Rating: 
Summary: ...Scientology Claptrap
Review: I've never been able to make it more than half-way through this snooze-fest, so I won't attempt to review it. I would, however, like refute the opinion that this book has no connection to Scientology. At some point it is revealed that the reason that the Psychlos are so evil is because at birth, they have an aggression device (or something, who really cares) implanted in their brains by a sinister cabal of Psychlos called the Catrists. That's Psychlo Catrist. One of Scientology's main tenets is that the profession of psychiatry is evil and responsible for most of the evil and sickness in the world today (or something, who really cares). For those of you playing along at home, we have:
psychiatrist
Psychlo Catrist.
Please, stop the inanity.
Rating:
Summary: Overly ambitious Sci-Fi
Review: While the premise of this massive tome was brilliant, some leaps of faith required from the reader are just too great. Too-convenient plot twists, ludicrous coincidences, and far-fetched accomplishments by our hero manage to undo some other compelling plot elements. Had this long novel been trimmed down to half its length and edited with a much firmer hand, a much better book would have emerged. As it is, it's not really worth the effort. Don't waste your time.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely entertaining Sci Fi
Review: I've read this book several times, and remarkably still have trouble putting it down. Unlike most people with whom I've discussed the story, I enjoyed the financial/political intrigue in the second half even more than the action-packed first half. It's a futuristic good vs evil, against incredible odds, that's written so intelligently, the knowledgable will certainly appreciate Hubbard's breadth of experience and attention to detail.
Rating:
Summary: Great, Unbelievable
Review: I bought this book for a very little at a cheep book store, the cover and title caught my eye, little was I to know that I would soon be reading a book I could not put down. I read the entire thing in one night; it was spectacular. From beginning to end it was unbelievable. I have never read any of Hubbard's other works, but this book has put him on my personal top three list of authors. The plot, the characters, everything about this book was amazing; I loved it everything. This book should be considered pat of classic literature and read worldwide.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, C'mon, lighten up!
Review: I just read about 50 reviews on this book... and while I can sympathise with those who gave it bad reviews, c'mon already! This book might not be great literature, but that was never its point! I bought the book in the mid 80's, partly because it was the largest paperback book I had ever seen. It had some good reviews on the back, and I had the cash,(I think books that size were only 4.99 back then!), so I got it. And I could not put it down! Perhaps part of the reason was that I lived in Colorado at the time, where the first few hundred pages were set. However, the story itself pulled me in - true, there's not a lot of deep character development, this book is mostly action and plot and humor - a combination that I really enjoyed. The book did start to drag a little bit after the first climax, but then picked up again and kept me interested all the way to the end. I've probably read this book 7 times over the years now, and it never fails to disappoint me. Its probably my favorite *overall* sci-fi book I've read - again, its not great literature, but it is excellent pulp sci-fi adventure, accept it for that and you can't fail! The movie, well.... the movie was terrible, having nothing much at all to do with what was in the book. I had wondered how they would be able to make a movie out of such a book, and the answer was they didn't - they junked all but the most basic premise and a couple of characters, and fluffed in the rest - and did a terrible job with it. About all the movie was good for was the special effects. (A note about the movie - John Travolta, he got slammed a lot for his portrayal of Terl, but I actually thought he did OK. Terl, as Hubbard created him in the book, was a half-crazed, paranoid egomaniac, which is how Travolta played the role in the movie... I thought he pulled it off alright myself)
Rating:
Summary: Simply awesome
Review: This is definitely one of my favourite books of all time. What a wonderful story about the human spirit and determination. Just shows how man can conquer any challenges. It just has everything; action, comedy, romance etc. The book just made me wonder what would really happen if humanity was overthrown by an alien species. Would civilization end? Would be thrown back to the primitive age? Would man forget about technology? This might be just a fictional story but it really makes you think. Granted the names of the characters and most of the events are absolutely ludicrous but Hubbard wrote it like that intentionally. It's a wonderful pulp sci-fi satire. And to those of you who think it's too far-fetched, it's sci-FICTION for god's sake. If you like long epic novels then you should read this. It's definitely a page turner. Quite nothing like it.
