The Lotus Caves

by John Christopher

Fleeing the claustrophobic artificiality of the Moon Bubble, 14-year-olds Marty & Steve illegally reconnoiter-the long-abandoned 1st Station &, following a clue in the journal of "never recovered" Andrew Thurgood, plunge their mechanical crawler into a fragrant, fertile warren of caves. There the enveloping moss & branches, the moving, metamorphosizing leaves & undergrowth are all part of one gigantic sentient Plant which has also provided, for the surviving Thurgood, a lush earth-like orchard & an orchestra tree programmed to play his favorite (now 70-year-old) tunes. The Plant will pamper them until, like the Odyssey's lotus-eaters, they'll relinquish all thoughts of escape. Marty's fight against euphoria, which involves arousing the lethargic, Plant-worshipping Thurgood, is quickly told--more quickly than the Lunarians-at-school episode at the beginning.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Adventure, Childrens

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Samuel Youd was born in Huyton, Lancashire in April 1922, during an unseasonable snowstorm.

As a boy, he was devoted to the newly emergent genre of science-fiction: ‘In the early thirties,’ he later wrote, ‘we knew just enough about the solar system for its possibilities to be a magnet to the imagination.’

Over the following decades, his imagination flowed from science-fiction into general novels, cricket novels, medical novels, gothic romances, detective thrillers, light comedies … In all he published fifty-six novels and a myriad of short stories, under his own name as well as eight different pen-names.

He is perhaps best known as John Christopher, author of the seminal work of speculative fiction, The Death of Grass (today available as a Penguin Classic), and a stream of novels in the genre he pioneered, young adult dystopian fiction, beginning with The Tripods Trilogy.

‘I read somewhere,’ Sam once said, ‘that I have been cited as the greatest serial killer in fictional history, having destroyed civilisation in so many different ways – through famine, freezing, earthquakes, feral youth combined with religious fanaticism, and progeria.’

In an interview towards the end of his life, conversation turned to a recent spate of novels set on Mars and a possible setting for a John Christopher story: strand a group of people in a remote Martian enclave and see what happens.

The Mars aspect, he felt, was irrelevant. ‘What happens between the people,’ he said, ‘that’s the thing I’m interested in.’

Reviews

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love John Christopher's Death of Grass, I love the interesting creative TV brain of Bryan Fuller, Fuller taking a John Christopher novel and turning it in to a TV movie for SyFy seemed like a match made in heaven (apart from it being for SyFY of course), the movie was High Moon and the novel was this cute little Puffin I've had on my shelf for the last few years. The movie turned out to be horrible, the book not so much.

First off, It's important to know that Lotus Caves is a 60s YA science fantasy novel, quite far removed from the dramatic social commentary of Death of Grass. It's the adventures of a couple of bored teenaged boys on a dreary moon base where fun is essentially outlawed and at times reads like a mix between Enid Blyton and an acid trip.

Christopher covers the effects of growing up on the moonbase, the isolation and the boredom, the learning about life but not be able to experience it until you're sent back to Earth. It's a horrible image of the future that he conjures but it's softened because it's for children, designed to encourage adventure rather than existential misery. He even touches on the depression that living on the moon can cause for adults who grew up on Earth, space sickness and suicides, a mother that no longer smiles. This is the stuff that elevates the book above just another kids book. Where were the adults handing out science fiction for the 10+ age group when I was younger? I feel certain I would have read far more if the 60s weren't clearly seen as off limits in the Hertfordshire school system of the late 80s.

As it was meant to be thought of by the author and the publisher, I can only recommend it for YA readers who crave innocence and clarity in their novels as opposed to battle hardened, soul weary literary adults.

[Sali-steady-read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Christopher's books are all fantastic, according to my teen self!
This book is not as famous as "the white mountains" trilogy, but I enjoyed it as much. The concealed message of the story was absorbing and the mystery was thrilling. Read it if you haven't.

