Érdekes alapötlet, hogy egyszer csak megjelenik egy új bolygó a Föld mellett. Sajnos 50 oldal elég unalmas bevezetés után jutunk el csak a kiinduló pontig.

Az első érdekes kérdés, hogy milyen hatással van ez a Földre, Holdra. Bár nem vagyok fizikus, az itt kapott magyarázat nekem eléggé valószerűtlennek tűnik. Rögtön ezután felmerül a kérdés, hogy miként reagálnak erre az emberek. Itt a kelleténél több karaktert is megismerünk, de a túl sok nézőpont eredménye csak az, hogy igazából egyik emberrel sem tudok azonosulni, nem igazán érdekel a sorsuk, ráadásul nagyon furcsán viselkedik a többségünk.

Az igazi kérdés persze az, hogy hogyan is került ide az idegen bolygó. Egy idő után ezt is megtudjuk, de nem igazán van itt katarzis, egy idegen lény egyszer csak elmeséli.

El nem tudom képzelni, hogy miként nyert ez a könyv Hugo-díjat. Nem egyszerűen arról van szó, hogy eljárt felette az idő, szerintem ez a könyv a hatvanas években sem volt jó. A jó ötletből novellát kellett volna írni inkább. ( )

As the epigraphs and some of the early dialogue in the novel makes clear, this is an attempt to take the space opera concept of planets that can move through interstellar space (as seen in, for example "Doc" Smith's Lensman novels) and apply some real-world logic to it. If a mobile planet appeared in Earth's solar system, what would be the result? The book unfolds like a disaster movie, following a number of parallel plotlines about different people dealing with effects like the break-up of the moon and some incredibly high and low tides.

I was very into it at first, but the more I read it, the less interested I was; at 346 pages (in my Gollancz edition, at least), the book is just too long proportional to the amount of interesting things that happen. Leiber reminds me of his contemporary Clifford Simak, good at both mood and character, but it felt like not much was actually happening. Groups of people very slowly make it from point A to point B. And it just keeps going on and on and on. The beginning of the book, as the disaster begins to unfold, it utterly captivating, but having grabbed you, Leiber assumes you will continue to be captivated by the same thing slowly unspooling for hundreds of pages. Probably could have been a cracker of a novella, but my least favorite of the seven Hugo-winning novels I've read over the last few years, except for The Forever Machine.

¿Qué sucedería si un planeta errante se aproximase a la Tierra, y los hombres supiesen que ésta se halla irremisiblemente condenada? ¿Cómo reaccionarían las personas corrientes ante la perspectiva espantosa de una colisión cósmica que destruiría nuestro mundo?. No se trata aquí de héroes ni de superhombres enfrentados con situaciones difíciles; no se trata de hombres sin nervios, de una sangre fría a toda prueba, de un temple de acero. Se trata del hombre de la calle, los políticos, los hombres de negocios, los científicos y los militares.

This is garbage. Apparently Lieber felt that in an end of the world scenario, most people will behave badly and he took the opportunity to denigrate, insult and bemean every minority group possible. Do not read. My opinion of him as an author has taken a big hit here. ( )

1965 Winner of the Hugo Award.

Years before furry was popular, there was The Wanderer. Years before Lucifer's Hammer, there was The Wanderer. Years before it was popular go epic numbers of scientists and normals oohing and awing over BDO's entering the Earth's orbit... oh wait, no that's pretty much a standard of SF.

Seriously, aside from the times, which may or may not let you guys forgive the casual references to casual racism, sexism, and the oddly frank depiction of a lesbian woman deciding right before she drowns that she wants to have sex with the misogynic man as they both drown and wanting to strangle him to death before the water does the job, the novel really is a quick and fun dance around the tidal effects of the earth getting a new moon by way of HYPERSPACE.

It really was pretty neat, but let's put it in context. Stranger in a Strange land came out three years before, so free love is getting into the swing of things, and this novel is sandwiched between Way Station and Dune/This Immortal. It really isn't much of a surprise, being right dab in the middle of the sixties, that we've got almost beach scenes, Science Science Science, awkward characters named KKK, and kitty-aliens. MEOW.

And don't forget Counter Culture! Those darn Wanderers. Are they Beatniks? Are they the Youth Scene? Are they running from Mommy or Daddy? Why YES! Their tie-die bus has enough living area to hold 14 thousand earth surfaces, too, and it's full of wild types. Quick! Here come the coppers! And here's the oddest thing I've read in any novel for quite some time: "Have you ever masturbated a lower life form?"

I joke! I joke! (Or do I?)

There's actually a lot of death and pathos. It's also pretty fun for all its faults. It's easier to read in a few ways than [b:Lucifer's Hammer|218467|Lucifer's Hammer|Larry Niven|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388268115s/218467.jpg|1842237] and has easier to consume characters, but both works have very different messages. The level of destruction is much less than in Niven and Pournelle's work that came out 13 years later, but I have to wonder if each is merely a product of its age. Still, it's hard not to see the direct line of influence.

MEOW! Dirty monkey. ( )