What do you think?
Rate this book
Mission Earth #4
An Alien Affair
Hammer Malone and Killer Brag had extricated their cars.As one with one crash of gears, they launched their vehicles after Heller.Two explosions in the tangled mass of cars behind them. I knew it would be the fuel tanks going up. Flames shot into the air!The other drivers were running away. But the cars of Hammer Malone and Killer Brag bore down on Heller!He turned to face them.Narrated by the killer who traveled 22 light years to seal the fate of Earth, AN ALIEN AFFAIR races non-stop from a deadly Long Island speedway to an extraterrestrial s secret base in Turkey, from a battle on the observation platform at the top of the Empire State Building to the pleasures in the basement apartment of the sadistic Miss Pinch.The aliens are here. A calico cat, a jar of mustard and a host of credit card companies may well determine the success of their mission.
329 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
43 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
L. Ron Hubbard
1,928 books650 followersL. Ron Hubbard is universally acclaimed as the single most influential author and humanitarian of this modern age. His definitive works on the mind and spirit—comprising over 350 million copies in circulation and more than 40 international bestsellers—have resulted in a legacy benefiting millions and a movement spanning all cultures.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
August 22, 2008
This could be the worst book I've ever read. At some point even a train wreck gets so bad that you want to turn your head and stop looking. The book starts out boring, gets hilariously bad, offensively bad, then probably another kind of bad that I haven't even imagined (I'm still reading it). I teach English to Vietnamese kids. This book is making me question whether or not they should bother learning the language at all. It's the kind of thing you can really only read on a dare. Thanks a lot, Jim.
July 23, 2013
After having a great time with Fordlandia, I decided to ruin this streak of beautiful weather and great literature by reading an actual novel by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology and all-round total weirdo. My brother bought this for me from Australia several year ago, and I’d never had the urge to read it until a few weeks ago, when I thought “Hey, I’ll play a little joke on myself and put myself in a really bad mood by reading this book with a stupid title written by a stupid man”.
Oh my god, you guys - it’s, like, so bad. Imagine I wrote all my reviews and posts that way, sneaking ‘like’ into every other sentence for no reason. It would be a lazy thing to do, and that’s exactly how I’d describe Hubbard’s writing - lazy, shoddy, boring. It’s a confusing plot, partly because this is book number 4 in a ‘dekalogy’ (Hubbard’s term coined to mean ‘series of ten’), but even if I was masochistic enough to find that other 9 books in the series and read them, I imagine I’d still be left angry and offended by how terrible the writing is. Oh, and I did attempt to read the plot summary on Wikipedia but even that was so boring I ended up playing Tetris. The plot, from what I can recall (I have, as people often do after a traumatic experience, blocked out most of what I read for the sake of my sanity), is centred around an alien, Soltan Gris, who is on Earth to track down and kill some guy named Heller for whatever damn reason, I don’t even care to be honest. The start of the book involves Heller taking part in a circuit car race in New York (I think) where his car is kitted out with something that could be constituted as cheating, and basically everyone wants to kill Heller but they never manage it. Also Gris keeps losing money, he owes loads in credit card debts that his girlfriend has built up through her penchant for shiny things. What is supposed to be a fast-paced adrenaline-fuelled car-chase is astonishingly boring and repetitive, and it seems that Hubbard must have known this because during this part and any other ‘exciting’ moments he attempts to make it seem like there’s something going on by punctuating every! Sentence! Or! Clause!With! An! Exclamation! Mark! There’s a subplot involving population control, in which some kind of corporation is trying to turn people into homosexuals, and turn heterosexuals into pariahs. The puns and names in this book are cringe-inducingly transparent and unfunny, such as Delbert John Rockecenter (a play on John Davison Rockefeller), investigative journalist Bob Hoodward (for Woodward); and there’s also many references to how useless and destructive psychology and psychiatry are, thrown in for good measure - I suppose Hubbard good help himself, considering that this entire book is a self-indulgent mess from start to finish. Oh and I’d say that my favourite part is near to the end, when Gris manages to go home and get fixed up by doctors are being brutally savaged by two lesbians intent on turning him into a homosexual. The doctors fix him up and sort him out with a super-size dick, which is immediately put to good use with the young nurse who JUST CAN’T HELP HERSELF.
