I read this book going in knowing what it was having watched a recap of the miniseries so I mostly knew what to expect, but I felt there was so much lacking.
I loved their depiction of the “Overlords” as the traditional devil in Christian mythology. Given that the real devil is never depicted anywhere in the Bible as a hooved-winged, horned, red being makes you wonder where that myth originated from.
The problem is that this book is so quick. It skims over the repercussions. It does mention a few self deletions here and there and briefly discusses the Israel statehood. But other than that, some more stories of everyday people would have been great.
Most egregious of all is that the ending is basically *2001: A Space Odyssey.* It’s almost like the same writer turning in his homework twice.
I really wished they did more with the why the overlords look the way they do, when they previously visited earth and how their appearance affected people who grew up thinking that was the actual devil.
I’m sure it was ahead of its time, but going back and reading it with a fresh set of it, it’s still good, but glosses over SO much that happened in between important dates in the story.
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Edit: What are your thoughts? Discussion?
by thunderkhawk
1 Comment
This kind of seems as though you’re accustomed to the “space opera” genre of writing where complex multiple plot lines are spread out over many novels.
While the depiction of Satan as shown in the film/book does not resemble that which is described in the bible, it is wholly consistent with the Christian image of demons throughout the centuries and many forms of media. No, it does not delve into individual stories, but it’s a story of humanity’s end and the idealism that exists of what could be if war was ended, if resources were available to all, and money was no longer necessary. That some would embrace it and seek ever more knowledge, some would indulge in the frivolous, some would reject it, while others would embody sloth. So, the story of the individual becomes irrelevant, especially as we see that the man who they chose to make contact with, ultimately dies from the exposure. After that, there really is only 1 story that matters…Rodrick’s who travels to see the Overlord’s homeworld yet chooses to return and witness the destruction by fire as foretold in Revelation.
I would argue that the idealism that portrayed in the Human Golden Age inspired Gene Roddenberry’s vision for StarTrek – of what humanity would accomplish, united, and free from war and hunger and everything else that holds us back.
But, if you notice, many of the great SF novels have over-arching concepts and focus less on individual stories but on larger concepts.