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<\/a><\/p>\nThis review of Wil McCarthy\u2019s Rich Man\u2019s Sky\u00a0<\/em>follows previously posted reviews of the other four finalists: Lionel Shriver\u2019s Should We Stay Or Should We Go<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Kazuo Ishiguro\u2019s Klara and the Sun <\/em><\/a>and\u00a0Karl K. Gallagher\u2019s Between Home and Ruin <\/em>and\u00a0<\/a>Seize What\u2019s Held Dear.<\/em><\/p>\n By Michael Grossberg<\/strong><\/p>\n Venturing beyond the Earth to explore, colonize and industrialize our solar system has been a dream of humanity \u2013 and that dream is beginning to materialize.<\/p>\n Four billionaires play key roles in striving to bring such dreams to life in Rich Man\u2019s Sky\u00a0<\/em>(Baen Books, 291 pages), a 2022 Best Novel finalist by Wil McCarthy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n AN EPIC LANDSCAPE<\/strong><\/p>\n Set on and off Earth, in near-Earth orbit, on the Moon, at L5 points, on an experimental habitat near the Sun and heading towards Mars and beyond, McCarthy\u2019s kaleidoscopic novel brims with the excitement, anxieties and uncertainties of real-world entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n McCarthy\u2019s understanding of the challenges inherent in new technology and age-old human psychology grounds his novel in plausible dramatic conflicts as fearful governments and competing interests plot to undermine some of the more audacious space ventures. Buoyed by his years of work as a space enthusiast-techie and space-business entrepreneur, McCarthy is an sf writer full of interesting ideas \u2013 especially ideas grounded in science, business and emerging industry. That helps make his story fun for readers to explore with him.<\/p>\n BILLION-DOLLAR VENTURES While one billionaire aims at settling Mars with a 100-person lottery, another plans more long-range for the first human interstellar trip to Proxima Centauri.<\/p>\n Yet another billionaire is Orlov, a Russian gangster-oligarch who runs a refueling station and is eager to seize control of lunar colonies and Earth-orbiting space stations. Meanwhile, the fourth Horseman\u2019s grand aerial-balloon-ship plans largely haven\u2019t gotten that far off the ground yet.<\/p>\n Such massive and expensive long-term projects require the development of new technology – for terraforming, interstellar propulsion and hibernation for long space voyages, among other things \u2013 and McCarthy makes such developments plausible.<\/p>\n Some of the “Four Horsemen” are revealed to be mostly admirable, and some decidedly not, but McCarthy makes all four real and human as they spearhead game-changing private-enterprise projects that governments aren’t able or willing to do.<\/p>\n Some may see similarities to today\u2019s most famous billionaire space enthusiasts (especially Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Richard Branson), but McCarthy fictionalizes his characters enough to make each one distinct.<\/span><\/p>\n McCarthy knows how to write well-paced and action-oriented science fiction, while plausibly extrapolating today\u2019s trends into the near future. But it\u2019s his believable characters that, more than anything, enhance the novel\u2019s credibility.<\/p>\n None of the protagonists or antagonists are one-dimensional heroes or villains. Each billionaire has strengths and flaws. Yet, each aims to fulfill their dreams and get the job done, no matter what obstacles may arise from politics, economics, society, technology or science.<\/p>\n EMERGING PRO-FREEDOM THEMES<\/strong><\/p>\n The implicit libertarian and anti-authoritarian themes emerge slowly but naturally, as different interests maneuver and scheme and a fearful and controlling government sends a clandestine mission to subvert the most dangerous space effort involving a solar shield.<\/p>\n Despite its male-oriented title, Rich Man\u2019s Sky <\/em>focuses onseveral strong women characters – including one subplot in which female space colonists participate in a breeding experiment on a distant space habitat.<\/p>\n One of the most suspenseful threads in McCarthy\u2019s mosaic follows a team of elite military women sent into space to infiltrate one billionaire\u2019s visionary and idealistic space project before he can change the world – for good and (as some fear) for ill.<\/p>\n A focal point of the novel is Alice, a former experienced US Air Force medic assigned to violently take control of the solar shield. Built halfway between the Earth and the sun, the shield – if misused – could spark an ice age or threaten some parts of our planet with much colder or warmer weather, disrupting international politics.