''The Green Odyssey'' is an American science fiction

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

written by

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy novels and short story, short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for two sequences of novels, t ...

. 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 Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscles, fats and other loose connective tissues, ...

'' returned to these motifs. The novel also appeared in the background of the first episode of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

''.

Plot summary

''The Green Odyssey'' is an

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

story, involving an astronaut named Alan Green stranded on a primitive planet, where he is claimed as a gigolo by a duchess and is married to a slave woman. Upon hearing of two other stranded astronauts, he escapes from the duchess, and sets sail to find them. However, because of the peculiar geography of the planet, there is a vast expansive plain, instead of an ocean to cross. Green uses a ship equipped with large

rolling pin A rolling pin is a cylindrical food preparation utensil used to shape and flatten dough. Two styles of rolling pin are found: rollers and rods. Roller types consists of a thick cylinder with small handles at each end; rod type rolling pins are ...

-like wheels along the bottom to traverse the plains of this world. After his escape from the duchess he is followed by his slave woman wife and her children (one is his). There follow several fairly standard adventure plots with cannibals, pirates, floating islands (that turn out to be giant lawnmowers), and the

deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( ; ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; 'God from the machine') is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is general ...

, a female black cat named Lady Luck.

Reaction and analysis

Floyd C. Gale ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...

wrote that ''The Green Odyssey'' seemed "a routine space opera" and that Farmer "''almost'' makes a mishmash of the ending, but doesn't". Other reviews were also mixed. Many were disappointed by this new work after Farmer's widely praised "

The Lovers The Lovers (VI) is the sixth trump (card games), trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in Tarot card games, game playing as well as in Tarot reading, divination. Interpretation According to A. E. Waite's 191 ...

". While that story was almost universally regarded as unique and excellently written, ''The Green Odyssey'' was frequently criticised for being clichéd and generic. For instance, author and critic

Damon Knight Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of " To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind ...

said in the November 1957 issue of ''

Infinity Infinity is something which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by \infty, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the Ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greeks, the Infinity (philosophy), philosophic ...

'' that the book was a "pastel pastiche, superficial and generic, of

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

Conan Conan may refer to: People * Saint Conan (died 684), bishop of the Isle of Man * Conan of Cornwall (c. 930 – c. 950), bishop of Cornwall * Conan I of Rennes (died 992), duke of Brythonic Brittany * Conan II, Duke of Brittany (died 1066), duke ...

..and heaven knows what else". However, in hindsight, ''The Green Odyssey'' was perhaps a deliberate pastiche of

pulp novel Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their cheap nature. ...

s, similar to Farmer's later '' A Feast Unknown'' and, to a lesser extent, his fictional biographies '' Tarzan Alive'' and '' Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life''.

References

External links

''The Green Odyssey''
at Farmer's official website.

at Farmer's official website. * 1957 American novels 1957 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Ballantine Books books Debut science fiction novels Novels by Philip José Farmer Space exploration novels 1957 debut novels {{1950s-sf-novel-stub