Honestly, the book was so bad that it went beyond funny and into downright frustrating. Urgh. My lack of respect for any of Hubbard’s fans or followers has reached new levels.
Oh my god, you guys - it’s, like, so bad. Imagine I wrote all my reviews and posts that way, sneaking ‘like’ into every other sentence for no reason. It would be a lazy thing to do, and that’s exactly how I’d describe Hubbard’s writing - lazy, shoddy, boring. It’s a confusing plot, partly because this is book number 4 in a ‘dekalogy’ (Hubbard’s term coined to mean ‘series of ten’), but even if I was masochistic enough to find that other 9 books in the series and read them, I imagine I’d still be left angry and offended by how terrible the writing is. Oh, and I did attempt to read the plot summary on Wikipedia but even that was so boring I ended up playing Tetris. The plot, from what I can recall (I have, as people often do after a traumatic experience, blocked out most of what I read for the sake of my sanity), is centred around an alien, Soltan Gris, who is on Earth to track down and kill some guy named Heller for whatever damn reason, I don’t even care to be honest. The start of the book involves Heller taking part in a circuit car race in New York (I think) where his car is kitted out with something that could be constituted as cheating, and basically everyone wants to kill Heller but they never manage it. Also Gris keeps losing money, he owes loads in credit card debts that his girlfriend has built up through her penchant for shiny things. What is supposed to be a fast-paced adrenaline-fuelled car-chase is astonishingly boring and repetitive, and it seems that Hubbard must have known this because during this part and any other ‘exciting’ moments he attempts to make it seem like there’s something going on by punctuating every! Sentence! Or! Clause!With! An! Exclamation! Mark! There’s a subplot involving population control, in which some kind of corporation is trying to turn people into homosexuals, and turn heterosexuals into pariahs. The puns and names in this book are cringe-inducingly transparent and unfunny, such as Delbert John Rockecenter (a play on John Davison Rockefeller), investigative journalist Bob Hoodward (for Woodward); and there’s also many references to how useless and destructive psychology and psychiatry are, thrown in for good measure - I suppose Hubbard good help himself, considering that this entire book is a self-indulgent mess from start to finish. Oh and I’d say that my favourite part is near to the end, when Gris manages to go home and get fixed up by doctors are being brutally savaged by two lesbians intent on turning him into a homosexual. The doctors fix him up and sort him out with a super-size dick, which is immediately put to good use with the young nurse who JUST CAN’T HELP HERSELF.
Honestly, the book was so bad that it went beyond funny and into downright frustrating. Urgh. My lack of respect for any of Hubbard’s fans or followers has reached new levels.
May 4, 2015
The Mission Earth series is a big, bloated, fun and funny dekalogy* of pulp and satire and non-stop action. It's not a serious work, nor was it intended to be; I believe Hubbard wrote it simply out of fondness for the field, the way it was when he was beginning his career. He surely didn't need the money. It lampoons everything from economics to law enforcement to crime to space opera to science and all stops in between. It's not a particularly well-written work of literature, but is engaging and interesting and, despite the length, fairly fast-paced throughout. It was de rigueur in the publications of the field when it first appeared to vilify it entirely, I suspect both because of who Hubbard was and the old-fashioned themes and tropes of the work... not to mention the ubiquitous advertising campaign that surrounded the publication with the ever-present asterisk definition that I just couldn't resist reproducing here. However, I decided to see what all the fuss had been about and gave it a shot, thought it was fun, and read the whole thing straight through one summer. It was fun; I liked it.
*A series of ten books.
*A series of ten books.
February 22, 2009
The biggest problems with this series is that the bad guy is just to bad, there are no redeeming quatlities to his character. The good guy is to good, he doesn't seem to have any character flaws. I really consider this to be high school or middle school reading level. I will finish this series, but I will probably regret it.
