The Dueling Machine is a scifi story set in political tensions between three areas of settled planets. The Terran Alliance runs the space police force Star Watch. The Acquitaine Cluster and the Kerak worlds struggle for superiority. The Kerak dictator discovers a way to use the dueling machine to create political instability in the Acquitaine Cluster and make it easier to rearm the borders for war.
The machine itself is a type of virtual reality dreamscape in which two opponents duel to the death in a program created by the participants. These duels are used to end verbal disagreements before turning to physical confrontation in the real world.
Upside
Character descriptions
I found the distinction between ground cars and flying cars very interesting
Downside
The narrative changes perspectives, often without a chapter break to differentiate
The story seemed to be concluded but to clear up the political tensions another element was created to be resolved after the initial problem was resolved
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