A paid promotion this month run on I Wire, announced that 21 books by L. Ron Hubbard are set for release in E-book format for February. The books were touted as “world-wide science fiction bestsellers.”
However, some critics have observed that the way Mr. Hubbard’s books apparently become “best sellers” is through religious devotion, rather than any genuine fan base amongst sience fiction buffs.
His market appears to substantially consist of devoted Scientologists that buy his books, almost like an act of faith.
And judging by one title touted for February their faith might well move mountains.
On the list is “Battlefield Earth.” This was the Hubbard book, which was the basis for the box office bomb starring Scientologist John Travolta.
One critic wrote, “A million monkeys with a million crayons would be hard-pressed in a million years to create anything as cretinous as Battlefield Earth.” Another said the script and/or story line was “deeply dumb, depressingly derivative.”
A Hubbard enthusaist quoted by I Wire described the author’s legacy as “a rich storehouse of…fiction.” Perhaps the “rich[est] fiction” the writer ever produced was the religious mythology Scientology is based upon.
L. Ron Hubbard reportedly once observed that inventing a new religion would be a good way to make money. And based upon the quality of his writing this may have been a shrewd career move.
It seems that only a devoted Scientologist is likely to find Hubbard’s books anything but “deeply dumb” and “depressingly derivative.”
no comment untill now