Voyage from Yesteryear

by James P. Hogan

Book Overview

The colonists on Chiron were educated entirely by robots, and really believe that stuff about liberty. Then ships from Earth arrive to take over -- and find that those damned colonials have such an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345294726
• ISBN13: 9780345294722
• Release Date: June 1982
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 377 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A book to read again and again

A few years ago I bought a second hand copy of this book. During this time I must have read it at least once a year. I like it that much.It is a book about what humanity could aspire to become if we can put away the mistakes of the past and present. The arguments I've read that this is a unrealistic fantasy.... this is a book of fiction that portraits the thought and maybe the wishes of the author. You can agree with them or not.This is one of the few books that I would recommend to a beginning SF reader. It is not too difficult and a pleasure to read, and unlike many other books you are not left with a feeling of light depression because every main character died or had some other terrible fate happen to them.If you are interested in other works of Mr. Hogan I would recommend 'The Giant Novels' and 'The Genesis Machine'.

Great story

I find this book a great story, easy to read, diffiuclt to put out.Of course, there are some flaws, technology moved since the book's been written, but the story does not suffer from that!I've read it several times and still come back to it from time to time.The author's beliefs in evolution and mentioned ani-God bias may tweak the noses of some (mine too a bit) but let us be honest - that's how many people see "The Institutions" ot the state and the church. And the ideal society of Chironians - ;-) ... it is good to see that some people still believe we humans can escape from our "bad nature"

This is one of my favorite scifi-utopian novels of all time.

I loved this book, and have read it many times. I especially love the quasi-utopian society it depicts. I really think that a society like that could work, at least in basic principal. The Chironians are all very decent, logical, interesting people. I do think their habit of always carrying guns, and being very free in their use of them, although only for self-defense, is a bit troubling. That would be something that would definitely require a major change in the characters of our society's individuals. But that, along with the idea of trading in respect, rather than money (as long as their are sufficient commodities to satisy everyone--and that too would take some modifications in character, which would require teaching people through media and education), I think could and would be a very good thing.

Pure science fiction

One of the foundations of SF is examining the consequences of science and technology on society. Here Hogan creates two diametrically opposed societies - those of Earth founded on limited resources and those of the newly colonized planet Chrion having unlimited resources. You won't find deep character development in this book, the focus is on the effects of technology on society - what we can become. Telling the story from the viewpoint of solders on the second colonization starship traveling and landing on the planet Chrion, Hogan explores his vision of what humanity can be. Chrionians value and trade respect, possessions are in abundence and free from automated factories. On the second colonization starship traveling from a militarized Earth, imagine the consequences to those powers to be when character matters! Unlimited resources you ask? Hogan postulates, the mind is a unlimited resource.