A Case of Conscience by James Blish [Spoiler Light Review][Masterpieces of SF Ep. 15]

Episode 15 of Easton Press Masterpieces of Science Fiction Series
• Series Announcement - ...
• What is Manichaeism?
Thanks for watching!

[@Seven-Planets-Sci-Fi-Tuber]

Thanks, Ira. The conclusion for me is that A Case Of Conscience is confirmed to be among the must-read Sci-Fi novels.
Personally I'll skip the others, but I'll be on the lookout for a copy of A Case.. Cheers! 7P

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Yeah the others are interesting but A Case of Conscience is the best of them in my opinion.

[@Tetsujin-28]

I still haven't gotten around to read those old pulp paperbacks I picked up with the Blish tales.
Should be a fun read.
Great content. A Case of Conscience: That was a wild tale.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

I think you will like them, and if not they are at least very short.

[@bartsbookspace]

Great review. I like how you described Blish’s development alligator/kangaroo “people”. I did not listen to the spoiler part, as I want to read it, but you’re high praise at the end definitely has been excited and curious. 🙌

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Thanks Bart, I think you will like this one. Philosophical sci-fi has traditionally been the hardest for me to get into but I'm coming around.

[@glockensig]

I've read this book but no longer have a copy.... liked the story!

[@thesci-fished]

Nice work. I recently reviewed it as well, great novel.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Oh yes! I was waiting to finish up before watching your video. Thanks Pete.

[@BryanM.R.-wt9eb]

Ah, the old ontogeny (embryonic development) recapitulates phylogeny (evolutionary history) principle. It's a somewhat distorted simplification of how development actually proceeds, but I've always enjoyed the idea. Cool to hear it worked into a story. Sounds like there's also a Teilhard de Chardin-like priest and some Manichean versus Boethian hand wringing. Doesn't seem like standard SF fare.
But anyway, it sounds pretty interesting to me. I think it's on my e-reader; guess I should get to it. Just as soon as I get through yet another of my Gene Wolfe reading kicks. Thanks for the video, and have a nice weekend!

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Hey Bryan, I think you'd like all 4 books. They are well researched and well written and deal with a lot of non-typical sf ideas.

[@chrisw6164]

I went with Cities in Flight for my first Blish. I liked book one quite a bit but the subsequent books weren’t great IMO. The writing was great but I didn’t care for the plots of the second and third CIF novel (didn’t bother with the fourth). Have not read A Case of Conscience yet.

[@sfwordsofwonder]

I think Cities will be my next Blish read, not sure when though.

[@personmcpersonperson2893]

Looking forward to reading that one 👀

[@sfwordsofwonder]

It's a great one, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[@ElicBehexan]

I guess your age shows, but he was writing the Star Trek stuff in the mid-1960s...

[@sfwordsofwonder]

Thanks! I gleaned that from the afterword of Day After Judgment (1971) by David Hartwell.

[@richardjones7984]

An interesting review. You Censored out the main theme of the book trying to not spoil it, which is a shame. I remember the book from long ago and much of what you tell us I had forgotten. I'll have to read it again. The title comes from the action of the priest and its consequences, which are dire. I'm suffering from the same affliction and that is why this book is important to me on a personal level.