Philip Jose Farmer's Flesh feels like a drug induced haze where nothing feels right and very little makes sense most of the time. A space crew returns to Earth after an interstellar journey where relativistic time dilation brings them home 800 years into the future. They arrive to a planet almost unrecognizable to 20th century man. Societies have been balkanized into various religious cults with a focus on pagan fertility rites. The captain of the ship is declared a 'Sunhero' who sole function is to impregnate as many women as possible between the solstices after undergoing a procedure of horn grafting that amps his virility. The rest of his crew face various hardships in adjustment, until finally an exit strategy is formulated.
Farmer was telegraphing the impact of the sexual revolution of the 60's. Although 800 years may be sufficient for such a dramatic societal transition, the story still seems a bit crude and poorly executed. At the same time while the sexual emphasis was soft-pedaled (there is nothing graphic), there is also a tendency to violent expressions of routine activities and vigilante justice. While the tale may have resonated with its time, it has clearly not aged well.
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Flesh (Grandmaster) Kindle Edition
by
Philip Jose Farmer
(Author)
Format: Kindle Edition
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Philip Jose Farmer
(Author)
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherTitan Books
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Publication dateAugust 13, 2013
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File size1660 KB
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Philip José Farmer was a multiple award-winning science fiction writer of 75 novels. He is best known for his Wold Newton and Riverworld series. In 2001 he was awarded the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Prize and a World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award. He passed away in 2009.
--This text refers to the paperback edition.
Review
"[A] jolting conception, brought off with tremendous skill." (The Times)"
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From the Publisher
Space Commander Stagg explored the galaxies for 800 years. Upon his return, the hero Stagg is made the centerpiece of an incredible public ritual,one that will repeatedly take him to the heights of ecstasy and the depths of hell.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Product details
- ASIN : B00BH0VO0C
- Publisher : Titan Books; Reprint edition (August 13, 2013)
- Publication date : August 13, 2013
- Language : English
- File size : 1660 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 208 pages
- Lending : Not Enabled
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Best Sellers Rank:
#1,252,918 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,510 in U.S. Horror Fiction
- #2,952 in Horror Suspense
- #3,701 in Time Travel Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
3.6 out of 5 stars
3.6 out of 5
15 global ratings
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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2021
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Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2017
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Farmer is unusual in his frank approach to sexuality in science fiction though one could argue he did not rise far above the prejudices of his time. Still his attempt to view a future pagan world is fresh compared to so the copycat techie dystopias now prevalent.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
" I read a lot of the author's work back in the 60's and 70's and this is not his best. But was still fun for "old times sake
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2016Verified Purchase
Considering the age it was written in and the so called public "attitudes" about sex of the day ( and how they were changing) I can see how this would be "ground breaking." I read a lot of the author's work back in the 60's and 70's and this is not his best. But was still fun for "old times sake." So I still recommend it as a lighthearted example of sci-fi with good amounts of porn mixed in. This type of PJF's writing (sci-fi porn) was probably brought to an unforgetable finale in the GREAT (but disturbing) novel "Image of the Beast" and it's follow-up "Blown."
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Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2012
I cannot understand how the modern NeoPagan/Wicca movement has not latched onto this classic post Apocalyptic science fiction novel by the great PJF...
To put it in a nutshell, Farmer wrote this novel when Margaret Murray, Gerald Gardner and Sir James Fraser's ideas were taking root.
The story is about a spaceship that returns to earth sometime in the future only for the crew to find there has been some sort of vast apocalypse and that the survivors have adopted some form of matriarchail society and pagan culture. Commander Stagg is chosen to become the "Solar Hero" which means that he has an artificial set of horns implanted upon his head that pump him full of male hormones (the technology for electronics and machines has gone backwards to Amish levels, but the sciences of agronomy and healthcare have advanced dramatically since they left earth).
Stagg is transformed into a Horned God and is taken around across the country where in every town he sleeps with several different women a night, having no control over his new body- he is in fact a fertility god like old Cernunnos himself!
This is a wonderful book full of wry humour, bawdy action and high adventure - those with a working familiarity of the old pagan religions or the works of Gardner, Murray and Fraser will be spell bound by it.
To put it in a nutshell, Farmer wrote this novel when Margaret Murray, Gerald Gardner and Sir James Fraser's ideas were taking root.
The story is about a spaceship that returns to earth sometime in the future only for the crew to find there has been some sort of vast apocalypse and that the survivors have adopted some form of matriarchail society and pagan culture. Commander Stagg is chosen to become the "Solar Hero" which means that he has an artificial set of horns implanted upon his head that pump him full of male hormones (the technology for electronics and machines has gone backwards to Amish levels, but the sciences of agronomy and healthcare have advanced dramatically since they left earth).
Stagg is transformed into a Horned God and is taken around across the country where in every town he sleeps with several different women a night, having no control over his new body- he is in fact a fertility god like old Cernunnos himself!
This is a wonderful book full of wry humour, bawdy action and high adventure - those with a working familiarity of the old pagan religions or the works of Gardner, Murray and Fraser will be spell bound by it.
7 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2007
This is one of Philip Jose Farmer's very early books, and long-time fans of his more mature work will enjoy this clever satire that must have been pretty racy in its day. A group of astronauts returns to Earth after 800 years-- only a few years in their relative experience-- to find the world utterly changed. Farmer's love of religion and atavism and provocative sexual situations is in fine fettle here, and a light adventure results. It's not as transgressive as his best works, but enjoyable. You'll get a kick out of the game baseball has become after 800 years: the ball has metal spikes in it and frequent fatalities are common. Would that we could speed up time and spice up the game per Farmer's thinking... then A-Rod might be worth what the Yankees are paying him....
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2020
He just alludes to sex. Compared to today's literature and movies, this is a clean, wholesome story. An excellent read, great commentary on society. well worth the read.
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2007
A ship captain returns to a very different earth. A quite amusing religious satire, with the odd sport joke, too.
A strange Earth religion has started, with priestesses holding the power. Other political systems do exist, including one that is very straitlaced and rejects this new, female based, sexual worship.
A strange Earth religion has started, with priestesses holding the power. Other political systems do exist, including one that is very straitlaced and rejects this new, female based, sexual worship.
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2014
A definite low in Farmer's production.A celebration of the typical heterosexist male's fears, prejudices and fantasies taken to a grotesquely ludicrous extreme. Frankly pornographic, it reeks with sexism and homophobia. Read Venus on the half Shell for a much better take on sex by Farmer
4 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
I bought the paperback years ago and thorgohuly enjoyed, unfortunately during a clear out I got rid ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2016Verified Purchase
I bought the paperback years ago and thorgohuly enjoyed, unfortunately during a clear out I got rid of it so it's nice to have this book back again.
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