The plot is typically topsy-turvy. Whereas in the earlier novel The Space
Merchants the world was ruled by advertising agencies, in this novel corporate
lawyers, especially the secretive firm of "Green, Charlesworth" have gained a
stranglehold on the world. Business Law is an extremely lucrative career, while
Criminal Law pays enough to afford some of the luxuries of life but not enough
to save for the future.
Success means living in a luxurious automated "bubble home" constructed by
"GML", a corporation which is nominally public but whose shares are never
traded openly. All work contracts include GML housing as part of the pay scale.
Not having a contract job means having to live in a community such as "Belly
Rave", originally a post-war suburban development for returning soldiers, now a
slum ruled by teenage gangs. Its original name was "Belle Rêve". […]
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