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Saurus
A Cornerstone of Early British Sci-FiIt arrived in the wee hours of the morning. Had an express train derailed? Were the Germans bombing the British countryside again? The truth was beyond Professor Toddleben’s wildest dreams . . . The professor’s quaint estate of Applewood had unceremoniously become home to an extraterrestrial visitor. Saurus, an iguana-like creature borne Earthward from the stars, hatches from a leathery shell and demonstrates both a superlative mind and telepathic abilities. Professor Toddleben and his assistants learn to communicate with him-and from there the plot only thickens!Recognized as the first work to use science-fiction to comment on the philosophical state of man and his creations, Phillpott’s 1938 novel offers a penetrating look into humanity-and a message that continues to resonate with science-fiction lovers everywhere.
- GenresFiction
281 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1938
20 people want to read
About the author
Eden Phillpotts
549 books21 followersSee also: Harrington Hext
Eden Philpotts was an English novelist, short-story writer, and playwright with a particular interest in the county of Devon. His works include a cycle of 18 novels set in Dartmoor.
Eden Philpotts was an English novelist, short-story writer, and playwright with a particular interest in the county of Devon. His works include a cycle of 18 novels set in Dartmoor.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 19, 2017
A Stern Reptilian Warning
Although its principal and titular character is an alien reptilian visitor to Earth, Saurus is more of a philosophical novel than science fiction. Published just before World War II, the work seems to be a kind of meditation by author Eden Phillpotts who, through the character of a highly intelligent alien observer, espouses ideas about humanity during a dark and foreboding moment in world history.
The novel has some interesting ideas and is intelligently written, but the story itself is pretty light in terms of plot, and anything approaching action is usually quickly glossed over in an effort to resume its philosophical musings.
This could easily have been a stage play, for the writing consists almost entirely of long conversations between the three main characters—the alien Saurus, and an Englishman and his sister who play host to the visitor while he studies the Earth, its science, philosophy and history, and shares his viewpoints with anyone who will listen . . . all the while enjoying copious amounts of fruit, his primary form of sustenance.
Saurus is a fun and unconventional read, but some of its potential for being a great story is sacrificed at the expense of philosophizing. It’s hard to blame Phillpotts for this, given what was going on in Europe at the time. To his credit, he had some insightful lessons to share with a civilization that then appeared on the brink of destruction.
Indeed, the stern warning embodied in his book through the character of Saurus—essentially the possibility that humanity in its violence and ignorance might destroy itself—still seems quite relevant today.
Although its principal and titular character is an alien reptilian visitor to Earth, Saurus is more of a philosophical novel than science fiction. Published just before World War II, the work seems to be a kind of meditation by author Eden Phillpotts who, through the character of a highly intelligent alien observer, espouses ideas about humanity during a dark and foreboding moment in world history.
The novel has some interesting ideas and is intelligently written, but the story itself is pretty light in terms of plot, and anything approaching action is usually quickly glossed over in an effort to resume its philosophical musings.
This could easily have been a stage play, for the writing consists almost entirely of long conversations between the three main characters—the alien Saurus, and an Englishman and his sister who play host to the visitor while he studies the Earth, its science, philosophy and history, and shares his viewpoints with anyone who will listen . . . all the while enjoying copious amounts of fruit, his primary form of sustenance.
Saurus is a fun and unconventional read, but some of its potential for being a great story is sacrificed at the expense of philosophizing. It’s hard to blame Phillpotts for this, given what was going on in Europe at the time. To his credit, he had some insightful lessons to share with a civilization that then appeared on the brink of destruction.
Indeed, the stern warning embodied in his book through the character of Saurus—essentially the possibility that humanity in its violence and ignorance might destroy itself—still seems quite relevant today.
Displaying 1 of 1 review