Metroplis

Written at the beginning of the last century and set in 2026, 'Metropolis' by Thea von Harbou was the novel that inspired the cult silent SF Movie of the same name, directed by her future husband, Fritz Lang.  The novel is more complex and nuanced than the movie: The city of the future is two cities: one occupied by its hedonistic ruling class and that of a much larger segregated subculture, toilers in a mechanised underworld, labouring to provide the rich with their pleasures. When a charismatic leader arises, she seeks a savior to unite the disparate social orders. "Between the brain that plans and the hands that build," she declares, "there must be a mediator-the heart." Does this sound familiar?