A Case of Conscience (After Such Knowledge, #4)

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A Case of Conscience (After Such Knowledge #4)

3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 · rating details · 1,767 ratings · 118 reviews

Father Ruiz-Sanchez is a dedicated man--a priest who is also a scientist, and a scientist who is also a human being. He has found no insoluble conflicts in his beliefs or his ethics . . . until he is sent to Lithia. There he comes upon a race of aliens who are admirable in every way except for their total reliance on cold reason; they are incapable of faith or belief.

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Paperback, 256 pages

Published September 5th 2000 by Del Rey (first published 1958)

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Sep 17, 2012 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This review contains spoilers for several of James Blish's novels

I discovered James Blish when I was about 10 (I believe the first one I read was The Star Dwellers), and I have returned to him many times throughout my life. I don't think I know any author who is quite as frustrating an example of Kilgore Trout syndrome. Wonderful ideas, but in most cases terrible execution: for every novel or short story that succeeds, at least three are left butchered and bleeding by the side of the road.

Blish...more This review contains spoilers for several of James Blish's novels

I discovered James Blish when I was about 10 (I believe the first one I read was The Star Dwellers), and I have returned to him many times throughout my life. I don't think I know any author who is quite as frustrating an example of Kilgore Trout syndrome. Wonderful ideas, but in most cases terrible execution: for every novel or short story that succeeds, at least three are left butchered and bleeding by the side of the road.

Blish had a clutch of fascinatingly heretical theories about the relationship between Man and the Divine, and if he'd been able to write properly you sometimes feel he could have been another Dante or Nietzsche. In Black Easter, a surprisingly good novel about black magic, an insane arms dealer joins forces with a sorcerer to release all the major demons from Hell for one night; the book's terrifying conclusion has Satan appearing in person to announce the death of God. The sequel has another fine idea, but it's ruined by hasty and shoddy writing: it turns out that this is also part of the Divine Plan, and the Devil is unwillingly forced to take God's place.

In his longest work, the four-volume Cities in Flight, Blish developed an even more grandiose and imaginative concept. The first volume depicts the Second Coming of Christ, and the concept is once again excellent. Christ confounds the expectations of the world's faithful by incarnating as Bliss Wagoner, the U.S. Senator for Alaska (this was well before Sarah Palin was born, in case you're wondering). He delivers on His promise to give eternal life in the heavens to His people, but does so in an unexpected way, by diverting federal funding into research programs which result in faster than light travel and an immortality drug. One of the most agreeable conceits of the novel is that Christ is not recognized by anyone, and is never explicitly identified; it's only when you get to the book's final sentence that Blish comes clean, and even then he phrases it cryptically. Alas, this brilliant idea is again spoiled by poor writing. And the same goes for the fourth volume: despite coming up with one of the best end-of-the-universe plots ever devised, in which the meaning of God's Creation is triumphantly revealed on the last page, the greater part of the book is boring and flat.

So it should be no surprise that A Case of Conscience is more of the same. We have discovered a planet peopled by an apparently gentle and civilized race, the Lithians, who are gradually revealed as being literally a creation of the Devil, intended to delude and ensnare humanity. The protagonist, a Jesuit priest, too late recognizes the Lithian ambassador to Earth for what he is, and is powerless to oppose him; this scenario, it occurs to me now, is rather like that in Black Easter. And then, after what everyone here agrees is a fantastic buildup, the whole book falls apart, leaving the reader frustrated over yet another disappointment. It's genuinely tragic.

