The Alien Earth

by Michael Elder

Mass market paperback by Pinnacle Books. Science fiction novel about a man trapped in the wrong century - on the wrong planet!

Genres: Science Fiction

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Michael Elder was a Scottish actor who also wrote documentaries and other largely fact based programmes for BBC Scotland amongst others. He was a member of the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow, Byre Theatre, St. Andrews, The Gateway Theatre, Edinburgh (1953 - 1960), and the Fraser Neale Players.

In film and television, he is known for his roles in The Flight of the Heron (1976), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1978) and Sam (1973). He played Dr. Wallace in the Scottish Television series Take the High Road.

Elder had a long association with the town of St. Andrews, moving there when he and his sister, Alison, travelled north for schooling after their home was bombed during the blitz in the Second World War.

During the 1950s, he was a member of the Edinburgh Gateway Company. His many television credits included the classic drama series, Dr Finlay's Casebook. A prolific writer from a very early age, Elder had many books published, from children's titles and poetry, to an impressive list of 14 science fiction novels. He also completed several scripts for television, including High Road.

Reviews

[Sara West · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never have I read a book where the main character is so selfish through everything he does. No care or regard for anyone else unless it happens to be a hot, naked woman who he practically forces into sleeping with him.

You can definitely tell the author's fetishes in this book which is not something I really wanted to know. He demeans the woman in this book he deams "unattractive" so much so that I am not sure the point he was trying to get across other than the main character is a massively misogynistic ass. He screws up every time period he is in from his selfishness and and lack of remorse that it is infuriating.

It would be different if it felt that that was how the author intended this story to be, but it really feels like the author imagined himself as the character and this was some sort of fantasy of his own...

Might be some people's cup-of-tea, but certainly not mine.

TLDR: Interesting concept, poor execution

[JennanneJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked up a copy outside Ken Sanders used books in Salt Lake City. Read this afternoon on a San Diego beach.

I was kind of digging the story about a space traveler marooned on a mystery planet with Romans and Picts.

Where it lost me is when he “falls in love” with a naked woman who is worshipping him as a God. Every man’s fantasy?

[Zeusthedog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inizia bene questo romanzo con l'incontro di un essere da un altro mondo tra i Picti che lo scambiano per un dio. Poi si perde...

[Nick Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really bad, but also kind of interesting at times.

[Marko]

I have two different german editions.