Mack Reynolds
Amazon Planet

THE REVIEW

I continue my journey of rediscovering the writings of Mack Reynolds, an author of various genres and one of the greats of the science fiction genre of the sixties and seventies in particular. A socialist and a great scholar, he is passionate about politics and spent ten years traveling in Europe, trying to complete his education with firsthand experiences of systems he had only read about in textbooks and learned about from third-party accounts. His novels are mostly brilliant works, sci-fi stories set in a more or less distant dystopian future where the characters find themselves in contexts that foresee the development of the author's thoughts. Set during those years, many of them have a typical component derived from the espionage genre, and a secret agent is also the protagonist of this very particular novel titled "Amazon Planet".

Published in 1967, the novel is set on Amazonia, one of the planets colonized after the expansion of Earthlings into space and connected to Earth as all others by a relative bond of subordination. In truth, the central interplanetary government, aiming to encourage cooperation among all planets, exercises its influence very lightly, except when situations seem to foresee the rise of undemocratic institutions and systems that prevent progress.

Let's say that Amazonia doesn't have a good reputation from this standpoint. Founded by a collective of staunch feminists, over time the planet has moved away from ideals of emancipation and equality, mutual and reciprocal collaboration and assistance, transforming into a society where women are seen as warriors and enjoy absolute and almost unlimited rights over the male population, relegated to a role similar to that of slaves and deprived of any rights. This is the context that appears to agent Ronny Bronston, whose primary task is to gather information, also because—known as a planet inhabited by an aggressive, warlike, inhospitable, and subjugated population—virtually no one visits it, especially men, and it is therefore surrounded by a mysterious aura whose overall picture will immediately appear unclear and full of contradictions to Bronston.

An engaging novel filled with plot twists in the sense that its content and developments become clear only as one progresses with the reading, "Amazon Planet" is also a fun story but, above all, another opportunity for Reynolds to delve into his studies and reflections on the nature of societal structures from antiquity to modern times and the social roles of men and women, including the structuring of the family and how all these aspects relate to true equality because they are connected with culture and have repercussions on politics, society, and institutions. Truly a beautiful spy-fi with content as parodic as it is historical, it revisits the old myth used many times throughout history and makes it both an allegorical and updated representation in a truly complex dimension, concluding the novel in a way that is truly brilliant and full of interesting insights that are still valid today on a speculative level and for their relevance. What more can be said except, long live women, I continue to think that today as in the past and even more so tomorrow, the future is in their hands and that real parity, on a cultural as well as a practical level, is the first and most important step towards creating a better world to live in.