Science Fiction · MelancholicMonks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz preserve surviving knowledge across thousands of years after a nuclear war
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Three eras of one monastery after a nuclear war
J. B. Lippincott published the novel in October 1959. It is a fix-up of three stories from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: "A Canticle for Leibowitz" (April 1955), "And the Light Is Risen" (August 1956) and "The Last Canticle" (February 1957). It is set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States after a nuclear war, and it spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds. The monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz preserve surviving scientific knowledge. Miller added Latin passages during the fix-up, which relate to Roman Catholic practices and rituals.
More about this book
Who
Brother Francis Gerard, Abbot Arkos, Isaac Edward Leibowitz, Thon Taddeo Pfardentrott and Dom Paulo.
World
A Catholic monastery in the southwestern United States, over thousands of years.
What makes it different
It is a fix-up of three magazine stories. Locus Poll voters named it best all-time science fiction novel three times. A 15-part abridged NPR serial aired in 1981.
Feel
Quiet and sorrowful.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- A Canticle for LeibowitzWikipedia