As part of a “bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books,” Alan Brown writes an appreciation of The Probability Broach by L. Neil Smith for Tor.com. (Smith won the Prometheus Award for the book in 1982.)
Brown writes, “Smith’s writing voice is witty, snarky, and entertaining, and there is always plenty of action to keep the story moving.”
Brown’s take on Smith’s libertarian philosophy:
“In the early 1980s, I worked in a variety of jobs in Washington, D.C., and it was here that I encountered Smith’s work. During that time, spending an evening here and there reading a book set in worlds of free-wheeling anarchy was often a refreshing break from the sluggish bureaucracy I worked in during the days. While I am a political centrist myself, I always enjoy reading works that advocate different points of view, especially when they do so in an entertaining manner.”
Check out the Prometheus Blog appreciations for Smith’s award-winning novels The Probability Broach, Pallas and The Forge of the Elders.
How nice to see L. Neil Smith remembered for a classic sci-fi adventure with rollicking humor and fresh ideas.
The TOR review makes some valid and familiar points to anyone who has read (or reread) Smith’s best-known novel – itself an alternate-reality doorway to a whole series of inventive novels and adventures in the same universe.