اینم از اون کتابهاییه که خاصه... کتاب راجع به آینده ست و انگار میخواد نشون بده که خدا پرستی در آینده یه کار بسیاااااار غیرعادی به شمار خواهد اومد...

[TAP · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting idea that might be better suited as an adult novel.

[Kamakana · Rating 5 out of 5]

.??? 70s: read this first when i was a kid, already a dated paperback, revisited several times growing up, then just again- i was first attracted by the cover (still am), i remember it fondly, i think of it as an animated film with a boy and a girl, rather than two boys, and set on mars rather than the moon... this is definitely a five influenced by sentiment, yes, but this story remains to summon that childhood dream of other worlds, of space, of aliens, as can best be rendered in a young adult book...

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, I love the cheesy old sci-fi of the 60's and 70's and John Christopher's kid's books are wonderful examples of the adventures that kid's books used to have. There is nostalgia involved in reading them, as well as respect for the writing and awe the the imaginative process that went into constructing the stories.

Marty and Steve are two kids who live in the moon colony know as the 'Bubble' for a sophisticated reader/watcher of the 2020's there is not a lot that is new. The Bubble is a high tech, constrictive society which employees people for 20 year contracts and which prefers families. The society and setting are really well thought out and written about.

Marty and Steve illicitly take a crawler out to explore the moon and crash in a cave, a closed environment in which an alien creature, reminiscent of an intelligent plant has settled. It seems they are not the first to crash into the location; one of the original explorers, who was listed as 'lost, body ever recovered' crashed there too... and is still there, having never aged. As the boys explore the caves and learn more about the Plant, Marty at least gets very worried about the effect it is having upon them and is bent upon escape.

A great little kids book! I had thought that I had read most of the works by this author (though GR disagrees) but this one was new to me and I am glad I found it.




This edition, btw, is not the one I own, mine is the 1986 Puffin paperback with different art work; that amazing, entirely cheese sci-fi artwork of the 70's - 80's one just cant go past it...

[Bob Redmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of the "Tripods Trilogy" was one of my favorite authors as a kid. This book is not as gripping as the others, but manages to tell a decent narrative about a future world on the moon. Adolescents (and Ayn Rand fans) will probably find weight to the central question of personal responsibility: two friends start a runaway caper that turns serious, when they get trapped by a benevolent dictator in the form of a Plant. It could be a veiled story about LSD, but the subtext is too flat to go there critically.

For the most part, the book is dated (high schoolers won't really resonate, alas, with the references to Homer, Shakespeare, and the great Symphonies) and lacks enough conflict to raise more than an eyebrow. At 215 pages, it's a quick read, and mildly entertaining.

WHY I READ THIS BOOK: Wanting something easy to read during Bumbershoot, I wanted to read a Young Adult novel; specifically the second book of the Tripods Triology. But I'm missing that one on my shelf, so picked up this instead. I read it a bunch of times as a kid, and got it at a used book store some years ago. Luckily I had forgotten most of the plot points.

[Zahra Dashti · Rating 5 out of 5]

چقدر ازش لذت بردم. فوق العاده بود. مسخ شدن به شیوه طبیعی رو خوب شرح داده بود.
دوست دارم باز بخونمش!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool! Very interesting, imaginative sci fi story that held my interest from cover to cover. Easy, enjoyable read.

[Valerie]

This is the 1971 (Collier edition) reprinting of the 1969 edition, the one I have. The dedication is: "To Julia for the spark that broke the logjam".

The basic premise is that two bored Lunar colonists (teenage boys born on the Moon while their parents were working on a long-term contract) go on what amounts to a joyride. In the process, they encounter evidence (a fragment of a journal) which suggests that a colonist at First Station (since abandoned, because the colony moved to the larger (but still small) Bubble) did not in fact just go off his rocker and suicide, but was pursuing a quixotic quest to try to find what he described as a giant flower (on the airless Moon).

