The Star Country

America after the next war: small communities scraping to survive while enclaves of high tech barricade themselves in armed fortresses. This is one of the most common settngs for contemporary SF, with its graphic mirror of the current inequities between rich and poor in the U.S. Cassutt's first novel throws in one wild cardaliens who are negotiating with several Earth governments to decide which will receive their wealth of knowledge. In the midst of the conference one of the aliens defects into outlaw country to prevent the wrong nation from winning that huge advantage. In this unfamiliar terrain the alien is aided by a poor young farmer and sees another way out of the diplomatic stalemate. Concise and direct, Cassutt covers familiar ground, doing best with almost historical vignettes, such as a young man's fearful first visit to town. (August 15)