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A Billion Days of Earth
[Front Cover]
"In a time beyond the farthest tomorrow when man has lost his planet to the others, comes Sheen, the Supreme One."
(A Frederik Pohl Selection)
[Back Cover]
"Sheen: The Ego Eater.
The Earth teemed with life of all kinds, and many besides man had intelligence and the gift of speech. But chaos ruled. And violence. And despair. Then, in the Valley of the Dead, Sheen first entered the world, and all of life would bend to the might of the Supreme One before the final push to the stars."
"In a time beyond the farthest tomorrow when man has lost his planet to the others, comes Sheen, the Supreme One."
(A Frederik Pohl Selection)
[Back Cover]
"Sheen: The Ego Eater.
The Earth teemed with life of all kinds, and many besides man had intelligence and the gift of speech. But chaos ruled. And violence. And despair. Then, in the Valley of the Dead, Sheen first entered the world, and all of life would bend to the might of the Supreme One before the final push to the stars."
216 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
June 11, 2022
I don’t write reviews.
And I bet a lot of you haven’t read Piserchia. Thankfully there’s still time to remedy that. Join Rik, a human-like rat-man, as his world is overtaken by the entity known as Sheen. I can’t and won’t say more, it’s all too delicious to discover on your own.
And I bet a lot of you haven’t read Piserchia. Thankfully there’s still time to remedy that. Join Rik, a human-like rat-man, as his world is overtaken by the entity known as Sheen. I can’t and won’t say more, it’s all too delicious to discover on your own.
November 27, 2018
A Billion Days of Earth is a far-ranging, entertaining, sprawling novel that never goes quite where you think it will, yet it's ultimately very rewarding. There are some amusing bits and some real tension. It's a challenging and thought-provoking book from a writer who's not too well remembered but was quite accomplished; her career was too short.
April 16, 2026
Seriously, A BILLION DAYS OF EARTH is like Clifford D. Simak raiding the hallucinogenic pillbox, hazy and unfocused, with a nonsensical mean-spirit running through the disjointed narrative - euthanasia, mass suicide, crib death, crucifixion and cannibalism. It's bizarre to the point of insanity, an episodic plot adhering to 'make it up as you go' logic. Rat-men battling fizzies (cat faced bat creatures), human gods falling off clouds and getting attacked by living hills, yes, hills! And Sheen, the Silver Surfer puddle of an antichrist who escapes from a dead volcano to wreak havoc on the rotten suburbs of the far future. This really is a terrible masterpiece. Piserchia has novelized a cartoon laced with dime-store existentialism, recklessly disguised within a post-apocalyptic SF novel with barely any science (or structure) in it whatsoever.
File next to the wild and wonky shit of Margaret St. Clair and David Bunch (Moderan). Piserchia may just be the Hillbilly Samuel Beckett of Science Fiction, and I'm kind of scared of her.
File next to the wild and wonky shit of Margaret St. Clair and David Bunch (Moderan). Piserchia may just be the Hillbilly Samuel Beckett of Science Fiction, and I'm kind of scared of her.
Read
March 7, 2023From Stephen Rowland's review, nearby:
"[H]ilarious, but not cute, strange, but not irritating, her ideas are as bonkers as those of R.A. Lafferty and the voice with which she writes is as unmistakable as that of Philip K. Dick."
Catnip! I'll be reading this one, once I score a copy. $2 Kindle avail, but I'd rather have paper.
I'm pretty sure I've read some of her stuff, but so long ago that it might as well be new!
Here's Joachim Boaz 's review. He liked the book a lot, too:
https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
Well. I still have my copy, but 6 mos later, likely never to finish it. Just didn't ring any of my chimes. I'll save it awhile, since it wasn't that easy to find a copy. I would listen to entreaties to send my copy to a more-appreciative home! DNF with option to try again. Not rated, since I recall almost nothing of it. Your mileage may vary!
