review: stranger in a strange land

It's called sci-fi and I guess it must be because the protagonist is from Mars, but really Stranger in a Strange Land is just bit strange.

It's an odd mix of sci-fi and thinly veiled social commentary that loses the storyline in the diatribe.

I was reasonably intruiged by the first half, but found the second unnecessarily indulgent and annoyingly morally suspect.  Gratitous sex is one thing, but gratituous group human-snake orgies masquerading as moral superiority strikes me as somewhat overkill.

If pressed, I'd probably label it agnostic folklore; in sci-fi, though, it's just displaced entirely.  I hear they're meant to have plot there.

From what I gather, Stranger is supposed to be some sort of sci-fi classic, but I'd call it a cult classic at best.

I just hope it doesn't offend the Martians.