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The Iron Star
The novel concerns an African expedition. Swain, a member of the expedition, becomes demented and attempts to exterminate a peculiar species of African ape. The other members of the expedition are befriended by an intelligent ape called the Captain. The expedition discover that the apes are in fact humans that have evolved in reverse due to exposure to a meteor and that the Captain was once human.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
357 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1930
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About the author
John Taine
37 books19 followersEric Temple Bell (February 7, 1883, Peterhead, Scotland - December 21, 1960, Watsonville, California) was a mathematician and science fiction author born in Scotland who lived in the U.S. for most of his life. He published his non-fiction under his given name and his fiction as John Taine.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 3, 2016
For me, this book is flawed: the main characters (except the Captain) are very unsympathetic, the science is incorrect (even taking into account the year it was written, 1930) and the plot is sometimes boring.
There is a glaring historic mistake in the last chapter: "As Cicero thundered in the Roman senate "Carthage must be destroyed!"." Cicero never said that, it was Cato the Oldest!
The scientists in the book (two physicists and a physician) all have a clearly materialistic stance, as though science and religion were incompatible (which they aren't). The following things are asserted by them as though they were unquestionable truths:
a) 2% of all people are born with a defective brain that makes them incapable of telling right from wrong, therefore they are fated to become criminals. Crime is just a disease.
b) Every one of our altruistic actions is actually a form of hidden egotism. This is true to a certain point (many of our actions are a convoluted mixture of altruism and egotism), but it shouldn't be generalized to the point of explaining altruism away.
c) Religion is stupid, and only people without common sense can believe in it. Missionaries are effeminate.
A single character is opposed to this view, a girl who acts as secretary to the physician, but even she is quite unsympathetic, and her mouth is easily closed by the others, by accusing her of being "just a bundle of sentiments" (they themselves of course represent reason).
The novel is too gruesome for my taste.
There is a glaring historic mistake in the last chapter: "As Cicero thundered in the Roman senate "Carthage must be destroyed!"." Cicero never said that, it was Cato the Oldest!
The scientists in the book (two physicists and a physician) all have a clearly materialistic stance, as though science and religion were incompatible (which they aren't). The following things are asserted by them as though they were unquestionable truths:
a) 2% of all people are born with a defective brain that makes them incapable of telling right from wrong, therefore they are fated to become criminals. Crime is just a disease.
b) Every one of our altruistic actions is actually a form of hidden egotism. This is true to a certain point (many of our actions are a convoluted mixture of altruism and egotism), but it shouldn't be generalized to the point of explaining altruism away.
c) Religion is stupid, and only people without common sense can believe in it. Missionaries are effeminate.
A single character is opposed to this view, a girl who acts as secretary to the physician, but even she is quite unsympathetic, and her mouth is easily closed by the others, by accusing her of being "just a bundle of sentiments" (they themselves of course represent reason).
The novel is too gruesome for my taste.
Displaying 1 of 1 review