"[H]ilarious, but not cute, strange, but not irritating, her ideas are as bonkers as those of R.A. Lafferty and the voice with which she writes is as unmistakable as that of Philip K. Dick."
Catnip! I'll be reading this one, once I score a copy. $2 Kindle avail, but I'd rather have paper.
I'm pretty sure I've read some of her stuff, but so long ago that it might as well be new!
Here's Joachim Boaz 's review. He liked the book a lot, too:
https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
Well. I still have my copy, but 6 mos later, likely never to finish it. Just didn't ring any of my chimes. I'll save it awhile, since it wasn't that easy to find a copy. I would listen to entreaties to send my copy to a more-appreciative home! DNF with option to try again. Not rated, since I recall almost nothing of it. Your mileage may vary!
December 21, 2012
This is the first work by Ms Piserchia I've read, and it will certainly not be the last. A Billion Days of Earth is a profoundly strange work; this is always a plus for me, but if its not your cup of tea you'd do better to stear clear.
It is not the prose itself that is so strange; it is rather the structure and characters, and in a way, the priorities of the work, that make it such an odd and ultimately intriguing work.
It won't spoil anything to explain a little bit about the setting and characters, as the major "hook" elements of it are covered in the first few pages. We are on Earth, approximately 3 million years from the present. Societies of "human" men and women exist in a manner largely cognate to 20th century America. However, these men and women are not humans as we know them, but rather the descendants of rats, purposefully mutated at some point in the past to closely resemble humans-as-we-know-them, with the exception of their hands: these must be supplemented with cybernetic manipulators slipped over top their clawed paws, which have evidently resisted shaping. Several other self-aware, language-using races of animals exist, in a kind of limbo between beast and human, perhaps the legacy of other, less successful uplift projects.
The closest thing to a direct descendant of humankind are the "Gods," beings of such advanced technological development (both in tools and in the shaping and nature of their bodies) that they lead a strange, aloof, and (to the "humans") ineffable sybaritic existence, rarely interacting with their presumed progeny who recapitulate human history before them.
Into this milieu comes Sheen, a completely mysterious creature of unknown motive or provenance, who by means of perfect telepathy and persuasion ensnares the minds and wills of intelligent beings. It is in effect a living, cognizant Land of the Lotus Eaters, and it is one by one convincing the creatures of Earth to surrender to it.
All of this makes for an interesting setting, but the novel itself is less interested in the hows and whys of its setting and characters than in using them as avenues to explore philosophy and politics. Of course, much (if not most) SF, especially in the 60s and 70s, does precisely this, but in A Billion Days of Earth Ms. Persichia does it so well and so vividly that it stands out as a particularly deft exploration of things such as free will, desire and need, identity both personal and social, and existentialism.
In the "About the Author" blurb in the back of my '70s paperback edition, it says that Ms Piserchia first discovered science fiction literature in her adulthood as a graduate student, which made her approach make much more sense to me: rather than feel any sentimental attachment to the "gee whiz" element that can so enthrall a young SF reader, she instead feels free to jump right into the deep end, utilizing the setting and narrative freedom of the genre without feeling the need to "gee whiz" so much.
A Billion Days of Earth certainly isn't for everyone, but if your bag is philosophical science fiction (or philosophical fiction of any stripe, for that matter), there is a great deal to chew on and enjoy.
It is not the prose itself that is so strange; it is rather the structure and characters, and in a way, the priorities of the work, that make it such an odd and ultimately intriguing work.
It won't spoil anything to explain a little bit about the setting and characters, as the major "hook" elements of it are covered in the first few pages. We are on Earth, approximately 3 million years from the present. Societies of "human" men and women exist in a manner largely cognate to 20th century America. However, these men and women are not humans as we know them, but rather the descendants of rats, purposefully mutated at some point in the past to closely resemble humans-as-we-know-them, with the exception of their hands: these must be supplemented with cybernetic manipulators slipped over top their clawed paws, which have evidently resisted shaping. Several other self-aware, language-using races of animals exist, in a kind of limbo between beast and human, perhaps the legacy of other, less successful uplift projects.
