The Unnecessary Man
by Randall Garrett

Ebook version

Started reading 25 February 2008
Finished reading 27 February 2008

Details manybooks

Enjoyable short story. On the surface, it is just a simple story of a secret agent doing his job looking for secrets from the enemy. Interspersed in the dialogue, however, the reader gets a bigger picture of the power struggles among the ruling elites. We get discourses on the limits of power and how ordinary people, the citizens of a state, are sometimes just mere pawns in the grand game of chess among the kings.

A quote from the book:

"No, you young fool, he is not unnecessary! He is, in a very real sense, the Emperor's shield. Our Emperors have always given the people of the Empire the kind of government they need, not the kind of government they want. There are certain things that must be done, whether the people like those things or not.”

'There are certain things that must be done, whether the people like those things or not', seems like a very familiar refrain. Such benevolence from those in power.