Freedom Through Old Folks

When a science experiment conducted by the home-schooled eight-year-old Toby goes astray, his grandfather Dane Crockford realizes it created fusion energy. Somehow, some of the hydrogen gas in the tank was converted to helium. In Light Up the Night, a science fiction novel by Holly Chism, this proves a game-changer.

Dane lives in a small rural American town. In this near-future world, except at the margins, the government monopolizes power generation and education. The exceptions are nuclear power and homeschooling.

All combustion engines were outlawed for environmental reasons. Only electric cars are permitted. Only “sustainable” sources of power (wind and solar) are used to generate electricity. The sole electric company—the oxymoronically-named Liberty Electric—is run by the government which charges monopoly prices for unreliable electricity.

Similarly, college tuition is so high that most attending need government student loans to obtain degrees. The economy is bad. The only way to pay off loans is through government loan-forgiveness programs offered by working for the Federal government. The loans never quite get paid off, making those in their twenties through forties indentured servants to the federal government.

The country slipped into tyranny so gradually that no one noticed until it was too late. Government snitches report those who resist. Resisters find their electricity cut off or (if they work for the government) reassigned to miserable jobs.

Dane is already labeled a troublemaker. He has grandfathered solar panels providing electricity during government-mandated blackouts. (He needs 24-hour power to keep his wife alive. She has respiratory problems requiring climate control.) Although retired, he is on-call as a welder for Liberty, the only one available in his area.

He maintained an uneasy truce with Liberty by providing vital skills in exchange for their tolerating his private power-generation setup. That collapses when a federal bureaucrat decides to disconnect Dane from the grid.

Dane, aided by his town’s other blue-collar grumpy old men and crafty old women, sees an opportunity for escape. By scaling up his grandson’s science experiment they can provide power for the town. The race is on to attain energy independence.

Light Up the Night is a delightful read. The McGuffin of practical fusion power is accomplished through the massive use of handwavium. It does not matter. The story is just so good. The wicked fail and the virtuous prosper as a second, peaceful, American Revolution unfolds. Chism provides a parable for modern times on how to restore traditional American values.

“Light Up the Night,” by Holly Chism, Independently Published, September 2024, 141 pages, 3.99 (ebook)

This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.