I was at the used book store recently and saw a number of his books in the sci-fi section. They had a lot of Battlefield Earth copies which I saw at the dollar theater when I was in the Air Force and felt a dollar was too much, but to be fair a book shouldn’t be judged on it’s adaptation (Wheel of Time for instance). It’s just that with his books I can’t get past the whole Scientology things.
Just out of pure curiosity I do want to read Dianetics one day because that commercial was on a lot when I was a little kid. I want to see what all the fuss was about.
Dianetics is impossible to read. I’ve tried multiple times. It redefines normal terms into the scientology versions of those terms and it’s obvious it’s intended to confuse the reader’s mind into buying in.
It’s worth trying to read just so you can see how he was so successful.
Yea I know he wrote sci-fi before Scientology. I guess I need to separate the two and give it a chance.
For 60s and 70s style scifi with a notable right-wing philosophical bent I recommend Jerry Pournelle, Fred Saberhagen and Larry Niven. For Pournelle "The Mote in God's Eye" and "West of Honor" are a good beginning to his CoDominium universe. Saberhagen's first "Berserker" collection is a good place to start. Niven's "Ringworld" (of course) and "Protector" (my personal favorite) are my favorites of his Known Space universe.
Thanks! Ive read the Ringworld books and used to want a movie adaptation but not anymore. Could be a fun open world game. I have some Pournelle books I haven’t read yet
Battlefield Earth is a real page turner. And no you do not need to ever even open Dianetics
Cool. It’s a good thing his books are in abundance at the book store. Those Dianetics commercials as a kid really made it look like something important
FWIW, it’s not unusual for Scientologists to bring copies of his stuff to libraries or bookstores and then leave them on the shelves for people to find. LRH’s tech is going to save the world, after all.
Not to say some of his sci fi isn’t worth reading.
I read battlefield earth as a kid and loved it. The movie was bitterly disappointing. Then I found out about Scientology.
I read the whole Mission Earth series and it was honestly entertaining with some fun worldbuilding.
Super degenerate sex and gory violence but also so over the top that it seems like the text version of grindhouse-style cinema.
The cultural satire is decently funny though.
Overall I would say there is better stuff to read but if you have it lying around and don't have anything better it is enjoyable enough.
Thanks! I think I have heard of Mission Earth
I read one of them as a kid. I wasn't impressed
No.
I appreciate the concise response. Lol. For some reason the local book store always has a good chunk of his sci-fi but I never bothered to read them. Like I said Dianetics makes me curious due to all those 80s commercials
The story of Scientology itself is pretty interesting. It's a massive fraud in which Enlightenment is promised, but only after you pay thousands of $ "progressing" through succeeding levels until you reach the exalted status of "Clear," which is presumed to be something like having a seat at the left hand of God.
Has anyone actually reached that status (aside from, I presume, the cult founder)? It seems like if there’s a spiritual “endpoint” there would be a risk of victims getting there and going “…I don’t think I hear God like I thought I would.” Maybe I’m totally wrong, but it seems to me that as long as you can say “there’s still more enlightenment to come,” people will delude themselves into feeling progress, but once you say “okay, that’s it, you’ve peaked” the victim might start to wonder if they really feel like they’ve reached an enlightened state.
Maybe Tom Cruise has enough $ to attain Clear status. Leah Remini (sp?) bailed when she couldn't pony up any more cash.
Gotcha. I guess all those commercials made me curious. Do you remember them?
No. It's weird space porn
Which one?