The Wanderer

The premise of this 1964 novel is that an Earth-sized planet suddenly materializes near the Moon. Of course this causes massive tides as well as earthquakes. And something horrible happens to the Moon...The big reveal doesn't come until the very end. The bulk of the story is told from the perspective of a variety of people dealing with the catastrophe. The central group is described as "saucer students," people on the California coast (naturally) who have come to hear talks on UFOs. A young woman and a young man stumble on to this group -- her boyfriend is an astronaut on the Moon, and he works for the government's Project Moon. The other characters are colorful, but never connect with one another, which I found frustrating. Leiber uses them simply to draw diverse sketches, some more compelling than others.The planet is referred to as The Wanderer (by many of the various disconnected characters, absurdly) and Leiber spends a lot of time describing its appearance (gold and purple) as it rotates and reveals different sides to Earth.Some have described the novel as an allegory. That is not accurate. At the end, the story of the Wanderer which is revealed might be seen as an allegory, but if so it is an allegory within the larger disaster epic novel, which is not an allegory. Without revealing the plot, I can say that there is a theme about the tension between youth and age, and between adventure and stability.Overall, despite the fact that Fritz Leiber is a great author, I was not very impressed with either the human/disaster epic story or the fanciful science fiction reveal.*** *** ***I don't remember ever hearing of this book back in the late Sixties and early Seventies when I first read lots of science fiction. I discovered it in the list of Hugo Award-winning novels and that's why I read it. It was the winner for 1965. It must have been a slow year. But now I have read the winners for every year of the 1960s!

Fritz Leiber's The Wanderer is a Hugo winning novel from the 60's. The title refers to a planetary, Earth-sized body that suddenly appears near the moon's orbit and proceeds to devour the moon. At the same time, excessive tidal forces create earthquakes and tsunamis that wreck havoc, destruction, and many deaths. The story is told from multiple perspectives of various groups around the world and focuses on two individuals who actually make it onto the behemoth, a moon-based astronaut who barely escapes and a man from Earth associated with the space program. Eventually, Earth is left to deal with a global catastrophe as well as the understanding that they are no longer alone in the universe.Leiber posits a crowded universe leading to bureaucratic malaise that instigates the Wanderer. Travel is through hyperspace, but tightly controlled. The main intelligence encountered suggests a feline evolution which is highly skeptical of "intelligent" monkeys. Control of gravity and thoughts is routine. There is also some focus on the amateur scientist. While the overall sense of galactic intelligence is a bit anthropomorphic, humanity seems well suited for galactic integration.

Very interesting book, ahead of its time in many ways. Feels remarkably contemporary. Much more about the social & scientific changes going on in the 1960s than about the strange super planet of the title. Not an all-time classic but Leiber doesn’t get nearly enough credit or acclaim for being a really good writer. William Gibson likes him a lot & so do I.

Fritz Leiber could out-S&S Howard, out-Horror Lovecraft and out-Scifi Heinlein. He must've had great fun writing "The Wanderer." Those who complain that this book is just too silly to have won the '65 Hugo are those who take their Scifi WAY too seriously!

I first read this story when I was a teen-ager, and it terrified me. Now, three decades later I find that the terror never went away. Leibers incredible talent with this story was to sneak up on the reader with what appeared to be a reasonably typical golden age-type action story, then pull back the focus to something far, far more frightening. Like walking along your own street, turning a corner and being confronted with a tiger, it takes a bit of time to adjust.Through a fairly enormous cast of characters the entire human race is confronted not just with the immanent threat of utter ruin, but with an extremely humbling realisation of our place in the universe. Unlike some tales with such a large number of story arcs, I found it very easy to follow the individuals, probably because Fritz made sure they all were memorable in some way. Even a soviet cosmonaut, Tigran Baryutzov, who was only mentioned twice, made an impression.Our global culture has moved on since this excellent story was written, and quite a few portions will read to modern eyes as somewhat dated. Put that aside, and enjoy a truly epic story. SF true believers need to read this book.

If you are old enough to have been aware of the culture of the early 1960’s, and were a reader of sf then, you must love this novel! Modern readers may balk at the way the African American characters are portrayed, but I assure you that they were not intended in a demeaning way. As you read, look closely at all of the cast; before,during and after, and you will see the author’s fine touches. Fast pacing, interesting technique of POV jumps; very visual. Yes, I love it for the touchstone it is to that time of my life at the fading of the Beat Generation and just before the hippy/revolution generation. Of course, the characters reading like they were drawn from a sf readers club of the time does wonders for me too.

I'll keep this simple and straightforward: I own over 4400 SF novels, and of all those, this is the best.