The novel that started it all

Celebrating the re-release of L. Neil Smith's classic Libertarian SF novel

The Probability Broach is a brilliant, subversive novel. It exposes individuals to libertarian ideas and possibilities, and in many cases, succeeds in opening their minds. It is a powerful first novel first published in 1980, and long out of print.

The original print run of around 44,000 copies ran dry around 1988. At that time, Smith organized an effort to get Del Rey to reprint the novel, which never happened. On pages 6 and 7 we have reprinted some of the letters he received to aid his effort. This is only a fraction of the fan letters Smith has received, but space considerations prevented me from reprinting more comments. Clearly, this is a unique and pathbreaking novel.

A letter sent to Neil Smith in November, 1986, illustrates the subversiveness of the book. Discovered by the letter-writer in the Christian literature rack at his workplace (along with works by Johan Most and George Smiths book on atheism), TPB was saved from the fiery fate of those other "treasonable" books by its innocuous appearance (the original cover, after all, looked like a Planet of the Apes novel, quite different from the new cover by Peter Peebles).

And that innocuous appearance, the writer laments, was “his mistake. My teenage son read the book and is now further from the church than ever. My wife and I have tried very hard with him and now, it is hopeless. And you [L. Neil Smith] are to blame. He actually laughs at us now. He says he has found a whole new philosophy and is going to buy every Smith book he can find! His strange behavior has us really worried because the little things he does are so weird. He renamed our cat Lysander, has gotten into trouble with his history and social studies teacher. And even though he has never had a drink, he talks about whiskey rebellion.”

In re-reading the novel, I could not help but feel that this is a timeless book. It does not matter that it was written in 1979 and the date of the action is 1987 (should we have stopped reading Orwell's 1984 after that date passed?). Some details do become dated, but not the essence of the story. The restored material gives the book a more detailed and realistic feel.

This is a book that any libertarian could buy to hand out as gifts to friends and others. TPB is a murder mystery that turns into an alternate universe story, takes a hard bank into political thriller, and packs a solid entertainment-savvy punch. And, 19 books later, Smith has lost none of his edge.

When someone mentions libertarian sf, the first person that comes to mind is L. Neil Smith, and that's not a coincidence. Here there is wonderful invention, hope and optimism, and a glorious celebration of the individual, and the positive society of individualists. Pick up a new copy of the book and rediscover this exciting world, and reserve me a table at Meep's Texas Barbecue.