"Towers in the Cities of Madness" (1990, Mt)

**"Towers in the Cities of Madness"** is a 1990 (Mt) novel by Polygon Hubert Shilliams. It was Shilliams' only work before her death. Today, it is regarded as one of the greatest works of Doloosian literature, though Shilliams was Fickolean, and the book was actually entirely written in Ficko.

The book has become an extremely popular work of fiction, and a well known testament to the '2020s Doloosian scene' of the 1990s (Mt). It is among the best-selling novels of all time.

## Plot Summary

The book is a semi-autographical portrayal of Shilliams' time visiting Doloosioo during the height of economic prosperity in the 'lead revolution', Shilliams is portrayed through the fictional character Shirley Pinerock, who visits Dedodd as part of a conference into new mining techniques. Pinerock, a respected theoretical mining engineer and technical expert, is given an all-inclusive package at the Hotel Triodnab. During her stay in the hotel, she becomes acquainted with the unconventional lives of Dedodd's residents'.

On her first night, she wanders the streets, unable to gain sleep for the sounds of the city. She goes to some of the city's entertainment clubs, where people are dancing, singing, and having open free sex. She arrives back at her hotel in the early morning, and botches the delivery of her presentation the following day. She remains in the hotel for a following two days on account of the mining company's expenses, despite having no further engagements. She organises a meeting with a Doloosian-Gonian in charge of the mining investment venture. The two organise a party that involves numerous people coming over to Pinerock's apartment, dancing, and bringing drugs such as pillowchubb and lavade. The investment manager explains to Pinerock the Gonian economic system. The two discuss the morality of the system of control over Doloosioo at some length on the hotel balcony whilst a party ensues inside. The remaining night, and the following night, Pinerock ingests psychedelic drugs and stimulants native to Doloosioo, and engages in debauchery and free sex with other party attendees.

## Writing Process

Most of the events of the book were based on Shilliams' personal experience. In 1989 (Mt), Shilliams visited Dedodd on holiday, discovering the vibrant drug and partying culture. She described it as "a breeding ground of debauchery, madness, and sex", but also implied that, as the planet gained more wealth, the culture would universalise and metastasize into something larger. During her time in Dedodd, Shilliams went from disdainful to fully supportive of what she regarded as "the Doloosian lifestyle", according to notes she kept. When she returned to Ficko, she wrote the book over an 8 day period, with a further 14 day period spent revising and editing the original copy, which is also available for sale. Less than one year later, Shilliams died of an overdose on several unidentified branualisers in Dedodd, where she had returned without informing any colleague or peer.

## Cultural Significance

Shilliams' book has been heralded as one of the greatest works of Doloosian literature, despite not having been written by a Doloosian. According to many Doloosian academics, historians and ethnographers from foreign planets, the book is an accurate and seminally important snapshot into the lifestyle of Doloosians in the 1990s (Mt). It has been suggested that this lifestyle has not died down, but has become more exclusive in recent years.

The book also became a work of anti-Gonian, anti-Colonial sentiment for many Doloosians who opposed foreign control over the Doloosian system, but others have heralded the book, conversely, as a testament to the benefits of such a system, and further to its necessity.