The Dueling Machine

"The Dueling Machine" by Ben Bova and Myron R. Lewis is a science fiction novel written in the early 1960s. The story explores a futuristic society where personal disputes are settled through a high-tech dueling machine that creates a shared hallucination for the participants, allowing them to engage in combat without physical harm. The main character, Prime Minister Dulaq, finds himself in a life-or-death duel against Major Odal, which not only threatens his life but also the political stability of the Acquataine Cluster. At the start of the narrative, Dulaq prepares for his duel within an intricate cityscape created by the machine, fully believing in the authenticity of the simulated environment. As he searches for Odal, the tension builds, revealing Dulaq's internal struggle and desperation as he attempts to navigate the surreal and often nightmarish world the machine conjures. While he grapples with the illusion of reality, the stakes of his fight go beyond personal survival, intertwining with broader political ramifications. This intricate setup lays the groundwork for a compelling exploration of power, technology, and the nature of conflict in a world where reality and fiction collide. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Benjamin William Bova was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, an editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, for which he won a Hugo Award six times, and an editorial director of Omni; he was also president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America.