tosses it in the trash, thereby setting off a chain of unpleasant events.
This is a static society and economy where communist-party members are in control and want to continue enjoying their benefits at the expense of everyone else and at the cost of halting progress.
One of the local party members, Mary Ann Hannegan, drops in every so often to lecture, berate, and threaten him. As she says, “Any change threatens the system. Any unauthorized change, all the more.” “Deviationism will not be tolerated, will not be permitted.”
A THORN IN THE SIDE OF THE SYSTEM
Like the communists of our world, “The leaders might talk about the arrival of true Communism and the withering away of the state, but they ruled as if they and their successors, like the dead leaders who appeared only on coins and postage stamps and monuments these days, were in for the long haul.”
Charlie persists in being a thorn in the side of the system, encouraged and infused with a flicker of hope by a rising party member who seeks to loosen things up a bit.
The situation seems to be improving a little for a while but this is a dystopian tale in which the authoritarians reassert their dominance. Charlie’s initial act of defiance is small but leads toward major trouble in a world where conformity and obedience are required to be absolute.
BROADER PARALLELS TO OTHER ORTHODOXIES
Although the story is set in a communist world, the events painfully reminded me of the less extreme pressures to not speak out against a proclaimed orthodoxy or consensus, whether relating to woke obsessions or climate apocalypticism.
It also reminded me of some other recent novels, especially two excellent 2025 Prometheus Best Novel finalists: Cancelled: The Shape of Things to Come by Danny King and Mania by Lionel Shriver, as well as as a Prometheus Hall of Fame winner for Best Classic Fiction that I only recently read: This Perfect Day, by Ira Levin.
PAYING THE PRICE FOR FREEDOM
My one criticism is that Turtledove gets a little repetitive in hammering home some obvious points. An example: ‘Then Eichenlode said, “Maybe you’d like to talk outside, where we have more space?” Charlie heard: Maybe you’d like to talk outside, where the Nibbies can’t listen?’ Similar unnecessary passages appear throughout, which feels a bit like being spoon-fed.
While not an uplifting read, Powerless is focused on a man who stands up against the powers that be, a man willing to pay the price.
I was expecting to feel depressed when I finished it but the ending could have been worse for Charlie and others.
Powerless does leave us with some hope, however faint.
ABOUT HARRY TURTLEDOVE
Note: Harry Turtledove won the Prometheus Award for Best Novel in 2008 for The Gladiator, which similarly envisions a twenty-first century where which Soviet Communism not only survived but triumphed.
His fantasy novel Between the Rivers was selected as a 2024 Prometheus Hall of Fame finalist for Best Classic Fiction.
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I thought Powerless was an excellent novel. It affected me more because it was so plausible. It not only reflects historical episodes but resonates with some disturbing trends we have seen recently.
Thank you, Chris, for the tip on the Havel story.
Turtledove’s story is very clearly a direct response to Vaclav Havel’s 1978 essay “The Power of the Powerless” (https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/wp-content/uploads/1979/01/the-power-of-the-powerless.pdf). Havel talks about how the subjects of a totalitarian state are not as powerless as they at first appear. The example Havel uses throughout the article is a shopkeeper who refuses to put up a political poster. Havel talks about how this simple act of disobedience can lead to others following the lead, and how minor acts of defiance, disobedience, and rebellion show that not everyone goes along with the system.
Turtledove does a good job of adding flesh to Havel’s idea, and it’s a very readable story that goes off in a slightly different direction. Well worth the read!