October 7, 2023
A vile book that attempts to hide behind satire while the author’s stupidity about the world pores throughout the text. There is no reason to read this book unless you want to enter the author’s sick worldview. I can only guess what the inner sanctum of Scientology must entail. This book is guaranteed to make you dumber if you read it.
July 4, 2017
A book for flagellants everywhere
31 March 2012
This is where this series starts to become really painful and irritating and I really do not know why I continued through this series to the seventh book. Maybe because I am a sucker for punishment, though it is not as if any punishment was being doled out to me but rather because I was exposing myself to it. These books aren't good science-fiction and don't have any literary merit. One wonders how it is that they became international best sellers despite people not actually liking them. Some have suggested that a bunch of Hubbard's followers simply went out and bought multiple copies of the books, but even then, if the first few make it by that method and the people who actually read the book hated it, then as each progressive book comes out, less and less people will be buying them.
The reason that I wanted to read this book was because the cover looked so cool. However, remember the age old adage, never judge a book by its cover. While in many cases it does work, in some cases (unlike this particular book) it does not. As mentioned, the book itself was actually very painful to read, and the really painful part of it was where Soltan Gris is imprisoned in a New York apartment by a couple of lesbians who were using him as their play thing. He then decides to attempt to better his position by demonstrating to them what real sex is about, and then proceeds to rape them. However this does not work because they become so enraptured with heterosexual sex that he is turned into their playboy.
Both then, and now, I find this particular scene to be incredibly disgusting and repulsive and it has nothing to do with homosexuality. While there are some serious conflicts with regards to the biblical stance of homosexuality and my compassionate stance towards it, I find this part of the story to be simply repulsive. I remember reading a book once called 'What Cops Know' and there was a chapter on rape. The conclusion from that chapter was that most victims of rape know their attacker, and in many cases it is an attempt by the perpetrator, as misguided as it may be, to make the victim love them. While this is not the case with regards to Gris, it just baffles me how any female (outside of consensual sex) could tolerate, or even enjoy, rape. To me it is a violation of her integrity and a method to exert control over the victim. In a way it does not matter whether the victim is male or female, it has nothing to do with pleasure, and everything to do with dominance.
I was going to continue my diatribe on psychology and sin in this particular review, but I felt that maybe I would digress for a bit and explore the concept of rape in literature. To me, this scene shows that the author simply has no idea how people think and act. This is a clear thing in novels because by seeing how the characters react demonstrates how the author believes humans should act. It is something that I try to keep in my mind when writing fiction. One of the classic traps is to make the character a 'Mary Sue', that is a character that is perfect in every way, with only a few minor flaws. Some have suggested that these Mary Sues are the author's imagination of what they would really like to be and creates the novel to act this out. As I read what I have written of my story 'The Law of Averages' I try to ask myself whether I am creating a Mary Sue with the protagonist, particularly in his relationship with women. It is tempting, as Piers Anthony has done, to have all of the female characters fall over the protagonist in a desire to have sex with them, and this is something I am resisting doing, however I have noticed that as the story progresses, numerous things begin to change, however I don't think I will go into any more detail at this stage, and simply leave the story to develop by itself.
31 March 2012
This is where this series starts to become really painful and irritating and I really do not know why I continued through this series to the seventh book. Maybe because I am a sucker for punishment, though it is not as if any punishment was being doled out to me but rather because I was exposing myself to it. These books aren't good science-fiction and don't have any literary merit. One wonders how it is that they became international best sellers despite people not actually liking them. Some have suggested that a bunch of Hubbard's followers simply went out and bought multiple copies of the books, but even then, if the first few make it by that method and the people who actually read the book hated it, then as each progressive book comes out, less and less people will be buying them.
