I read all ten books when I was probably about 16 and I loved them. I’m not a Scientologist. (giggling in my mind) That’s the first thing someone would accuse me of after saying that. I even tried reading Dianetics once; it’s literally a manual on HOW to brainwash yourself. Hubbard didn’t even believe his own bullshit at first. There’s a record of him saying at a Sci-Fi convention (somewhere; sometime before Scientology) that it was, “Ridiculous to work for penny’s a word writing pulp; if we really wanted to get rich we would start our own religion.” He took his own advice, and got rich doing it. Unfortunately he bought into his own hype as he got older. Yes, Mission Earth is a poorly veiled vehicle to preach Dianetics and Scientology; but so was most of what he wrote later on. Yes, as I recall, the story does drag by slower than a lame dog with mange stapled to a dead elephant carcass climbing a mountain in places…maybe even frequently. Many of the characters are cut-out one line jokes and cardboard caricatures written in simply to point and preach Scientology. But it is also, all of it’s myriad shortcomings aside (and they are many), a poignant satire of many of the things that really are wrong or perverse in our society. After a fashion the story is at it’s very heart a moral one. Hubbard was an intelligent man and these are intelligent books; they don’t come right out and tell you what they’re saying, what’s there is written in between the lines and in broad strokes that come clear across the coarse of the story. It’s also unbelievably crude; I’m a terrible person with a soft spot for lowbrow. So that’s a plus for me. If anyone’s going to throw away a collection of these books I’d take them off your hands; been trying to put it together piecemeal for fifteen years now. I haven’t been trying very hard. 
I read them when they first came out and really enjoyed them. I’m a fan of pulp style fiction in general so be warned.!
I think it is Harlan Ellison who claims to have discussed the “create a religion to get rich” idea with Hubbard years before Scientology.
Is that correct?
The story, possibly/probably apocryphal, is that scientology was partly started as a bar bet with Robert Heinlein.
There are writers who recall Hubbard making statements about starting religions as a way to get rich quick. It’s possible Ellison was one such.
“Author Services” is the publishing arm of the COS-they have recently reprinted all of LRon’s serial and pulp fiction from the 1930’s-it is available at the “salvage” stores now (Ocean State Job Lot has them).
They are terrible rubbish-I bought a few because they were cheap ($1.00); and for the 30s cover art. But the writing is bad.
Hubbard may have been a third rate writer, but I read his “Fear” when I was 10 or so and remember it to this day, after I’ve forgotten much better writers.
Harlan usually claims to have been present when that conversation occurred, but I have heard other, older writers say that it originally happened when he would have been about 5 years old.
I have a friend who has read (and still owns) the entire series, and he has told me the exact same thing when I enquired about them.
I read them all as a teenager, as part of a summer reading contest. Read seventy books that summer and got a nice fat gift certificate with which I bought another, even longer, series of scifi books. All of the bigoted stuff and propaganda went over my head at the time. I suppose it was meant to be a serious work of fiction, but it came across as a parody, something similar to “Leather Goddesses of Phobos”. I don’t know whether I would still enjoy it, but I really had fun reading it at the time. It seemed kind of campy, and I liked it the same way I liked Flash Gordon.
I cant understand all this critisicm. Ive read all ten Volumes at least three times in the years, Original and German Translation, since they were published. As a Science Fiction and Satire Fan, I must admit, Iver never read any better books in my life. Theyre funny, fast, interesting, kind of strange and weird, it is very well written, and has a happy End. Its is even frightening, if one admits, that some of it might be so on Earth! I simply love the story! I would like to see it on a Movie Blockbuster. Remember, its just a Science Fiction Story! Read all the ten Volumes, and just dive into the story, and enjoy it!
I find it odd that I’ve had two thread resurrected recently. This and the Big alternative ending thread.
Weird.
Glad you liked the books.
“Fear” was good, “Battlefield: Earth” was OK. Never read any of theme books. Scared off by a review.
This guy knows what he’s talking about. If anything, the reality is far worse than he expresses.
Whoa. They’re HEE-RE.
::dons tinfoil hat::
I read all ten books when I was in my late teens. I had no notion of Scientology what-so-ever at that time. Now in my forties, I’ve re-read them. I have to say that they were a much better read with some life experience under my belt to help understand “undertones” of the books. To be clear, I don’t mean the Scientology undertones… I couldn’t give a rats ass about some pseudo “religion”. Unlike most of the haters on this forum, if you have the intelligence of gnat - or maybe even just a little more, you’ll find that the books are filled with underlying commentary on the human condition and the state of our civilization. What’s even more amazing is how relevant these undertones are to our current state. Also, there is a light hearted sci-fi story to amuse you while you read the series. I found them engaging, humorous and witty. The first book is very slow as he is setting the stage so to speak. The last two books are also kind of slow and the story shifts from present time to many years in the future without notice but still, over all it’s a good read.
So, just what is it about this series that compels people to sign up just to wake this zombie, never to be heard from again? :dubious:
Well, it certainly is not some nefarious left wing cult that’s doing it. People are getting hung up on the connection between the author and his pseudo religion. As far a religions are concerned, there are far worse out there than scientology. To be clear, I am not a member of any religion. If somebody is reading this forum because they are interested in the mission earth series, skip the drama of this forum. Just read the friggen books and make up your own mind! I liked them. Twice.
Heh.
Sigh… It means to be transparent, To unmask any perceived hidden meaning or conations. Or to explain the statement made just before it. As in, “I want to be clear about what I just said…” Shortened to, “To be clear”.
Edit - I meant to write the word connotations… not conations.