This Island Earth (novel)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This Island Earth
This island earth.jpg
Dust-jacket from the first edition
Author Raymond F. Jones
Cover artist Robert Johnson
Country United States
Language English
Genre Science fiction novel
Publisher Shasta Publishers
Publication date
Media type Print (Hardback)
Pages 220 pp
OCLC 62875599

This Island Earth is a 1952 science fiction novel by Raymond F. Jones. It was first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine as a serialized set of three novelettes by Raymond F. Jones: "The Alien Machine" in the June 1949 issue, "The Shroud of Secrecy" in the December 1949 issue, and "The Greater Conflict" in the February 1950 issue. These three stories were later combined into the novel entitled "This Island Earth" in 1952. The novel became the basis for the 1955 science fiction film 'This Island Earth".

The story revolves around a race of aliens who, in recruiting humans for a group called "Peace Engineers", are actually using Earth as a pawn in an intergalactic war. Both the novel and the film contain some intriguing concepts that had not previously been considered by most science fiction of the time, but while the movie starts out in a very similar manner to the novel, it quickly goes its own way. [1]


Boucher and McComas found the novel disappointing; after starting "with some fine technological gadgetry," it "becomes ultimately incredible in its galactic wildness (and offensive in its extreme labor-baiting)."[2]

Publication details[edit]

  • 1952, USA, Shasta Publishers (ISBN NA), pub date ? ? 1952, hardback (op.)
  • 1956, Germany, Pabel, No ISBN, paperback
  • 1991, UK, HarperCollins (ISBN 0-586-09035-5), pub date ? ? 1991, paperback (re-issue)
  • 1999, USA, Pulpless (ISBN 1-58445-051-7), pub date ? ? 1999 paperback (re-issue)


  1. ^
  2. ^ "Recommended Reading," F&SF, May 1953, p.91