The reason that I wanted to read this book was because the cover looked so cool. However, remember the age old adage, never judge a book by its cover. While in many cases it does work, in some cases (unlike this particular book) it does not. As mentioned, the book itself was actually very painful to read, and the really painful part of it was where Soltan Gris is imprisoned in a New York apartment by a couple of lesbians who were using him as their play thing. He then decides to attempt to better his position by demonstrating to them what real sex is about, and then proceeds to rape them. However this does not work because they become so enraptured with heterosexual sex that he is turned into their playboy.
Both then, and now, I find this particular scene to be incredibly disgusting and repulsive and it has nothing to do with homosexuality. While there are some serious conflicts with regards to the biblical stance of homosexuality and my compassionate stance towards it, I find this part of the story to be simply repulsive. I remember reading a book once called 'What Cops Know' and there was a chapter on rape. The conclusion from that chapter was that most victims of rape know their attacker, and in many cases it is an attempt by the perpetrator, as misguided as it may be, to make the victim love them. While this is not the case with regards to Gris, it just baffles me how any female (outside of consensual sex) could tolerate, or even enjoy, rape. To me it is a violation of her integrity and a method to exert control over the victim. In a way it does not matter whether the victim is male or female, it has nothing to do with pleasure, and everything to do with dominance.
I was going to continue my diatribe on psychology and sin in this particular review, but I felt that maybe I would digress for a bit and explore the concept of rape in literature. To me, this scene shows that the author simply has no idea how people think and act. This is a clear thing in novels because by seeing how the characters react demonstrates how the author believes humans should act. It is something that I try to keep in my mind when writing fiction. One of the classic traps is to make the character a 'Mary Sue', that is a character that is perfect in every way, with only a few minor flaws. Some have suggested that these Mary Sues are the author's imagination of what they would really like to be and creates the novel to act this out. As I read what I have written of my story 'The Law of Averages' I try to ask myself whether I am creating a Mary Sue with the protagonist, particularly in his relationship with women. It is tempting, as Piers Anthony has done, to have all of the female characters fall over the protagonist in a desire to have sex with them, and this is something I am resisting doing, however I have noticed that as the story progresses, numerous things begin to change, however I don't think I will go into any more detail at this stage, and simply leave the story to develop by itself.
December 11, 2019
This series is rolling along like a cheese-rolling contest. It's going downhill fast and a lot of people are getting hurt - especially Soltan Gris.
The endurance race is more or less the beginning of the race. It's way over the top and totally unbelievable. Some of the techno-jargon of cars and trucks is also a bit hard to follow.
Cowardly mafia men and an out of control press are also out of character. Utanc, a woman obsessed with phallic symbols, seems to have a problem with it in the end of the book. But the biggest problem is Soltan Gris. He must have overdosed on stupid pills because he keeps getting dumber and dumber. Maybe it's all the pollution.
If you like torture and S&M, then you may find something worthwhile in the middle of the book. As for me, it was over the top and stupid. Gris was threatened to be reported to the IRS if he didn't go along with it, but he had diplomatic immunity when he arrived. Like I said, an overdose of stupid pills.
The endurance race is more or less the beginning of the race. It's way over the top and totally unbelievable. Some of the techno-jargon of cars and trucks is also a bit hard to follow.
Cowardly mafia men and an out of control press are also out of character. Utanc, a woman obsessed with phallic symbols, seems to have a problem with it in the end of the book. But the biggest problem is Soltan Gris. He must have overdosed on stupid pills because he keeps getting dumber and dumber. Maybe it's all the pollution.
If you like torture and S&M, then you may find something worthwhile in the middle of the book. As for me, it was over the top and stupid. Gris was threatened to be reported to the IRS if he didn't go along with it, but he had diplomatic immunity when he arrived. Like I said, an overdose of stupid pills.
March 29, 2012
Take all ten of these books and boil 'em down all night... no, leave it on the burner for a whole week. Reduce it too a thick dense sticky sauce. And still, this will have very little flavour.
There was the seed of a decent parody in there within the first two books then the joke was over. The joke became, "...let's make it ten books, just so to call it a "dekalogy".
