Reviews

The literary equivilant of a flower growing through a block of cement. The characterization is clumsy, obvious and in the case of the gin soaked country woman straight out of "Lady For A Day" borders on self parody. The social commentary is sometimes bizarre such as when our alien friend ruminates on the pros and cons of The Welfare State and sometimes obvious with it's JESUS WAS TEH ALIEN subtext. And lordy if you don't think that a book as slight as 160 pages can be overwritten within an inch of it's life look no further then here for your proof.

Still the centeral concept and character (for really they're one and the same) of Thomas is so sad, profound and achingly beautiful that one can't help but forgive the book for it's many many flaws.

krep___'s review against another edition

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3.0

An interesting variation on the alien invasion theme. An alien who, for a change, is neither a monster or super powerful. Human society has more of an impact on him than he has on it. Set in the near future (only 20 - 25 years after publication), it is not overburdened with fanciful projections of the evolution of either technology or social and political institutions.

katenesterov's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

synoptic_view's review against another edition

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2.0

A weirdly right wing, nihilistic novela. I know John Campbell is at least partly to blame for the intellectual and political homogeneity of mid century SF. I don't know if Tevis was part of his crew, but this book reads like classic Campbell. Soft SF more interested in the disillusionment and loneliness of characters than in spaceships or the fact that there are other inhabited planets in the solar system. Jarring, unnecessary critiques of the welfare state (see the quotes for a couple examples). With, of course, a government filled with unimaginative, petty bunglers. All of the scientists, doctors, and lawyers are men. All the women are nurses, housekeepers, or welfare queens. Stranger in a Strange Land has much more to recommend itself. This was only saved from 1 star by brevity.

faynebrio's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

love love love. even with its pessimism i enjoyed it a lot

Content Warnings

blackrainbows's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

warmreapertea's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a take on visitors from another planet I haven't encountered anywhere else. The idea that this was written before the moon landing, and before the bulk of what has made science fiction what it is today, really shows in Tevis' characterization of the extraterrestrial. What struck me, though, is that in the end, Newton is surprisingly human.

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