The man on the moon was dead. They called him Charlie. He had big eyes, abundant body hair, and fairly long nostrils. His skeletal body was found clad in a bright red spacesuit, hidden in a rocky grave. They didn't know who he was, how he got there, or what had killed him. All they knew was that his corpse was fifty thousand years oldand that meant this man had somehow lived long before he ever could have existed.
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The man on the moon was dead. They called him Charlie. He had big eyes, abundant body hair, and fairly long nostrils. His skeletal body was found clad in a bright red spacesuit, hidden in a rocky grave. They didn't know who he was, how he got there, or what had killed him. All they knew was that his corpse was fifty thousand years oldand that meant this man had somehow lived long before he ever could have existed.
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I remember seeing the book cover when it first came out, in 'WaldenBooks' at the Eatontown Mall. The cover has always enthralled me, and I had forgotten about it until recently seeing a friend post the cover, and I couldn't wait to read it.
Well, it wasn't what I thought it would be. It is somewhat easy to read, but does get difficult to follow on occasion, not as bad as other science fiction. It does give a new twist on evolution of mankind and our Solar System, and opens ideas for the Galaxy.
Not a bad read though, it's a short book.
Thomas D
Feb 11, 2016
Still a great read after all these years.
One of the earliest science fiction books I ever read...and continue to reread. Intriguing ideas in the book especially ones regarding how our moon came to be! (of course we now know better!) Easy to read and fast paced. You won't want to put it down.
KBreda
Aug 11, 2008
Science fiction classic
James P. Hogan's Inherit the Stars deserves its status as a science fiction classic. The book is set in the mid-21st century. In the first chapter, a 50,000 year-old human skeleton dressed in a spacesuit is found on the moon. The inescapable conclusion is that a technologically-advanced race of humans existed 50 millenia ago. But where did this race evolve? How did this particular human get to the moon? What happened to the rest of his kind? And why is there no archeological evidence of this civilization on earth? As the teams of paleontologists, physicists, biologists, linguists and government officials (not to mention the media) address these questions, even more astounding archeological findings are made and more questions are raised.
This tightly-woven, compact novel is rich in analysis and deductive reasoning. The book addresses the horror, destructiveness and irrationality of war. Its themes and lessons are just as important today as in 1977 when Hogan penned this work. From hindsight, Hogan's vision of the 21st century is startlingly accurate. Among other things, he predicted the internet and the factors that brought an end to the Cold War. We haven't quite reached the age of routine space travel, but we have a couple of decades to go before we catch up to the timeframe of the novel. The work is so realistic, it is difficult to believe that it was written over 30 years ago.
Apart from Edgar Allan Poe and Umberto Eco, I'd be hard-pressed to name an author who is more adept at ratiocination than Hogan. This is a sensitive, timely and intellectually-satisfying novel. I'm looking forward to reading more of Hogan's work.