There was the seed of a decent parody in there within the first two books then the joke was over. The joke became, "...let's make it ten books, just so to call it a "dekalogy".
October 16, 2020
This is the fourth volume of the immensely funny and entertaining ten-part series Mission Earth and continues right where it left off in volume 3, still at the same high-pace. As I have written in previous reviews, I have read all 10 books twice, once on paperback, and once on Kindle. Both very good versions.
The first science-fiction book I ever read was Arthur C Clarke’s ‘2001: A space odyssey’ when I was around 11 years old. I really liked that book, but then went onto reading fantasy and didn’t go back to science-fiction until the Mission Earth series. My husband had the full set and one day I thought to give sci-fi a try again.
This series is a sci-fi satire, looking at Earth and what is happening there from the point of view of Voltarians who have Earth on their invasion timetable hundred years from now. But they have a problem because Earthlings are busy destroying the planet with their atomic bombs, wars, environmental destructions, political madness, advertising to the masses etc.
What continues to be unique with this story is that it is narrated by the antagonist, Soltan Gris, despicable Voltar CIA agent (Coordinated Information Apparatus). Through his eyes we see what all the good people on his planet and on Earth are doing, and he hates it. We also sees inside a true criminal mind and to what extent such people will go to achieve their greedy ambitions at the cost of everyone else and the planet.
These books were written in the 80s and show incredible foresight and are very relevant to our current times.
The first science-fiction book I ever read was Arthur C Clarke’s ‘2001: A space odyssey’ when I was around 11 years old. I really liked that book, but then went onto reading fantasy and didn’t go back to science-fiction until the Mission Earth series. My husband had the full set and one day I thought to give sci-fi a try again.
This series is a sci-fi satire, looking at Earth and what is happening there from the point of view of Voltarians who have Earth on their invasion timetable hundred years from now. But they have a problem because Earthlings are busy destroying the planet with their atomic bombs, wars, environmental destructions, political madness, advertising to the masses etc.
What continues to be unique with this story is that it is narrated by the antagonist, Soltan Gris, despicable Voltar CIA agent (Coordinated Information Apparatus). Through his eyes we see what all the good people on his planet and on Earth are doing, and he hates it. We also sees inside a true criminal mind and to what extent such people will go to achieve their greedy ambitions at the cost of everyone else and the planet.
These books were written in the 80s and show incredible foresight and are very relevant to our current times.
March 24, 2019
Wow! I read it 4 times now. Just amazing. It has everything. Aliens, the CIA, FBO, Rockefeller, the Illuminati, Mafia, Nazis, KGB, finances, the stock market, Wal street, PR, press, fake news, media, Homosexuality, sex, politics, intergalactic warfare -- earth in its fullest picture. YOU NAME IT. It is there!
The hero is awesome, and his girl is a bombshell (but you better do not mess with her).
It is all there - everything you would ever want from such an Epic! A 1.1 million words series -- 996 characters in 10 volumes! Wow! Fantastic! I lost a lot of sleep! It is that good!
The hero is awesome, and his girl is a bombshell (but you better do not mess with her).
It is all there - everything you would ever want from such an Epic! A 1.1 million words series -- 996 characters in 10 volumes! Wow! Fantastic! I lost a lot of sleep! It is that good!
July 12, 2019
L. Ron Hubbard's 1986 novel "Mission Earth, Book 04: An Alien Affair" is even worse than the previous novel. Jetero Heller's side of the story is almost tolerable (though it goes nowhere and just repeats the same types of inanities over and over again). But, the real problem is Soltan Gris' side of the story: it's even more distasteful than what it was in the previous novel. I'd really like to see how this series turns out, but wading through this poor filler is starting to grate. I'm rating the book at a Bad 2 stars out of 5.
October 29, 2020
Jet starts testing a new fuel as the interests profiting from oil, pollution, power align against him and the bullets start flying. Sultan Gris's scheming lands him in the hands of a pair of sex-obsessed women. Some have told me that this goes a bit over the top -- it does, but it is a satire of planet Earth so in some ways it is a bit tame compared the actual headlines (which is pretty crazy in itself). On a happier note we meet Mr. Calico, a rather intelligent and likable cat, who has a part in the story all the way to volume 10.
