James Blish

A Case of Conscience

Janice Hopper

Another reviewer wrote that this is "the story of a perfectly nice planet, completely screwed over by idiotic humans, who bring their baggage with them everywhere."

I have to agree. 

Maybe because I'm not Catholic (or even very Xtian anymore), but Father Ruiz-Sanchez's dilemma seemed nonsensical to me. 'Ware spoilers below:

The Lithians (the aliens on the planet he's investigating) recapitulate their evolution outside their bodies (rather than inside them, as humans do). They are also innately moral beings who have no religion, and no sense of, or need for, God. This somehow makes them creatures of Satan, and throws Father Ruiz-Sanchez into the Manichean heresy, and puts his immortal soul in danger. WUT. SERIOUSLY?

That's the first part of the book. If that particular philosophical/theological conundrum made any sense to me at all, it would have been fine. It's well written. The Lithians, what little we see of them, seem an interesting and exotic species. The priest has a dilemma; one of his co-investigators sees the planet as a crapton of resources for nuclear weapons for Earth. 

Then there's the second half, where everyone is back on earth, including a hatchling freely give to the priest by one of the Lithians. The earth folks raise it, and make a horrible bollocks of the raising. Or the creature is corrupted by being on earth, or something. At any rate, the creature on earth causes a lot of disruption, and Bad Things Happen.

Father Ruiz-Sanchez is told he needs to exorcise the whole planet of Lithia. He actually tries to do this. Seriously. SOMETHING happens, but what is deliberately left ambiguous.

All I could think was: none of this makes any sense, except for the fact that humans are messed up and that they mess other things up. 

The writing was good, the science and the society were a little dated, and the Catholic Church is apparently still in the 17th century. So: unsatisfying for me.

A Case of Conscience

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