''Alongside Night'' is a

dystopian novel Utopian and dystopian fiction are subgenres of speculative fiction that explore extreme forms of social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

writer J. Neil Schulman intended to articulate the principles of

Agorism Samuel Edward Konkin III (July 8, 1947 – February 23, 2004), also known as SEK3, was a Canadian-American libertarian philosopher and Austrian school economist. As the author of the publication ''New Libertarian Manifesto'', he was a proponen ...

, a political philosophy created by

Samuel Edward Konkin III Samuel Edward Konkin III (July 8, 1947 – February 23, 2004), also known as SEK3, was a Canadian-American libertarian philosopher and Austrian school economist. As the author of the publication ''New Libertarian Manifesto'', he was a proponen ...

, 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

Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wireless networking ...

during 2009. The novel received endorsements from

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...

and

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and ...

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 who created and operated the illegal darknet market Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. Silk Road was an online marketplace that facilitated the trade in narcotics and othe ...

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 Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

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

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

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 banks over-inflated the money supply. Trading in foreign currency is illegal and businesses are subject to rationing. As a result, there is a growing

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

for everything. Elliot Vreeland, son of

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) 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 outstanding contributions in th ...

Austrian School The Austrian school is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivat ...

economist Dr. Martin Vreeland, learns of his father's apparent death, and is rushed home from school. Elliot learns his father has faked his death to escape arrest by the

government agents Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

who are detaining "radicals" accused of worsening the economic crisis. Elliot is sent by his father to collect some

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

coins stored in case the family has to escape. Upon returning 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 Counter-economics is an economic theory and revolutionary method consisting of direct action carried out through the black market or the gray market. As a term, it was originally used by American libertarian activists and theorists Samuel Edward ...

. 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 individuals outside of these organizations – 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 Dystopian novels Libertarian science fiction books Fiction set in 1999 Crown Publishing Group books