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Loading... A Case of Conscience (1958)by James Blish
Uses the trope of first contact with an alien race to explore religious themes, which I normally like in science fiction, but didn't here. I didn't finish the book. (  ) sturlington | May 17, 2013 |  Have 1966 Ballantine ed. (U2251)  Georges_T._Dodds | Mar 30, 2013 | Reviews of past books: This was one of the earliest science fiction novels I read (because of Blish's Star Trek novelizations, I began to read his other work as well). It was the first where religious reasoning played a major role. I read it at about the same time as Clarke's [b:Childhood's End|414999|Childhood's End|Arthur C. Clarke|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320552628s/414999.jpg|209414], and because of the religious themes and evocative aliens, the two are somewhat linked in my mind. They prepared me for the later [Book:Te Sparrow]. (  ) OshoOsho | Mar 30, 2013 | Susa says: "It sucks." grheault | Nov 9, 2012 | Space Jesuits! How could I not want a book like this? A Case of Conscience tells the tale of a Jesuit biologist on a survey mission to chart the first planet with intelligent life... and the consequences that a species seemingly without religion or sin has for his faith. I liked the beginning of the book a lot, though I think a weirdly large amount of time is spent on the question of developing the planet's resources compared to the amount actually centered on the religious debate. There's also a plot point that depends on the discredited (even then!) notion of recapitulation. But the core dilemma is strong and interesting, and Father Ruiz-Sanchez's necessary leap of heresy is well-portrayed. The second half of the book is much less interesting; Blish introduces these notions of a "Shelter economy" halfway through, and they jar, and the Lithian egg who becomes a television personality is dull and very 1950s. The climax of the novel, though, brings the whole thing back together satisfactorily. 1  Stevil2001 | Dec 22, 2010 | no reviews | add a review
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