Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable mind candy, Scientology aspects are well hidden
Review: In regards to the "love-it vs. hate-it," "Scientology vs. critics" reviews of "Battlefield Earth" seen here, I should state that I have been an outspoken critic of Scientology for the past several years. Nevertheless, I will still say that "Battlefield Earth" is an entertaining book -- it's far from the "greatest science fiction saga ever written," and it really bogs down in the middle, but it's an enjoyable read nonetheless. In fact, it was the first of Hubbard's books that I ever read: I picked it up and read it for the sheer challenge of finishing a thousand-page paperback book. Much of the book is juvenile and laughably silly (such as the evil Brown Limper Staffor and his obsessive hatred for the superhero Johnnie Goodboy Tyler), and some of Hubbard's "science" is so implausible as to be laughable. In one section of the book, the good guys teleport a satellite to a point one light-year away from the planet Psycho, and they use video enhancement technology to enlarge the image at "six trillion power" magnification to get a view of the planet. Then there's the idea that by placing five nuclear bombs next to each other, they will all go off, one after the other. I'll leave it to better writers than I to point out the obvious flaws to these...but despite their being crucial to the plot, they don't detract from the fact that I enjoyed the book. About half of it is full of rollicking action and intrigue (dampened somewhat by ludicrous stereotypical "good guys" and "bad guys"). Hubbard's Scientology ideas are there within the book, but they're deeply hidden. You'd have to know about Hubbard's obsessive hatred of psychiatry and the way Scientologists refer to psychiatrists and psychologists as "psychs" to understand why he chose "Psychlos" as the name for the evil alien overlords of the whole universe; likewise, the Scientology belief that "man is basically good" is what ensures that the final victory of the book will not leave humanity open to corruption on its own, after the story has ended.The writing varies from a furious, energetic pace (when the battles and double-dealings are taking place) to tediously slow (when Hubbard plays the material for more additional sub-plots), and as has already been said, the overall tone of the book is that of a junvenile pulp fiction novel. To compare this silliness with grand space opera like E.E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" books would be sacrilege, but "Battlefield Earth" does stand on its own as an entertaining story. I had trouble getting started with it, and it did bog down, but the final third of the book is fast reading to the very end. This book inspired me to go out and learn more about L. Ron Hubbard and his works...but if you do want to read more, be warned that most of Hubbard's writings are far sillier than what you'll see in "Battlefield Earth." After this book, I worked my way through his ten-book "Mission Earth" series...which are nothing but a blatant commercial for Scientology, and which are so unbelievably awful that you may want to read them just to see if they live up to their reputation as one of the worst pieces of "science fiction" drivel ever published. "Battlefield Earth" is an entertaining, fun read...but after this, you may want to read Hubbard's other good book, "Fear." And then you can visit my Web site and learn about his most famous science fiction creation: the "church" of Scientology.
Rating: 
Summary: The TRUE Science Fiction saga. Solid and "logical".
Review: Five stars...from someone who reads VERY little, hates novels with bulging pages, know nothing of a guy named L.Ron Hubbard, and speaks a completely DIFFERENT language. I have searched all my life for a "perfect" SciFi novel and THIS IS IT !!! One book (not in a serial of 50 volumes, no sequels, just one single good book) represents true SciFi and good story. You won't find a plot twisted so much betraying the writer's struggle to get out of the plot hole he/she inadvertently made, you won't find any unimportant page the writer wrote just to make the book seems thick, you won't find the writer babbling about anything that doesn't contribute to the story, in Battlefield Earth every facts seems scientifically BELIEVABLE, every mechanism and technology has its "logical" explanation. Top all that with a solid and mesmerizing story, you WILL NOT find a single page boring. After I bought my first copy, I finished reading it in 5 days flat. I have two copies of this book both in my friends' posession (each wouldn't let it go, saying "one more time !" - this was two years ago)and I'm looking forward to buy another copy. .....and my native language isn't even English.
Rating:
Summary: Best SF novel I have ever read.
Review: This has got to be the best science fiction novel I have ever read. Granted, my usual fare is fantasy, but I have read many a SF book with which to compare this (including Hubbard's Mission Earth decology). This is the story of the epic struggle of humanity against the universe. Fighting back against impossible odds, a small band of humans drives the technologically advanced aliens that have enslaved them back to their home planet. I could not put this book down!!! A must read for any SF fan.