<\/p>\n A few other plot threads are introduced, though, without much pay-off. Although the monks on the Moon (including one monk whose communications add humor and quirky personality to the story) seem peripheral to the main plot, McCarthy seems to be setting up his richly varied and complex future for further exploration in sequels.<\/p>\n CHALLENGING THE ANTI-CAPITALIST MENTALITY<\/strong><\/p>\n Overall, this hard-science Heinlein-esque tale of State-threatened market innovations in space persuasively counters anti-capitalist stereotypes.<\/p>\n Today, reflecting age-old prejudices and economic ignorance, many continue to vilify the wealthy (the super-rich, even more so). Yet, many of those same critics paradoxically excuse, minimize, hide or ignore State aggression, assassination, spying, sabotage and other abuses from “throwing muscle around.”<\/p>\n Rich Man\u2019s Sky,\u00a0<\/em>by welcome contrast, exposes the limitations and downside of coercive government while fairly portraying each billionaire as an individual \u2013 and without demonizing the rich.<\/p>\n For example, on page 106, one female character recognizes ruefully that governments are neither capable nor willing to go into space and lead through innovation – while businessman and markets can and do:<\/p>\n “All things considered, Miyuki would rather be working for somebody like NASA or ESA or the sort-lived UN Space Agency… But alas … there were no public space programs anymore. Through some combination of deficit spending, warped priorities and desperately short-term thinking, the governments of the world had starved themselves right out of the civilian space business…. the Horsemen (the four billionaires) had expanded into that power vacuum very nicely. And then they kept right on expanding, because people needed things the Earth could no longer provide…”<\/p>\n Several characters also recognize the endemic corruption and short-sighted egotism of many political \u201cleaders.\u201d<\/p>\n “They’re toddlers, Alice.\u00a0 Greedy little toddlers.\u00a0 They care about reelection, taxes, and looking tough, in that order.\u00a0 It’s stupid, but true.\u00a0 They don’t give a shit about the future; they don’t even think it’s a real thing.\u00a0 It’s just something that happens in the movies,\u201d one character tells another on page 232.<\/p>\n As a libertarian bonus, one character even speaks up about the right of self-defense against violent attack or an especially aggressive and intrusive tyranny.<\/p>\n PLAUSIBLE NON-IDEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES<\/strong><\/p>\n McCarthy mostly avoids explicit ideology. When revealing broader ideals and insights, the story usually makes them reflective of the perspectives of particular characters.<\/p>\n Towards the end of Rich Man\u2019s Sky\u00a0<\/em>(on pages 296-297), the anti-authoritarian, pro-space, pro-technology, pro-progress and pro-freedom themes become a bit more explicit.<\/p>\n Writing in his private diary, perhaps for posterity, the billionaire Horseman observes: “The very governments that have declined to meet the demand of ordinary people for access to space, are now throwing muscle around to prevent private parties from doing it for them. This shameful demonstration is no doubt meant to intimidate, and it succeeds handily…<\/p>\n “But it makes an opposite point as well, that space-based enterprise must do its level utmost to cut these ties and dependencies, so people like Tompkins (the US president) can only watch and ask, as opposed to dictate.<\/p>\n “I would rather face ten Orlovs than a single Tompkins, and if a colonized Mars can only speak to its parent as a beggar or a child, then we will have failed in one of the most important tasks history has ever set. Thus, with creativity and poise, we must make a world that can, as quickly as at all possible, stand tall and alone upon the face of eternity.”<\/p>\n INSPIRED BY HEINLEIN\u2019S SPIRIT<\/strong><\/p>\n In his own fresh, fun and forward-thinking way, McCarthy ranks among the new generation of sf writers carrying on Heinlein\u2019s brand of fiction and his optimism that humanity does have a future in space.<\/p>\n Today, when billionaire-launched private space companies are competing and cooperating with governments and various organizations to push further into space, Rich Man\u2019s Sky\u00a0<\/em>doesn\u2019t seem quite so fantastical.<\/p>\n With Rich Man\u2019s Sky,<\/em> McCarthy is developing his own exciting and visionary Future History series \u2013 one that I, like many readers, will be eager to read to find out what happens next.