From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)

Walter M. Miller Jr.,

Mary Doria Russell (Introduction)

Start date: December 1, 2014

Finish date: December 29, 2014

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Bryn Hammond

Why we're reading this: Group Classic Novel Discussion December 2014
Hugo Award 1961
#35 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (…more
[close] Group Classic Novel Discussion December 2014
Hugo Award 1961
#35 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...
#19 on Locus Magazines Best SciFi novels of the 20th century http://www.locusmag.com/2012/AllCentu...

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What Members Thought

Nov 30, 2014 Bobby Bermea rated it really liked it

This book was recommended to me by G33z3r and for an irascible, comment-deleting curmudgeon who complains all the time about the kids these days and the books they read (and publish), it was dead on point.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is simply and right from page one, one of the smartest, wittiest, angriest, most inventive books about Our Apocalyptic Future that I've ever read. I have to say, I loved just about every page, the first section and the last, everything. It actually appears to be a seri ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2014 Andrew rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy, oh-no-dystopia, future-of-humanity, award-winners, religion

Fiat Leibowitz

Centuries after nuclear annihilation, a small abbey of Roman Catholic(esque) monks are dedicated to the preservation and reproduction of books, even though the meaning of the text they curate is utterly mysterious to them. This constitutes some of the only extant knowledge from the pre-apocalyptic human civilization. This Order of Saint Leibowitz is followed throughout the centuries in the novel’s three sections: in approximately 2500 AD, 3100 AD, and 3700 AD.

It is much more enjoya ...more

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Aug 29, 2015 Aurelia rated it it was ok

Shelves: dystopia, 2015, book-club-sf-f

"Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

This book fell flat for me. There were moments that I really liked and moments that I didn't care about and was bored, continuously thinking, how many more words do you need to use to convey a cliche message. Maybe the reason is that I read and watched a lot of works that talk about post-apocalyptic world - either right after the nuclear war or centuries later. Maybe A Canticle for Leibowitz was one of the first books to examine this ...more

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Jan 16, 2023 Bee added it

Shelves: dnf

Got half way. Just... long and boring. It's coolish, and a little funny. But i'm just not invested enough to finish it ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 08, 2017 Mark Yashar rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel is well deserving of the Hugo award for best science fiction novel it received in 1961. Though, the story is considered to be "post-apocalyptic", it may be more appropriate to consider it as exploring cycles of (nuclear) apocalypse/destruction, followed by renewal, then once again ...

The book also explores themes of religion, recurrence, and church versus state. There is even a mysterious "Wandering Jew" character here, but I won't give away and spoil everythin ...more

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