Book Review: Battlefield Earth

Name of Review:: Battlefield Earth
Rating: 3
Date:.


I’ve often said that a book must first and foremost. tell a good story. “Battlefied Earth” leaves much to be desired in terms of character development and believability, but this monster of a novel winds its way through an interesting sequence of events and for this reason alone, I like it.

Book Review - Battlefield Earth
Book Review - Battlefield Earth

The hero is a cardboard cutout character called Jonnie Goodboy Tyler. The name itself should kinda give it away. To say he’s a hero is a bit of an understatement. More like a superman! Completely devoid of any negative characteristics, he’s the studliest human ever born, has the leadership abilities of Caesar, the intellectual capacity of Newton, Einstein and Darwin rolled into one, the physical capability of an Olympic athlete, the looks of an Adonis and the planning skills of Batman. He has as much depth to him as an A4 sheet of paper.

All the other characters are likewise constructed. Completely one dimensional. The good guys are always good, pure and almost sprout wings. The bad guys are ugly, some literally have green blood, and not a hint of hesitation. In some instances, their behavior is so puerile and immature as to defy belief.

But apart from the characters, the book manages to make one think about several interesting issues. About how vulnerable Earth is to being taken over and how our disunited nature is likely to get us killed. I also found myself wondering whether or not we’re any better as a species than an invader as far as our Earth is concerned. And for these reasons, I liked the book. We always knew good ol Jonnie was going to come out on top. Being a guy like that, how could he not? But his methods are interesting and not obvious enough to make the book boring.

Several other defects exist. A group of people with no more knowledge than cavemen is able to reach Phd levels of scientific understanding in just a few months, become expert flyers and develop engineering skills that would put Howard Roark to shame. Jonnie always comes up with perfect solutions even with regard to planets and people he’s never laid eyes on – solutions which begin to work in just a few months instead of decades or centuries.

If you’re just looking for a good roller coaster of a ride without any depth and without learning anything new whatsoever, pick up Battlefield Earth.

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4 thoughts on “Book Review: Battlefield Earth”

  1. Johnny Goodboy? Really? O_O Can it be more obvious that’s he’s the main protagonist?

    I hate stories that one dimensional characters, it’s just bad storying telling.

    Reply

      • In reply to bhagwad

        What you haven’t given us, is like an accurate review. I liked it, but for example: there’s a reason and a way they are able to learn things quickly. Good review, however it makes me wonder if you’ve even read it. :)

        Reply

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