Science Fiction

Good old-fashioned space opera (Buck Rogers stuff) makes a solid comeback in L. Ron Hubbard’s Battlefield Earth. Set on an Earth overrun by aliens who have shoved aside humanity to exploit the planet’s mineral wealth, the novel follows one of the surviving humans in his attempt to win freedom. The plotting and characterization are strictly pulp quality, but Hubbard’s gleeful piling of adventure upon adventure is irresistible to anyone brought up on the good guys–bad guys school of fiction. Along with a good sense of pace, Hubbard has first-hand knowledge of all the fancy tricks and swift moves of action-oriented SF, the style in which he first gained recognition. If you think they don’t write ‘em anymore like they used to, take heart – here’s 800 pages from one of the originals.