Following the leads in the journal, the boys end up falling through a poorly reinforced ceiling in the titular Lotus Caves.

The Plant (which refers to itself in the plural, and seems to have many surface manifestations) has created a habitat for itself, which is not quite fully insulated yet (the Plant says it arrived in the Solar System before Earth was cool enough to be habitable (? wouldn't the Moon have been too hot then, as well?)). But it's not in any hurry (it doesn't seem to have much temporal sense), and it's still not finished fully closing itself off.

The boys meet the missing colonist (his name is Thurgood, and he's been missing for 70 years, but though he'd be over 100 years old, he doesn't seem to've aged significantly). Questioning him and the Plant, they discover that the Plant's solution to intruders is to bribe them into complacency (there's a suggestion that the food the Plant supplies may be drugged). The comparison that's repeatedly made is that the Plant acts like a mollusk, and coats irritants until they're smooth and non-threatening 'pearls'.

The history of Earth in this book is sketchy at best. The Lunar colonists are taught what is a very sanitized version of history, apparently--and the children don't have any basis to make experiential corrections. They're even prevented from experiencing the smells of the planet they've never seen, apparently lest the emotional stimuli might activate unrequitable desires. So the reader has to try to fill in the missing parts.

It seems evident that the Plant's fears of mass invasions of its private elysium are well founded. The boys find that they have to face ethical concerns as well as their growing sluggishness while planning their escape.

There are questions, however, about their proposed solution. For example, the description of how the Plant came to the Solar System leaves the question of how it (they?) reproduce(s). Are there other Plants out there, releasing seeds? What happens when (if?) this one decides it's time to reproduce? PROBABLY its spores will leave the Solar System, but...

Another problem is that while the Plant is about at climax stage, and will finish sealing up its habitat soon (by its standards), humanity is evidently not near climax. It's been possible to conceal the Plant's existence for the more than 70 years since humans first settled on the Moon--but what happens when more Bubbles are established? What if there's a general effort to terraform the Moon?

In general, Christopher seems fairly skilled at selenography (especially given that he was writing in 1969)--but he makes a few mistakes. One is the assumption that there're no colors in the maria and other lunar features. Another is that at one point he describes the Lunar rocks as 'weathered'. Obviously, lunar rocks are NOT weathered. They may, however, have been altered by extralunar impactors--which are almost entirely ignored in this book. What WOULD happen to the Plant if a major impactor struck nearby? Examination of the craters indicates that rock splashes like mud in such situations--and though there's little atmosphere on the Moon (not 'none' by the way. Lunar gases are at very low pressure (it's described in 'torricellis': One torricelli = approximately 1/760th of an 'atmosphere'--which is almost 15 psi)), vibrations travel through the Lunar surface--which would definitely have an impact on the Plant.

All in all, I'd say there was plenty of scope for a sequel.

[D.M. Dutcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marty is a bright boy who lives in the Bubble colony on the Moon. He becomes friends with Steve, a prankster and iconoclast who convinces him one day to take an unoccupied crawler out on the Moon's surface to explore first station. Once there they find a journal of one of the first explorers. One that details a sighting of a plant. The boys go off in search of it, and fall through the surface, into the cavern of a giant Plant. Can they get back home?

This book heavily weighed on me as a child. I found it again thanks to the "What's the Name of that Book?" community here, and reading it again if anything made me appreciate it the more. The writing is Christopher's usual mix of precision and economy, and the world is unusual and powerful. The Bubble is lonely, sterile, economical to a fault, and just existing there seems to grip it's inhabitants in a powerful depression. He really manages to make you feel what living on the Moon might actually feel like, and how the isolation over time wears down on you.

But the world of the Plant is entirely different. Warm, langourous, with just a hint of the cozy horror awaiting them. A very cerebral one, for a children's book. That section is shorter than I remember, but that memory: being trapped inside the airless moon, waking up each "day" to find it harder and harder to think, and worrying you'll never escape, or even want to-that really did a number on me as a kid.

As an adult, you see a little more into it. A reviewer mentioned a subtext of LSD, but what I was struck by was how much it felt like a contrast between atheism, and religious belief. The rational, quiet despair of life on the barren moon, how Marty "lost" a friend who had to go back to earth, how they rebelled and fell into the world of the Plant, how the Plant landed on the Moon, and how It affected them. Little touches, too: the Swinburne poem, and how the first fruit they ate was an apple. The reader almost always reads intent into any work, but as an adult I wonder if he might have been loading us kids with a little existential despair.

That aside, this was a very strong book that haunted my mind for 30 years. I'm glad to have found it again, and it's a very worthy five stars.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagine The Lotus Caves by John Christopher would be classified as Young Adult now, but either way it's an interesting little SciFi story. It features Marty and Steve, two teenagers who have grown up on the Moon in the Earth settlement there. Marty's best friend has been recently sent back to Earth for school, so Marty begins to hang out with Steve, an orphan.
They get in trouble for a prank they perform in the Bubble, where the colony resides and then decide to take a Crawler out to explore one of the early settlements. This leads them to explore further and they crash their vehicle and find themselves in contact with an alien mind in an underground cave system.
Is the mind benign or threatening? What will happen to Marty and Steve? That you have to find out. All in all it was a readable, interesting Science fiction novel, nothing outstanding but an easy, entertaining read. I enjoyed. (3 stars).
Christopher was a prolific writer and I'll keep looking for his books. The Death of Grass looks especially interesting.

[D.C. Sheehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Christopher is a superb writer with great stories to his name, but for me this is his strongest work. It's a compact tale, but as epic as the most legendary mythological yarns. Even now, over 30 years since I last read the book, I can still remember my shock at the 'reveal'. It's a gut punch that is as good as any in sci fi horror.

The only thing I've never loved about this book is the title, which has always struck me as a little clumsy. Perhaps it's just that word 'Caves'. For years I've accidentally referred to the book as 'The Lotus Eaters' which refers to a myth that is referenced in the tale. Then again, I'm not sure I can come up with a better title than Christopher did. The Lotus Moon? The Lotus Caverns? The Boys of the Lotus? Perhaps Christopher had the right title all along...

[Stuart Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much better than I remember. Another quality science fiction exploration from an author who fills my childhood with memories and should be more widely read and better loved.

[kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was put on my radar after watching the failed Bryan Fuller pilot a few years ago, and although book and TV show differed in striking ways, I found both super compelling. It's a really nuanced look at the nature of free will in a fantastic setting. I hope it gets rediscovered.

[Rhiannon Hart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marty was born on the Moon, in the Bubble. His knowledge of Earth comes from documentaries and history classes at school. Life in the Bubble is defined by limitations: on resources, on space. When Marty's best friend is sent to Earth unexpectedly, he befriends the loner, Steve, and the two begin to cause mischief to alleviate their boredom. Finding a key left in a crawler by mistake, they take the vehicle out onto the surface of the Moon. Their journey becomes more than idle exploration when they discover the diary of a man who went missing more than seventy years previously.

The Lotus Caves (1969) is by John Christopher, the same author of one of my favourite reads year, The Death of Grass. The latter is a dystopian for adults; The Lotus Caves, on the other hand, is sci-fi for children. It would appeal to middle graders, the main characters being two twelve-year-old boys, the writing very accessible and the length short.

I found this book rather slow to start but the pace picks up quite nicely as soon as the boys take the crawler beyond the limits of where children of the Bubble are supposed to venture. This isn't one of Christopher's many dystopian works but he creates a wonderful creepiness as Marty begins to discover the truth about what resides in the Lotus Caves. It was difficult to get a full sense of any of the characters, but through the course of the novel Marty develops from a somewhat bland, easily-led boy into an intelligent free-thinker. Steve, on the other hand, who in the Bubble seems to be the independent one, if a tad reckless, is revealed to be weaker willed than his friend.

The novel shines in the last third. The vivid descriptions of the Lotus Caves and the unpleasant truth behind what the boys--and the missing man--call the Plant makes for interesting reading. The action is wrapped up a little quickly, and the beginning is a touch slow, but The Lotus Caves is a worthy addition to a middle-grader's sci-fi library, or as an introduction to the genre.

I'm pleased to discover there's meant to be a film version of this book released in 2010/11. It will certainly lend itself to adaptation. The phosphorescent world of the Lotus Caves reminds me a lot of the glowing world of Avatar's Pandora.

[Abbas · Rating 4 out of 5]

مثل دیگر کارهای جان کریستوفر، علمی تخیلی برای نوجوانان هست. رمان های سه گاه و چهار گانه این نویسنده رو بیشتر دوست داشتم و پیشنهاد میکنم اون ها رو بخونید.
نکته ای که جالب توجه بود واسم، خدایی بود که تو داستانه و نیاز داره که فردی اون رو پرستش کنه. در ازاش بهش رفاه و امکانات و غذا و سرپناه میده. ولی اون رو در اسارت گرفته انگار.
اون دیدی که نسبت به خدا تو داستان هست، یک موجود نیازمند به پرستیده شدن و بنده هست. و اون چیزی هم که شبیه بهشت تو داستان معرفی میشه جایی پر از نعمت و برخورداری، ولی خسته کننده و تکراری هست.

[دانیال بهزادی · Rating 5 out of 5]

‫این هم یکی دیگه از علمی-تخیّلی‌هایی بود که در نوجوانی، به همراه روبوت فراری عاشقش بودم.

[Opalears · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started out the way you'd expect a 60's or 70's scifi novel to start, some inaccuracy and cheesy language. But this book really surprised me with its characterisations and fun plotline, I wish it was longer!

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the Tripods Trilogy by the same author.

[Sugarrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story, I dudnt really like the ending and felt there could have been much more to it..
It's just ok for me.

[Karin Jäger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inhalt:
Marty und Steve sind beide 14 Jahre alt und leben 2068 in der Mondkolonie. Diese besteht aus einer einzigen, nicht allzu großen Kuppel. Jeder kennt jeden und obwohl es Freizeitangebote gibt, sind die Möglichkeiten beschränkt. Marty vermisst das freie, bunte Leben auf der Erde, obwohl er auf dem Mond geboren wurde. Sein neuer Freund Steve, der als Eigenbrötler gilt, fordert Martys Neugier und Abenteuerlust heraus. Zuerst begehen sie zusammen einen harmlosen Streich. In dessen Folge finden die beiden in einem Mondfahrzeug einen Schlüssel vor, welcher die Umkreisbeschränkung des Mondfahrzeugs aufhebt. Sie packen die Gelegenheit am Schopf und erkunden den Mond. Dabei geraten sie in die Lotushöhlen. Bisher unentdeckt von der Menschheit lebt dort eine außerirdische Lebensform.

Bewertung:
Die Geschichte läßt sich gut verfolgen, obwohl sie weniger ereignisreich und spannend als andere Romane von John Christopher ist. Es gibt wenige Höhepunkte in der Handlung und der Schwerpunkt liegt in Beschreibungen: Wie sieht die Mondstation und die Landschaft aus? Wie lebt es sich auf dem Mond? Wie verläuft die Reise? Wie sieht es in den Lotushöhlen aus? Meine Vorstellungskraft wurde damit überfordert. Ich konnte mir die Route durch die Mondlandschaft räumlich wenig vorstellen. Allerdings hatte der Autor sehr viele Ideen für die Lotushöhle und die Formen des außerirdischen Lebens, die einige Faszination haben. Die eigentliche Entdeckung ist jedoch wortwörtlich unspektakulär; der Autor lässt diese den Leser nicht sehen.

Marty und Steve stürzen mit ihrem Fahrzeug ab und in die Lotushöhle hinein. Dabei werden sie jedoch bewußtlos und als sie wieder zu sich kommen, wissen sie daher nicht, wo sie sich befinden.

Vielmehr müssen Marty und Steve sowohl die Ausdehnung der Höhlen als auch deren Geheimnis mit der Zeit entdecken. Ich hatte den Eindruck, dass John Christopher bei dieser Geschichte die psychischen Vorgänge das Wichtige waren. Marty findet die Höhlen bedrohlich. Dieses Gefühl sprang auf mich kaum über. Das mag auch an Steve liegen, der für die Schwere der Ereignisse sehr cool wirkt. In diesem Roman hat John Christopher eine Aussage dazu gemacht, wieso er (so oft) zwei Jungs als Protagonisten gewählt hat: Zu zweit ist alles gleich besser. Andererseits bringt er durch die teils gegensätzliche Haltung der beiden und durch ihre Rivalität eine gewisse Spannung in die Beziehung und es erlaubt ihm, die Handlung mit weiteren Aspekten wie persönlicher Reifung zu bereichern. Mir stellte sich die Frage, ob es einen biografischen Hintergrund gibt. So sehr es mir gefallen hat, dass John Christopher diese Aussagen gemacht hat, ist mir in diesem Buch auch positiv aufgefallen, wie geschickt er Andeutungen macht, zum Beispiel wenn...

er uns wissen lässt, dass Marty und Steve die Musik in der Lotushöhle nicht mögen, und er uns später wissen lässt, dass die Pflanze diese Musik erlernt hat, stolz darauf ist und sie herrlich findet. So wird deutlich, dass die drei Lebewesen nicht wirklich zusammenpassen.

Das Ende hat mir auch gut gefallen. In gewisser Weise ist es für mich ein Happy End. Insgesamt vergebe ich vier Sterne für diesen Roman.

[Godly Gadfly · Rating 1 out of 5]

A space-version of some ancient Greek mythology (1 star)

In this YA sci-fi story from 1969, two boys leave their moon colony, and while exploring crash through the moon's surface into a cave. There they discover a beautiful setting, but one ruled by The Plant, an alien life-form.

I really didn't like this novel. Firstly, the two boys blatantly disregard the rules by taking off without permission, and this rebellion to parents and authority is not criticized, and never resolved, because the story ends before them ever returning. Secondly, The Plant becomes the object of worship for another human who ended up in the caves decades earlier. It's presented almost like a god, and it's all just weird.

I wasn't familiar with the Lotus-eaters of Greek mythology that inspired this novel, although I did look it up afterwards out of interest. It's from Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus' ship ends up at a place he calls "the land of the Lotus-eaters" where his men have similar experience with a delicious plant, and after they eat from it they stop caring about going home - although there's no worship involved.

In an interesting article from 1971 where he explains to a children's magazine why he wrote The Lotus Caves, John Christopher (real name Sam Youd) describes living in the 1930s when travel to the moon was not yet a reality, but dreamed of. He himself wasn't in favour of lunar exploration, and when people did eventually get to the moon, it turned out to be a dull place. That's part of the background for the novel, and explains why the first part of the story presents a lunar colony as a highly organized but boring place. In contrast, Christopher says that the world of The Plant "stands for he colour and strangeness and excitement which thirty-eight years ago were part of our speculations about the other planets, and which in the time between have drained away."