Poor Blish always seems to have been in a hurry; except in a few short stories, and perhaps in Black Easter, he never had time to sit down and get it right. And he died quite young, at the age of only 54. He's probably been sentenced to a few thousand years in Purgatory for all those spectacular missed opportunities. But when he finally gets to Heaven, I expect he'll have figured out how to stop doing it and he'll be able to settle down to his long-term job as one of God's favorite jesters. It's clearly what he was meant for.
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I just looked up Blish on Wikipedia and discovered that he's buried near Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows. I hope they are now collaborating on a joint project, though I must admit I'm having trouble imagining what it would look like...
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Mar 02, 2010 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: award-nominee-hugo, award-winner-hugo, award-nominee-british-sf, multiple-award-nominee, locus-all-time-science-fiction-poll, audiobook, easton-press, 1954-1969, alien-cultures, agent-provocateurs, religion-spirituality

4.5 stars. I am a big fan of James Blish. This book is an expansion of the earlier novella of the same name. Part 1 of the book (i.e., the original novella) is a 6.0 star story and is extremely powerful. Part 2, while good, is not as exceptional and brings the overall rating for the book down to 4.5 stars. Overall, still a highly recommended read. [Reread on March 1, 2010:].

Winner: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1959)
Nominee: British Science Fiction Award (Retro) for Best Novel (195...more

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Nov 17, 2007 Simon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Half way through, so this may change.

A four man team visits the planet Lithia to determine if the planet can be useful to earth, or if the native Lithians are sufficiently advanced to be recognized as 'people'. The Lithians are reptiles, but more of that.

The protagonist is a Jesuit biologist (Jesuits, in the real world, have a world-class reputation for science - so this is quite credible). The book is divided into parts, in the first part the Jesuit's antagonist is Cleaver, a practical man who...more

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May 15, 2013 Steve Sarrica rated it 3 of 5 stars

A biologist (who is also a Jesuit priest), a physicist, a chemist, and a geologist walk into a bar... wait, they land on a planet where they serve as the first contact team with the first alien race that humanity has discovered. The aliens, the Lithians, live in an Eden, live what by all accounts live perfectly moral lives —one might even say Catholic-dervied moral lives. Trouble is, for the Jesuit at least, is that they have no God and no concept of God. When it comes time for the first contact...more

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May 13, 2013 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars

A weak and disappointing book, Case is really two stories in one, and I have to agree with other reviewers here that the second half is considerably worse than the first. Not that the first is strong to begin with, though it does succeed in offering the least convincing "Jesuit" priest I've come across in a book. Ruiz-Sanchez might be a good scientist (that part is appropriate enough), but his literalist theology is practically the mirror opposite of what Jesuits tend to espouse. Either way, by...more

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May 12, 2013 Grace rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: soft-science-fiction

In many of the science fiction books I’ve read, religion and religious figures are usually portrayed as manipulative, ignorant, or both. (Dune and Foundation are some that I can think of off the top of my head). There are others, such as Hiero’s Journey, that portray warrior priests in a favorable light but are such a distortion from current faiths that it is hardly a social commentary but more of a means to endow normal humans with the ability to kill vampires and see into the future. So while...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Vince rated it 2 of 5 stars

The only thing that dashed my expectations more thoroughly than this book did was the Y2K disaster prediction. I say this without humor; A Case of Conscience built itself up to be one of the most engaging reads I've ever wrapped my hands around and, in one quick turn of events, spiraled downward into an absurdly predictable mess of all usual tropes one would expect to find in a book about religion applying to aliens.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW. AGAIN, MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW.