November 12, 2020
The special thing about the Mission Earth series (and this volume 4 is a good example of it) is that, when you start thinking that it is impossible that some people are as bad and as stupid as Soltan Gris and lead such lives, well, don't be so certain.
The only difference with the book is that they don't live long.
As for the fake and fabricated news as they start blossoming here, when I first read the book, I thought "it's fun, but it cannot happen that way in real life".
Or does it?
The only difference with the book is that they don't live long.
As for the fake and fabricated news as they start blossoming here, when I first read the book, I thought "it's fun, but it cannot happen that way in real life".
Or does it?
November 6, 2020
I wasn't holding much hope for this book after the disappointment of the previous volume, so I am glad to see an improvement. There was more Jet and not as much Gris this time which I prefer, and now that Krak is back in the picture I'm looking forward to reading volume 5.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2019
WE GET IT! GRIS IS INCOMPETENT! Seriously, this is same crap different day. I’m having trouble thinking why this volume was even necessary. Barely a three at all.
August 31, 2019
347 pages.
April 1, 2020
This book was awful. From the get go, it was such a lame story. However, when it progressed to rape and horse genitalia is really where it went from bad to worse.
October 21, 2020
The fourth volume in the Mission Earth series with the larger-than-life goodies and baddies as the former try to save this planet whilst the latter are just out for themselves. Very entertaining.
August 28, 2022
Series was fun to read. Nothing all that serious, but fun nonetheless.
November 21, 2022
A wild ride! And what is even wilder is how real this story is!
April 28, 2025
The story goes on. This book is not as annoying as others I have read, but I will trudge on.
October 4, 2020
Our savior comes from Voltar
Split in ten volumes for editorial (and practical) reasons, the Mission Earth series can be seen as a continuous narrative whose chapters are identified by the different books. This “space operatish” saga (not a lot of space travels, but alien technological gizmos are everywhere!) will follow the comically clumsy actions of corrupted Voltarian agent Soltan Gris as he narrates his attempts to sabotage and destroy the brave Jettero Heller, another native from planet Voltar, bent on “cleaning” the polluted planet Earth to meet voltarian colonial standards. The extremely grotesque way used to paint earthlings' corruption and other... “faults”, however, becomes rapidly a double-edged weapon for reader’s appreciation and may cause some annoyance if the comments read are not thought coming from the corrupted alien venting in his journal, but from the author himself trying to slip his personal (Scientology's) propaganda into the narrative. The suggestion here is to forget the author and have a long light-hearted read, laughing at alien stupidity and their lack in understanding human complexity!
Split in ten volumes for editorial (and practical) reasons, the Mission Earth series can be seen as a continuous narrative whose chapters are identified by the different books. This “space operatish” saga (not a lot of space travels, but alien technological gizmos are everywhere!) will follow the comically clumsy actions of corrupted Voltarian agent Soltan Gris as he narrates his attempts to sabotage and destroy the brave Jettero Heller, another native from planet Voltar, bent on “cleaning” the polluted planet Earth to meet voltarian colonial standards. The extremely grotesque way used to paint earthlings' corruption and other... “faults”, however, becomes rapidly a double-edged weapon for reader’s appreciation and may cause some annoyance if the comments read are not thought coming from the corrupted alien venting in his journal, but from the author himself trying to slip his personal (Scientology's) propaganda into the narrative. The suggestion here is to forget the author and have a long light-hearted read, laughing at alien stupidity and their lack in understanding human complexity!
December 3, 2015
I read this series several years ago with a friend. It was a daunting task at 10 books but we were determined. It's not the usual sort of series I read but I had heard a lot about it and had some highschool friends who loved it.
It's tough to review just one book in the series because the full story is told in all 10 books. You have to read all 10 to find out what happens.
