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maggotqueen666's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
midwifereading's review against another edition
3.0
The writing style seemed simple and straightforward, without much fluff. It took a while to get used to the fact that there wasn't much exposition, and I had to be content with knowing about as much as the characters along the way. Hubbard gives just enough to keep you curious, but not enough to tie up every loose end perfectly. Some questions are left imperfectly answered.
A bit cheesy, but enjoyable overall, with a properly evil villain in Terl, and a Fabio-esque hero in Jonnie. The Scots made the book well worth finishing, along with the mysterious small grey man, Ker, and Chirk.
A bit cheesy, but enjoyable overall, with a properly evil villain in Terl, and a Fabio-esque hero in Jonnie. The Scots made the book well worth finishing, along with the mysterious small grey man, Ker, and Chirk.
rkking's review against another edition
4.0
While always curious about this sci-fi epic, for years and years I avoided it due to its supposed connections to Scientology. The AWFUL movie didn't help matters either. But then I came upon having an extra credit available in my audible account, and not having a clear idea of what to listen to next, I chose Battlefield Earth due to the length (a whopping 45+ hrs!) and thought I'd perhaps at least get my money's worth time wise.
I was not disappointed.
Despite misgivings related to Hubbard and Scientology, Battlefield Earth really has nothing in it tying to it. It's not propaganda at all. It's actually a pretty darn good sci-fi epic.
The audiobook in particular impressed the hell out of me. Multiple cast members reading distinctive characters, accompanied orchestral music, and more, all add up to quite the production.
And the story itself I actually really enjoyed...until the half way point.
The first half, the story of mankind's desperate fight against the Psychlos and the cat-and-mouse between Tyler and Terl, were great. But then that story sort of end half way through and become something else entirely, of which I wasn't so much a fan. It got political in ways that reminded me of Star Wars Ep 1 The Phantom Menace, and it's content that bored me.
Due to the amazing production value and really great first half I give 4 stars, but it loses out on the extra star do to the meandering 2nd half that really could have been a second book...if at all.
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I was not disappointed.
Despite misgivings related to Hubbard and Scientology, Battlefield Earth really has nothing in it tying to it. It's not propaganda at all. It's actually a pretty darn good sci-fi epic.
The audiobook in particular impressed the hell out of me. Multiple cast members reading distinctive characters, accompanied orchestral music, and more, all add up to quite the production.
And the story itself I actually really enjoyed...until the half way point.
The first half, the story of mankind's desperate fight against the Psychlos and the cat-and-mouse between Tyler and Terl, were great. But then that story sort of end half way through and become something else entirely, of which I wasn't so much a fan. It got political in ways that reminded me of Star Wars Ep 1 The Phantom Menace, and it's content that bored me.
Due to the amazing production value and really great first half I give 4 stars, but it loses out on the extra star do to the meandering 2nd half that really could have been a second book...if at all.
Join the RK King readers' list for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes
jayraams's review against another edition
1.0
TLDR It's boring to long and racist as hell. Do Not Read.
How this has an overall rating of 3.5 I do not know. This is the most daring driple I have ever had the misery to listen to. I am so sorry for the Narrator 47hours 32 minutes of crap. This is very racist for a book about the world coming in together and saving the world. I wanted to write a scathing review but can't be bothered to waste more time on this dumb book. So let's just dot point.
•Racist, so racist
•It is so sexist, even the aliens are sexist. Ei weman are only secreteries and to dumb for to do mathematics. Chrisy and Paddy are two dimensional damsales in distress
•All aliens are human aristocrats, unimaginative also they kept saying they evolved from earth animals it ridiculous
•Children think the same as adults, also using a child's death to justify the hero doing terrible things.
•Capitalisum saves the day. What the Fuck
•Endlis descriptions of places and people, the author says at the start of the book her is such a good writer and that he didn't edit the book and you can see that it wasn't edited. I honestly don't think it would have helped but still.
•The books starts also with a justification of why this is definitely Sci-fi and yes technically it is but if your Sci-fi is a thinly veiled allegory it isn't good.
If I could give it a 0 I would it doesn't deserve to be called a book.
OMG
I thought I had finished but No it's still 2 hours to go.
How this has an overall rating of 3.5 I do not know. This is the most daring driple I have ever had the misery to listen to. I am so sorry for the Narrator 47hours 32 minutes of crap. This is very racist for a book about the world coming in together and saving the world. I wanted to write a scathing review but can't be bothered to waste more time on this dumb book. So let's just dot point.
