Checkmate in paradise.
Ciudad de Vados was a Latin-American showplace, a paradise...a flourishing supercity designed and run nearly to perfection.
But not quite. They had a traffic problem.
Boyd Hakluyt didn't understand why, but he had been brought in to analyze the situation and to straighten it out - or so he thought. But when he attempted to get anything done, nothing worked right, and everyone suddenly became evasive.
That's when he realized the city's traffic problems were the least of his worries. Somehow his every move was being dictated by somebody else. He was being controlled as if he were merely a piece in a chess game - an expendable piece, at that. Then suddenly Boyd concluded he had become part of a fiendish living game, playing for his life on THE SQUARES OF THE CITY.
"One of the most important science fiction authors. Brunner held a mirror up to reflect our foibles because he wanted to save us from ourselves." --SF Site
For each generation, there is a writer meant to bend the rules of what we know. Hugo Award winner (Best Novel, STAND ON ZANZIBAR) and British science fiction master John Brunner remains one of the most influential and respected authors of all time, and now E-Reads is pleased to re-introduce many of his classic works. For readers familiar with his vision, it's a chance to re-examine his thoughtful worlds and words, while for new readers, Brunner's work proves itself the very definition of timeless.
In THE SQUARES OF THE CITY, Brunner takes the moves of a classic championship chess game and uses them as the structure to build a novel about a revolution in a South American country obsessed with chess and dominated by a dictator who sees people as pawns in his game of power and survival. Intriguing premise, dramatic story, future setting, great entertainment.
Read More
Checkmate in paradise.
Ciudad de Vados was a Latin-American showplace, a paradise...a flourishing supercity designed and run nearly to perfection.
But not quite. They had a traffic problem.
Boyd Hakluyt didn't understand why, but he had been brought in to analyze the situation and to straighten it out - or so he thought. But when he attempted to get anything done, nothing worked right, and everyone suddenly became evasive.
That's when he realized the city's traffic problems were the least of his worries. Somehow his every move was being dictated by somebody else. He was being controlled as if he were merely a piece in a chess game - an expendable piece, at that. Then suddenly Boyd concluded he had become part of a fiendish living game, playing for his life on THE SQUARES OF THE CITY.
It is a sociological story of urban class warfare and political intrigue, taking place in the fictional South American capital city of Vados. It explores the idea of subliminal messages as political tools, and it is notable for having the structure of the famous 1892 chess game between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Chigorin. The structure is not coincidental, and plays an important part in the story.
Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1966.
Description:
Checkmate in paradise.
Ciudad de Vados was a Latin-American showplace, a paradise...a flourishing supercity designed and run nearly to perfection.
But not quite. They had a traffic problem.
Boyd Hakluyt didn't understand why, but he had been brought in to analyze the situation and to straighten it out - or so he thought. But when he attempted to get anything done, nothing worked right, and everyone suddenly became evasive.
That's when he realized the city's traffic problems were the least of his worries. Somehow his every move was being dictated by somebody else. He was being controlled as if he were merely a piece in a chess game - an expendable piece, at that. Then suddenly Boyd concluded he had become part of a fiendish living game, playing for his life on THE SQUARES OF THE CITY.
"One of the most important science fiction authors. Brunner held a mirror up to reflect our foibles because he wanted to save us from ourselves."
--SF Site
For each generation, there is a writer meant to bend the rules of what we know. Hugo Award winner (Best Novel, STAND ON ZANZIBAR) and British science fiction master John Brunner remains one of the most influential and respected authors of all time, and now E-Reads is pleased to re-introduce many of his classic works. For readers familiar with his vision, it's a chance to re-examine his thoughtful worlds and words, while for new readers, Brunner's work proves itself the very definition of timeless.
In THE SQUARES OF THE CITY, Brunner takes the moves of a classic championship chess game and uses them as the structure to build a novel about a revolution in a South American country obsessed with chess and dominated by a dictator who sees people as pawns in his game of power and survival. Intriguing premise, dramatic story, future setting, great entertainment.
Read More
Checkmate in paradise.
It is a sociological story of urban class warfare and political intrigue, taking place in the fictional South American capital city of Vados. It explores the idea of subliminal messages as political tools, and it is notable for having the structure of the famous 1892 chess game between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Chigorin. The structure is not coincidental, and plays an important part in the story. Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1966.Ciudad de Vados was a Latin-American showplace, a paradise...a flourishing supercity designed and run nearly to perfection.
But not quite. They had a traffic problem.
Boyd Hakluyt didn't understand why, but he had been brought in to analyze the situation and to straighten it out - or so he thought. But when he attempted to get anything done, nothing worked right, and everyone suddenly became evasive.
That's when he realized the city's traffic problems were the least of his worries. Somehow his every move was being dictated by somebody else. He was being controlled as if he were merely a piece in a chess game - an expendable piece, at that. Then suddenly Boyd concluded he had become part of a fiendish living game, playing for his life on THE SQUARES OF THE CITY.