The first half of t...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

A CASE OF CONSCIENCE. (1958). James Blish. ****.
Although this novel was one of those included in The Library of America’s “American Science Fiction 1956-1958,” it managed to reach beyond the traditional trappings of that genre and explore subjects not normally in that domain. I was not familiar with either the author or the specific title. The author, James Blish (1921-1975), was a fairly prolific writer in this area, though primarily of shorter fiction. This novel won the Hugo Award in 1959. T...more A CASE OF CONSCIENCE. (1958). James Blish. ****.
Although this novel was one of those included in The Library of America’s “American Science Fiction 1956-1958,” it managed to reach beyond the traditional trappings of that genre and explore subjects not normally in that domain. I was not familiar with either the author or the specific title. The author, James Blish (1921-1975), was a fairly prolific writer in this area, though primarily of shorter fiction. This novel won the Hugo Award in 1959. The story is about the exploration of a recently discovered planet, Lithia, about 50 light years from our sun. It is inhabited by a reptile-like population that has its own language and own system of science and civilizatiion. Four men from Earth have been sent to Lithia to explore it and its resources and to make a judgement as to whether or not it is worthy of being asked to join the federation of worlds. Of the four men, three of them are scientists of various specialties, and the fourth man, Father Ruiz-Sanchez, S.J., is a Catholic priest – an expert on the history of civilizations. After their stay on the planet and the four men are readying for departure back to Earth, the priest lets slip that he believes that the planet and all its “people” are the work of the Devil and must be put down and shunned by all other members of the federation. Unfortunately, before any action can be taken on this surprise decision, the head of the Lithians gives the priest a going-away gift: a hand-crafted vase containing the embryo of his son which he can take back to Earth with him. This was done by the Lithian so that his son could grow up knowing how Earthlings lived, but was not how things turned out. The priest now faced a moral dilemma, but one which he could not avoid. The consequences of this dilemma are what play out as the plot of this fine novel. There is quite a bit of religious soul searching in this novel, and a great deal of historal precedent seeking is done to justify the then current thinking, but the priest feels justified in believing that the whole of Lithia is a construct produced by the forces of Evil to tempt mankind, and should be destroyed. This is a plot twist that you will not likely encounter anywhere else. The writing is excellent, and the author managed to maintain credibility throughout. Recommended.
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Oct 15, 2012 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

Tantalizingly good premise:

A scout mission is sent to a planet 50 light years away to make contact with the inhabitants and test the viability of gathering resources. The 4 scientist group find the planet, Lithia, to be a veritable paradise. The aliens living therein are an inviting, moral, civilized race and welcome the earthlings. Father Ramon, one of the scientists, is a Jesuit who cannot come to terms with the fact that this alien race has achieved perfect morality without religion. He belie...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Nerine Dorman rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this novel, Blish answers the question of “What if there were sentient life on another planet?” A thoroughly uncomfortable story that reprises the disastrous consequences of the Spanish conquest of South America, A Case of Conscience examines the repercussions of human contact on the planet of Lithia. All four scientists who numbered among the initial contact expedition to Lithia are changed. Our primary character is a Jesuit priest and scientist, Father Ruez-Sanchez, and the very basis of hi...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Lindsay Stares rated it 2 of 5 stars

Premise: In 2050, four men are on a commission to the planet Lithia. They are there to evaluate the planet and its sentient natives, and render a recommendation about future contact with Earth. One man wants to turn the unique geology of Lithia into a nuclear arms factory, another is convinced the peaceful Lithian society could teach humanity a thing or two, one is unsure where he stands, and the fourth becomes convinced that since the Lithians have an orderly society without religion, that they...more Premise: In 2050, four men are on a commission to the planet Lithia. They are there to evaluate the planet and its sentient natives, and render a recommendation about future contact with Earth. One man wants to turn the unique geology of Lithia into a nuclear arms factory, another is convinced the peaceful Lithian society could teach humanity a thing or two, one is unsure where he stands, and the fourth becomes convinced that since the Lithians have an orderly society without religion, that they must be demonic in origin. Yeah. If you have been hanging around here for a while, you already know I'm not going to like this guy. In the second half, the plot gets even weirder.

Some books I read on the wrong day. Some books I read in the wrong year. Some books I read too fast because they have to go back to the library. Some books fall victim to all three, so you can feel free to take this review with a grain of salt.

I was never going to wholeheartedly enjoy A Case of Conscience, if only because Catholic theology makes my eyes glaze over. As far as I can tell, this is the story of a perfectly nice planet, completely screwed over by idiotic humans, who bring their baggage with them everywhere. Since we follow said humans through many pages of their own internal maunderings, I found the book ultimately pretty boring. The science discussed has not aged well, and it doesn't help that it seems to be recapitulating (pun intended) parts of Burrough's The People that Time Forgot.