Rating:
Summary: Buck Rodgers eat your heart out!
Review: Before I say anything else, I really enjoyed this book. This is the kind of "science" fiction that harkens back to the days of pulp science fiction magazines. Jetpacks, evil monsters, damsels in distress and the heroic hero who can do no wrong. This is the kind of fiction that most current writers in the genre miss, the kind that simply seeks to entertain. Admittedly, the science in this book is very weak. If you come to this book looking for a world that could actually happen... look somewhere else, you won't find it here. However, within the realm of the book, everything works. It's easy to accept things like monstrous, humaniod aliens and teleportation because the author manages to take you away from your world and transport you to his. The greatest thing about this book is that it actually makes you want to read it. The scope (and size) of this book is vast. From the individual struggles of the key characters (human and alien) to a very humorous view of politics and economics L. Ron Hubbard grabs your attention and does not let it go. Once I started reading I did not want to put it down. What would the brave hero do next? What evils where the aliens plotting? You can't help but sympathize with the good guys and hate the bad guys. You can almost hear the heroic strains of Johnnie or the dark ominous music of Terl. Really it is a lot of fun. This is a light read, however. If you are looking for a serious story, the light, cheesy narrative might turn you off. But, if you are looking for some great fun, look no further; Hubbard delivers!
Rating:
Summary: Worst Book ... Ever!
Review: I had to force myself to get to the halfway point of the book. The concept of the story is a great one, but writen so poorly that leaves you saying "yeah! right!" every page.
Not only is the writing itself bad, but the fact that Hubbard is unimaginative in an attempt to make his story work. For example (this is my biggest irk about this story) our hero is made to learn the Alien's language with this machine that feeds information to your brain without having to do the hard part of learning. Okay, I can live with such a machine, but the fact that the Alien himself who is supposedly smart does not use that same machine to learn English while he ponders what his human "pet" is saying to others is beyond me. His attitude that he is too good to speak human is just one of those easy way out so Hubbard could make his story work. Save yourself the headache of reading 1000 page drivel, and juse rent the movie, as it was just as bad as the book it came from. This is by far the worst book I have ever attempted to read.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not as good as I expected...
Review: ... but I must say, as an avid reader, the movies inspired by books I have read are never as good as I expected them to be after having read the book! The main characted was interpreted very well, I am amazed that the actor could actually do such a good job! He really was Johnny! But I was not quite happy with the other characters - not that they were not good actors, more like that the characters themselves were not presented so well. In the book, you learn to have very strong and definite feelings towards the various characters, while in the movie, it was more like there was only Johnny really, all the others were just people in his life. I do understand though that being the adventures very involved, the movie could not possibly contain all we wish it could have contained, as it's already a 3 hours movie and it would have been much longer if more time was spend on each character. But I thought this made it a bit hard to follow in some spots. The scenography is awesome. If it was only for that and the costumes, the movie deserved 5 full stars. It was incredible, they did an amazing job at building the various places. All in all, a pretty good movie. P.S. This movie is based only on the first book of the trilogy, so I guess we can expect 2 more coming at some point in the future!
Rating:
Summary: Horrible!!
Review: How in the world did this become a science fiction "classic?" This is drivel, junk, crap! Is it only Scientologist propoganda that keeps this book in print? I had my doubts about the book as soon as I read the author's introduction. It was the most arrogant, self serving piece of writing I had ever read. Hubbard constantly criticized other authors and books, and he insisted he and his choice few were the only ones who wrote good science fiction. Then I started the book, and I couldn't make it past page 250. I finish almost every book I read, no matter how much I dislike it, but this one I just couldn't continue. The writing is plain bad, written in the style of a high school student. I still gag thinking about it. So please, stay away from this sewer of a book. Maybe it will go out of print soon if you do, making the bookstores a much safer place for the unsuspecting browser.
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