The novel was published in 1958 but five years earlier the first section – headed Book One in the novel, and consisting of the first nine chapters, up to page 102 of the 242 page 2000 Del Rey Impact trade paperback edition I’m reading – appeared in If Magazine for September 1953. Blish’s Conscience treads a fine, shifty line, between portraying such a character, and threatening to presume that his particular religion is actually true.

Or about a church that plays a role in the destruction and recovery of the world (as in Miller’s novel). So how would a science fiction novel about religion handle this conflict? Well, perhaps the author defers and simply writes a book about a character who is devoutly religious. While books or stories that imagine that angels, or fairies, or gods are real in the supernatural sense would, within our genres, be classified as fantasy.īallantine 3rd printing, July 1972, cover by Jacques Wyrs ĭel Rey Impact’s September 2000 edition, no cover credit How to reconcile these aims? Any SF story that presupposed the truth of this or that religion would, in practice, be placed in the religious fiction corner of the bookstore (or in one of the numerous specialty bookstores devoted to one religion or another). the origin of the universe), and deference to ancient authority, while science fiction is about the possibilities of our understanding the universe on the basis of the evidence it presents us, and, like science itself, disregards ancient authority. Religion typically entails belief in supernatural beings, claims about the nature of reality (e.g. There aren’t many SF novels dealing with the religion, and it’s easy to understand why science fiction and religion would seem to be at cross purposes. Miller, Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz, which I’ve also reread recently). (The other major 1950s novel concerning religion is Walter M. James Blish’s 1958 novel A Case of Conscience, a Hugo Award winner in 1959, is one of the most famous SF novels that deals with religion. First Edition: Ballantine Books, 1958.Ĭover by Richard Powers (click to enlarge)īallantine Books (188 pages, $0.35 in paperback, April 1958)

A case of conscience by james blish