Lost Sci-Fi Novel
December 2, 2014 3:23 AM Subscribe
Posting on behalf of my father, who's looking for a sci-fi novel he read a long time ago.
Here's what he can remember:
Here's what he can remember:
Science fiction novel from the late 1970s or early 80s:-Any suggestions? Thanks.
Young Earth child is kidnapped by aliens who are very long-lived. Their philosophy is that if they want to do something, if they wait long enough, then the opportune time will eventually arrive for them to do it successfully. He lives with them for a long time before they return him to Earth as an adult. He becomes a messiah on Earth before he is eventually martyred and goes to Heaven.
From here:
When H.G. Wells wrote of Martians coming to Earth in "The War of the Worlds," he made them malevolent warmongers. In "Stranger in a Strange Land" (1961, Putnam), Robert Heinlein turned this idea on its head by making the Martian invader one of us. The book's central character is Valentine Michael Smith, a human born during the first manned mission to Mars. After being raised by Martians, Mike returns to Earth, where he experiences human culture as any alien would. But Mike isn't a passive observer. Under the watchful eye of his companions and protectors Jill Boardman and Jubal Harshaw, Mike founds the Church of All Worlds in an effort to help humans overcome their fears and jealousies.
"Stranger"became an international best-seller, proving to publishers that sci-fi could produce breakout hits. It also solidified Heinlein's stature as one of the founding fathers of the genre. He followed up his most famous book with two other now-classic sci-fi stories: "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "Time Enough for Love."
posted by discopolo at 3:34 AM on December 2, 2014
When H.G. Wells wrote of Martians coming to Earth in "The War of the Worlds," he made them malevolent warmongers. In "Stranger in a Strange Land" (1961, Putnam), Robert Heinlein turned this idea on its head by making the Martian invader one of us. The book's central character is Valentine Michael Smith, a human born during the first manned mission to Mars. After being raised by Martians, Mike returns to Earth, where he experiences human culture as any alien would. But Mike isn't a passive observer. Under the watchful eye of his companions and protectors Jill Boardman and Jubal Harshaw, Mike founds the Church of All Worlds in an effort to help humans overcome their fears and jealousies.
"Stranger"became an international best-seller, proving to publishers that sci-fi could produce breakout hits. It also solidified Heinlein's stature as one of the founding fathers of the genre. He followed up his most famous book with two other now-classic sci-fi stories: "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "Time Enough for Love."
posted by discopolo at 3:34 AM on December 2, 2014
"Stranger"became an international best-seller, proving to publishers that sci-fi could produce breakout hits. It also solidified Heinlein's stature as one of the founding fathers of the genre. He followed up his most famous book with two other now-classic sci-fi stories: "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "Time Enough for Love."
True, and his dozens of other books are pretty great too. Probably a little dated now with advances in technology, and pretty sexist at times, but well worth reading the whole oeuvre, from the earliest YA stories onward. (But don't bother with "The Number of the Beast," written in his dotage.)
Back to your question, Stranger was published in the mid-60's, so we have to assume your dad read it some time later, as described.
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:39 AM on December 2, 2014
True, and his dozens of other books are pretty great too. Probably a little dated now with advances in technology, and pretty sexist at times, but well worth reading the whole oeuvre, from the earliest YA stories onward. (But don't bother with "The Number of the Beast," written in his dotage.)
Back to your question, Stranger was published in the mid-60's, so we have to assume your dad read it some time later, as described.
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:39 AM on December 2, 2014
(Pssst! Warn your dad about the Suck Fairy! Many copies of that particular book show signs of serious effects.)
posted by wenestvedt at 8:40 AM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by wenestvedt at 8:40 AM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Though written in 1961, the book was widely adored by the counterculture, and like Dune, was among those "sci fi" epics that found its way to many otherwise un-nerdy coffee tables. The late 1970s or even early 1980s were not an unusual time to encounter it for someone in the mainstream (i.e. someone so far outside nerd-dom that he wouldn't know this is one of the landmarks of the genre).
posted by dhartung at 11:26 PM on December 2, 2014
posted by dhartung at 11:26 PM on December 2, 2014
Response by poster: thanks for the suggestion of Stranger in a Strange Land. I actually mentioned that to my father before posting this (sorry, i should have mentioned that), though i don't remember the plot well enough to be sure of the details. His response:
The plot of Stranger in a Strange Land is superficially similar to the book I am searching for.posted by nml at 6:54 PM on December 3, 2014
However, the key elements I described below (i.e. that he is kidnapped from Earth as a child, the aliens' philosophy of waiting until the time is right before taking any action no matter how long they need to wait and the facts that they live a very long time and that they returned him to Earth) don't seem to be in the Heinlein novel.
I think it is a different book.
The philosophy is a key part of the novel. The main character adopts it on Earth. Because some of the long-lividness of the aliens rubbed off on the character while he lived on their planet, he lives a much longer life than the ordinary Earthlings. Therefore, he also waits back on Earth until "the time is right" and then does what he waits. Because he can wait until the opportune time, his actions are invariably successful and so his cult following builds up stongly. But, the novel does emphasise the philosophy. Other relevant facts that might be useful are that after the main character's death, he joins a host of other prophets in Heaven - Christ, Mohammed, etc. and there is still activity there in Heaven before the novel ends (but I can't recall what). Also, I don't think the aliens were from Mars but much further away and other humans did not go to their planet.
Is this Heinlein's other book Podkayne Of Mars, perhaps? I haven't read that one on a long time, admittedly.
posted by wenestvedt at 3:57 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by wenestvedt at 3:57 PM on December 4, 2014
Hmmmm, not that one, but maybe one of the others?
posted by wenestvedt at 4:01 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by wenestvedt at 4:01 PM on December 4, 2014
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posted by robocop is bleeding at 3:31 AM on December 2, 2014 [9 favorites]