I’ve had this one for a while now and decided It was time to get to it. I tracked it down after Ray over at Broken Trails posted on it. My copy is a Bantam edition from November 1963, his a British edition from Corgi Books. His review is very good and I suggest you check it out. Charbonneau even wrote westerns, something I perhaps need to look into.
In reading THE SENTINEL STARS, parts of it seem especially relevant today. The idea of having to work off your tax burden becomes more and more likely in today’s staggering economy. When the politicians trumpet about the debt we are leaving our children while those in charge seem unwilling to do anything about relief for us “common” folks. The tax cuts for those who don’t really need them while only giving perfunctory cuts to those middle and lower income folks digs us ever deeper into the hole.
I did enjoy the book though.
For more Forgotten books, check out Patti Abbott over at Pattinase.
I had a copy of THE SENTINEL STARS for a couple decades. Time to read it.
This one sounds tantalizingly familiar to me
I read Charbonneau’s Down to Earth a while back (pretty miserable) — between you, me, and Ray Charbonneau is having a mini-renaissance! haha, but, somewhat confirming his rather lackluster quality. This one definitely sounds better than Down to Earth (variant title: Antic Earth).
This might have been a fun SF read a few decades ago, but sounds too political to do more than make me seethe. I wonder when those cool fashions will arrive? Heh.
Joachim, this is the only thing I’ve read by Charbonneau, so I can’t speak with any authority. Ray mentions he wrote westerns as well and i’m a fan, so i may hunt some down to see what they are like.
Richard, those jump suits were a class distinction in the novel.
I’d probably skip to the westerns.