2/25/2013- The Forgotten Planet by Murray Leinster

Hello! Today, I finished reading The Forgotten Planet by Murray Leinster, which I'd excitedly downloaded upon noticing that it was a sci-fi pulp novel available for free from Project Gutenberg, an online provider of out of copyright eBooks. (As I type this, it is still available.) It was the story of a caveman-esque tribal man named Burl (because that's what everyone in outer space is named) who figures out that he can do something other than flee in terror from a variety of horrifying giant bugs, leading him to accidentally create the beginnings of civilization. Even though there was nothing wrong with it, as it seemed to be well written and well though out, I didn't really like it. The characters were simplistic, which makes sense, since they were all members of an extremely primitive tribe and not conditioned to do much other than try to survive. That made it seem dry and boring, though, with a minimum of dialogue and almost no interpersonal interactions that extended beyond, "Hey, look! I think we can eat this dead monster bug's leg!" If you're a reader that really finds insects and detailed, scientific descriptions of horrifying insect monsters fascinating, though, I can see where you might really enjoy this book. It could also really satisfy readers that are into adventure stories where one man cuts nature to shreds until he unquestionably has dominion over an entire planet. I don't think that The Forgotten Planet is a bad book, but it isn't at all my cup of tea.