Encounter Near Venus

Encounter Near Venus #1

by Leonard Wibberley

Four children are delighted when their supposedly dull uncle turns out to be a space swinger who treats them to an interplanetary journey.

Genres: Science Fiction

143 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Also wrote under his full name Leonard Patrick O'Connor Wibberley and under
Patrick O'Connor as well as pseudonyms Christopher Webb and Leonard Holton

Reviews

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Superficially Encounter Near Venus resembles The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and A Wrinkle in Time. All three books have children (some or all of which are siblings), another world populated by strange and familiar creatures, some of whom are talking animals, helpers along the way, someone older and wiser as a spirit guide of sorts, and a malevolent evil. Truth hangs over all three too, some sort of philosophical, allegorical, spiritual, or even religious Truth. But Lion and : Wrinkle are blessed with great plots, quick character development, and action. Encounter Near Venus takes forever to get started, the characters continue feelings like cardboard cutouts the entire way through, and a plot that isn't as much full of holes as it is one big hole. Ka the Smiler, the malevolent antagonist, could have been a great villain, with his shades of Kipling (Kaa the snake, although Ka the Smiler resembles the cobras from Rikki Tikki Tavi far more); instead, he's a tack on at the end, hardly worth the storm and fear he's caused for most of the book. Quite frankly, the White Witch and IT the disembodied brain, could kick the ass of Ka the Smiler pretty handily, even though Ka is a stand in for the Devil himself. What a disappointment. This was a book that I remembered from childhood as being sort of creepy and really good; it turns out to be creepy not because of the story but because it's just not very well written. At least the illustrations were good; very, very 1960s paintings in a child's bedroom.

[Kathy Leland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't remember exactly how old I was when I first read this hugely imaginative and very captivating fantasy story, perhaps 10 or 11, but it was one of those life-changing books you read as a kid, the kind that makes you want to read and read and read to the exclusion of anything else-- I took it with me to the dinner table, snuck out of bed after lights out to read by the green glow of the night light in my bedroom. I had dreams about the magical Venus landscape as portrayed, and I made elaborate drawings with colored pencils of the scenes that filled my mind night and day. To this day I still remember exactly what the hard cover of the book looked like, swirls of blue and green.

I returned the book to the library with such reluctance, sad beyond belief after I'd finished it because for the first time I realized that nothing can ever replicate the first time you read a book; it's a joy you will never have again in quite the same way. At that age, I never reread anything--ever. I had a weirdly photographic memory for text, so if I reread even one paragraph of anything I'd read before, I immediately remembered all of it. I sure wish THAT ability had stayed with me!

[Warren Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, re-reading after many years, still holds up, a retelling of the Garden of the Eden, the temptation, and the fall that doesn't happen this time.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored this book when I encountered it as a child, long ago in a more innocent world that no longer exists. It was probably one of the very first fantasy novels I read, and I was sucked in by the magic of voyaging to Venus's secret moon in a pink flying saucer with four clever siblings and their uncle. I was not aware of any of the tired, thinly disguised biblical parallels woven into the storyline or the flimsiness of the world building--to include a planet inhabited by the same sort of imaginary creatures that live on earth (mermaids and centaurs and such) as well as tiny invisible beings that communicate telepathically. Even in the '60s, there were already much better children's fantasies (e.g., the Narnia series and books by Edgar Eager), but I guess Wibberley was so famous that the publisher decided to go ahead and publish this anyway. Is it really fair of me, as an adult, to slam this book sixty years after its publication when it was only ever meant to be read by children in the early years of space travel? Probably not, so I'm giving it three stars because young kids (under ten) might still enjoy the book's plot and the resourcefulness of the young characters.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Venus here is closer to H.G. Wells's Moon (in First Men in the...) and the Venusians are more like his Martians than anything NASA knows. This is a science-fantasy Garden of Eden–like story; it's not really an allegory though there are a bunch of recognizable biblical symbols. Mostly though, it is just some kids having a fun-loving weekend trip to Venus on their crazy uncle's flying saucer. Where some kids might prefer Oz and others Narnia, these three are quite happy in this solar system. As usual, Wibberley weaves an exciting, intricate tale that breaks the age barrier.