The larger problem is that I don't really care what happens to any of the human characters. Admittedly, Blish seems to make them intentionally unlikable. Also, there are completely obvious science-fictional explanations for the behavior of the Lithians, and the characters are too stupid to see them.

The first half of the book was originally published as a novella, and is not bad, if dated and melodramatic. But in the second half, it completely switches gears, and turns into a sort of weird cousin to Stranger in a Strange Land. The humans are given a Lithian egg to take back with them to Earth. They completely screw up the raising of such (which is not pointed out enough), and he grows up to be an amoral anarchist. Which is kind of what Earth seemed to need in this awkwardly dystopian future, so I'm not sure what the characters are complaining about. There's a rather baroque sex party, I guess to prove the dystopian-ness, or something? Father Ramon whines a lot about his moral failings, and then there's riots.

And then there's the end, which I do appreciate for its ambiguity. Unstated moral: humans wreck everything, and should be confined to their own planet for the safety of others. I don't think that I'm entirely off base with my interpretation, and I don't object to the moral given the circumstances, but ultimately I found this book disjointed and depressing.
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Sep 28, 2011 Swallowfeather rated it 2 of 5 stars

I have to admit, I only read the novella, which is the first half of the book. But my comments are based on the premise, which I assume applies throughout the book.

I found this *weird*. In a bad way. Just flat-out "why would someone write a story like this?" weird.

This Jesuit scientist is on a plant that is perfect; its ecosystem and inhabitants are perfect, they live balanced, moral, happy lives except they don't believe in God, in fact they have no capacity for faith and base everything they d...more I have to admit, I only read the novella, which is the first half of the book. But my comments are based on the premise, which I assume applies throughout the book.

I found this *weird*. In a bad way. Just flat-out "why would someone write a story like this?" weird.

This Jesuit scientist is on a plant that is perfect; its ecosystem and inhabitants are perfect, they live balanced, moral, happy lives except they don't believe in God, in fact they have no capacity for faith and base everything they do on rationality to an extent incomprehensible to humans. The Jesuit thinks about this long and agonizingly and decides that the planet has been created by the Devil to lead people (from Earth!) astray into thinking they can have a good life without God.

Now, I assume that if I were a non-religious person, I would just go "What a complete narrow-minded bozo!" and if I finished the book it would just be because I loved to hate the Jesuit. I mean, that is really what I feel about a conclusion like that. But the thing that really weirds me out is that the guy is presented as sympathetic, or at least worthy of our non-mocking attention throughout the book. So my first impulse as a religious person to write this off as a bit of anti-religious propaganda doesn't quite wash either. But it's just *weird*. That this writer would think a religious person would take that conclusion, and then not mock him for it!

If you want to know what one example of a real religious person would do, here's me. I actually happen to believe that my religious beliefs are true, not in the sense of something proven, but in the sense that there are arguments and evidence for and against though none of them are conclusive in the scientific sense, and all things considered I find the "for" ones more compelling. When you hold a belief like that and you come up against something that flatly challenges it, yes, one option is to drop it, but that's a big deal. So you examine. You look for the flaw, because you kind of think there might be one. And if I looked for the flaw in Lithia it's staring me in the face, honestly. Are these Lithians really as completely happy and moral as we're told? They actually *lay eggs and abandon them, leaving their children to take their chances in the natural world like so much frogspawn.* Is that moral (and happiness-inducing) for them though it wouldn't be for us? A question worth asking. And that *should be asked*! If this situation was real I'd expect the Jesuit to be focusing on *this* question, not making up nonsensical theories about Satan actually creating sentient beings.(less)

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Sep 17, 2011 Mike Moore rated it 4 of 5 stars

People don't write speculative fiction like this anymore, by which I mean several things. First, this is dated. Blish's world of dinosaur-like pacifists living in perfect harmony and communicating with giant trees feels like something out of the golden age of science fiction, and his view of a future earth where the cold war has driven mankind underground (and insane) feels like a 50s dystopia. This is understandable, since the book was written in the 50s, but it calls the applicability of the s...more People don't write speculative fiction like this anymore, by which I mean several things. First, this is dated. Blish's world of dinosaur-like pacifists living in perfect harmony and communicating with giant trees feels like something out of the golden age of science fiction, and his view of a future earth where the cold war has driven mankind underground (and insane) feels like a 50s dystopia. This is understandable, since the book was written in the 50s, but it calls the applicability of the story for modern readers into question.

