FEAR:
There is one thing which I wish the reader could keep in mind throughout, and that is: this story is wholly logical, for all that will appear to the contrary. It is not a very nice story, nor should it be read alone at midnight-for it is true that any man might have the following happen to him. Even you, today, might lose four hours from your life and follow, then, in the course of James Lowry.
- L. Ron Hubbard
FEAR:
FOREWORD
Once in a while an editor sees a story that is so finely crafted that it provides immeasurable pleasure to bring it before the reader. Fear is just such a work, and more, for it not only has great reader appeal, it uniformly inspires awe in top authors themselves. From Ray Bradbury to Isaac Asimov, it has earned rare praise as an unforgettable, timeless classic.
Written more than fifty years ago, the story has not only withstood the test of time, but additionally, it is credited by literary historians, such as David Hartwell, for transforming and creating "the foundations of the contemporary horror genre."
Legend, too, has a habit of springing up around great works. Robert Heinlein, a close friend of L. Ron Hubbard, was fond of relating the story of how Fear was written on a single train ride from New York to Seattle.
But it is the impact on the reader that is the singular, most important test of any work. Fear delivers.
Stephen King, without question today's master of the horror genre, says it best when he looks back at the accomplishment represented by Fear:
L. Ron Hubbard
BATTLEFIELD EARTH
A saga of the year 3000
This is a tremendous sci-fi saga of Earth in the future when mankind is all but extinct. An alien race runs the planet and humans are rarely if ever seen, so much so that they are thought to be extinct by the aliens.
This book follows the story of an alien, stuck running a mining operation for his planet on Earth. This position was not a reward. He could be stuck here forever if he doesn't figure out a way to get back to his home planet and he also has to figure out how, on his return, he is rich for the rest of his life.
Then we meet the remnants of a band of humans living in the hills. They have myths about monsters that have built up over many years. This has kept them scratching out a living and bringing them closer and closer to the brink of extinction.
One young man realizes that if they are to exist they have to move out of the area because there seems to be a mysterious sickness that is causing people to be killed off and no babies to be born. He decides against all odds to venture down into the lowlands and find a new life for his people to hopefully start a new life. This is where he meets and confronts the monsters that he has heard of all his life.
Hubbard does a supreme job of creating a hero who earns our respect and love, an alien that gives us nightmares and a love story that is spectacular. A must read if there ever was one.
Other Fiction → L ron hubbard-fear, battlefeild earth06 Nov 2009, 22:26 You have to login or register to post comments. |
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