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Earth Unaware
MESMERIZED!
Ezekiel Joshua Tubber exploded onto the consciouness of the world with the force of an atom bomb. A self-proclaimed prophet, Tubber, accompanied by his sexy young daughter, struck terror into the hearts of the Establishment with his uncanny power to influence mankind by a form of mass telepathy that appeared irresistible.
When Tubber managed to convince a complacent technological society to give up its TV sets, its radios and movies, he unleashed a reaction that only the forces from above could resolve!
[*Above excerpt from back of book.]
This is the third printing of this novel, with cover art by Mike Hinge. (NO DATE OR PRINTING STATEMENT IN BOOK, INFO FROM OTHER SOURCES). Published by Leisure (formerly "Belmont") Books. First published as a serial in "Worlds of Tomorrow" in 1965 under the original title: "Of Godlike Power." The first Belmont printing (1966) also carried that title. Mack Reynolds was an American science fiction author, whose work gained considerable following in the 50's and 60's.
Ezekiel Joshua Tubber exploded onto the consciouness of the world with the force of an atom bomb. A self-proclaimed prophet, Tubber, accompanied by his sexy young daughter, struck terror into the hearts of the Establishment with his uncanny power to influence mankind by a form of mass telepathy that appeared irresistible.
When Tubber managed to convince a complacent technological society to give up its TV sets, its radios and movies, he unleashed a reaction that only the forces from above could resolve!
[*Above excerpt from back of book.]
This is the third printing of this novel, with cover art by Mike Hinge. (NO DATE OR PRINTING STATEMENT IN BOOK, INFO FROM OTHER SOURCES). Published by Leisure (formerly "Belmont") Books. First published as a serial in "Worlds of Tomorrow" in 1965 under the original title: "Of Godlike Power." The first Belmont printing (1966) also carried that title. Mack Reynolds was an American science fiction author, whose work gained considerable following in the 50's and 60's.
174 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
3 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Mack Reynolds
507 books43 followersDallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Clark Collins, Mark Mallory, Guy McCord, Dallas Ross and Maxine Reynolds. Many of his stories were published in "Galaxy Magazine" and "Worlds of If Magazine". He was quite popular in the 1960s, but most of his work subsequently went out of print.
He was an active supporter of the Socialist Labor Party; his father, Verne Reynolds, was twice the SLP's Presidential candidate, in 1928 and 1932. Many of MR's stories use SLP jargon such as 'Industrial Feudalism' and most deal with economic issues in some way
Many of Reynolds' stories took place in Utopian societies, and many of which fulfilled L. L. Zamenhof's dream of Esperanto used worldwide as a universal second language. His novels predicted much that has come to pass, including pocket computers and a world-wide computer network with information available at one's fingertips.
Many of his novels were written within the context of a highly mobile society in which few people maintained a fixed residence, leading to "mobile voting" laws which allowed someone living out of the equivalent of a motor home to vote when and where they chose.
He was an active supporter of the Socialist Labor Party; his father, Verne Reynolds, was twice the SLP's Presidential candidate, in 1928 and 1932. Many of MR's stories use SLP jargon such as 'Industrial Feudalism' and most deal with economic issues in some way
Many of Reynolds' stories took place in Utopian societies, and many of which fulfilled L. L. Zamenhof's dream of Esperanto used worldwide as a universal second language. His novels predicted much that has come to pass, including pocket computers and a world-wide computer network with information available at one's fingertips.
Many of his novels were written within the context of a highly mobile society in which few people maintained a fixed residence, leading to "mobile voting" laws which allowed someone living out of the equivalent of a motor home to vote when and where they chose.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 7, 2026
This novel was serialized in the July and September issues of Worlds of Tomorrow magazine in 1965 under the title Of Godlike Power. WoT was edited by Frederik Pohl and was something of a companion magazine to his better-known Galaxy and If titles. Belmont published it in paperback in 1966 under that title but changed it to Earth Unaware when they reprinted it in 1968. The 1968 edition has a nice swords & sorcery cover by Jeff Jones, which is an unusual choice for a near-future science fiction book about a near-future religious leader who uses mass electronic media to influence his followers. I always thought someone must have made a mistake and put this one on the Reynolds book when it was supposed to have gone on one of Gardner Fox's Kothar books or something similar. It was reprinted in 1979 by Leisure Books with a very groovy Mike Hinge cover, even though groovy wasn't a thing by then, but whatayagonnado? It's one of Reynolds most amusing works, but also one his most misogynistic. (The preacher influences all of his female listeners to stop using make-up or dressing fashionably, which causes civilization to collapse.) It has the hallmark Reynolds economic and political philosophies, but it's primarily a sharply satiric social commentary. The ending is weak, but it's a fun read up to that point if you can set aside your sense of disbelief.
