The Status Civilization

Pages: 133

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Listen to The Status Civilization Audiobook Free

Read by Gregg Margarite (1957-2012) · 4 h 57 min · 6 parts

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1 - The Status Civilization (Chapters 1 - 4)
49:08
2 - The Status Civilization (Chapters 5 - 9)
56:24
3 - The Status Civilization (Chapters 10 - 15)
50:27
4 - The Status Civilization (Chapters 16 - 21)
51:56
5 - The Status Civilization (Chapters 22 - 26)
42:06
6 - The Status Civilization (Chapters 27 - 30)
47:03

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About this book

A locked room and a missing past leave a prisoner with almost nothing to explain his situation. He first assumes that he is recovering in a hospital, but an armed guard gives him a cell number instead of a name. In Robert Sheckley's 1960 science fiction novel, Earth has sent its prisoners to Omega, a planet where official assurances offer little protection from danger.

Barrent must confront a society whose officials treat a deadly Hunt as an honor and defend its rules with elaborate arguments. His exchange with Norins Jay turns a struggle for survival into a dispute about law, obedience and responsibility. The contrast between polite administrative language and the threats it disguises gives the novel its satirical edge. Readers interested in imagined political systems will find a story that tests what legal rights mean when the people enforcing them accept cruelty as routine.

About the author

Robert Sheckley

Robert Sheckley (1928-2005) was an American science fiction writer celebrated for his witty, satirical short stories. A frequent contributor to Galaxy and other magazines in the 1950s, he became known for absurdist, ironic tales that influenced later humorists such as Douglas Adams.