Disaster: Mission Earth: Volume 8 [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

L. Ron Hubbard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 28, 1990

From Publishers Weekly

The first seven volumes of Hubbard's "Mission Earth" novel series were devoted mainly to the drawn-out farcial adventures of alien spies among comic oil barons, mafiosi, PR men, etc. This time things finally happen with a bang: hero Jettero Heller harnesses a black hole to provide cheap, pollution-free energy for Earth and accidentally wipes out western Russia. Then Heller and his love, Countess Krak, bring their evil nemesis, Soltan Gris, back to Voltar, their home planet. But dirty politics there has made the Emperor a drug addict and put power in the hands of nefarious, paranoid Lombar Hisst, so Heller and the Countess return to Earth, where more cliffhangers await. Even as a re-creation of the freewheeling pulp fiction of earlier times, this futuristic thriller is heavyhanded and unsuccessful. Literary Guild alternates.

Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The first seven volumes of Hubbard's "Mission Earth" novel series were devoted mainly to the drawn-out farcial adventures of alien spies among comic oil barons, mafiosi, PR men, etc. This time things finally happen with a bang: hero Jettero Heller harnesses a black hole to provide cheap, pollution-free energy for Earth and accidentally wipes out western Russia. Then Heller and his love, Countess Krak, bring their evil nemesis, Soltan Gris, back to Voltar, their home planet. But dirty politics there has made the Emperor a drug addict and put power in the hands of nefarious, paranoid Lombar Hisst, so Heller and the Countess return to Earth, where more cliffhangers await. Even as a re-creation of the freewheeling pulp fiction of earlier times, this futuristic thriller is heavyhanded and unsuccessful. Literary Guild alternates.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"...satirical intergalactic saga..." -- Booklist, American Library Association

"A thriller packed with lust, laughs, adventure and murderous intrigue." -- Literary Guild

"Pure excitement." -- Book Browsing --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio (July 28, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394572645
• ISBN-13: 978-0394572642
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,793,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 230 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most acclaimed and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hubbard...or not?, November 6, 1999

By 

Fosky Bob "human" (Vacaville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disaster (Mission Earth, Vol 8) (Paperback)

Halfway through volume 8, 'Disaster', the narrator of the previous 7 1/2 volumes, Gris, finishes his story. Why does Mission Earth continue for another 2 1/2 books? Beats me.

There's a new narrator now, and the author's voice is astonishingly different. The reader can catch him using passive tense in several points, and the writing isn't as fluent as Hubbard's was. Say what you will about this series, it's remarkable readable. All this leads me to believe it wasn't really Hubbard finishing up the series. Hubbard died in 86 or so, supposedly after he finished this series. With no evidence whatsoever, I believe the final 2 1/2 books were ghostwritten.

This volume is entertaining. Gris finally gets what he deserves. It's fun to see Heller cleaning up the galaxy.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The only halfway decent book in the whole dreadful series, January 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Disaster (Mission Earth, Vol 8) (Paperback)

Book #8 of this ten-book "decalogy" is the best part of the whole "Mission Earth" series. After spending seven (SEVEN!) ridiculously long, boring books building up subplots after subplots after subplots (while interlacing the story with Scientology-influenced ranting against psychiatry, and including descriptions of every sexual perversion I've ever heard of), L. Ron Hubbard FINALLY gets down to the business of wrapping up those long, meandering subplots with fast and furious action. The entire first half of this book is a series of action scenes, because the plot is so convoluted it takes a couple of hundred pages to get through the various events..BUT, just as things are getting interesting, Hubbard suddenly STOPS the action and throws the whole story for a loop! Suddenly the character Soltan Gris is no longer the narrator, and we have to go through a confusing sequence of "Huh? What's going on?" before finally realizing that *another* character has taken over the narration of the story, and is completing the whole thing. The change of "authors" doesn't improve the quality of Hubbard's writing, however. "Disaster" is full of action, but almost immediately after this book ends and the ninth book, "Villainy Victorious" begins, we return once again to boring, plodding subplots involving Teenie Whopper the teenage nymphomaniac, and J. Warbler Madman the PR genius. Fortunately, these characters aren't seen at all in book #8, which is one reason why this book is worth reading.

Of course, the only way you can possibly understand what's going on in this eighth volume of the series is to work your way through the first seven books. If you manage to accomplish that, then you deserve some kind of award. This book isn't the award you deserve, but at least it's easier to handle than the others.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Ever, October 14, 2011

By 

Wintrickscifi "Ronald Wintrick" (La Crosse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disaster_mission Earth #8 (Paperback)

I have read some of these reviews and some of these people seem to be forgetting how long ago this series was written.
In any case, these weren't books. This wasn't a series. L. Ron Hubbard's whole point in life was to save humanity from itself. This series was a message from a very concerned being; stop destroying Earth!