Exit Earth

by Martin Caidin

When scientists discover that the Solar System will pass through a dust cloud that will destroy all life on Earth, a small group tries to find a way to survive

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Novels, Post Apocalyptic

656 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1987

About the author

Martin Caidin was a prolific and controversial writer. Most of his work centered around the adventures of pilots and astronauts. A number of his books were notable for their reasonable, realistic predictions of then-futuristic technology.

Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare.

Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation.

In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a massive science fiction novel in the thematic tradition of When Worlds Collide by Balmer and Wylie and One in Three Hundred by McIntosh and half-a-hundred more that come to mind. It's written more in the style of the disaster-epic/thrillers that were de rigueur in the 70's and 80's (The Poseidon Adventure, Lucifer's Hammer, fill in your own favorite...) than traditional genre science fiction. There's a very large cast of characters (many of whom don't last long), many different settings (some of which don't last long), and a somewhat confusing tendency to shift points of view in time, space, and viewpoint character. It's a remarkable achievement for the days of typewriters and correction fluid, and it's a good story, too, though the characters are more of the pulpish hero variety (super smart and super strong men and beautiful women) than of realistic and identifiable people. It was a fun read, if a bit too long, wrapped in a striking David Mattingly cover. (The cover proclaims: Soon to be a major motion picture!, but I don't think that ever happened.)

[Andy Janes · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some things I really liked about this book, mostly the plot and idea behind it. Much of the actual book itself was frustrating in its racism/sexism.

[Checkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simply stated this is a massive novel. Muscular pulp fiction at it's finest. The men are men, women are beautiful and in between larger than life events the sex is great. The heroes in this novel are not ordinary people. Ordinary people like you and me do not have a place in this story. But nevertheless they do entertain us. Pulp fiction takes on the end of the world. Say what you will about Martin Caidin the man knew how to write an entertaining novel.

[Marc Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really like the story line. Especially the science and thought that goes into preparing to escape. Only reason I gave it 4 stars is because I can't find it in hard back and my paperback edition is wearing out.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would classify this as an epic sci-fi tale. Like most apocalyptic stories, it is depressing and most of the characters we've been introduced to die. But unlike most end of the world stories, instead of focusing on the good still left to be found in mankind, this one often focuses on all the evil that comes out in force during crises.

The most annoying part of this book for me was the non-linear chronology. As an epic tale, we get the story from many different POVs. But each time the POV changes, we are given long flashbacks included in with the "current" timeframe. Because of this, it is almost impossible to fit the pieces together into some reasonable notion of what-happened-when.

Although we expect to be introduced to many characters due to the length and the epic nature of the story, the sheer number of characters made the story confusing. It was also hard to determine who was an important character and who was not. Many characters were introduced strongly only to quickly be killed or just to be dropped from the main thrust of the story. For instance, the book starts with Russ Corey, the most important man on the moon, and we see him off and on for the first half of the book, implying to me that he and the moon might be important in the story. But then the moon subplot is completely dropped until almost the end of the story!

Finally, like most books of any length, the author seemed to tire of writing near the last quarter of the book. The story gradually degrades to snippets from ships' logs and the time covered speeds up like the author is just trying to get to the end of the story. This type of ending always leaves me disgusted because it doesn't do the story justice.

[Nate Thern · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me over a year after starting it to finally finish this book. It was just that un-engaging. A further detriment that would cause me to put the book down for long periods at a time was the author's hostility toward religion and especially Christianity - often couched in sanctimonious phrases about inclusiveness or tolerance.

[Kim Lindstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite books. It's a little dated now as it was written in 1987 but I re-read it periodically and always enjoy it. The characters are fascinating and the story is riveting.

[Matt Pollicove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read and story loved the characters. Moved at a breakneck pace. Wish they would release it as an Ebook.