Princes of Earth [Hardcover]

michael kurland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1978

Adam Worthington is an intelligent, courageous young man from a provincial, repressive planet that has reverted to a kind of fundamental Puritanism. By nature a free-thinker and individualist, Adam has a tough time of it until he’s accepted at one of the Empire’s great schools, the University of Sol on Mars. Then he’s off on the greatest adventure of his life.

His journey through space includes dining with aliens, air swimming, a hijacking, a space trial, and an attempted murder. He finally arrives on campus, where he must face further challenges before his first year of classes begin.

A Young Adult Literary Guild Selection.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: E P Dutton; First edition (June 1978)
• ISBN-10: 0525666028
• ISBN-13: 978-0525666028
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,179,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A plump, middle-aged man with greying hair and mild, hazel eyes looking out from behind wire-rim glasses, Author Michael Kurland has the perpetually nervous look of a rabbit invited to lunch at the Lions' Club. He has been a teacher of obscure subjects to disinterested children, the editor of a magazine even more idiosyncratic than himself, a seeker of absent persons, a magical explainer, and guest lecturer at numerous unrelated events. But he has never wandered far from his chosen profession of scrivener for very long, since he finds the fawning idolatry of his fans a useful counterbalance to the disinterest of landlords and the disapproval of bank managers.

In Kurland's over 30 books he has romped through a variety of fields. His non-fiction works cover topics as diverse as forensic science, criminal law, espionage, amateur radio, and the history of crime in America, and have been selections of the Military Book Club, the Readers' Digest Book Club, the Junior Literary Guild, and the Writers' Digest Book Club, among others.

Kurland has written a dozen or so science fiction and fantasy novels, notably "Ten little Wizards" and "A Study in Sorcery," set in Randall Garrett's Angevin Empire, and "The Unicorn Girl," which was nominated for a Hugo. He now mainly writes mysteries, including "The Infernal Device," the first of (currently) five Professor Moriarty novels, which was nominated for both an Edgar and an American Book award, and "Too Soon Dead" and "The Girls in the High-Heeled Shoes," set in the 1930s and chronicling the mystery-solving talents of Alexander Brass, a columnist for the New York World. A couple of his books, notably "The Last President," and "Button Bright" fit tenuously into that nondescript category known as "mainstream."

The next Moriarty novel, tentatively titled "Who Thinks Evil," is in the works.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twenty years later..., December 13, 2002

By 

Cat "gwenferch" (Kansas City, KS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Princes of Earth (Hardcover)

I still find myself yearning to read this book occasionally, which says something to me about the quality of the writing.

It's a fantastic book with a well-crafted plot that takes you through the galaxy with a main character you feel that you know immediately. This is space opera in the best sense of the term. If you like Heinlein's juveniles or Lois McMaster Bujold, you'll love this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun tour of the future, September 28, 2002

By 

Juan Suros "jsuros" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Princes of Earth (Hardcover)

This book is a "juvenile" science fiction novel in the best sense of the word. It is a tour of a galactic empire by a young man who has received a scholarship to the Imperial university. Most of the book is his trip from the backwater planet where he grew up to the University on Mars. Travel can be complicated in this imagined future and several adventures break out along what should have been a routine trip.

A high school student will recognize the real cultures in history that inspire the peoples and planets encountered in this fictional world. There are some good ideas put foreward to stretch the mind, a brush with the dangers of politics, and the book never gets bogged down in details.

I find myself rereading this book every few years to remind me of what good science fiction should be. Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars A great discovery, January 29, 2011

By 

anonymous coward (Brussels, Belgium) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Princes of Earth (Kindle Edition)

I can't believe that it took me 33 years from the original publishing to discover this book. I had never heard of it or of its author. And it is a shame. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read reminiscent of the best Heinlein juvenile novels.
I like this kind of novels because beyond the coming of age story, the author usually takes the pretext of having a young and naive hero to express a deeper subtext. Michael Kurland doesn't fail to do so, exposing very adult subjects with simplicity, style and the kind of tongue in cheek humour I particularly like. I wish I had known about this book sooner.