Rating: 
Summary: Sandbaggers give wrong impression
Review: Oh, come on, folks. Of all the 5-star reviewers out there, most are surely Scientology folk who want to pump up the image of their dead - yup, dead, not "transitioned" or "moved on to the next plane" but dead - guru.I tried to read "Battlefield Earth" and gave up in disgust after little more than 100 pages. It stinks. It's pulp nonsense, and the pulp-era is long gone, "ElRon" fans. But what really irks me are the supposed "polls" indicating that fans find this to be one of the finest "sci-fi" books of the last century. Nonsense. Such polls, whether taken by the bogus American Book Readers' Association, a Church of $cientology front group, or the Random House online poll, which was easily manipulated by blind Hubbardite minions, don't square with the periodic "best all-time sf novel" polls done by Locus magazine. In fact, BE has never showed up in either of the two polls taken following the book's publication. In other words, real readers of sf (note that real sf fans rarely use the term "sci-fi," and when they do, it's usually a derogation)don't think much of the book at all, with great justification. It's appalling that front groups and legions of "ElRon" freaks can sully the name of truly excellent sf - "The Left Hand of Darkness," "Dune," "Rendezvous with Rama," "More Than Human," "Hyperion," "Neuromancer," and "Snow Crash," just to name a few - with their bogus, blind faith in their DEAD leader. Don't bother with BE. It's terrible stuff, all the way around.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: Whatever you do, don't let the movie fool you into passing over this book. The movie was trash, while this book is an excellent work of fiction, and probably one of the best science fiction novels I've ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Average at best
Review: The idea behind BE is interesting (Earth after an alien race has taken over), but the presentation is amateurish. All of the characters are completely one dimensional, the leaps of logic are glaring and the book is badly in need of an editor (apparently no one was willing to tell ElRon that he needed to edit this thing down.) BE is a classic example of "pulp fiction" (i.e. quickly written, poorly thought out magazine filler) and, from it's length, ElRon apparently thought he was still writing for 1-cent a word. If you want some GOOD SciFi see Asimov, Heinlein or Bradbury, this is far from their level.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious Sci-Fi at it's best
Review: I liked everything about this book. It was an epic, larger than life tale that included just about every aspect of a science fiction story that a person could possibly go looking for. It had drama, action, love, and a classic over-done hero who is capable of conquering the galaxy and beyond. The book made me happy and sad and frightened for the character and a whole range of other emotions throughout the 1000 and some odd pages. The adventure of waiting to find out whether Johnny Goodboy Tyler (yes, that's really his name) would be able to pull it all off, and the hilarity of some of the activities in the plot were an excellent combination...Hubbard did an excellent job of letting the character overcome one crisis after another while keeping the plot going, and not giving the reader too much to wonder about at once. I thought that I would get tired of the cheesiness of some of the things in the book, like the names of things (Johnny Goodboy Tyler, the Basher Bash Your Way to Glory Battle Tank, etc.), but somehow it just didn't stop being fun. The only thing I disliked were a few minor plot holes. The humans who've never even seen a school learn things a little too quickly while the Psychlos who had at least some kind of formal training are baffling in their stupidity, that kind of thing. Overall, those holes didn't detract from the book. I'm not sure what I could compare the book to, perhaps a sci-fi version of Robert Jordan with a heavy dose of Douglas Adams thrown in, but that doesn't really sum it up. It was more Battlestar Galactica meets The Simpsons. ...
Rating:
Summary: I don't understand what all the fuss is about...
Review: The movie was terrible. The book was just as bad. It's the year 3000 and Earth has been invaded by alien Psychlos who have more or less exterminated mankind... The idea is a good one but, in my opinion, terribly written. The book reads like a badly written essay. Events happen too quickly and much to easily. I find the thought that a highly advanced alien race can be so easily deceived by people who for hundreds of years have lived as little more than cavemen completely laughable. As with the other LRH books, I cannot understand what makes people give this book such high marks. I'm not SF snob, but this book insulted my intelligence. LRH does not hold a candle to Asimov, Calark, Bova or any of the other more serious SF writers. Chances are, it doesn't matter what I say, you'll probably read this book anyway. Do yourself a favor, though, borrow a copy first. Anyone want mine for free?
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but could have been better
Review: Battlefield Earth is not what you will expect.What I expected was 1000 pages of humans verses only Psychlos, with a final confrontation between the hero and the villain. What happened was that the Psychlos got defeated in the first half. Then humanity had to set up a new form of government, and then there is yet another threat. The problem is, that the Psychlo/human battles at the first half of the novel are more interesting than the rest of the book.However, of all the books that I have read, this is the one book that I would consider complete, with no possiblility of a sequel. Everything gets wrapped up. Read it at your library first before buying it. The author's writing is not the best. Also, I wish Terl was used more in the novel.
Rating:
Summary: For the love of God don't waste your time
Review: I pushed through 800 pages of this utter bile and then couldn't put up with any more. This book is by far one of the worst books I've ever encountered in my adult life. At least half of the book could have been edited out and I hope that it was written for perhaps 2nd graders or 3rd graders - it is truly atrocious and unless you are in fact in 2nd or 3rd grade, please don't waste your time on this nausiatingly bad drivel.
Rating:
Summary: The most incredible Sci Fi book I have ever read!
Review: I found this book to be completely riveting, I don't think I slept for a whole month! Though I thoroughly enjoyed the Hubbard dekalogy, "Mission Earth", I think Hubbard put his best work in Battlefield Earth. Hubbard does a wonderful job of creating a down to earth individual, and then throws him into an extreme situation. Throughout it all, he never loses sight of who he is, or that his goal is the continuation of his race. The whole book is loaded with ups and downs, plot twists, and some pretty amusing manipulations. After reading this, I severely doubt the movie industry can possibly do it justice.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic epic saga
Review: This book was worth the time. Don't worry about it's length. Most novels this long take 900 pages to build up the story, and then finally have a climactic ending. This book is like a rollercoaster! Every other chapter is intense. You can really get lost in another world when reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable, yet lacking
Review: Battlefield Earth is the ideal action/adventure yarn, so those looking for a deeply engrossing-thought provoking plot need not apply. There is little character devolpment, but that isn't really necessary in such a book-but is missed regardless. But other things simply cannot be ignored and are inexcusable in any genre. One, the alien antagonists are doubly dumb, I doubt that any of them graduated grade school, while the primitive humans are amazingly astute and able to bring any situation to their advantage. And two, the book is simply too long for what it is. Mr. hubbard could have had the same effect with at most 500 pages. 1050 is just too many. All in all, the book is a good read, but know what exactly what you're in for before you dive in.
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