I just finished reading Philliou's novel. I am just now getting my feet back on the ground! Far out places with new visions of a coming "brave new world". It made me wonder "what if some of the things in the book are true?" And then I realized: "They are"! In some way or another we are all ruled by an "authority" that presumes to know what is "best" for us...
The main character Gus seems real in a sense that he learns that survival is the only real way...
So skills do matter as well as goals...
I hope the author continues the story with a second book. What comes after the desert?