June 16, 2019
Q:
"Maybe that daughter of yours, out front, would be enjoying herself on a date instead of hanging around a tent meeting, if she used a little makeup herself, Dads. And you can sound off the rest of the night about this path to the all-mother, or whatever, but you're not going to talk me, or anybody else with good sense, out of looking my smartest. The number of style conscious people is growing, and there's nothing you can do about it." (c)
Q:
"To make it brief, very young children, all idiots and most morons, aren't effected." (c)
"Maybe that daughter of yours, out front, would be enjoying herself on a date instead of hanging around a tent meeting, if she used a little makeup herself, Dads. And you can sound off the rest of the night about this path to the all-mother, or whatever, but you're not going to talk me, or anybody else with good sense, out of looking my smartest. The number of style conscious people is growing, and there's nothing you can do about it." (c)
Q:
"To make it brief, very young children, all idiots and most morons, aren't effected." (c)
September 26, 2025
Jeez, what a deeply unsatisfying read. I was entertained by how ridiculous this thing was, and at first I was somewhat interested by the premise but it goes absolutely nowhere. Babies first anti-capitalist awakening type shit. I guess in the 60s this might have been more subversive. Purely talking about the plot, nobody learns anything and nothing is changed by the end. You can tell going into the last chapter that the author had nowhere to go, and you could tell in the first few chapters that he has a troublesome perception of women. The editors pitch on the back cover states “It is, we believe, one of the most memorable, shocking books you will ever read.”
God I wish.
The author would have loved Minimalism YouTube channels, though… and Reddit atheism.
God I wish.
The author would have loved Minimalism YouTube channels, though… and Reddit atheism.
June 26, 2015
Ezekiel Joshua Tubber had the zeal of an evangelist when preaching his radical reforms. He even seemed to grow with power when he got angry. TV host Ed Wonder thought that Tubber would be a good guest on his controversial show. Oh, if Ed had only known the consequences!
Unusual takeoff on the wacko evangelist idea. Unearthly power. Unknown cause. Unknown potential. Reasonable arousal of curiosity. Still pulp fiction though. Suitable for those who like to browse the kooky fringe of sf-fantasy. If it had been written a little sooner, Rod Serling could have condensed this into one of his half-hour Twilight Zone episodes (1959-64) and made it better. Maybe 2 1/2 stars.
Unusual takeoff on the wacko evangelist idea. Unearthly power. Unknown cause. Unknown potential. Reasonable arousal of curiosity. Still pulp fiction though. Suitable for those who like to browse the kooky fringe of sf-fantasy. If it had been written a little sooner, Rod Serling could have condensed this into one of his half-hour Twilight Zone episodes (1959-64) and made it better. Maybe 2 1/2 stars.
June 12, 2013
http://clarkevivo.blogspot.it/2011/12...
Romanzo satirico ben riuscito. Non annoia mai ed è costante, vale a dire che non ci sono momenti noiosi o incomprensibili che spezzano la trama. Devo ammettere, però, che mi aspettavo qualcosa di più nel finale, infatti ero indeciso tra le 4 e le 5 stelle ma poi il finale mi ha spinto verso le 4 stelle. E' un romanzo satirico in grado di rivaleggiare con giganti come "I mercanti dello spazio", quindi invito a leggerlo. Una lettura intelligente, scorrevole e spassosa.
Romanzo satirico ben riuscito. Non annoia mai ed è costante, vale a dire che non ci sono momenti noiosi o incomprensibili che spezzano la trama. Devo ammettere, però, che mi aspettavo qualcosa di più nel finale, infatti ero indeciso tra le 4 e le 5 stelle ma poi il finale mi ha spinto verso le 4 stelle. E' un romanzo satirico in grado di rivaleggiare con giganti come "I mercanti dello spazio", quindi invito a leggerlo. Una lettura intelligente, scorrevole e spassosa.
October 20, 2017
Religious fanatic has the godlike power to curse everything he does not like. Women’s vanity - women all over the world stop using cosmetics. He does not like radio and TV. Nobody can watch anymore. He even bans books except for Pogo and some classics. Turns out he is mass-hypnotizing. In the end he agrees to take back the curses in return for the right to have one hour of TV time for his preaches. Quite nice. (7/10)
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May 17, 2020Per il momento ne ho abbandonato la lettura.
Mi sa di vecchio. Non so se dovuto alla traduzione, ma vecchio nella storia e nello stile di scrittura.
Mi dispiace cavolo. Mi dispiace quando abbandono una lettura
Mi sa di vecchio. Non so se dovuto alla traduzione, ma vecchio nella storia e nello stile di scrittura.
Mi dispiace cavolo. Mi dispiace quando abbandono una lettura
June 13, 2023
Written by a misogynistic, pretentious, and pompous author. Very hard to read as a daily sci-fi ready. Stick with someone who isn’t full of hate, hate, hate towards women. Clear example of why PKD is untouchable in his era
February 16, 2019
An easy to read social commentary. No action or violence.
June 17, 2022
I was actually looking for the Scott Card one
September 2, 2016
Read about 15 Reynolds books mostly back in the 70s and 80's They made me look at SciFi in a totally different way. At this point many of the details are lost on me. I should try reading them again.
February 18, 2026
As a teenage I thought this book was just ok, typical pulp sci fi from the 1960's. What happens to society when one man can exert too much influence. An old fashioned preacher who inadvertently hexes the population and starts to alter society. Good idea, could be better written
December 25, 2012
Really long and drawn out.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews