''Alongside Night'' is a dystopian novel by science fiction writer

J. Neil Schulman Joseph Neil Schulman (; April 16, 1953 – August 10, 2019) was an American novelist who wrote ''Alongside Night'' (published 1979) and '' The Rainbow Cadenza'' (published 1983) which both received the Prometheus Award, a libertarian science fict ...

intended to articulate the principles of

Agorism Agorism is a social philosophy that advocates creating a society in which all relations between people are voluntary exchanges by means of counter-economics, engaging with aspects of nonviolent revolution. It was first proposed by American liber ...

, a political philosophy created by Samuel Edward Konkin III, to whom Schulman dedicated the work. It was first published during 1979 by Crown Publishers, with subsequent paperback editions released by Ace Books during 1982, Avon Books during 1987, Pulpless.com during 1999, and

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during 2009. The novel received endorsements from Anthony Burgess and Milton Friedman and was entered into the Libertarian Futurist Society's Prometheus Hall of Fame in 1989.

Ross Ulbricht Ross William Ulbricht (born March 27, 1984) is an American serving life imprisonment for creating and operating the darknet market website Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. The site operated as a hidden service on the Tor network an ...

credited the novel and Konkin’s writings as inspirations for the creation of the online marketplace

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

. A film adaptation, written and directed by Schulman, was released in 2014 via Tugg and later on

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and home video. It was accompanied by an audiobook version of the novel as well as a graphic novel adaptation of the screenplay.

Plot summary

The story begins with the United States collapsing economically and the government's agents struggling to keep their power after central bankers over-inflated the money supply. Trading in foreign currency is illegal. Businesses are subject to rationing. As a result, there is a growing

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

for everything. It's the world as Samuel Edward Konkin III conceived it prior to a successful agorist revolution. Elliot Vreeland, son of

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

Austrian School economist Dr. Martin Vreeland, learns of his father's apparent death, and is rushed home from school. But the death is fake, a plot concocted by his father to escape arrest by the government agents who are detaining "radicals" accused of worsening the economic crisis. Elliot is sent by his father to collect some gold coins stored in case the family has to escape. Upon his return home, Elliot finds his family missing. Government agents enter the house searching for Elliot, who manages to escape. Elliot becomes acquainted with the Revolutionary Agorist Cadre, an organization plotting the end of the government agents by means of counter-economics. The cadre is strong and organized, and has its militia. Elliot enlists their help, and meets Lorimer, a girl hiding from the government agents; they develop a relationship. As the government agents weaken, they tighten controls on communication, travel, and trade. This fails to avert economic collapse, causing the private sector – unions, syndicates, and many unorganized individuals – to control the old infrastructure.

Film adaptation

In 2013, Schulman completed production on a feature-film adaptation of the book, '' Alongside Night''.

References

External links

{{portal, Novels
''Alongside Night''
– Official Novel Website
''Alongside Night''
– Novel Page on Facebook 1979 American novels 1979 science fiction novels Agorism American novels adapted into films Anarchist fiction Dystopian novels Libertarian science fiction books Fiction set in 1999 Crown Publishing Group books