A Case of Conscience
by:
James Blish (author)
Greg Bear (author)
Father Ruiz-Sanchez is a dedicated man--a priest who is also a scientist, and a scientist who is also a human being. He has found no insoluble conflicts in his beliefs or his ethics . . . until he is sent to Lithia. There he comes upon a race of aliens who are admirable in every way except for...
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Father Ruiz-Sanchez is a dedicated man--a priest who is also a scientist, and a scientist who is also a human being. He has found no insoluble conflicts in his beliefs or his ethics . . . until he is sent to Lithia. There he comes upon a race of aliens who are admirable in every way except for their total reliance on cold reason; they are incapable of faith or belief.Confronted with a profound scientific riddle and ethical quandary, Father Ruiz-Sanchez soon finds himself torn between the teachings of his faith, the teachings of his science, and the inner promptings of his humanity. There is only one solution: He must accept an ancient and unforgivable heresy--and risk the futures of both worlds . . .
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780345438355 (0345438353)
Publish date: September 5th 2000
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Pages no: 256
Edition language: English
Series: After Such Knowledge (#4)
The history and destiny of a planet Lithia that is 50 light years from Earth and Sol. Lithians are very intellectual creatures. They are pure logical to the bone. It affects their social life to which an untrained Earthman feels repugnance. Thanks to the overdrive that can span time, men travel ther...
Simply splendid. First half is set on alien world, narrating survey team's agon, wherein one faction wants to exploit the world as a colony, one guy wants to shut it down as a secret military installation and reduce aliens to involuntary servitude, and priestly protagonist wants to quarantine the w...
I loved the first half of this book. The second half I found unreadable. I have since heard that the first half is essentially the original novella and the second half was added later to bump it to a novel. This makes sense as the style and quality is wildly different.
One of the best works of science fiction ever written. Posits a number of intertwining questions about faith, reason and morality and then refuses to answer them. Very very good and there should be more of this kind of thing in science fiction. Has realistic characters with a realistic psychology...
An interesting book that explores the implications on religion of finding sentient alien life, in particular, on the Catholic faith.What if an alien species were discovered that lives in perfect peace and harmony? They are entirely rational and never let their emotions get the better of them. They d...
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