However, I think that this book is relevant, precisely because nothing quite like it is being written today. This is a morality tale with such straightforward plot and characters that modern readers (and publishers) will probably be turned off. The cynical atheist, the impotent humanist, the diffident follower and the single-minded catholic priest are not realistic characters. They are rather representative constructs of universal impulses, like what you would see in a morality play. The plot is reminiscent of "The man who fell to earth" or "The Dispossessed" and, like those books, is mostly an excuse for some philosophic musings. Unlike those books, there is tremendous ambiguity as to the meaning of the events in the book. Each character sees the same events but interprets them in wildly different ways. Because the first and last perspective given is that of the priest, there is some temptation to take his view as more correct than the others. I think that would be a callow mistake. It's true that the cynic is very unsympathetic, really downright despicable, but Blish makes it clear that his viewpoint is meant to have a degree of validity (even if mistakes are clearly made...)

In short, it's a book that's very simple to read and somewhat complex to think about. That the interpretation of the final events range from salvation to a horrifying mistake is a clear indicator that there is more going on here than the simple plot and characters which are somewhat offensive to our sophisticated modern palate. The focus on the priest is explained by the title, for it is his conscience with which the book is concerned. Considering his final actions and what he _thinks_ that he has accomplished by them makes the consideration of his conscience as complex a question as anyone could wish for.(less)

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Jun 30, 2011 Tanya rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Hated it. Despite hating it, I finished it because I wanted to know what happened. But still, I hated it. The motivations for the actions of the characters are mostly a mystery, and the characters are incredibly unethical. And it just makes no sense.

For example, a group of four people are sent to a planet inhabited by intelligent, sentient lizards to find out if Earth should have some sort of permanent contact with them... or something. Basically it is a first contact group. Two of the men have...more Hated it. Despite hating it, I finished it because I wanted to know what happened. But still, I hated it. The motivations for the actions of the characters are mostly a mystery, and the characters are incredibly unethical. And it just makes no sense.

For example, a group of four people are sent to a planet inhabited by intelligent, sentient lizards to find out if Earth should have some sort of permanent contact with them... or something. Basically it is a first contact group. Two of the men have strong feelings about what Earth should do, and the other two just join a side. One of the men is a Catholic priest as well as a biologist and linguist. He became more involved with the alien world and society than the others, mostly because the others had no interest in learning the alien language, and one guy was downright hostile toward the idea. And this is the first contact team?! How are they suppose to learn about culture without learning the language?! Anyway, the biologist/priest does. However, he learns that they are highly ethical creatures, but that they have no belief or even concept of God. This freaks the priest/biologist out, and his recommendation to Earth is that they have absolutely no contact with these people, ever, because clearly they were created by Satan. He seriously presents that the Earth. And he is taken seriously!

The other guy, one who was most hostile to learning the language, is even a step down. They discover that this planet has deposits that can be used for making nuclear weapons. His proposal is that they tear the planet apart to build weapons for the UN (there don't seem to be autonomous countries at this time; the UN is the big, planetwide ruler), and the aliens can be used as slave labor because they don't have any concept of money. He seriously proposes this! This is our first contact team? Psychotic and unethical?! And Earth decides to go for his proposal.

What the heck?!

After that the story goes downhill. They come back to Earth, and they bring an alien baby with them (he was a gift). The characters then do things, including the alien, but the reason for why they act is either never shown or doesn't make sense.