•Racist, so racist
•It is so sexist, even the aliens are sexist. Ei weman are only secreteries and to dumb for to do mathematics. Chrisy and Paddy are two dimensional damsales in distress
•All aliens are human aristocrats, unimaginative also they kept saying they evolved from earth animals it ridiculous
•Children think the same as adults, also using a child's death to justify the hero doing terrible things.
•Capitalisum saves the day. What the Fuck
•Endlis descriptions of places and people, the author says at the start of the book her is such a good writer and that he didn't edit the book and you can see that it wasn't edited. I honestly don't think it would have helped but still.
•The books starts also with a justification of why this is definitely Sci-fi and yes technically it is but if your Sci-fi is a thinly veiled allegory it isn't good.
If I could give it a 0 I would it doesn't deserve to be called a book.
OMG
I thought I had finished but No it's still 2 hours to go.
billymac1962's review against another edition
5.0
Forget all you've heard about Hubbart's Church of Scientology and its members. This is a big, rollicking, saga of humanity's last chance to gain their freedom and planet back. It's the year 3000 and Earth has been taken over by nine foot tall hairy aliens who have enslaved the surviving population.
This is what escapism is all about! Forget the box office bomb. Read it!
This is what escapism is all about! Forget the box office bomb. Read it!
wdkilpackiii's review against another edition
5.0
Battlefield Earth had an incredible impact on my life, both as a person and a writer. First, I had never read anything before this came out where the Earth had been subjugated to an alien power. I had read plenty where Earth was attacked, we fought back against unbeatable odds, won out as the ultimate underdogs, etc. In Battlefield Earth, we fought, we lost, and we never stood a chance. I remember thinking, "Whoa! The good guys lost!" Enter Johnny Goodboy Tyler, who then takes on that underdog role, enduring excruciating circumstances, to finally avenge humanity. Very well written, a great hero, a great premise, just a great novel! If you have seen the movie and hated it, not to worry. The book and the movie really don't have much to do with each other. Highly recommended!
jonah_bishop's review
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
spitzig's review against another edition
1.0
If this book is thrown at you, you are better off eating it than reading it. A 1000 page waste of time and paper. Unoriginal plot that takes forever for anything to happen. Characters are so thin that "paper-thin" might be too thick.
nuttkayc's review against another edition
5.0
You never get the feeling that this book is too long while reading it, even though it's huge! Some books (Cough, Wheel of Time, Cough) leave you angsty at the diversions, the hopping around from character to character, never advancing in the time line much, and the extra specially detailed paragraphs that don't do anything for the plot. I guess I was afraid that due to this books girth (digitally speaking) it would be just that sort of book. This book was awesome. Don't know why it took me so long to pick it up.
hellsfire's review against another edition
4.0
I've wanted to read Battlefield Earth for a long time. I've heard of L. Ron Hubbard and I even liked the movie. What's stopped me from reading it has been its massive size. Luckily, on my Kindle, it didn't seem so daunting.
I loved BE up until the halfway point. What amazed me was the fact that the movie is basically half of the book. Suddenly, it switches tones and becomes something else and then switches tones again. Sadly, when it reaches that halfway point, it also loses steam.
It's strange. Because of the movie, I know how it's going to play out even with the differences between the two, yet I didn't care about all that. It was when I didn't know that the book lost me for a bit. It eventually picks back up again but that middle sags. Might be because it ended one climax and starts another.
BE has some things I don't like. First of all, there aren't many women in the book. What women there are there to be the damsel in distress. Because of that, the romance just doesn't seem real. It doesn't help that the women are barely around.
Another thing is sometimes the book got too technical with its explanations. Maybe if those were shortened, the book would have been a whole lot thinner.
The ending also became mired in politics and it seemed to be preaching. It felt like Hubbard's point of view
It's a shame the BE movie wasn't successful. I think if they tried it again and did it right, they could film a trilogy. It'd be wicked good.
I loved BE up until the halfway point. What amazed me was the fact that the movie is basically half of the book. Suddenly, it switches tones and becomes something else and then switches tones again. Sadly, when it reaches that halfway point, it also loses steam.
It's strange. Because of the movie, I know how it's going to play out even with the differences between the two, yet I didn't care about all that. It was when I didn't know that the book lost me for a bit. It eventually picks back up again but that middle sags. Might be because it ended one climax and starts another.
BE has some things I don't like. First of all, there aren't many women in the book. What women there are there to be the damsel in distress. Because of that, the romance just doesn't seem real. It doesn't help that the women are barely around.
Another thing is sometimes the book got too technical with its explanations. Maybe if those were shortened, the book would have been a whole lot thinner.
The ending also became mired in politics and it seemed to be preaching. It felt like Hubbard's point of view
It's a shame the BE movie wasn't successful. I think if they tried it again and did it right, they could film a trilogy. It'd be wicked good.