A thought-provoking tale of how delusion and obsession can have world-changing consequences. ( )

Assigned reading in a Science Fiction class in college (We also watched Terminator 2--very cool class. Filled my English 2 GE requirement.)Anyway, I remember this book blew my young, innocent mind. I also remember lending it to someone and not getting it back. ***Update***Posting this book inspired me to re-read it (it being only 144p didn't hurt either) and I have to say it's held up. Actually more multi-layered than I remembered--obviously the high concept sticks with you, but it's really an intriguing character study Faith. ( )

Interesting story of troubled young man, suffering from what might be called martyr-syndrome (one could even say he was born in a era where ideals he holds dear are no longer cherished). He ends up in the most unexpected place of them all – won’t say where and when because it may ruin reading experience to some.

Gives a rather interesting view of how our own views on life and natural predispositions guide our actions and determine the way we end up.

Recommended. ( )

A short and enjoyable sci-fi read about a mentally troubled man who travels back in time in order to answer some religious questions he has about Christianity - by meeting Jesus. Unfortunately for the protagonist, things aren't quite as he expected, and his flawed personality leads him down an interesting path. Not only is this book an interesting take on the origins of Christianity, but an interesting existential look into the strange mind of Karl Glogauer. ( )

This book will offend deeply committed Christians, although it should be seen as "What if...?" rather than an assault on faith. Strangely, it aroused much less controversy (probably due to the more open zeitgeist prevailing when it was published) than movies such as "The Last Temptation of Christ", whose seeming-blasphemies are actually the sensitive and honest questions of a man of deep faith, seeking to explore more the human nature of Jesus.

Moorcock's book is a psychological study : no coincidence that his protagonist is a Jew, obsessed with Christianity though no convert himself. The book, though superficially a time-travel 'alternate history' story, deals with topics of faith, belief, obsession, fantasy, myth & legend, wish-fulfilment.

Although I have no conceit that this alternate history has any grounds in possibility, it is sobering to reflect on how myths arise, often very quickly : the Woodstock Festival of 1969, though containing a few ultra-sublime moments, was apparently dismissed immediately after by many of those attending, as a disaster; the lack of sanitation, facilities, and adequate food and drink, the power failures, the weather, and the lengthy delays between acts... Yet the success of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" song ("we are star dust, we are golden"), written soon afterwards by someone who wasn't even there, laid the foundation for a modern myth that still prevails even today. How much of Christianity owes its origins to the same effect? We will never know, but Moorcock is not afraid to ask the question.

I don't know what Moorcock's personal religious beliefs are (if any), but this book should not be read as anything other than a very interesting exploration of one of the most startling SF ideas ever conceived. ( )