This book reads like a well-written Ph.D. thesis on the notion that ancient Britons built Stonehenge for the purpose of tracking the orbits of the Sun and Moon to predict solar and lunar eclipses. His extensive proofs are a fairly convincing argument on that point. It doesn't get too much into how Stonehenge was built (a spectacular acheivement for the Stone Age) or why orbits and eclipses would have been important to an ancient people. This is a scientific treatment which glosses over the anthropological and mystical meanings of the monument.

This book reads like a well-written Ph.D. thesis on the notion that ancient Britons built Stonehenge for the purpose of tracking the orbits of the Sun and Moon to facilitate the prediction of solar and lunar eclipses. His extensive proofs are a fairly convincing argument on that point. He doesn't get too much into how Stonehenge was built(clearly a spectacular acheivement for the Stone Age) or why orbits and eclipses would have been important to an ancient people. This is a scientific treatment which glosses over the anthropological and mystical meanings of the monument.

I read this book 6 years back. Still remember it for the unrelenting logic behind what it argues for.

Imagine. When you see a ruined block of big stones, can you claim that the stones are there only to predict eclipses? How will you go about building a case for your claim? Can you convince the world that it is indeed true? Fred Hoyle has done just that, and he convinces you beyond any doubt.

He theorizes that the primary reason Stonehenge was built was to predict eclipses. He proceeds to support this thesis by piecing blocks of the puzzle into one cohesive, convincing argument. The book has all the detective drama of Sherlock Holmes, except that the mystery is real and the argument is based on facts. Along the way, you get an intimate knowledge of the megalith and the minds of the ancient men who built it.

Whether you are interested in Stonehenge or not...this book gives you a fascinating insight into how scientists propound theories and proceed to build a case around them. A master work of logical thought.

A very high tesion is built up in that book, the scientists do not act resposible anyway

For it's day, 1960's, it is quite thoughtful, full of accurate science and yet is good story telling and involving science fiction.

It is a sad fact that Fred Hoyle--astrophysicist, cosmologist, nucleosynthecist, panspermicist and generally polymath extraordinaire--is not better recognized as one of our greatest sci-fi authors. Without a doubt, this book is one of the best sci-fi novels I have ever read. (FYI, I also like Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Lewis Shiner, William Gibson, Philip K. Dick and H.G. Wells). All I can do is briefly outline the plot: An eccentric and somewhat egocentric radioastronmer...computer scientist detects a signal from the constellation Andromeda on Britain's largest radiotelescope that is obviously an intelligent message. Once decoded, it turns out to be a design for a highly advanced super-computer. Once built, the computer designs recombinant human DNA and grows highly advanced "human beings" with which it communicates in its apparent intent to take over the earth. Due to cold-war politics and the obvious advantages to the government of having a supercomputer, and not least to the protagonist's difficult personality, the government authorities won't believe him and refuse to pull the plug, moving this brilliant and exciting story inexorably along to its superb and tragic ending. The characters are complex and mutlifaceted and the story is a real thriller. Highly recommended.

This is a good novel and I enjoyed rereading it. Like Brian Aldiss' 'An Age' which I reviewed recently it has the rather coy device of referring to the lead female character by her first name whereas all other characters are referred to by their family names. Generally the novel is not at its strongest in its human relations. Many of the ideas kept recycling other things I'd read too - notably 'Solaris' by Stanislav Lem and 'Drop Dead' by Clifford Simak. The vision of an apparently virginal and pastoral world is very captivating - recovering our lost environment? - and hidden mysteries add to this. In 'Fifth Planet' the Misters (Mrs!!!) Hoyle - maybe it should be the Mr Hoyles - have created a novel in three parts - the preliminaries, the journey and exploration and the aftermath. For me, I felt very flat when they characters fled Achilles with all the mysteries unexplained (which makes me think of another wonderful Simak short story - 'Limiting Factor') but the last third does become more engaging despite the melodrama.

Fred Hoyle's scientific pedigree is up front in this vintage novel, co-written with son Geoffrey. The story is based on a classic SF premise - a star, with its own planetary system, is heading towards our own. It passes close enough for earth people to mount an expedition to one of the planets of the visiting star - an earth-like world with signs of plant life detectable from earth. The planet turns out to be inhabited by a vastly superior race of telepathic beings who hide themselves from the earth visitors. One of them takes possession of the mind of an astronaut, and returns to earth to spread a dramatic, and unwanted telepathic warning against the nuclear arms race, before returning on a hijacked spacecraft.

The opening chapters are rich with speculation about the astronomical implications of such an event - it doesn't quite read like fiction in many passages. The problems arise when the book tries to speculate on social changes which might ensue. First and foremost, the role of women in society and relationships is a prominent theme of the novel. The main female character is an empty-headed flirt. One of the expeditions also includes the first ever woman astronaut. She was not included for her skills as a cosmonaut, rather because her looks make her a propaganda coup for the eastern bloc. It is remarkable that this book was published in 1963 - the same year the Russian space program sent Valentina Tereshkova into orbit on Vostok 6 - but in the Hoyles' imagination, it takes more than 100 years before a woman is sent into space.

Harder to predict, from their vantage point of the early 1960s, is the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war. It's well and truly raging more than 100 years hence in this book. The competition between East and West to reach the Fifth Planet is as fierce as the space race was at the time the novel was written. And the nuclear nightmare which unfolds at the end of FIFTH PLANET is a gripping passage.

It's at the end of the novel where FIFTH PLANET comes into its own. The mysterious events on the planet are reminiscent of Clarke/Kubrick's 2001 in their eerieness; the implications of a telepathic extraterrestrial visitor to earth are imaginatively explored; and the Hoyles' anti-nuclear stance is admirable. At a time when cold-war sci-fi was still prominent, and the peace movement still years away from its peak, the Hoyles' here have made an impresive achievement.

Reading my musty Penguin paperback copy of this book, I was reminded of the wonderful hours I spent with John Wyndham's novels, when I was growing up in the 1970s. Wyndham was never into such "hard" science, and his social barometer was always admirable, always accurate. But FIFTH PLANET is reminiscent of the SF of that era; it's a great exploration of IDEAS. Yes, it's dated in parts, but hindsight for me, makes this a nice period piece, rather than ruining the novel.

This story concerns Earth in the future. The human race has just begun to explore the solor system when two Earthbound groups of space travelers arrive. One is friendly, the other is not, and the story is about the help from one race to save the Earth from the other. Good reading, but does show its date on technical details.