Certainly some of the books were better than others, more exciting and adventurous, but its rare that a 10 book series doesn't have some boringness at some point in all those thousands of pages!
I liked the story and I liked how the books put in perspective some of the craziness you find on Planet Earth with the CIA, drugs, the media, etc.
Overall, I found it a fun romp through our planet from the eyes of an outsider....Mr. Jettero Heller. I think it's a great read!
It's tough to review just one book in the series because the full story is told in all 10 books. You have to read all 10 to find out what happens.
Certainly some of the books were better than others, more exciting and adventurous, but its rare that a 10 book series doesn't have some boringness at some point in all those thousands of pages!
I liked the story and I liked how the books put in perspective some of the craziness you find on Planet Earth with the CIA, drugs, the media, etc.
Overall, I found it a fun romp through our planet from the eyes of an outsider....Mr. Jettero Heller. I think it's a great read!
Read
October 23, 2013Absolute drivel.
I am wondering if I can be bothered to go write this on all the books of the series that I actually managed to slog through, and I might. Been reading sci-fi since I remember myself and almost never have I dropped a book halfway through. I really tried with this "epic" series, really did. On book 4 now and have decided that there is no way I am devoting another precious minute of my life to this.
The story has something in it, but there are so many unnecessary twists and turns, totally pointless and adding nothing to the narrative. The weird is too crazy, the strange is stupid, in short - avoid this book.
Cannot believe it is written by the author of Battlefield Earth!
I am wondering if I can be bothered to go write this on all the books of the series that I actually managed to slog through, and I might. Been reading sci-fi since I remember myself and almost never have I dropped a book halfway through. I really tried with this "epic" series, really did. On book 4 now and have decided that there is no way I am devoting another precious minute of my life to this.
The story has something in it, but there are so many unnecessary twists and turns, totally pointless and adding nothing to the narrative. The weird is too crazy, the strange is stupid, in short - avoid this book.
Cannot believe it is written by the author of Battlefield Earth!
February 22, 2024
Beyond the fun, a still accurate commentary on our modern society
There are things in this 30 years old book that will make you believe it was written yesterday.
At first glance, it might seem to be too far fetched, it being a novel and all, but if you care to look into it, you will find it is more accurate than most news stories (which is not setting the bar very high).
For instance, if you think his take on the IRS is exaggerated, go on the IRS's own website, and you see there are reporting rules for income from illegal activities such as drug dealing, and profit made on the sale of stolen goods!
I can't possibly recommend enough reading the whole series, not just for the fun of it but as an exceptionally keen look on absurdities of modern society.
There are things in this 30 years old book that will make you believe it was written yesterday.
At first glance, it might seem to be too far fetched, it being a novel and all, but if you care to look into it, you will find it is more accurate than most news stories (which is not setting the bar very high).
For instance, if you think his take on the IRS is exaggerated, go on the IRS's own website, and you see there are reporting rules for income from illegal activities such as drug dealing, and profit made on the sale of stolen goods!
I can't possibly recommend enough reading the whole series, not just for the fun of it but as an exceptionally keen look on absurdities of modern society.
February 10, 2016
While not as totally horrible as the Battlefield Earth book these aren't that great. There are some good plots themes and a sorta pulpish feel to the characters, but overall it seems to fall short of what it could be. The story seems to ramble and could have been cut by 1/3 and still got the point across. The random sex and sadistic events just seem to be placed in there not for storyline but for shock value. Not recommended
April 9, 2012
This book was a little bit better compared to the previous books. It has a lot of hilarious scenarios. The ending was always still the best (just like the previous books) because The Countess Krak was finally arrived on our planet and she'll surely help her boyfriend Jettero Heller to complete his mission.
July 13, 2016
I bought this series of books because I wanted to read something longer, not just a single book. The sci-fi genre, and the book description got my attention, so there I was, taking all the books in the series home, and...... quite frankly not liking it too much. It was okay, but this was one of the rare purchases that I regretted.
Read
February 9, 2015lo
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews