L. Ron Hubbard sci fi

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by timothy, Mar 30, 2012.

  1. timothy

    timothy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    finally the following are on the Nook and are lend me books.

    Battlefield Earth

    Mission Earth:
    1. the invaders plan
    2. Black Genesis
    3. the enemy within
    4. an alien affair
    5. fortune of fear
    6. death quest
    7. voyage of vengeance
    8. disaster
    9. villainy victorious
    10. the doomed planet
    I loved these books back in high school I plan to reread them now they are in e form. and I was wondering how many others have read them and liked them.
     
  2. MadMan1701A

    MadMan1701A Commodore Premium Member

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    I love Battlefield Earth... I end up reading it over every couple of years.

    I recently started the Misson Earth series myself... I'm up to about the middle of book 4. I feel like I'm slogging through it though... it's almost like there is no direction to the plot, and the satire doesn't always seem to work.

    That said, I'm still interested enough in what happens to keep reading it. :)

    -Ricky
     
  3. Tom Hendricks

    Tom Hendricks Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    While I have read Battlefield Earth and Mission Earth series, my favorite of his is To The Stars. I have written a movie script and adaptation for a TV series. More or less for my personal enjoyment. I once even started moving forward on a web series a few years back, not a true adaptation but more of a derivative work. To kind of get around copyright and such. Had a friend do some concept drawing and would love to make it happen someday.
     
  4. nightwind1

    nightwind1 Commodore Commodore

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    Don't forget his other science fiction:

    Dianetics

    and

    Scientology
     
  5. Holdfast

    Holdfast Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I read bits & pieces of the Mission Earth series back in school, and from what I remember, I enjoyed them but never got round to reading it all in sequence. Must remedy that at some point.
     
  6. MANT!

    MANT! Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Some of his stuff was OK in a pulpy sort of way...

    But forget any of his novels making it to the theaters after the following disaster..

    I bring you the worst film of the 21st century..

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0R_FR9pD2k[/yt]
     
  7. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I've only read "Battlefield Earth" and "Dianetics". "Battlefield Earth" was a cool, pulpy (to use MANT!'s description) novel. "Dianetics" was just awful.
     
  8. timothy

    timothy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    We are not getting into persudo religon just his sci fi.

    Besides I am of cathloic/jedi faith thank you.
     
  9. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I think I remember Slaves of Sleep but the hook in what comes to mind (people working on alien/evil projects while asleep) has been used several times and I might be confabulating.

    Fear's hook is downright commonplace but it was well written. If this was the first appearance of the narrator who is the murderer/monster/villain unbeknownst even to himself, then I suppose Hubbard deserves kudos for genuine creation of a powerful trope. It's the first use I know of, but is it really?

    Typewriter in the Sky I've read excerpts from. Final Blackout had a decent reputation but I've read nothing from it. Ole Doc Methuselah stories also have a decent reputation but honestly, James White Hospital stories and Alan Nourse seem to have superseded them.

    Overall, as a writer, Hubbard would seem to be somewhere below someone like Murray Leinster. Crude but fitfully live characterization, a more or less grammatical prose that doesn't hit too many sour notes, but distinguished primarily by a more creative imagination than usual.

    I no longer read cellulose blocks, whether it's Hubbard's or no. Poor old Robert Jordan didn't suck me into his trap!:devil:
     
  10. Hound of UIster

    Hound of UIster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's a great sleep aid if you don't like sleeping pills.

    Please don't stir up religious hatred here.
     
  11. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." - L. Ron Hubbard

    Or, if you prefer, ask Jason Beghe, a well known ex-Scientologist:

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHb0BZyF5Ok[/yt]
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2012
  12. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's interesting to find that anyone actually likes his sf, I've never heard much positive about it. I have a copy of Invaders Plan in the collection, but never thought of actually reading it lol. The political thriller I have written [allegedly] by Spiro Agnew is higher on the list. :lol:

    ...and I prefer Eru Ilúvatar when it comes to gods. :D
     
  13. nightwind1

    nightwind1 Commodore Commodore

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    I wouldn't, if there were an actual religion there, rather than a scam that was the result of a bar bet at a science fiction convention.
     
  14. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I tried Mission Earth, Xenu knows I tried. But after the first book I had to stop. A new word needs to be invented to fully describe how awful it was.
     
  15. Brikar99

    Brikar99 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I made it about halfway through 'Battlefield Earth' and feel pretty much the same.
     
  16. Takeru

    Takeru Space Police Commodore

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    Scientology is not a religion, this so-called church has to be fought and should be illegal!
     
  17. Deckerd

    Deckerd Fleet Arse Premium Member

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    You're joking right? All he did was mention the name. Unless you think that mentioning the name of something is stirring up hatred? Do you?

    Are you an ex-scientologist? Did one of your family get sucked into it?
     
  18. Edit_XYZ

    Edit_XYZ Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Well, the bible is said to be the most successful science-fiction book ever written. The difference between it and these newer bible-wanna-bes is that the bible benefits from being written ~2000 years ago, in a scarcely documented past, allowing it to be 'mystical'.
     
  19. LOKAI of CHERON

    LOKAI of CHERON Commodore Commodore

    For me, Battlefield Earth is easily, far and away, the worst Science Fiction movie ever conceived of and committed to celluloid. Indeed, as a connoisseur of film, it effortlessly glides into the top ten all time worst rankings.
     
  20. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    I actually read Mission: Earth first and then Battlefield Earth. The latter didn't wow me as much as the former, but I thought it was a good and fun read. I really loved Mission: Earth because the first eight or nine volumes had so much humor to them, but then the point-of-view changed when a different character took up the narration and the humor was toned down.

    A cousin loaned me Dianetics some time afterward. Never made it past the first chapter. I consider it more of a self-help book than anything else, so it really wasn't for me to begin with.