Hard science fiction folks...you'll love this. The book takes it's time setting up the story (read introduces some of the characters, wanders around giving us a short intro to the book...and so on.) First we get a small snippet of "what went before" and then we start to meet the people involved.After you've well read the opening, heard about "the scope" and met some of these people (and yawned a good deal) we finally find, Charlie. Now Charlie is a dead spaceman/astronaut found on the moon in a

The most enjoyable sci-fi book I have read - and I must have read it at least 3 times, which is rare for me. I've enjoyed all his works and am sad that he died so young (compared with me!)

3.5 stars. This is the first book by James P. Hogan that I have read and I was very impressed. This was a well thought out, hard SF book that was also a terrific, engaging story. The plot is basically a SF mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end (which does not disappoint). I look forward to reading the other two books in this series. Recommended.

About as hard si fi as you can get. I love a detective story & combined with science fiction it is perfect! Sure, there is little character development, but instead there are character types and an abundance of the kind of ungrounded scientific certainty that can delay scientific break throughs. Made me think of a book I read to my children when they were going through their, long, dinosaur phase (fueled by yearly visits to the dinosaur museum in Drumheller, Alberta), "T.rex and the Crater of Do...

I was introduced to this book in a college introductory archaeology course. I was a bit flabbergasted when I first saw the assignment. I'd read my share of science fiction up to that point, and didn't see what I could gain from a science fiction book that would benefit me in learning archaeology.Well, after I read it, I saw.A human skeleton is found on the moon, which is mysterious in and of itself. The more disturbing fact of the discovery, however, is not the simple presence of the remains. It...

This book astounded me when I first read it. The ideas, the writing, hard science fiction was fairly new for me then.The discovery of a human mummy in a space suit on the moon causes a sensation when carbon dating shows it's age as greater the humans on Earth.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this book. If I'm not mistaken, while it isn't considered a 'classic' by many, it is sort of a 'check this out' sort of book that circulates within the hard-sci fi community. I've been aware of this existing for a long time, but never thought of it as something I really needed to complete my education within the genre, but when I found it at a used bookstore for super cheap I couldn't resist picking it up. The premise, that explorers on the moon uncover a 50...

Written in the 1970's the author brilliantly predicts quite a bit that's true about the 21st century - sure, we're behind schedule on those flying cars and we've banned smoking but when it comes to his predictions on electronic gizmos he's fairly accurate. Unique storyline with great twist for an ending, I found this to be a very enjoyable science fiction book.

Part of the best series I've ever read. The second book is even better, the third incredible.

First book in the greatest SciFi trilogy of all time! Spectacular! Genuine hard science SciFi. You're in the story as the scientists develop their hypotheses, test them, learn more, revise them, and move the story forward. Great plot and storyline. Very well-written. Both believable and very stretching. This book pulled me in like no other. It sets up the Giants' series to be the most interesting, surprising, well-written, and meaningful of all science fiction trilogies (plus 2) up to the presen...

A re-read after 40 years. (Wow.)This was Hogan’s first book and its ideas are crazy huge. Discovering a dead astronaut on the moon is one thing, but when scientists realize he’s been there for 50,000 years, well, things get really interesting. This is a full-on mystery-meets-archeology novel except set in the semi-distant future of 2027, a full half-century after the book was published. (Coincidentally in May 1977, the same time Star Wars came out. As with my first viewing of Star Wars, I read i...

I'm relatively new in the science fiction world, I have read most of the "classics" and "must-reads" and I was taken by surprise by this book. The book starts with one of the most amazing opening I have ever read and does an amazing job of filling in the pieces from there. I don't want to get into the plot because I feel this book is best enjoyed with knowing very little going into it. I would definitely recommend it to all readers.

This book addresses some anomalies in our moon and solar system that are eventually explained by events that occurred during prehistoric times. VERY interesting with a great ending. The sequels to this are also good reading.

I really enjoyed this one. It starts with a wonderful mystery and then unravels the answer through a wonderful combination of science fact and science fiction. Wonderful.

