The Listeners

by James E. Gunn

Book Overview

A classic of science fiction, this book predicted and inspired the creation of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)--the organization dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451061608
• ISBN13: 9780451061607
• Release Date: November 1974
• Publisher: Roc
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.

Customer Reviews

excellent hard SF "first contact" story but has too much extra padding

I too ran across this in a used book store. I had not heard of Gunn before but this book is an excellent surprise discovery. I have read dozens of good stories with a theme of "first contact" that do well until the end when they just taper off weakly or remain open ended. But this plot is based on a reasonable progression of events that actually finishes with a satisfying ending. Secondary to the main plot the story also explores some hypothetical reactions to mankind's first encounter with other life. In the this respect I think the book is rather more optimistic than I myself would predict but irregardless of your take on this it does not detract from the core plot. And I agree with another reviewer that there are far too many quotations -- but they are clearly differentiated by font or page layout and can be easily skipped over if they get to be a bit much. In summary, I highly recommend the book for the creative and satisfying core plot, but you may find yourself skipping some of the padding.

Better than Contact???

I can't tell you if James Gunn's `The Listeners' is better than `Contact' simply because I haven't read Carl Sagan's book. But I have read Gunn's, and I can say that Sagan would have to have moved several planets in order to come close to the quality of `The Listeners.' Scientist Robert MacDonald is the director of "The Project," a study of sounds coming from the stars. MacDonald firmly believes that life is out there and that intelligent beings will eventually communicate with humans. He and others like him have been listening for over 50 years, but they've heard only silence. Until now.A cryptic message arrives, but what does it mean? With the threat of the project being shut down, MacDonald desperately seeks to keep his vision alive, but the cost is high. `The Listeners' is much more than just a "first contact" story. The writing is excellent and the drama is far above what you would expect. The more we learn about communicating with other beings, the more we find we don't know about communicating with each other. An excellent read. 240 pages

I Was Always Mad At Sagan

I read the Listeners when I was in college in the 80s. The edition I read had a forward written by Carl Sagan. The book was truly visionary and insightful. Some years later Contact came out and I was amazed at how Sagan had comletely stolen Mr. Gunn's plot. What really purturbed me was that nowhere in the credits did Mr. Sagan even mention James Gunn. It just seemed to me that Sagan just stood by and took credit for the entire story. To Mr. Gunn: The Listeners is a much better story than Contact! Thanks.

One of the Classic "First Contact" Novels

On a desperate hunt one summer day for that science-fiction rarity -- a sci-fi story that followed actual scientific laws and did not try my intelligence and patience, I accidentally discovered two books at a used book store. One of these books was The Listeners. I was in heaven that late summer. This was real science fiction. This book was fantastic! There were no "starships" or "Deathstars." There were only well-drawn, complex, and brilliant characters using their scientific and technical gifts.Obviously, as one reviewer had already observed, this "first contact" novel was the inspiration for Carl Sagan's work "Contact." In my opinion, "The Listeners" is the better-written book, even though I will always remain a huge fan of the late - and forever great - Carl Sagan.