Inherit the Stars

By: James P. Hogan

Narrated by: John Pruden

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The man on the moon was dead. They called him Charlie. He had big eyes, abundant body hair, and fairly long nostrils. His skeletal body was found clad in a bright red spacesuit, hidden in a rocky grave. They didn’t know who he was, how he got there, or what had killed him. All they knew was that his corpse was 50 thousand years old - and that meant this man had somehow lived long before he ever could have existed.

©1977 James Patrick Hogan (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Pure science fiction…Arthur Clarke, move over!” (Isaac Asimov)

“Hard science fiction with a lovely vengeance but done so well that almost no scientific background is needed to understand and enjoy it…Highly recommended.” ( Analog)

“Intellectual action portrayed as excitingly as any space war - a truly absorbing read and a reminder that learning is one of the greatest human adventures.” ( Publishers Weekly)

Flawed science but good story.

Great story about a space mystery.
I don’t know enough about physics to know how accurate that part is but the science behind the evolution part is a bit off.
It would have been so easy to leave out a couple of the statements about early man that were wrong and the book would have been much better.
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It is still a good story and definitely worth reading.

Great Sci-fi, but dated social undertones

I really enjoyed the core of this story. The feel of following scientists as they try and piece together a very complex mystery through deduction is very rewarding. Most elements of the story still feel relevant to something that still holds up to today's standards and technology with a few exceptions. The only part that felt off was how women are relegated to mere assistants or stewardesses for various services. They are also often represented as eye candy and 1 dimensional. The inclusion of the word "Negro" also felt really weird for something written in the late 70s taking place nearly 100 years in the future. This has the feel of Mad Men in space on the whole. But if you can get past that, the core story is fascinating.

Absolutely brilliant even 45 years on!

At first I was baffled. Book talks about making a phone call from an airplane like it was unheard of, goes into in depth discussions about basic ideas in biology like they were probably new to most folks, a mention of skynet...did author just wake up after a long nap? Or, like an old Twilight Zone it me that's missed the obvious. This book is 45 years old! Not only is it still a good read it also has some darn good observations quite relevant even now.

Thanks Blackstone

Thanks Blackstone for making this available, This is a great book that while older is still a good listen.

A very enjoyable classic

A fun read from a time that assumed a more optimistic future. Play at 1.15 or 1.20 speed for a more bearable narration.

Promising story but too predictable

Do you have any additional comments?

Discoveries and revelations are cool when done right. Not this time.

This book does it right until half-way through, when it starts to get predictable. The story is focusing too much on a single question/mystery that is not believable to get unanswered for so long, while other much more interesting stuff are briefly done with in a few sentences.

The book is well written and kept me in despite it's flaws in story.

Fun in an old SF style

I loved this book like few in the last year because there was wonder, discovery, great imagination without the all to common nasty political axes to grind. Politics in science? sure, but the portrayal is much more characteristic of the human struggle for knowledge, and scientists will disagree. Rather than nasty portrayals of religion, for example, there was instead a demonstration of wonder of scientific discovery that wins far more converts. Some of the science is a bit outdated but the adventure is grand. I'm coming back for more.

Kind of Dated but Good

I did read some of the reviews before i picked up this one. I like to read all the 1 star reviews just to get an idea of what to look for in case fake reviews are added. Not saying they are but who know right.

Overall the book is dated and kind of misogynistic male dominant. I am not an SJW or anything but I like to have a strong female presence. And this is just a big sausage fest with all the men stroking each others egos on right they are about Charlie being human. Any woman that does show up it is almost like they ask her to go get a cup of coffee. It Ron Burgundy looking for Coryell and the meaning of Charlie.

But overall a good book to kill some time.

Great concept, poorly executed

The ideas behind the story are great but the majority of the time listening is like being subjected to lectures. A bunch of scientists are studying information that could change the way humans understand their own origins. I love the ideas, I love the direction the ideas went, and the final conclusion. But the most captivating parts of the story are the prologue and the epilogue, where action takes place and there are characters to care about.
A lot of the discoveries that I would have liked to hear about were simply glossed over in order to get to the lecture from the main characters.
During the rare moments of dialogue the narrator didn’t use different voices and that made it difficult to track who was speaking.

What a nice surprise

Speculative fiction, especially as to how things progressed in our solar system, has always been a favourite genre of mine and this volume did not disappoint. It was well plotted with surprising twists and turns. Very well done indeed. The narration provided by Mr. Pruden was well voiced and proceeded at the appropriate pace with the occasional exciting passage, but nothing over the top. He may wish to work on his English accents, but apart from that, I could find no faults. Thank you Audible and Blackstone audio for bringing this book to life once again!