Incredible book - one of the best science fiction reads I've had in years! I really enjoyed the sense of mystery and discovery in this book. Scientists on the moon discover the body of a human in a space suit, but carbon dating reveals him to be over 50,000 years old. The discoveries that continue to unfold as they uncover more clues as to the origin of the ancient astronaut really keep the book moving along.

It has been years since I read this book, but I remember loving it. At the beginning you are presented with a mind bending mystery. In every chapter, you have enough information to construct a theory, but then it is dashed by new evidence. Reading this book was a delightful experience that stands out over the many books I have read since.

The audacity of throwing one undreamt of fact into the scientific method and the amazingly plausible tale of discovery that might be is vastly entertaining.

Intelligent, imaginative, thoughtful, amazing hard science fiction.

Simply amazing. I read it about 7 years ago time to re-read it, I think.

An interesting sci-fi novel, presenting an alternate view of the origin of man on earth, and in the process shedding light on the instincts that drive us.

Full review on my podcast, SFBRP episode #438:Luke talks to Juliane about a very dated novel from 1977: Inherit the Stars by James P Hogan.https://www.sfbrp.com/archives/1773

In the near future, mankind has started to spread throughout the solar system; among other things, establishing several moon bases. One day, a very old, almost skeletal, corpse is found on the moon dressed in a red spacesuit. Calls to the other bases reveal that no one is reported missing. Things get really interesting when tests on the corpse, nicknamed "Charlie", reveal that it is at least 50,000 years old.Interest shifts from the moon to Texas, headquarters of the United Nations Space Arm. Th...

This is a very nice little novel and quite a bit of change from the military science fiction that I usually read. It’s written back in the 70’s and its age shows a little but surprisingly little. As a computer engineer I couldn’t help but smiling when the book talked about DEC computers in the future. DEC had of course not gone belly-up when this book was written. Also today, with the advancement of DNA-tests, you would never have the lengthy debate and scientific detective work in order to esta...

The story is fairly straightforward - Humanity is slowly populating space (this was written in the 1970s and the assumption then was we would continue to explore space after the moon) and in the 2020s the skeleton of a modern-day technologically-advanced human is found on the moon who died about 50,000 years ago. The story centers on Dr. Victor Hunt and his group who try to discover who this skeleton was, how he got to the moon, and how he came to die there. The book is easy to read and mildly i...

Enjoyed this immensely. Hogan uses his work of science fiction to postulate about the origins of man, theories of evolution, and what kind of technology it might take to begin to explore our solar system. Knowing that this was originally published the same year that Star Wars came out, it's so interesting to see him take a much less expansive view of our abilities in space flight. Just 15 more years until this book is set, it will be curious to see how far we've come to Hogan's vision when we ge...

Very, very good book. I really liked the way the book built layer on top of layer and had me guessing all the way on how it was going to turn out with the main characters re-evaluating and modifying their theories. Trying to find the next book in the series...

Fascinating sci-fi book, with clever interwining with the real world situations helps make the book sound plausible in its fantastic theories and ideas which can be mind-blowing and overwhelming. A fine masterpiece worth reading!

I read this short novel as part of a science fiction course that I took in my senior year of University. I loved all three books but this first one was mind blowing. This is one of the finest examples of realistic science fiction. 5 stars. Highly recommend. I put on my re-read list.

A lot about this book reminded me of Rendezvous With Rama and that's a good thing. This is a good book if you're into both "hard" and vintage science fiction. I remember seeing this book back in my teens in the mall bookstores and its premise always intrigued me. The story lives up to its premise and I was never bored with it. Its only weakness is that it lacked the "romance" aspect behind the story. By that I mean it's a bit dry. The characters are there to debate the different hypotheses prese...

second reading - 5 September 2010 - *** One of the difficulties of the Hard SF subgenre of science fiction, is that as it holds the line on scientific accuracy, it runs the risk of becoming dated as science changes and technology advances. On that count, the book doesn't do too badly. However, if found today, Charlie would immediately be the subject of some DNA tests, and his evolutionary relationship to modern humans established quickly and easily, rather than a lot of rationalizations regardin...