When I saw the movie, I agreed with everyone else: the movie was terrible. But I got the distinct impression that beneath the screenplay writer's interpretation, there was a more interesting story. So I picked up the book. I had never read anything by L. Ron Hubbard before, so I had no expectations. The book was excellent science fiction. It tells the tale of the dying human race, who thanks to one inspired, intelligent (and very lucky) man, fights its way back from the brink of extinction.

The difference between books and movies is often that the book will give you more detail, more depth. That is certainly the case here. We learn more about the Cyclons' teleportation device, and why the Cyclon race is the only race with this technology. We learn how the the entire human race was defeated by the Cyclons in a matter of minutes. We learn more about other non-human races in the galaxy. And we see that humankind is scattered over the face of the planet, although with the technology now available, the earth has become a smaller place.

The story as shown in the movie takes up perhaps fifteen to twenty percent of the book, and my favorite portions of the book are ones that are entirely omitted in the movie. The movie also utterly failed to give viewers a grasp of the physical size difference between humans and Cyclons. The typical Cyclon stands perhaps thirteen feet tall, and can lift a human by the neck without much effort.

All in all, this is an excellent book. I'd suggest picking it up, if you don't mind the 1000+ page length.