#120 Cities at war: Oath of Fealty (1981) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

In a recent episode, we looked at Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, who formed the most important science fiction writing team of the 1950s. This instalment looks at a key book by a dominant collaboration of the 1970s and 1980s - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

These right-wing hard SF authors worked together on numerous books, and even collaborated on fantasy at times. Their 1981 novel Oath of Fealty is an interesting fusion of their scientific speculations and their unsettling, libertarian politics. It is also a prominent work of SF focusing on the theme of arcologies - high-tech, self-contained, urban communities cut off from the outside world.

Oath of Fealty was published just after Ronald Reagan became President of the United States, and reflects the hard-right atmosphere of the time. A few years later it was included, with some misgivings, in David Pringle's book Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels. This episode gives an overview of this memorable book, and its significance in 1980s political SF.

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