Customer Reviews

A Very Strange Trip

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is at the top of my list of the worst SF I have read in the last 10 years. If you like really simple SF then maybe it is for you. This proves my theory that whenever you see "Story By Someone" in big letters and then in little letters you see "Novel by Someone Else" it is a waste of time. I'm mad at my self for buying it.

This book was very disappointing to me. I've always been a big fan of Wolverton's StarWars books and I never knew he wrote other types of stories. With Wolverton's name and an awesome cover, I couldn't resist buying this one. And the inside flap summary sounded interesting enough.

What I soon found out, though, was that that's ALL I had bought: a name and a cover. I think Wolverton did his best to salvage this story; after all, the plot flowed okay and was a fun, light read. I was through with this book in a single afternoon and it was easy enoguh to get through. However, I think Wolverton's talent as a writer could have better been spent on another Science Fiction piece of his own, not a rehashing of a rehashing of somebody else's ideas.

The storyline (i.e. Hubbard's original idea) was fatally flawed. It lacks the one thing that every good Science Fiction flick needs: Credibility, a real idea expanded in a unique way. It seems as though Hubbard took some 10 year old Cold War sentiments and the time machine cliche, stuck them together in a blender, and then poured the words out on paper as Russian contraband weapons and mysterious time travel devices. I could go on for hundreds of words about this, so I'll just sum it up: the story was boring, unoriginal, and unrealistic.

Maybe worth a library checkout if you're really into time travel stories, but overall I found it lacking in the elements of a good science fiction piece.

I was excited to read this book because I enjoy time travel books and have always been impressed with L. Ron Hubbards writing. According to the introduction of the book, Hubbard wrote the story as a screenplay and then Dave Wolverton converted it into a book. Usually, things go the other way and people say "compared to the book, the movie stunk!" In this case, unfortunately, the book stunk. I read about 50 pages before I began wondering if it was a pre-teen book. I read 50 more and began wondering if I was wasting my time. I was certainly wasting my time. The characters are preposterously simple and unrealistic. The scenarios they encounter are never set up well and the characters reactions are out of a saturday morning cartoon. The protagonist is a near imbecile and he is by far the most intelligent character in the entire story. Save your time and money, this one misses the mark.

What a disaster. Take a screenplay that was never produced because (I assume) it is formulaic and all of the humor is based on racial stereotypes. Then give it to an author who can't write prose and has no idea what character development is. Net result: "A very strange trip" is a very bad book.

The book was published in 1999 but it's set (the "present" part of it, that is) in 1991, just after the fall of the Soviet Union. Dumphee, the hero, drives a military vehicle with a russian time machine and experimental weapons. Some of the references to current events must have felt outdated when the book was published and they're no less so today. But its biggest problem is the plot's lack of direction. It's a very strange trip indeed, but it still feels like it's going nowhere.

The novel was written by Wolverton based on a screenplay by Hubbard, and it shows. I get the feeling this story would have been more fun as a movie than as a novel.

Eight years after its publication, "A very Strange Trip" still hasn't been published in mass market paperback. If it had been available as a low priced paperback, fans of the authors might have wanted to check it out, but it's not worth getting as a full price hardcover.

2,5/5.

A VERY STRANGE TRIP By L. Ron Hubbard & Dave Wolverton. This is a most unusual book, a work that could fit into several different genres or else fall in the cracks between. Though it features time travel, it's not exactly science fiction. It's often funny, but it's not purely a comedy. Though it has sociological overtones, it is by no means a textbook guide to past civilizations. It's actually exactly what the title says, a very strange trip. The book was written by Dave Wolverton, based on a short story by L. Ron Hubbard. Wolverton has written eleven science fiction and fantasy novels, including a couple of Star Wars books, and can always be counted on for solid, all-inviting prose. Hubbard should need no introduction to even casual readers, as he is famous for such works as Battlefield Earth, Final Blackout, and the Mission: Earth series, as well as his works on Scientology. The story opens with the hero, Dumphee, transporting secret military equipment across the country. The all-terrain vehicle he is driving gets bumped and Dumphee finds himself several hundred years in America's past, at a time just before the French and Indian War. There, he meets up with three Native American women, and takes them along as he continues his bounce into the past. The group makes stops along the way in the days of the Mayans, a time when mastodon and sabertooth tigers roamed what are now the Great Plains, and then farther back. At one point, the group even goes on a Tyrannosaurus Rex hunt, using rocket launchers and other modern weapons. During the time-spanning, Dumphee continues his trek toward his original destination of Denver, even though the Denver of the past is not the military base it was in "his" time. Along the way, he learns about love and life from his companions. Then the group bounces back toward the present, with a layover in the early days of the westward sweep and the European push of Native Americans from their homes. Dumphee finally makes it to his base, both in time and space, where he learns that he is in jeopardy because of his knowledge. This book is great fun to read. It's an adventure story of the type that was common in the era when Hubbard learned his chops, a style that mostly died out with the advent of the motion picture industry. Happily, Wolverton recaptures that sense of innocent wonder and delight in a book that will keep you turning the pages.

So - from reading the description - I expected some humorous suspension of reality, and a good escapist story. I also expected, from an award winning (?) writer picked to share billing with L. Ron Hubbard, a somewhat decent writing style. Then - reading the preface and learning that the author spent time in research on the Mayans, traveling to Southern Illinois - great, I thought - this guy has spent his time getting a feel for the subject. I, apparently - am an idiot.

From the early Western TV show stereo-typical Indian squaws able to quickly understand (and not fear) how to use modern weaponry like an M-16, to experimental weaponry that shot holographic Pekinese (no, I'm not kidding) - the story started out fun and spiraled into painful hilarity.

My hopes for solid research results were shattered when the story ended up in the Mayan era - one of the squaws sees a fort and proclaims 'That's Fort de Chartres' - and the the author goes on to describe Cahokia Mounds. Unfortunately, as my home town is 4 miles from Fort de Chartres, and my mother was the former Site Manager for Cahokia Mounds (and also worked at and researched the Fort extensively) - at this point - I lost any remaining shred of respect. One was a 16th - 17th century French fort, the other (about 40 miles away) was a very impressive Mayan base of civilization from around 1100AD. If you're going to use research and tout it - then please make it reasonably accurate!

So - fortunately- having bought this book for a $1 at a dollar store - I felt I got about half it's worth - and plenty of amusement. But - that's just me. :-)

I had just finished watching a depressing movie when I picked up this book. This book is lighthearted, interesting and funny. This book really keeps you going.

I like L. Ron Hubbard's style and have read many of his books. This book may have had his name on it, but it didn't even come close to being a Hubbard novel.

The premise of time travel with a military vehicle was an interesting one. The story went along fine until three indian squaws came into the picture. Dave Wolverton depicts the squaws as being illiterate, dumb and drunk. I did not appreciate the way he portrayed them.

The novel has some interesting sequences and isn't a bad read if you just want light reading.

This is not a serious time travel novel, but it is amusing. Its very similar to: "The Ship That Sailed The Time Stream" by G.C. Edmondson and reminiscent of Keith Laumer's, "The Great Time Machine Hoax." They just don't write science fiction like this anymore. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I gained no new insights.