A Case of Conscience

There's a lot to take in with this book. It's definitely one of the more unusual science fiction works of the era, and while on the surface it does seem to be primarily a religious tale, it is essentially a story about one man's crisis of faith. In effect, Father Ruis-Sanchez' journey in the book is the case of conscience the title alludes to.

The story as whole raises some big questions about the nature of faith, not just from a religious standpoint but also from a moralistic or idealogical point of view. It also touches on the question of what it is to be a human, using the character of Egtverchi to highlight the failures of the human society presented in the book.

The writing is surprisingly readable, though sometimes it can get a bit bogged down in exposition and explanation, especially in the first half when Father Ruis-Sanchez is trying to explain his reasoning for calling for a quarantine of Lithia. Even so, this is not an easy book to get through. There are a lot of thematic twists and detours taking place throughout the narrative, and even a few seemingly loose threads, the most obvious of which is the ambiguity of the ending itself. It's very easy to get lost in some of the arguments Blish makes through his characters, and this is not helped by the genuinely alien nature of the native Lithians, or the obstinately contrary nature of Egtverchi.

All in all, I enjoyed this one more on a second reading than I did the first time round, and may have to revisit the rest of the series to see if they too have more to offer.