The closest thing to a direct descendant of humankind are the "Gods," beings of such advanced technological development (both in tools and in the shaping and nature of their bodies) that they lead a strange, aloof, and (to the "humans") ineffable sybaritic existence, rarely interacting with their presumed progeny who recapitulate human history before them.
Into this milieu comes Sheen, a completely mysterious creature of unknown motive or provenance, who by means of perfect telepathy and persuasion ensnares the minds and wills of intelligent beings. It is in effect a living, cognizant Land of the Lotus Eaters, and it is one by one convincing the creatures of Earth to surrender to it.
All of this makes for an interesting setting, but the novel itself is less interested in the hows and whys of its setting and characters than in using them as avenues to explore philosophy and politics. Of course, much (if not most) SF, especially in the 60s and 70s, does precisely this, but in A Billion Days of Earth Ms. Persichia does it so well and so vividly that it stands out as a particularly deft exploration of things such as free will, desire and need, identity both personal and social, and existentialism.
In the "About the Author" blurb in the back of my '70s paperback edition, it says that Ms Piserchia first discovered science fiction literature in her adulthood as a graduate student, which made her approach make much more sense to me: rather than feel any sentimental attachment to the "gee whiz" element that can so enthrall a young SF reader, she instead feels free to jump right into the deep end, utilizing the setting and narrative freedom of the genre without feeling the need to "gee whiz" so much.
A Billion Days of Earth certainly isn't for everyone, but if your bag is philosophical science fiction (or philosophical fiction of any stripe, for that matter), there is a great deal to chew on and enjoy.
November 15, 2023
I think I'm now hooked on Piserchia. Last month I read and loved "I, Zombie," published under her pen-name Curt Selby, so I was worried the books published with her real name would be different in quality or at least tone. That's not the case. She really was a singular writer -- hilarious, but not cute, strange, but not irritating, her ideas are as bonkers as those of R.A. Lafferty and the voice with which she writes is as unmistakable as that of Philip K. Dick. That's not to say her writing is anything like theirs; the point is that she's entirely original. Don't let the synopsis on the back of this book give you any notions either, because what is within the pages is not at all comparable.
***2nd reading: even better than the first.
***2nd reading: even better than the first.
August 3, 2024
I've become quite worried at how often I find books kind of anonymous in style and subject matter, as if they're ignoring all the freedom you can have with words on paper in the hopes they'll get a hollywood screen adaptation. I want to go swimming, deep diving in the brains of writers with highly developed inner lives. I had heard Piserchia was a real oddball writer and this novel confirms it.
It's about an earth where humans have evolved into gods and rats have taken their place, now the rats live much like 20th century humans with similar bodies, all the same clothes, buildings, vehicles, etc and even have hair in all the places humans do (not like the cover art, which looks cooler). There's a shiny silver shapeshifting creature that is seducing people and animals into an ambiguous fate and it multiplies itself after it absorbs them. There's a dysfunctional rich family, dangerous creatures and gods in the background living a seemingly carefree existence.
Not a lot of other reviews I've seen have mentioned this but this is a really cartoony book, comedic but not to the extent that I'd call it SF comedy. Much of the dialogue is characters bickering with each other in a confused way and it's highly distinctive. The imagery is lightly sketched and the grotesque violence is the only thing that keeps it feeling like it was aimed at a younger audience.
I enjoyed this but didn't love it and I'm curious how much this style carries into her other work. I can't decide if some of the plot threads are underdeveloped or if it was fine to have several characters only briefly used. I liked the strangeness but I just wanted it to feel more real and immersive, but I think it was probably trying to be a cartoon in prose.
It's about an earth where humans have evolved into gods and rats have taken their place, now the rats live much like 20th century humans with similar bodies, all the same clothes, buildings, vehicles, etc and even have hair in all the places humans do (not like the cover art, which looks cooler). There's a shiny silver shapeshifting creature that is seducing people and animals into an ambiguous fate and it multiplies itself after it absorbs them. There's a dysfunctional rich family, dangerous creatures and gods in the background living a seemingly carefree existence.