Bad story.(less)

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Oct 03, 2010 D-day rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 100-scifi-list

In the year 2049 Father Ruiz-Sanchez is part of a four member commission from Earth on the planet Lithia, trying to determine what level of contact Earth should have with Lithia. Lithia is inhabited by a reptilian race of highly intelligent, logical and almost emotionless beings. They live in harmony with themselves and their environment. It seems an almost perfect society. One member of the commission is very impressed with Lithian society and is eager to establish full relations at once. Anoth...more

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Jul 01, 2010 Jason Pym rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I loved the idea behind this book - what happens when a Christian, a Jesuit no less, finds a new planet of aliens who live without sin - yet have no knowledge of God. How would it affect his faith? How would he deal with them? If he set up a mission, how would he convince the aliens of God's existence?

All the great ideas that this sparks were not really followed up. Instead the priest decides that the planet was created by Satan to shake peoples' faith in God. The Pope on earth tells him to exo...more

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Oct 10, 2009 Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars

This short science fiction novel is generally considered groundbreaking for its inclusion of religion and religious themes.

The book it split into roughly two parts: in the first, we learn that four humans have been investigating a planet and are attempting to decide how to describe it in their official report. The planet contains very little iron, and so its inhabitants -- large, intelligent creatures -- have a society that has developed technology along quite a different path than have humans....more

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May 31, 2009 Stef rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, fiction, sf-and-f, hugo-nebula, science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Audio book, well narrated by Jay Snyder. Originally written in 1958 and won a Hugo. The audio book includes an amusingly snippy foreword by Blish in which he defends the ways he chose to imagine how Catholic doctrine would change 100 years in the future.

Briefly the book is about a team of human experts who are studying a planet with intelligent life. They have to recommend whether to open the planet to human contact.

I really liked how Blish developed the characters of Ruiz-Sanchez and Egtverchi...more

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May 05, 2009 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Quite honestly, one of the most amazing books i've read in a long time.

It's the kind of book you want desperately to talk about but can't because you don't want to spoil what happens. I lent it to my mother and waited for her to finish each chapter and finishing part 1 when...

The book is, and i don't use this often, perfect in structure. If there's a gun on the wall in scene 1, right? Well every detail is like that. There are passages you lose attention during, and then kick yourself later for n...more

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Mar 25, 2013 sologdin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, speculative

Simply splendid.

First half is set on alien world, narrating survey team's agon, wherein one faction wants to exploit the world as a colony, one guy wants to shut it down as a secret military installation and reduce aliens to involuntary servitude, and priestly protagonist wants to quarantine the world as a Satanic tool.

Second half follows adventures of anarchist alien brought back to Earth, which has a "shelter economy," rooted in Cold War hysteria for bunkers--most people live in buried megap...more

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Dec 15, 2011 Jane rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Is it wrong to mark a book down because you disagree with it? In A Case of Conscience, Father Ruiz-Sanchez is a Jesuit priest and biologist who is part of a four-man expedition to the planet Lithia. The Lithians are an intelligent species with an apparently perfect society. Their ethical system does not come from faith -- in fact, they have no religion -- and the Lithians have even genetically modified themselves to make their emotions conform better with their ethics. Oh, and they provide a goo...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Andrew Calverley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: golden-age-sci-fi

A treasure from the late fifties - right in the heart of the Golden age of Science Fiction. It is filled with the gorgeous anachronisms that pepper the writing of this age with atomic clocks and imaginary engines for inter=stellar travel.

However, the greatest anachronism in this story is the lead character if Ruis Sanchez, a Jesuit missionary/scientist who's encounters with the Lithians "stripped of everything, and brought before the Holy Door with no baggage, not even such comforters as Job ha...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Lloyd rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1950s, hugo-award-winners-for-best-novel

A group of scientists goes to the planet Lithia in this offering by James Blish, the winner of the Hugo Award winner for 1959. What they find there is a race of reptile-like intelligent beings. The rub is that these beings have "no crime, no house-to-house communications systems, no arts that could be differentiated clearly from their crafts, no political parties, no public amusements, no nations, no games, no religions, no cults, no sports, no celebrations."