<\/p>\n Note:\u00a0<\/strong>Rich Man\u2019s Sky\u00a0<\/em>is the first Wil McCarthy novel nominated for a Prometheus Award.<\/p>\n For capsule reviews and news about all five 2022 Best Novel finalists, see the LFS press release.<\/a><\/p>\n Read the Prometheus-blog reviews of other Best Novel finalists Seize What’s Held Dear<\/em>,<\/a> \u00a0Klara and the Sun<\/em><\/a> and Should We Stay or Should We Go.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n * Watch the video<\/strong>s of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies, Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog\u2019s Video page.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n * Read\u00a0\u201cThe Libertarian History of Science Fiction,\u201d<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0an essay in the international magazine\u00a0Quillette<\/em>\u00a0that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf\/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.<\/p>\n *\u00a0Join us<\/strong>! To help sustain the Prometheus Awards,\u00a0join\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>the Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS), a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf\/fantasy fans.<\/p>\n Libertarian futurists believe that culture matters! We understand that the arts and literature can be vital, and in some ways even more powerful than politics in the long run, by sparking innovation, better ideas, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other\u2019s rights and differences.<\/p>\n Through recognizing the literature of liberty and the many different but complementary visions of a free future via the Prometheus Awards, the LFS hopes to help spread better visions of the future that help humanity overcome tyranny, slavery and war and achieve universal liberty and human rights and a better world (perhaps eventually, worlds) for all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction: This is the final review in a series that the Prometheus blog has been publishing this spring and summer to highlight the 2022 Best Novel finalists. This review of Wil McCarthy\u2019s Rich Man\u2019s Sky\u00a0follows previously posted reviews of the other four finalists: Lionel Shriver\u2019s Should We Stay Or Should We Go,\u00a0Kazuo Ishiguro\u2019s Klara and … Continue reading Rich Man\u2019s Sky: Wil McCarthy\u2019s Best Novel finalist imagines billionaire-led quest for private solar-system development<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[1559,279,1621,505,1624,263,277,154,1613,1622,1487,21,423,1623,310,1556,66,1484],"class_list":["post-4672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-billionaires","tag-capitalism","tag-coercive-government","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-interstellar-propulsion","tag-kings-of-the-high-frontier","tag-mars","tag-moon","tag-private-enterprise","tag-proxima-centauri","tag-rich-mans-sky","tag-robert-heinlein","tag-solar-system","tag-space-hibernation","tag-terraforming","tag-the-man-who-sold-the-moon","tag-victor-koman","tag-wil-mccarthy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-1dm","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4672"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4799,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672\/revisions\/4799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/strong>As the quite different billionaires (actually \u201ctrillionaires,\u201d dubbed the Four Horseman) propel humanity\u2019s expansion into the solar system, McCarthy\u2019s writing conjures an epic mosaic of ambition, desire, fear and hope.<\/p>\n<\/a>
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\nLoosely structured and somewhat episodic in its far-flung imagination, Rich Man\u2019s Sky\u00a0<\/em>sets up several intriguing scenarios.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Beyond its implicit critique of what Austrian-school economist Ludwig von Mises billed as the Anti-Capitalist Mentality, Rich Man\u2019s Sky\u00a0<\/em>further illuminates today\u2019s real-world issues via clearly dramatizing the vast possibilities for voluntary cooperation and progress based on investment, cooperation, and scientific\/tech innovations.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>What once were almost exclusively fictional tales of adventure, initiative and futuristic imagination \u2013 from Heinlein\u2019s story \u201cThe Man Who Sold the Moon\u201d to Victor Koman\u2019s Prometheus-winning Kings of the High Frontier<\/em>, to mention just a few libertarian SF classics \u2013 are now becoming routine newspaper\/TV headlines.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n