Not a lot of other reviews I've seen have mentioned this but this is a really cartoony book, comedic but not to the extent that I'd call it SF comedy. Much of the dialogue is characters bickering with each other in a confused way and it's highly distinctive. The imagery is lightly sketched and the grotesque violence is the only thing that keeps it feeling like it was aimed at a younger audience.
I enjoyed this but didn't love it and I'm curious how much this style carries into her other work. I can't decide if some of the plot threads are underdeveloped or if it was fine to have several characters only briefly used. I liked the strangeness but I just wanted it to feel more real and immersive, but I think it was probably trying to be a cartoon in prose.
August 5, 2011
The second novel in her short career, A Billion Days of Earth suffers from a lack of writer’s voice. Sometimes early works of a favored author can be fun; often this allows you to see the influences of predecessors on the authors work. In this piece it shows a very personal writing stile still in development with very few direct influences translated to verse. This story was practically re-written as Earthchild, different setting, different characters, same story. Superior voice makes the latter much better.
July 31, 2022
I don't know what to say about this book except that it had an effect on me. I can't really put it into words, but I go back and re-read it every now and then. Each time I come away focusing on a different part of the story, a different theme or thread in it catches my attention. Whether it is religion, class systems, technology, evolution, or - ultimately - free will, this relatively short story has a lot to unpack.
April 20, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"Doris Piserchia’s A Billion Days of Earth (1976) is a whimsical, disturbing, and stunningly inventive science fiction novel. This is the second and by far the best of her novels I’ve read (A Billion Days of Earth surpasses Doomtime (1981) in virtually every regard). Not only are the characters better drawn but the plot isn’t as easily derailed by repetitious actions. That said, she isn’t always [...]"
"Doris Piserchia’s A Billion Days of Earth (1976) is a whimsical, disturbing, and stunningly inventive science fiction novel. This is the second and by far the best of her novels I’ve read (A Billion Days of Earth surpasses Doomtime (1981) in virtually every regard). Not only are the characters better drawn but the plot isn’t as easily derailed by repetitious actions. That said, she isn’t always [...]"
January 24, 2020
Brilliant, otherworldly novel from one of the most original authors science fiction has produced.
June 28, 2026
From 1976, Doris Piserchia's book was the 3rd novel I took with me on a visit to Wisconsin last week. Piserchia is one of the writers featured in the 2nd volume of THE FUTURE IS FEMALE that I'm almost finished with. Her story in that volume was a depressing vision of a dystopic society where human relationships have been reduced to "masterbation" chambers, kept clean by the lower caste of the social hierarchy. This novel, while not as depressing as her short story that I read, is probably the strangest "science fiction" novel I've ever encountered. Depending on the circumstances, it would easily be a "DNF" book had I not been something of a captive reader with no other options. It's something that would appeal to fans of New Wave science fiction that took the field over in the 60s and on through much of the 70s. In a nutshell, the "plot" concerns a silver being named Sheen which can change shape and mass at will, who crawls from a volcano on the first page of the novel. Sheen consumes people and creatures, simple as that. Sheen shows them mental pictures of their personal "heaven" as a tradeoff. The other main character is RiK, a curmudgeonly scientist type, dealing with the screwy characters around him while keeping his own sanity intact. The setting is 3 million years into the future where rats have evolved into "man" and homo sapiens have evolved into "gods". The action is episodic and bizarre. The plot is almost entirely driven by dialog. Events occur and end, Sheen consumes as many creatures as would allow him, gods and mankind interact, battles occupy an afternoon, zoos house mutants, and everyone debates each other in dialog that reveals folly. Doris Piserchia had a varied, and ultimately tragic, life in which she used her books and stories as a method of self-therapy. There are many humorous moments throughout this novel to keep things popping. I don't know that I can sum up a plot in any way that would entice someone to read it. I don't know that there is anything like it that would be published in SF today. Interesting for anyone who appreciates New Wave SF, social studies and philosophy.
