Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000

by L. Ron Hubbard

Book Overview

Sadistic Aliens loom... Noble humans rise... Is it the end or a new beginning? Battlefield Earth is an enormous epic of adventure set in the year 3000, when the future survival of what's left of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312069782
• ISBN13: 9780312069780
• Release Date: October 1982
• Publisher: Galaxy Press (CA)
• Length: 819 Pages
• Weight: 2.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.1" x 6.2" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Battlefield Earth, L. Ron Hubbard

I was excited to read Battlefield Earth and I’m usually a quick reader. This book lost me after 3/4’s way though it. I didn’t even finish it.

As good as it gets

One of the most enlightening books I have read since Al Gore's Earth in the Balance. The movie is even better only Waterboy was more insightful.Excellant book highly recommend for those needing a good laugh.

Hilarous, Pulp, Sci-Fi At It's Best

... I must say that Battlefield Earth is one incrediblebook. It is not the most well-thought-out novel in the world, but itis extremely entertaining and a real page-turner. Also, it can be said that although the book is over 1,000 pages long (and with SMALL type!) it very rarely gets boring. That said, there are some things about it that may turn off some people. Namely, some of the things in the book are incredibly cheesy. The hero's name is "Jonnnie Goodboy Tyler" for God's sake! Speaking of names, so many characters in this book have ridicilous names "Duneeldeen, Glencannon, Zzt, Robert The Fox, Schleim, Jambitchows", not to mention the Basher "Bash Our Way To Glory Tank", the alien "psychlos", and Jonnie's father "Timothy Brave Tyler". Also, there are some rather poor stereotypes in this book.Again, I believe that the action, suspense, and the epic scope that this book portrays will EASILY counter out any cheesiness that the story has. Think "Star Wars", with a good dose of Douglas Adams.

Classic Sci-fi

When I picked up this book out of sheer curiosity three years ago over Christmas weekend, I simply could not put it down. My family actually got quite irritated because I had my nose so embedded in this book for 3 full days.Some people will say this book is too tedius and detailed without much characterization.I give this book five stars. It is action packed, it has an excellent plot, politics, conspiracy, machinery and it even gives time to a romantic thread. It is shockingly vivid at times and an hysterical satire at others.Terl is the most maniacle, calculating and frusturating villain which I've had the pleasure of reading about. Johnny Goodboy Tyler embodies everything we find honorable in the human spirit and characteristics our society so pines to return to; innocence, trust, that adventure bound spirit, and most importantly the unbreakable will to survive despite all obstacles.It was some of the best money I've ever spent on entertainment... But if you buy the book, remember that you do need to get some sleep, so try not to stay up too late.Happy reading!P.S. I can't wait for the movie. The suspense is killing me! I only hope it does the book justice.

Very entertaining, a real page turner

The book is always fun to read. I've gone through it 3 times over 12 years. Each time I read it cover to cover, straight through. The style is deliberately over-the-top, and very humorous. Hubbard creates many outrageous scenes of high tension, bigger than life and melodramatic. It can't help but bring a smile to your face, as this book presents innumerable good vs. evil conflicts in the classic tradition. The "Psychlos" are bumbling alien psychotics, so intent on guile and treachery they can't even grab a goo-food stick without provoking a knock down, drag out fight. Through sheer luck, they've stumbled upon technologies which empower them to rule most of the know universes (all 16 of them). The ponderous, overwhelming Psychlo bureaucracy, replete with the cruelest and pettiest, middle level paper pushers imaginable, sets up the perfect "evil empire" that Johnny Good Boy Tyler defeats at every turn, overcoming incredible odds and triumphing over treachery with intelligence, bravery, and unbelievable luck. The almost stereo-typical conflicts in the book are a basis for it's humor and entertainment value, given the author's talent for creating conflicts of epic, even galactic, proportions.Although I normally read more intellectualy structured fiction, Hubbard somehow has the knack of creating an entertaining story that is fun to read despite it's intentionally low-brow approach. If you like funny, adventure/sci-fi, you will probably like this book a lot. I liked this book more than the Hubbard "Dekaology". Battlefield Earth is pretty long, but generally holds my interest throughout. It's almost like (2) books, with an initial phase related just to earth, and a final phase, involving the 16 known universes. The Dekalogy in contrast had a lot of underlying bitterness, and was REALLY long, perhaps because Hubbard was near the end of his life, and his goal was to write the longest sci-fi book, not necessarily the best.I can think of many "serious" sci-fi authors I prefer to L. Ron Hubbard, but I'm hard pressed to think of one who is more entertaining. I look at Battlefield Earth as equal parts Douglas Adams, Tom Swift, and Asimov. Hubbard is from the same generation of classic sci-fi authors as Heinlin, Clark, Asimov, et. al., but in Battlefield Earth, employs a more humorous and easy-going style, without the dated idealism and self-importance found in many older sci-fi classics.

Battlefield Earth blows the rest away!

"'Man,' said Terl, 'is an endangered species ... ". Thus begins one of the most compelling and thoroughly entertaining stories that I have ever read. Billed as a "Saga of the year 3000" this book kept me on the edge of my seat (and bed) for a week straight. I first read this book during a week long personal reading marathon during a summer some years ago. The book was so entrancing that, despite the fact that I was in a beautiful mountain location, away from the city in which I lived, staying with family that I rarely saw, I could not put the book down. The book had been glued to my hands. I read until I couldn't keep my eyes open, and when I finally did open them, the book was right at hand and I started up again! I forsook everything for this book: food, sleep, exercise, conversation with my family. Everthing. And I must say that I have never regretted it. Battlefield Earth takes place, as billed, in the year 3000. Earth's human population is nearly extinct. 1000 years before the book takes place, man was wiped out by a technologically advanced alien race (called Phsychlos) interested only in the exploiting the mineral content of the planet for their own gain. The Psychlos are an unconsciounably cruel race who take pleasure in the pain and suffering of others. They hunt down and torture men and women for sport and take days to kill them, leaving nothing but a bloody mess behind. Thus it is that Mankind is on the brink of extinction with only a few thousand humans left on the planet, and it will take drastic action to save the race. This is a long book (1000+ pages in paperback) but well worth the time spent reading it. In fact, I have read this book a total of 7 times in the last decade, and I am thinking of reading it again. Definitely an all time favorite of mine, one that I am sure you will enjoy if you let yourself get swept up in the action and fun of the book. The plot twists will keep you on your toes and the action will knock your socks off. Enjoy!