28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Theological Science Fiction Novel, April 30, 2008
This review is from: A Case of Conscience (Del Rey Impact) (Paperback)
Father Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez is stationed on the planet Lithia as a biologist. Lithia is inhabited by perfectly rational and good natured reptile like creatures. They are peaceful and unselfish but they have no concept of God or faith and have no literature or art. Even though he admires the Lithians he does not feel comfortable with the situation, something is wrong. It does not make sense to Father Sanchez that creatures that have no concept of God are still perfectly ethical. Could they possibly be the creation of Satan? Then again, does Satan create anything?
One day the earth commission discovers something truly disturbing, something cruel and horrific related to Lithian child rearing. The Lithians maybe rational, they may not be "sinners", and they may not be driven by greed or lust of any kind, but they are still not ethical in a human sense. Father Sanchez wants to protect Earth from contact with Lithia (and vice versa) and as the turbulent story unfolds it turns out that his intuition is on target.
The focus of the book is the theological and philosophical consequences that arise from the comparison of the two worlds. Father Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez is a good hearted religious man with a sharp mind. It is through his thoughts, doubts and theological tribulations that we experience this amazing story.
It does not matter whether you are a Christian, theist, atheist, or agnostic; your belief system will be challenged and most disturbingly your ethical value system will be challenged. Could it be that the Lithians are rational and lack the emotions that typically lead to "sin", but also lack a conscience (like a sociopath)? Or do they have a different ethical system but without a God? In the end I found the book to be sympathetic towards the Catholic belief system.
James Blish wrote many other good novels, for example,
Cities in Flight,
The Day After Judgement, and
Black Easter. Between 1967 and his death in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek
Star Trek 1 (Vintage Bantam, F3459).
A side note: Many years ago I read a good book by James Blish which I have not been able to find since then. The book followed a similar concept to the Planet of the Apes except the Apes were birds. I would be grateful if someone who knows anything about this book is willing to leave a helpful comment.
This item has now been identified
Midsummer century. Thank you Kasey for your help!
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I wanted to like it, April 12, 2001
This review is from: A Case of Conscience (Del Rey Impact) (Paperback)
I really wanted to like this book. As a science fiction fan who happens to be a minister, I was looking forward to how James Blish would explore the idea of religion in a sci fi setting. While I still like the idea, I had a hard time making it through this book. The book gets off to a good start on the planet Lithia as Sanchez and the others disvocer some surprising revelations and discuss whether or not to allow the planet to be opened up or to close it off to further contact. However, as soon as we get back to Earth, things slow down considerably and the book loses alot of momentum. I think the biggest problem is that I wasn't really sure what Blish was trying to say. What does it all mean. Of course, this could be a problem of my own ignorance and missing the point rather than a flaw in the book. If you like your sci fi novels plot driven and full of action, this is not the book for you. If you like your sci fi to be more thoughtful and character driven, this book might be worth your while to pick up just because it IS one of those classic sci fi novels that made an impact on the genre. Personally, this is not a book I regret reading, but not one I would want to read again either. Maybe I just wanted too badly to like it.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Food for thought, January 27, 2000
I'm not all that deeply religious and this book made me think about this quite a bit. This book isn't for fans of action oriented SF, if you find yourself reading the Foundation books by Isaac Asimov over and over again this is probably more your speed, like those books (and most books by Asimov) there's little action (most of it being off stage anyway) and the plot mostly centers around people standing arguing over the central point. Here the point is whether we can grant the existence of original sin to a race of creatures that has no concept of faith or belief and who exist basically by reason alone. The priest protagonist has to worry about this and in the beginning you wonder what his problem is but Blish manages to snag you in if you're willing and unravel everything. His tone is measured and calm and he takes his time laying everything out and even if you go in with a certain point of view, he may not change your mind but he'll at least give you cause to stop and think for a moment about your beliefs, whether you're religious or an athiest. Desersedly a winner of the Hugo award a long time ago (this was published in the late fifties I think) these days it's no longer in print for whatever reason which is a shame because in these days of flashy adventure book, we need more novels based on solid ideas that take those ideas to logical ends and make the reader think along the way. If you thought all that James Blish did was those Star Trek books, stop here and see how much better he can be.
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