The Lovers

TitleThe Lovers
Year for Search1961
AuthorsFarmer, Philip José(1918-2009)
Date Published1961
PublisherBallantine Books
Place PublishedNew York
KeywordsMale author, US author
Annotation

Dystopia of an overpopulated theocratic society, which appears to have Islamic roots. In North America, there is only when area, the Hudson Bay Wildlife Preserve, that is not fully built-up. There are rigid controls on all aspects of life, and a minder assigned to individuals. Everyone must wear a hood when eating. Married couples never see each other nude, and sex is considered an unpleasant duty. Uniforms indicate class with badges to indicate rank, and even access to elevators is by rank. The regime is looking for new planets to colonize with no concern for the indigenous populations. Most people are specialists, and the protagonist is a linguist who is sent to one such planet with the avowed purpose of learning about the indigenous population. But his real mission is to find and excuse for exterminating them. The dystopia provides the background to a story about interspecies love.

Additional Publishers

Rpt. New York: Ballantine Books, 1972. Rev. ed. New York: Ballantine Books, 1979; rpt. New York: Ballantine, 1980. Earlier short version under the same title in Startling Stores 27.1 (August 1952): 12-63; rpt. in The Philip José Farmer Centennial Collection. Ed. Michael Croteau (Np: Meteor House, 2018), 55-141.

Holding Institutions

PPT, PSt, PU

Author Note

(1918-2009)

Full Text

1961 Farmer, Philip José (1918-2009). The Lovers. New York: Ballantine Books. Rpt. New York: Ballantine Books, 1972. Rev. ed. New York: Ballantine Books, 1979; rpt. New York: Ballantine, 1980. Earlier short version under the same title in Startling Stores 27.1 (August 1952): 12-63; rpt. in The Philip José Farmer Centennial Collection. Ed. Michael Croteau (Np: Meteor House, 2018), 55-141. PPT, PU, PSt

Dystopia of an overpopulated theocratic society, which appears to have Islamic roots. In North America, there is only when area, the Hudson Bay Wildlife Preserve, that is not fully built-up. There are rigid controls on all aspects of life, and a minder assigned to individuals. Everyone must wear a hood when eating. Married couples never see each other nude, and sex is considered an unpleasant duty. Uniforms indicate class with badges to indicate rank, and even access to elevators is by rank. The regime is looking for new planets to colonize with no concern for the indigenous populations. Most people are specialists, and the protagonist is a linguist who is sent to one such planet with the avowed purpose of learning about the indigenous population. But his real mission is to find and excuse for exterminating them. The dystopia provides the background to a story about interspecies love.