Thu 13 Mar 2025
SF Diary Review: PIERS ANTHONY & ROBERT E. MARGROFF – The Ring.
Posted by Steve under Diary Reviews , Science Fiction & Fantasy[3] Comments
PIERS ANTHONY & ROBERT E. MARGROFF – The Ring. Ace A-19, paperback original; 1st printing, 1968. Published as part of the Ace SF Special series. Cover art by Diane Dillon and Leo Dillon. Tor, paperback, 1986.
A flawed Utopia, with a machine acting as conscience and punishment for wrong-doers; crime is rampant on Earth, although need is theoretically abolished – indeed crime is licensed through Vicinc, and inflation takes its usual toll from the average man. High-minded theory vs. ugly reality.
This is the world Jeff returns to from the stars, with dreams of revenge against his father’s former business partner who was the cause if his father’s exile from Earth. But Jeff is caught before he can carry out his plans, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be ringed.
The ring is an instrument of the Ultra Conscience, painfully enforcing firm ethical standards, But there are degrees if honesty, and the ring can be bio substitute fir human judgment: the concept of self-defense is not recognized, making the ringer the target for universal criminal attack. How can a truly ethical system be formalized as law? Is the ring the only answer? The ring can be effective with the proper programming. But who does the programming?
Meanwhile, Jeff struggles within the restrictions of the ring to avenge his father, but he discovers he does not know the whole truth. Exciting, suspenseful writing. With imagination providing for a future society which is easily extrapolated from our own. Since the characters are easily translated to those of Tennyson, it is no wonder they interest the reader so deeply.
Rating: *****
March 14th, 2025 at 10:42 pm
Unfortunately, I missed this one during that brief period before I turned completely away from Anthony and never went back.
Sounds like an interesting book, but my experience with Anthony is so bad I doubt I’ll go looking for it.
March 15th, 2025 at 9:18 am
Anthony’s first Xanth book was A Spell for Chameleon (1977), which I read but found not interesting enough to read another. Luckily for him, other readers found the series a real winner. There are now almost 50 of them. They’re not for me, but I say good for him!
March 15th, 2025 at 11:40 am
I’ve had the same experience you and David had with Piers Anthony. I read his first few SF novels and A SPELL FOR CHAMELEON and a couple others. The Xanth books left me cold. But, as you say, Anthony struck gold with the Xanth series!