May 22, 2023
This is a thought-provoking book that I freely admit I haven’t figured out. Philosophically sophisticated, but written in a way that disallows pinning down exactly what’s happening, A Billion Days of Earth reminded me what it was like growing up in the seventies and reading science fiction that was, at the time, contemporary. I don’t read sci-fi much any more, but I’m still drawn to it. There may well be spoilers below, so stop now if you plan to read it.
This is a novel with a “payoff” at the end. To get there you have to endure quite a bit of confusion (if you’re dull, like me) and uncertainty to get there. Some great storytelling follows this pattern. Sheen, the bright and shiny antagonist, emerges a billion days in the future. Evolution has taken some divergent tracks (as I note elsewhere—Sects and Violence in the Ancient World) and various animals have evolved into humans. Sheen offers them paradise in exchange for their egos. Naturally, most of the world accepts the offer.
Humans have evolved into gods in this distant future. They tend no to interfere with what’s happening among the various species of humans and animals. As more and more humans go to Sheen civilization begins to fall apart. Then, at the end, the gods decide to leave Earth for another planet. This book may well leave you disoriented. Even after reading it I’m not sure that I understand it. The fault, I expect, is mine. It did remind me of younger days reading sci-fi like this, as it was rolling off the press. Likely it’s the realization that you can’t go back that makes such reading enticing.
This is a novel with a “payoff” at the end. To get there you have to endure quite a bit of confusion (if you’re dull, like me) and uncertainty to get there. Some great storytelling follows this pattern. Sheen, the bright and shiny antagonist, emerges a billion days in the future. Evolution has taken some divergent tracks (as I note elsewhere—Sects and Violence in the Ancient World) and various animals have evolved into humans. Sheen offers them paradise in exchange for their egos. Naturally, most of the world accepts the offer.
Humans have evolved into gods in this distant future. They tend no to interfere with what’s happening among the various species of humans and animals. As more and more humans go to Sheen civilization begins to fall apart. Then, at the end, the gods decide to leave Earth for another planet. This book may well leave you disoriented. Even after reading it I’m not sure that I understand it. The fault, I expect, is mine. It did remind me of younger days reading sci-fi like this, as it was rolling off the press. Likely it’s the realization that you can’t go back that makes such reading enticing.
May 29, 2022
Atrocious. I would rate 0 stars if I could. I could not get into it whatsoever.
The narrative was fractured and nonsensical, full of half(or less) formed ideas and what I guess was supposed to be social commentary?
It jumped from new character to new character, and expected you to pick up and follow along with the insane ideas of society 3 million years in the future.
I hated it from start to finish.
The narrative was fractured and nonsensical, full of half(or less) formed ideas and what I guess was supposed to be social commentary?
It jumped from new character to new character, and expected you to pick up and follow along with the insane ideas of society 3 million years in the future.
I hated it from start to finish.
July 31, 2017
Very strange read, some nice ideas that aren't perhaps explored right or prioritised correctly over other plot points. characters are a bit all over the place and what drives them isn't clear. Would have benefited from a better structure too.
April 19, 2024
DNF at 20%. So promising! Rats having evolved to the point they think of themselves as men and women, while humans refer to themselves as "gods" and "live in the clouds." Unfortunately this was not going in a promising direction, and the writing has aged poorly.
June 27, 2025
This book was a lot more philosophical than I initially expected based off of the summary. A very welcome surprise in my opinion, and I appreciated the critiques of both capitalism and religion as they were presented in a rather nuanced manner.
July 2, 2020
Couldn't finish it. Half way through and I'm just sick of high society rat people complaining about some mysterious genetic issue. Probably will become less mysterious but ehhhh I just don't care.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2021
Good! Weird, but good. Definitely science fiction-as-worked-philosophy, but very willing to explore the various aspects of the premise.
