Genus Homo

Genus  Homo  (L. Sprague de Camp and P. Schuyler Miller - 1950)

As an avid Planet of the Apes fan and enthusiast, I enjoy searching out all literature on the subject, including those not directly associated with the series, but those whose themes mirror the POTA scenario.

The novel Genus Homo, jointly penned by L. Sprague de Camp and P. Schuyler Miller, and predates Pierre Boulle's Planet of the Apes novel by more than a decade, fits that mold perfectly.

The story begins with a busload of people waking up after some sort of geological event which knocked out all the passengers on the trip. They find thenselves overturned and in the dark and as the slowly awake to assess the situation, determine that they are in some underground cave. They make their way to the top and immediately note that they seem to be in some remote wilderness and thus must have been displaced from the normal bus route they were on. They also see that the climate has changed drastically from the time they were last awake on the bus and discern that they must have been asleep or comatose for a significant amount of time as well. As a number of passengers are scientist of various disciplines, their suspended state is attributed to a leaked gas that one of the scientists was transporting. As the trek in search of civilization proceeds, they realize that they are much further from civilization than can possible be explained a mere displacement of the bus. After a few encounters with oversized animals and heretofore unknown species, the group comes to realize that they have somehow been projected into the far future.

The predicament of the group quickly leads to a requirement of a new social order, and the protagonist of the novel, a chemist named Bridger finds himself as a leader. He is quickly deposed, and just as quickly reinstated as the group realizes that a fair solid thinker is better than a coniving lawyer. The groups deals with issues such as sex (a group of dancers are part of the mix), scientific analysis of the situation (a group of scientists were on their way to a seminar), and a few people who simply want to do as they please.

It is only after all these are explored does the group finally come into contact with apes (supposedly evolved gorillas) that are intelligent. A few humans are captured and placed into a zoo for a few days when the captors realize that they are no mere animals. Another ape is brought in evidently to test the intelligence of the humans. The two groups soon establish communication through language and the humansbegin to learn the post holocaust history of the earth which led to the new order of 'civilization' while at the same time the apes learn more about the past. While we never find out exactly why there was a transition and what led to the downfall of mankind as the preeminent species, we do know that it has been millions of years since man last ruled the Earth, and almost all evidence of his time has vanished. While technologically the ape civilization is a backward one, they do have steam power, and with a disticnt lack of metals and iron, they have advanced wood building skills as well as a much more resistant strain of wood growth allowing them to have a far superior wood manufacturing base.

We learn that there are other species of apes on other continents, and that just like man before him, ape history is just as plagued by wars. The novel ends with just such an escalation as the 'good' apes are faced with an attacking force of baboons.

There are a lot of good points in the novel, but it is also unsatisfying in many ways. The initial section dealing with the humans just waking up is rather long and slow going. There a lot of human characters for which the authors try to develop, but once the apes come into the picture all that character development is just thrown to the wayside. A brewing relationship between Bridger and one of the female humans is carefully planned out and is then summarily address by only a sentence or two in the very last paragraph. The apes civilization is absolutely fascinating, but once the conflict with the baboons comes into play, the novel concentrates on the stragegy and climactic battle and ends the story there.

When it comes to determining whether Boulle could have read and been influenced by Genus Homo, the answer is yes. In order to have read Genus Homo, a french translation needed to be available for Boulle to read. Genus Homo was first translated and sold in France as "Le règne du gorille" in 1951, well before Boulle penned "La Planete des singes". (Other editions came out in 1982 and again in 1984).

~Lazarus~