I just got the book, since the movie was horrible but wanted to see if the book was decent. can anybody help me here.

.... I've only ever heard bad things about it and the related series that he wrote was published after he died.

Before he founded his religion, Elron apparently was regarded as a competent member of that group of writers mostly have made their respective names in the 1950s/1960s - but I have to admit that all of his that I ever read has been a reprint of his (acclaimed) shortish suspense book, Fear.

I've only ever heard bad things about it either.

I had a friend that read it and said it was pretty much just as bad as the movie

I read and enjoyed Battlefield Earth when I was in high school. It was actually much better than the movie. It's such a long book that the only way a film adaptation could do it justice would be if it were a 6 hour miniseries. The writing style is kind of geared toward children, but then so were some of Robert A. Heinlein's early novels and those are still great (not that Hubbard is in the same league as Heinlein).

.... I was trying to find a barely-remembered Dave Langford review to post here but all I could retrieve was this quote of his from some time later:

"In due course Battlefield Earth crashed through the letter box, and I made a point of reading every word -- expecting a fast-moving piece of trashy fun, along the lines of Hubbard's early stuff. I was deeply disappointed by the glacial pace, the windy vacuity, the bone-rattling clichés, the scientific codswallop, the self-congratulatory "this is real SF" introduction, etc."

Sadly, I have found on re-reading some teenage favourites - several of van Vogt's works, for example - that they didn't withstand my growing up!

Most likely that's the case with me, too. I'll find out in a week or two; I just ordered a used copy of Battlefield Earth from half.com. It was only $.75 plus shipping, so I figured what the heck...

I actually enjoyed the book. I have to admit that I have a greater tollerance for slow books than most people. The book really seemed to take off after the first half(the part they made the movie about). I'm not sure how much I would enjoy it after seeing the movie though. I would have trouble picturing the aliens not growing or shrinking 5 feet every time I saw them.

I read it about 19 years ago, and even then I realized it was kind of a waste of time. The story is much deeper, but it goes on forever. My copy had an ad in the back for the 'soundtrack' to the book you could buy on LP to listen to while you read the book...

I have read the book many times, and I find it to be thoroughly enjoyable. The movie, on the other hand, should have been flushed like the pile it was. The Mission Earth series is unrelated to Battlefield Earth, and is a bit more 'camp' (and to me, not quite as well written.)

Elron wrote a huge book because he was being paid by the word. Thus about the first third of that book is a decent trashy sci-fi novel. It was a fairly easy read, if a bit contrived and cliched.

Then the middle of the book happened.

I lost interest, but forged ahead, hoping it would get better.

When I finally read the last page (after skipping 100 pages or so), I thought "what a bloody waste of paper!" I was only 12 at the time. It was then that I discovered the Church of $cientology and decided any religion that would use Elron as their patron saint has to be a huge scam. I learned later the whole religion was made up as a bet, but that has nothing to do with Battlefield Mirth.

The main difference between the book and the movie is you can burn the book - it makes excellent kindling. The movie will just melt and makes lousy wall art afterwards.