Book 2: A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a 1959 post-apocolyptic science fiction novel by Walter Miller.

This book is three short stories. The first, Fiat Homo, is set in the mid-26th century, 600 years after a nuclear holocaust nearly destroys mankind.  Science and technology were blamed for the war, and the society called itself "Simpletons" and persecuted anyone who deigned to learn or invent. Leibowitz, an engineer from the time before "the Flame Deluge", survived the blast along with his science and engineering texts and notes. He converted to catholicism and founded an order of monks to preserve these historical documents, called "the Memoribilia," of the 20th century humans. Fiat Homo tells the tale of the canonization of Leibowitz and gives a picture of a church that preserves civilization and the relics and history of mankind.

Fiat Lux, the second story, set 600 years after the first, tells of the beginning of secularization, the development of science, both by the church and by the secular cognoscenti, and the beginnings of the rift between the two. By the end, the church begins to grow weary of the technology and worries about the future.

Fiat Voluntas Tua, the third story, set 600 years after the second, tells a tale of a civilization that has developed spaceships, colonies on other planets, and has redeveloped nuclear weaponry. Society is engaged in a massive cold war, coming to the brink. As might be expected, the book culminates with mankind nearly wiping itself out again with a nuclear war. Panicked, the church sends a small colony to a neighboring planet, taking with it the sacred Memoribilia, to be preserved for future humans, presumably starting the cycle over again.

This book is often predictable, giving lessons of the cyclic (and destructive) nature of humanity, of the benefits and dangers of technology, and of the usefulness and obstructiveness of the church (these things, too, seem to be cyclic). The book is full of symbolism and serious themes -- there is a heated debate at the end of the story about euthanizing people with critical levels of radiation exposure, and here we see again the church trying to save humans (humanity) from themselves (itself), very literally -- but also has several humorous moments; for example, in Fiat Homo, when one of the monks is on a desert sojourn, he finds a fallout shelter, but he believes that a fallout is a desert monster and destroyer of humans.

I'm sure many research papers have been written on this book, and it's critically acclaimed. I had a hard time getting through Fiat Lux, but I'll chalk that up to being excessively tired throughout. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

By the way, if you decide to read this book and don't speak Latin, be warned: there are several Latin phrases and passages throughout. You can read the book while skipping them (I did), but Wikipedia has a page which probably would prove helpful. I wish I had found this before reading the book.