I really liked the first half of this book. The second half, where things are getting destroyed, dragged pretty badly.

Hogan here takes screwball scientific theories and asks, what if they were actually true? It turns out to be quite fascinating, actually. All that pseudoscience from Velikovsky is just tailor-made for science fiction. This part was really, really nice. ( )

No, just no. I've enjoyed some of Hogan's books. I assume I read this one years ago and must have liked it, because it survived several purges of my bookshelves. (My books reproduce like tribbles, periodically, that means it's them or me--and I prefer me.) Yet, I couldn't recall a thing about it. Utterly unmemorable. Strike One. Then there's the dedication, which reflects the core premise: "To the work of Immanuel Velikovsky and the untiring efforts of Charles Ginenthal." Did I just not notice this back when I first read this or not know back then Velikovsky was a crackpot? (Ginenthal was a disciple.) Strike Two. I possibly overlooked it for two reasons. First, I'm a space junkie, so something about space colonization and exploration on Saturn is definitely my crack. Second, especially back then as a newly minted libertarian I loved to read anything that reflected back my beliefs--although these days, even if I agree with a message, I hate being preached at--and this time I found that aspect unbearable; this time I couldn't make myself last fifty pages in on reread. Strike Three--it's out of my library. ( )

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