Earthman, Come Home

This is the third and longest novel in the Cities in Flight omnibus. I believe it was first published in 1955, making it the first published of these four novels. I also found it, initially at least, the least engaging. The writing seems disjointed. It's often hard to follow the characters' reasoning and thought processes. My impression is that it is comic bookish. It is a series of strange space opera adventures. I don't know, but I'm guessing that it must have been written for publication as a serial in one of the pulp science fiction mags of the day. The character development is thin, with the lead character, John Amalfi, being the only one with whom we can identify at all; and as the novel progresses, we do learn to follow him and root for him. In the end, it is a fun space romp.