Rating: 
Summary: A great pulp story
Review: Where's everyone's sense of humor? I'm neither a Scientologist nor under twelve, but I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. Its certainly not great literature or a story of profound significance -- its just a fun story. Earth has been under the dominion of the Psychlos -- a rather nasty bunch that dominate virtually the entire known galaxy -- for a thousand years. Our hero Jonnie is one of the few remaining humans, most of whom are either slaves or living what amounts to a Neolithic existence. By the end of the book, Jonnie has liberated the entire galaxy from the Psychlo regime, and his Scottish financial advisors have given Earth a financial hegemony over the galaxy. This story isn't meant to be taken too seriously -- which puts it far above most of the pretentious drivel that saturates the market.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: I have read some of the reviews submitted for this book. It's either the worst book ever written not worthy of my time or the best book ever published. Let me preface by saying I am not a Scientologist nor do I buy mass quantities of Hubbard's work at a time. I pretty much read anything that interests me or that comes recommended as worth reading. This book was recommended to me about 7 years ago. I read it in about 5 days. I lost that copy and bought another copy 2 weeks ago, and read it again in about 3 days. Bottom line is, in my opinion, this is an entertaining book. It has non-stop action, comedy, horror, and suspense. If it was written for 8 years old boys or those with that mentality, so be it. I'm still not ready to tackle "War and Peace" just yet. If it's unbelievable and farfetched, good. All fiction, including science-fiction, should suspend belief and stretch the imagination. And if it didn't make me think, good. It was a nice escape. Maybe there are some who take their fiction "seriously". If a writer keeps me hooked on a story I can get interested in and people I can care about, I think the writer has done his or her job. This writer did with this effort. No, it's not the best book I ever read. But it's one of them.
Rating: 
Summary: If you love Scientology, you'll love ANYTHING he writes
Review: I read the book...no big woop. Hubbard obviously has the support of his followers...they all give him 5 stars . But notice the reviews by those who are not enamored of Hubbard or his works...I think 1 star probably gives this book too much credit. If you love sci-fi and aren't under 12 years-old, pick up Heinlein or so many other GOOD writers.
Rating:
Summary: Top 5 book
Review: I'm not a scientoligist, and I have read hundreds of fiction books, and this ranks as one of the top 5 which I recommend to everyone. I've even reread it about 4 times. I started reading Mission Earth, but didn't like it, and haven't read anything else from L. Ron Hubbard. So if you like a STORY - actually an amazing, incredible saga which shows how strong the human spirit is and what one man can accomplish - read this book. Everyone I've recommended it to has loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: A 2 Star - which is all Hubbard deserves
Review: As with most of Hubbards work, this is intended for a very young audience, mostly male, and his development and treatment of characters reflect that. It is truly a saga - from both the writers perspective, and the perseverence it takes to plod through it. I made it through, mainly based on my belief that the recommendations I'd heard were justification enough... but alas, it was many days wasted. Don't waste your time on this one.
Rating:
Summary: simply superb!
Review: I am rather astonished by the number of one star reviews of this brilliant novel. My only thought about this is that the world continues to spawn complete idiots! If you think this novel is boring, then you have the attention span of a fetus. Go back to watching "professional" wrestling and sleeping with your cousins. Leave the reading of novels to people with more than 1 active brain cell.
Rating:
Summary: I feel like I watched a move somehow...
Review: I bought the book and stayed up all night reading it. Eventually, I HAD to go to work and left the book at home. When I returned, my wife was about 200 pages into it, and I couldn't coax iit from her. It had only cost about $6, so we settled by splitting it down the spine in two places so that we could both read it. For no explainable reason, this book took over both of us for two days. If you don't have time to read it, don't start (you'll end up "making time" out of important things that you end up missing. If you've ever made noises out loud while reading, you'll like it. If you've ever "given in" to crying in a movie at something happy, you'll like it. If you don't like science fiction, that's probably not an obstacle here. I heard on Oprah that John Travolta bought the rights to make a movie out of this book (he described it as his next big project) and I can't wait to see it. I'm sure that no 2 hour movie can do it justice. Definitely read this book before you go see the movie. I think I could recommend this book to anyone, even my mom. Now I need to buy another copy (I'm missing about 200 pages) for my oldest son to read.
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