A Catholic priest (who is also a memb...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Amy added it

Very interesting book. It is the far future for the author (though not so much for us now - don't you always find that in such cases we seem to be falling short of the great deeds of the authors imagination?), an interesting development of a sort of cold war bunker system has caused most humans to live underground as far as i can grasp it, leading to a lot of pent up feelings. We are, as one might expect, space travellers and the book centres around a theological debate, arising as a result of e...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Bill rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, fiction, library-book, sf

i am really surprised that this book won the hugo award. i'm a really big fan of some of blish's other books, especially cities in flight. this book however, after a very promising start, fizzles out completely.the first third of the book, set on the planet of lithia, 58 light years from earth, is sf writing almost at it's finest. the 4 main characters from earth are introduced and the description of the planet and it's alien inhabitants is very well done.

the rest of the book is set back on eart...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 20th-century-fiction, books-from-1959, hugo-award-winners, sci-fi

I am not well read in the science fiction genre, but in comparing A Case of Conscience to science fiction novels I have read, it stands as one of the oddest. It won the Hugo Award in 1959.

A four man exploratory team is investigating Lithia, the first planet found so far with sentient life. The aliens are reptilian, have no experience of faith or religious belief, and their complete reliance on reason has produced a society devoid of evil or sin.

Father Ruiz-Sanchez, a Jesuit and a biologist, is o...more

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Sep 28, 2009 Steve Mount rated it 3 of 5 stars

Amazon suggested this to me, I presume, because of the mix of science fiction and religious books I've bought from them. The mix is not unheard of, but in this case, the mix is blatant. The main character is a Catholic priest, who is one of a team of humans sent to Lithia to determine if the planet should be opened up for trade with Earth. Fr. Ruiz, however, thinks not - in fact, he suggests quarantine of the planet. The reason: he feels the planet and its peaceful people, are the work of Satan,...more

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Jan 24, 2009 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 19, 2013 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is part of my "read the Hugo winners" mini-project. I'm sort of mixed on this one, so 3 stars feels right.

This book is split into two parts, and there really is a difference. The first half of the book is pretty interesting, and sets up some really good things. The second half is scattered at best, and really wasn't very good at all. I had to keep reminding myself that I actually liked the first half as I struggled through to the end. I was not at all surprised to find out that Part 1 had b...more

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May 02, 2010 Glenn Schmelzle rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. We haven't met ET yet, but when we finally do, we assume we'll be able to share certain fields with universal application: mathematics, physics and chemistry, maybe biology. But what kind of overlap will be possible for religion? That's a key element in Blish's A Case of Conscience.

If we compared notes with an alien race, would we find that God has given their world a different lesson from us? Some cite the Bible's reference to “other flocks” for this. But if God is a universal God, does His me...more

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About James Blish

James Benjamin Blish (East Orange, New Jersey, May 23, 1921 – Henley-on-Thames, July 30, 1975) was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.

In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.

Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–...more

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Books by James Blish

Cities in Flight (Cities in Flight, #1-4)

They Shall Have Stars (Cities in Flight, #1)

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Quotes from A Case of Conscience

“I will be the first. As of tonight, I renounce my citizenship in the United Nations, and my allegiance to the Shelter state. From now on I will be a citizen--a citizen of no country but that bounded by the limits of my own mind. I do not know what those limits are, and I may never find out, but I shall devote my life to searching for them, in whatever manner seems good to me, and in no other manner whatsoever.
You must do the same. Tear up your registration cards. If you are asked your serial number, tell them you never had one. Never fill in another form. Stay above ground when the siren sounds. Stake out plots; grow crops; abandon the corridors. Do not commit any violence; simply refuse to obey. Nobody has the. right to compel you, as non-citizens. Passivity is the key. Renounce, resist, deny!” — 6 people liked it

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A Case of Conscience (After Such Knowledge #4)

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