Michael Remembers Books 1

MICHAEL REMEMBERS is not just an amusing science-fiction novel but also a scathing social satire decrying the corruption and subversion of America's once-vaunted legal, judicial, and political system. The Retrogression Procedure is allegorical for the draconian sentences handed down routinely by judges nowadays.Book 1At the beginning of the 24th Century, when Michael Tadlock is born, the world is plagued by the double scourge of crime at an all-time high and human fertility at an all-time low. When he is ten years old, a scientific breakthrough is announced--the Retrogression Procedure—which, society believes, will signi¬ficantly alleviate both problems. Thereafter, those who are convicted of major crimes are retrogressed instead of serving long prison terms. This medical procedure transforms the subject's body back into what it was at 1/10 the subject's present age. Well-educated, cultured, kind, and witty, Michael Tadlock is nevertheless too fond of living "the good life" and too smart for his own good. Both at 27 and (again!) at 50, he commits horrendous illegal financial manipulations, for which he is arrested, tried, convicted, and retrogressed. The first Procedure transforms his body back to himself as a two-year-old; the second one (23 years later reverts him to himself as a five-year-old. In both instances Michael retains his adult mind and previous sense of identity and must adapt to living in a child's environment, going back to school, obeying well-intentioned but flawed adoptive parents, and trying to avoid or overcome the growing prejudice and hostility that so many "normal" people now harbor against retros.