The Green Odyssey

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The Green Odyssey is an American science fiction novel written by Philip José Farmer. It was Farmer's first book-length publication, originally released by Ballantine| in 1957. Unlike Farmer's most prolific earlier short story work, this book contains no sexual themes, though his next book Flesh returned to these motifs.

[edit] Plot summary

The Green Odyssey is a relatively straightforward adventure story, involving an astronaut named Alan Green stranded with his family on a strange planet. Upon hearing of two other stranded astronauts, he sets sail to find them. However, because there are no oceans on this particular planet, Green uses a ship equipped with large rolling pin-like wheels along the bottom to traverse the plains of his new home.

[edit] Reaction and analysis

The book was met with mixed reviews. Many were disappointed by this new work after Farmer's widely praised The Lovers. While that story was almost universally regarded as unique and an excellently written, Odyssey was frequently criticised for being clichéd and generic. For instance, author and critic Damon Knight said in the November 1957 issue of Infinity that the book was a "pastel pastiche, superficial and generic, of Tarzan, Conan [...] and heaven knows what else". However, in hindsight, The Green Odyssey was perhaps a deliberate pastiche of pulp novels, similar to Farmer's later A Feast Unknown and, to a lesser extent, his fictional biographies Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life.