Apparently the main theme is about "the development of a young person's will and independence, and the conflict between benevolent authority and individual conscience." If that's the case, then it's really not clear what kind of independence is good and what isn't, and the question of ethics and morals doesn't seem to play a role in this. For me, this was a big miss.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a tale than a review... About 33 years ago I borrowed a book from my senior school library. I did not manage to read much before I had to hand it back and I felt the story had been about to reveal something wonderful. I thought I would get it out again or buy it but I forgot the name of the book and author so all seemed lost. Over the years I thought about it often and wished I could find it again. When the internet became a thing I started to search on the only bits I could remember which were moon and flower. I looked at every book which came up and it was none of them : ( . Over the years I kept trying and must have discounted scores of books. A few days ago I had another try this time searching children's science fiction, moon and flower and The Lotus Caves popped up. The minute I read the description I knew it was my book. I was ridiculously excited and ordered a second hand copy : ) . I loved this book! It is a great little story, interesting with good characters and I could not put it down. I am so happy that I have been able to read it at last. My 33 year search is at an end.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good novel for middle-grade readers! This was another one of my dad's suggestions. It was a classic for hum because it was one of the books he remembers reading as a pre-teen. I enjoyed the idea of having people living on the moon and seeing what that experience might be like; the loneliness that would accompany a 25 year service period on the moon and missing all of the things we take for granted that come with living on a planet that produces so much light. Some things that I couldn't get around were Marty and Steve's sudden friendship and what motivated them to do what they did. But overall, this was an interesting concept to explore, especially considering it was written in the same year that we went to the moon.

[saghar]

این کتاب رو وقتی نوجوان بودم از کتابخونه گرفتم و خوندم، اما اسمش فراموشم شده بود. با این حال تصویرایی که توی ذهنم ازش ساخته بودم اینقدر واضح تو ذهنم مونده که هنوزم که هنوزه یادش میفتم. خیلی دنبال این بودم که یادم بیاد چه کتابی بود. از دوستانم که اهل کتاب هستن و در نوجوانی هم کتاب می‌خوندن سوال می‌کردم اما انگار که هیچکس جز من نخونده بودش. امروز به کمک chatgpt اسمش رو پیدا کردم و خیلی ذوق‌زده شدم.🥲
فکر می‌کنم برای علاقه‌مند کردن نوجوان‌ها به کتاب خوندن مناسب باشه؛ برای همین اگر کسی رو دارید پیشنهاد می‌کنم این کتابو پیدا کنید و بهش هدیه بدید تا مثل من تصاویر قشنگی توی ذهنش بسازه.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another re-read from decades ago: a tale distinctly 1960s in its setting and tone, about two boys living in a colony on the moon who find a secret cave inhabited by a telepathic plant willing to build a Paradise for them if they just give up their curiosity and sense of adventure. I could easily imagine this as an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, complete with passionate debates about the meaning of humanity and our need to explore and struggle versus our need for happiness.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

For naïve 10 year old children (iow, me, half a century ago). Otherwise, so many of the social and technological predictions are so wrong, it reads like it was written forty years earlier. And the theme has been done before, too. Too bad... I'm sure Christopher can do better because I've already researched titles from his oeuvre, but this is not an example of good or important work.

Better than certain other older juvenile SF though, which will remain nameless....

[Mads Kamp · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Christopher accomplishes the nice little feat of scratching my pulp-itch, nicely.
The Lotus Caves is, however, not his best work. It manages to dish out some nice points about humanity and other valuable things, but it lacks a lot in the science department, sadly. And the characters are a bit bland.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Christopher writes about fantastic yet believable future situations usually involving alien beings and human interactions with such.
This is the first time I have read this novel and I really enjoyed it. Enough science talk but not too much to get bogged down. The story moved along at a nice pace through a different kind of encounter to ones I have read of 'The Tripods' and 'The Triffids.'

[Dallas Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel doesn’t have the action of some of John Christopher’s other works, but it’s a mesmerising tale nevertheless. The idea of an artificial paradise which numbs the soul into merely existing is interesting from a religious perspective, and perhaps this is what the author was saying. Either way it’s a slow buildup to a dramatic escape from the clutches of - ironically - goodness.