• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

A Canticle for Leibowitz

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
I read this book in college, and found it to be a profound commentary on human nature and faith. It's also a visionary post-apocalyptic fantasy.

Have you read it?
 
I read it for the first time a few months ago, I came away thinking it pretty much deserves all the hype it gets. I had read Gene Wolfe's "Book of the Long Sun" a few times, and had really liked how he treated faith in those books, so I googled around looking for other sci-fi-ish works that went a similar route. I had heard about Canticle forever, even knew a little of the plot and setting, and it kept being referenced as I was looking around. Finally checked it out and wasn't disapointed. It has an interesting structure, too--sort of three novellas connected by the Order of Saint L and the Church.
 

Ravana

Istar
Outstanding novel. Recommend it to everyone.

Along the same lines, but with a very different point of view, I also recommend Alas, Babylon! In purely technical terms, it's a bit dated at this point, but I have yet to hear anybody say that interfered with their reading pleasure. It's strictly "realistic" fiction, about a small community coping with the immediate aftereffects of the war. Again, it's the humanity that creates the impact of the story.
 
Top