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Summary: Utopian Tract
Review: Sturgeon's gifts largely desert him when he turns from fantasy with a subversive subtext to an openly preachy, didactic tract, reminiscent of Bellamy's "Looking Backward". In his earlier days, he did not dare reveal his criticisms of contemporary society in quite so overt a manner, and was forced to adopt the more interesting subterfuges of metaphor and allegory - transparent enough, but making the message both acceptable and (more importantly) interesting. To find the ideas of this book as such truly provocative, I think it would be necessary to have read very little. The story is not so much slow as nonexistent. The purely Utopian sections are interleaved with a more interesting treatment of contemporary (late 1950's) American life, in which the underlying message is presented in Sturgeon's normal ironical manner. This is quite good, but there is too little of it. The Utopian sections begin to come alive around page 188, with just twenty more pages to go, at which point some plot twists enliven matters, finally. It's a pretty rough slog to get that far. This has, by and large, no more literary value than a religious tract. If one wants to see some provocative ideas about sex, religion, and so on, there is much more entertainment to be found in the philosophical writings of Bertrand Russell, which are lively and unfettered by the Utopian format. Or for imaginative fiction, one will have more luck with dystopias - Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451 - than with Utopias, which are almost inevitably dull, preachy, didactic affairs. Sturgeon first tried to write for "the slicks", then found a bit more space for his kind of writing in the F&SF genre. It seems that by 1960 the cultural climate had opened up to the point where he felt he could just say outright what he wanted to, with a minimum of sugar-coating. No doubt this was exhilarating at the time, and he wasn't the only one to get carried away in this manner. (I first read this novel around 1962, and in that context it was readable.) I think Sturgeon forgot momentarily that the business of the writer is - writing. Still, I'm happy to see the reprint, and interested enough in Sturgeon to enjoy him at his worst. But if you are just making his acquaintance, start with "More than Human".
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Summary: Travelouge of a boring place where all are better than you
Review: Sturgeon's vision of Ledom, a utopian world inhabited by hermaphrodites, is a dreadful bore. Ledom is a device for Sturgeon to criticize human civilization, mostly attitudes towards sex and religion, and however valid his criticisms may be, they make for an overly didactic, self righteous and close to plotless novel. When Venus Plus X doesn't read like a jejune Socratic dialouge it usually reads like a travelouge of a boring place where everyone thinks they are better than you, complete with endless and tedious descriptions of Ledom clothing, Ledom singing, et al. (Ledom is not like Burroughs' Mars, Orwell's Airstrip One or Tolkein's Middle Earth, a fascinating world the reader will enjoy exploring; rather Ledom is a place where nothing happens and manages to be dimly realized despite the wealth of extraneous detail.) If the polemical Venus Plus X is typical of Sturgeon's work, one is led to believe that Sturgeon lacked Robert Heinlein's ability to integrate a load of political chatter with an interesting story and characters; with Sturgeon you get the politics with no story and stick figures for characters. I suppose this novel shocked the bourgeoisie when it was first printed, but as literature I don't think it has stood the test of time.
Rating: 
Summary: contemporary context
Review: The most important thing about good speculative fiction is that it can push the boundaries of common preconception; it can cause a reader to really examine their thoughts and values and think 'what if?' Venus Plus X was probably more significant in its message 40 years ago when it was written, but taking its premise in context of it being written in 1960 makes reading it extremely worthwhile today. This book is most often compared to The Left Hand of Darkness (another fine book!). This is a fair comparison - both novels deal with an intense examination of gender roles. However, The Left Hand of Darkness was written nearly 10 years later. A lot happened in the intervening time. Venus Plus X was even more stand-apart in its theme for its time. Today's reader will probably not feel the message as strongly as an original reader. BUT! we have an advantage. We are able to read this magnificent book AND see 40 years into the future at the same time. We can see that we have not progressed as far as we probably should have - this book is not insignificant in its message even today. Recommended. PS - Thanks to Vintage for rereleasing classic scifi works by such greats as Sturgeon and PKD!
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Summary: A precursor
Review: Theodore Sturgeon was really bold and brave advancing gender and sex issues in the tame 1960! Love the description of the strange society and the ever-intriguing finale. This book predates Left Hand of Darkness of Ursula LeGuin and the Wraeththu series of Storm Constantine.I'd have appreciated less socio-anthropological dissertations and a more dynamic plot. The "everyday's life" inserts are really dull and uninteresting. But the time-travel story and the description of the androgynous Ledom is perfect! Charlie Johns' reaction on apprehending the truth reveals the age of the book, but for some aspects it is still shocking!
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Summary: Impressive if preachy
Review: This was the first Sturgeon book I read, and although there wasn't much action, the scientific and sociological speculation--and Mr. Sturgeon's extensive knowledge of religion--made it worthwhile. I recommend it to long-time SF readers--but very definitely NOT to first-time SF readers, who might be either bored, shocked, or both.
Rating: 
Summary: Short but not sweet -- guaranteed to make you think.
Review: When Charlie awakes after a plane crash, he finds himself in a future where humans are no longer divided into male and female. As he comes to grips with this, the reader shares his initial disgust and gradual acceptance. Then the author drops a proverbial anvil and everything you thought was true gets turned inside-out. A fast read, but be sure to make someone else read it with you -- you'll want to talk about it.
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Summary: A fine utopia indeed
Review: When this book came out I'm sure it was highly contraversial (or would have been, if science fiction wasn't generally ignored as a "serious" genre) since it basically tried to show that logically there were no differences between the male and female genders and that a race consisting of only one gender might not only succeed but prosper at the same time. And not as a forced totaliarian camp where all freedom and free will are squashed in favor of the "Utopian State" indeed here Sturgeon shows us that with a little love it's quite possible for anything to work and that differences really aren't that important as long as there's love. Coming from anyone else, it would probably come off as trite but Sturgeon has this gift probably because he was utterly sincere. He may not have believed that this utopia would ever come into being, but he believed firmly in the feelings and emotions behind it and that comes through on every page. Be warned, this is no slambang action science fiction book where multiheaded aliens shout heated cliches to slim suited astronauts with laser guns as everyone races around the galaxy. Frankly, not much happens here. Charlie Johns in transported to a future world where humanity as we know it is gone and in its place is a utopia consisting of a single gender, where children are worshipped above all else and harmony and peace are the order of the day. They want Charlie's thoughts on such a utopia and so show him around, most of the book is concerned with showing this world and the prose is some of Sturgeon's most exuburent, crackling with emotion. Sure there are mysteries to be solved and details to puzzle out but for the most part this is Sturgeon showing us a perfect world. And he does it without being sappy or preachy, the closest the book comes to that is one somewhat interesting section where Philos writes a letter to Charlie Johns detailing the lack of differences between guys and gals and why people perceive those differences. Even better, the narrative is interspersed with the life of a normal family, showing us just how totally normal people can have such biases. Even you or I. My favorite part is when the parents take their kids to watch a movie at a drive in and don't want them to see a sex scene, but bring them front and center when the graphically violent Western starts. This book is ignored I think in favor of the more well known "More Than Human" but it doesn't deserve that, it ranks as something that should be at the top of just about everyone's reading list, especially if they want something thought provoking.
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