The Future Los Angeles Series by K. W. Jeter
The Future Los Angeles Series presents a speculative vision of a dystopian future centered around the themes of identity, survival, and the societal divide between the privileged and the marginalized. The narrative unfolds through interconnected stories featured in the series, with characters such as E. Allen Limmit, a brothel keeper who embarks on a perilous journey to Los Angeles, and Schuyler, a sprinter caught in a deadly game of contraband racing. As Limmit navigates the stark contrasts of the Interface—where the wealthy of Orange County clash with the impoverished of Rattown—he encounters dark realities including the exploitation of amputee prostitutes and the violent enforcement of moral standards by groups like the Moral Forces.
The series also delves into themes of legacy and betrayal, particularly through Limmit's dealings with Dr. Adder and John Mox, leading to a climactic psychic battle that tests Limmit's courage and familial ties. Similarly, Schuyler’s story explores the consequences of societal manipulation as he grapples with his past and the corrupt influences surrounding him. The additional tale of R. D. Legger further layers the narrative with his own struggles against a sinister plot and a relentless pursuit, ultimately weaving a complex tapestry of desperation and resilience in a reimagined Los Angeles. Each thread highlights the fragility of hope and the search for meaning in an increasingly chaotic world.
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Subject Terms
The Future Los Angeles Series
First published:Dr. Adder (1984), The Glass Hammer (1985), and Death Arms (1987)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Science fiction—future history
Time of work: The twenty-first century
Locale: Los Angeles and elsewhere in Southern California
The Plot
In Dr. Adder, a stranger offers E. Allen Limmit the chance to escape his empty life as keeper of the company brothel at the Phoenix Egg Laying Ranch. All he has to do is deliver a suitcase to Los Angeles. Limmit agrees. He is taken to the Interface, a street that separates the privileged Orange County citizens from the denizens of Rattown, the slums of the former Los Angeles. Limmit is amazed to find men pimping amputee prostitutes, most of whom were created by Dr. Adder, the man Limmit was sent to find.
Limmit wanders the Interface, trying to find Dr. Adder. He meets Droit, an information broker. Droit leads him to Adder, behind iron gates at the head of the Interface. Limmit offers Adder the contents of the suitcase—a “flashglove”, a cybernetic attachment and weapon created by Limmits father, Lester Gass. Adder buys the glove and offers Limmit a job. Limmit accepts.
That night, John Mox, Adders archenemy, orders his Moral Forces to destroy the Interface. The Moral Forces kill most of the inhabitants of the Interface, but Limmit escapes. Adder escapes as well and has the flashglove attached to his arm. He later is betrayed by a confidante to the Moral Forces. They take him back to the Interface and beat him nearly to death. Adders subconscious mind activates the flashglove, and he slaughters all the Moral Forces. He then collapses, near death.
After the raid, Limmit is without purpose until the strange, and sometimes oracular, KCID tells him to go underground and seek out the Visitor. Limmit finds out from Droit that the Visitor is reported to be an alien entity. Droit provides Limmit with a guide, and Limmit heads into the sewer system of Los Angeles.
Limmits guide eventually turns on him, and he is captured by the Society of the Prodigal Son, the SPS, a group of fathers from Orange County who capture runaways and take them back to Orange County. They take Limmit to Orange County, where he sees the jaded youth and corrupt center of the supposedly affluent residents. Limmit discovers that the SPS is cannibalistic. He escapes and goes back to the sewers.
He eventually finds the Visitor, but the creature is dying and has nothing to offer Limmit. Limmit returns to Los Angeles to find Adder alive. Adder asks for his help in a final assault on John Mox. Using a psychoactive drug and a young girl with unusual abilities, Adder confronts Mox in a psychic battle. Limmit discovers a secret about Mox and must journey to the psychic field to warn Adder. During the psychic battle, the climax of the book, Limmit must confront his fears as well as his family legacy.
The Glass Hammer tells the story of a man named Schuyler. In the present time frame of the story, Schuyler is a sprinter, a driver who carries contraband across a satellite-patrolled desert between Phoenix and Los Angeles. As the story begins, he is in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound. He also is the subject of a televised biography. It is through the biography, often presented in screenplay format, that his history is revealed.
Schuyler had been born into the Cathedra Novum church at Northernmost Parish. He is transferred to Eureka Station, a frozen dumping ground for church problems. On his way there, he is befriended by a Godfriend named Cynth. The Godfriends, all female, believe that they are destined to give birth to the Second Coming. They do not want this to occur and have forbidden intercourse with men. When Eureka Station is blown up, however, Cynth and Schuyler are forced to trek through arctic wilderness to survive. The two have sexual intercourse, and Cynth becomes pregnant. Cynth and Schuyler are now “Mother-of-God” and “Father-of-God.”
They are separated, and Schuyler is sent to Los Angeles and excommunicated by the Cathedra Novum. He is recruited for the sprinters. The sprinters runs are televised, and Schuyler becomes a star. Speed Death Productions sends Endryx out to film his biography.
As the present-time story continues, other sprinters are killed by satellites until only Schuyler is left. Realizing that something is wrong, Schuyler, with the help of some friends, finds out that he, and all of society, is being manipulated. The novel ends with his confrontation with Endryx and his attempt to put things right.
In Death Arms, R. D. Legger, a son of an assassin, is caught up in a bizarre plot as he returns to a Los Angeles being repopulated after a mass desertion. As soon as he gets to Los Angeles, a man hands him a manuscript; the man is then assassinated in front of Legger. This leads Legger into the hands of the police and starts his strange adventure in Los Angeles.
After being released, Legger encounters various people: a grey-bearded man; the “rems,” disturbed remnants of the past population; Dortz and Ann, possible radicals; and Rachel and Buddy Stain, children with horrifying psychic abilities. Legger eventually decides to help Dortz and Ann with their plans to find out what was in the manuscript the man tried to hand Legger. They break into the police station but are discovered. A “slow bullet,” an unstoppable missile geared to Legger’s brain waves, is fired at Legger.
To escape the bullet and find out about his past, Legger accompanies Dortz, Ann, and Rachel on a trip across the desert. The trip leads him through his past as well as through the tangled plot in which he is caught. Eventually, near the town of Boron, Legger faces his past, the man responsible for the plot, and the slow bullet.