Read
October 4, 2022Little tough to picture where you're at. Hits the ground running.
Read
October 11, 2022No one worth possessing Can be quite possessed.
January 17, 2024
I don't know how I managed to finish it.
Read
May 14, 2025I'm not going to rate this as it wouldn't be fair. I just wasn't enjoying it and DNF-ed after not very far into it.
June 17, 2024
Now here is the diamond standard alongside R A lafferty’s ‘Space chantey’ and ‘Past master’ of which to execute a story with wildest ideas imaginable . The writing is superb and the execution is near perfection. I do have some minor gripes such as there being too many characters for such as a short book.
Would love to see this reprinted.
Would love to see this reprinted.
February 13, 2017
Decades ago, I read Piserchia's Earth in Twilight. My memory of it is faded, but I'd enjoyed it. It portrayed a distant future Earth "super jungle" of plants & animals. A Billion Days of Earth is also a distant future Earth. But it's more about "people" and other intelligences in a less vibrant ecosystem. To me, the story doesn't seem as believable / real when taken literally. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to take it symbolically. A polymorphous central character manipulates people into accepting being "taken over" and/or helped to "live" in an appealing illusion. At one point I thought this might be a metaphor for advertising / consumerism. But there seems to be more to it. Perhaps, the illusions we're tempted to believe in in politics? The use of "temptation" and acting within rules might suggest religions' tempters - but I find this interpretation unconvincing. I'm not sure. I wouldn't say the writing is "poetic," but it may be like poetry in that its veils in front of possible meanings allow various readers to find different ideas.
To my taste, there wasn't enough satisfaction with the surface-level story or making sense of it.
The main "people" characters are descended from rats, some of whom have "animal" offspring as a result of inbreeding. There are several intelligent (but not technological) species evolved or engineered from animals we know. Evolved humans are "gods" with (unseen) tech indistinguishable from magic - and yet at the end they have neither tech nor minds that can beat the polymorph tempter. Only a few rat-people are immune from the tempter - and they aren't depicted as especially spiritual, brilliant, ambitious or heroic. At one point, the tempter suggests he can't manipulate Rick because Rick lacks a subconscious. (?) The origins of the tempter are never clarified.
To my taste, there wasn't enough satisfaction with the surface-level story or making sense of it.
The main "people" characters are descended from rats, some of whom have "animal" offspring as a result of inbreeding. There are several intelligent (but not technological) species evolved or engineered from animals we know. Evolved humans are "gods" with (unseen) tech indistinguishable from magic - and yet at the end they have neither tech nor minds that can beat the polymorph tempter. Only a few rat-people are immune from the tempter - and they aren't depicted as especially spiritual, brilliant, ambitious or heroic. At one point, the tempter suggests he can't manipulate Rick because Rick lacks a subconscious. (?) The origins of the tempter are never clarified.
April 18, 2016
So far the best from my favorite west Virginian housewife sci author from the 70s. Her third novel, her this melodrama. By which I mean a morality play run upon the comic shenanigans of archetypical characters acting on a vaguely sketched out stage. Two great character names from this story: Vennavora and Tontondely. They were the names of two gods in the story, by which I mean advanced humans of a billion days in the future. I wonder how she came up with those names.
December 14, 2016
Uomini-dei e uomini-topo; e poi gli zizzy, misteriosi incroci tra un gatto, un passero e un ape; e al di sopra di tutto e di tutti Splendore, una creatura onnisciente, della consistenza dello argento liquido.
[eh sì!]
[eh sì!]
August 20, 2008
If you like fun, accessible, weird, and somewhat literary science fiction then Doris Piserchia's novels are for you. Sort of a ladies' PK Dick. Funny, too!
March 18, 2009
Wasn't able to finish this. Had some good ideas, and made me wonder what Sheen showed those who were mentally "weak" in order to cleanse them off the planet.
May 12, 2011
It's nice, though I don't know if I understand it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews