{"product_id":"the-politics-of-fear-z-bennett-lorimer-9781968122089","title":"The Politics of Fear","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNothing strains the bonds of an alliance quite like peace and prosperity.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Defensive Compact was a fine idea at its inception-a supranational governing body created by treaty between 237 interplanetary civilizations. And all it took to bring the squabbling, self-interested, xenophobic parties to terms was a shared existential threat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat threat arrived in the form of the Dorylus Encephalon, a collective organism driven by its biological imperative to incorporate or eradicate every extrinsic genetic line it encounters. Thanks to the alliance, Compact forces managed to battle the Enceph to a stalemate. The resulting cease-fire shields Compact worlds from further Enceph incursion-as long as everyone abides by its terms.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne-thousand years into the cessation of hostilities, those same Compact worlds have become hopelessly entangled in a corrupt web of economic, military, and cultural ties. The Compact Assembly is the bloated bureaucratic organ responsible for its administration. Mats Hyyland enjoys a permanent political appointment to the Assembly as Eminent Voice of the Human Diaspora-\u003cem\u003epermanent\u003c\/em\u003e being the operative word. In a vain attempt to cling to power, he achieves virtual immortality by cycling his consciousness through a series of increasingly volatile clones. When the Assembly is rocked by a high-profile political assassination, Hyyland's investigation leads him to uncover a conspiracy that threatens the very cease-fire holding the Enceph at bay. Hyyland's race to prevent that dire outcome sets him at odds with his fellow corrupt politicians, amoral corporate plutocrats, a parasitic priesthood, flamboyant pirates, self-righteous academics, an oversexed cartel queenpin, a dying bounty hunter, and a kleptosexual prostitute with a remarkable anatomic quirk.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePolitics, in other words.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Z. Bennett Lorimer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1968122087\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781968122089\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e High Trestle Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/07\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 648\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.23lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.38d","brand":"Z. Bennett Lorimer","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48874590929151,"sku":"9781968122089","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-politics-of-fear-z-bennett-lorimer-9781968122089","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}