Inferno

This is the conclusion to Resnick's *Galactic Comedy*, three romans a clef about the colonial histories of Kenya ("Paradise"), Zimbabawe ("Purgatory") and Uganda. Humans colonize a planet which resembles the rich and beautiful land that Uganda was in 1880, and the country descends into genocidal horror under brutal Gama Labu (Idi Amin, of course). These are not only excellent classic sf; they are palatable histories of these nations from which I've learned a great deal. Resnick has traveled in Africa and obviously loves it and its people dearly. I value his work much more than that of right-wingers Steve Stirling and Jerry Pournelle, for whom enslavement and colonization are positive benefits for the poor Africans. Resnick shows that colonization brought good and bad to Kenya; in Uganda, so many bad things happened that it's hard to describe.(Or understand. Do not read this book expecting a funny little comedy, please. It depicts horrors that Americans like to think went out with Hitler or Pol Pot).Uganda has seen small improvements since Resnick wrote this book (millennial debt relief and some control of AIDS) but his tale is accurate as far as it goes. This is just beautiful and heartbreaking. Highly recommended.

I can't believe nobody else has reviewed this book. It was great. Although Resnick's book does have some scientifically unlikely things, like the existance of gigantic interstellar empire, almost everything in this book is scientifically, militarily, and politically reasonable -- as well as wonderfully entertaining. This is an analogy to the European colonies in Africa, and the results are quite close to what happened to some former colonial states. If you like military works and techno-thrillers along the vein of Tom Clancey and you like science fiction that is (mostly) based on science like Arthur Clarke, you will love Inferno. Try getting the other books in the series as well.