Recently I began a thread about historical fantasy novels;well,this is another genre that I’ve developed an interest in.I’d like an alien invasion-type novel that:
Is a little "creepy,"but not frightening enough to give Arnold Schwarzenegger nightmares;
includes humanoid aliens,rather than animal-like ones;
and is of any length,so long as it’s interesting.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
If you’ve got several days free, I can heartily recommend Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar series, which mashes together an alien invasion, alternative history, and World War II without being a complete train wreck.
It’s funny that you mention that series,because actually I just ordered the first book of the series on the Internet a few days ago.Does the whole series include basically the same subjects and the same characters,or do they vary widely from book to book?I was wondering because I was afraid that,with the series being so long,the plot might get stale by the end of the last book.
The WorldWar series (four books) all take place over the course of just a few years (1941-1945). So the cast is pretty consistent. The Conquest series (three books) takes place from 1963 to 1964. There are many characters who are holdovers from the earlier series and some new characters but the cast within the trilogy is again consistent. The final book, Homeward Bound, is something of an epilogue to the series and is spread out over several years from 1972 to 2031.
Another alien invasion classic is Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It’s a single novel so you can go through it in a lot less time than Turtledove’s series.
The very first instance that came to my mind was “Footfall”.
In my opinion, it is probably the best written and most realistic-feeling alien invasion novel.
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have written many things together and this is in their top tier of great SF novels.
Ninjaed!
Argh!
Hey,it looks like Little Nemo and Gagundathar posted suggestions for *Footfall[/I ]at almost exactly the same time.It seems like a very popular book in the alien invasion novel genre.But don’t the aliens in that book look like elephants?
I was going to say…
The Fithp are “baby elephants wearing disco shoes and hanging from hang-gliders” according to one eye witness of the invasion. Great book though.
Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke.
The aliens look like aliens. Quite frankly if you’re looking for alien invasion books where the aliens look just like humans, you’re probably going to end up reading in the bottom half of the genre. Better SF authors are usually going to try to make their books seem more “realistic” and that means they’re often going to use non-human aliens.
The War Against The Chtorr counts because fingerbabies are humanoid. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Anyone considering reading the Chtorr series should go in knowing that the series is incomplete and probably will remain that way. (The last book published was in 1993. The most recent update was apparently in 2004 when David Gerrold released the titles of the remaining three books. And told people to be patient.)
If you can find a copy, you might like “Pandora’s Planet” by Christopher Anvil - the alien invaders are the heroes (it’s complicated)…
Duly noted.The general consensus seems to be that it’s a good book,so hopefully I’ll get a chance to read it soon.Thanks for helping.
Invasion Book One of the Secret World Chronicle by Mercedes Lackey & Steve Libby & Dennis Lee & Cody Martin
World Divided: Book Two of the Secret World Chronicle by Mercedes Lackey & Steve Libby & Dennis Lee & Cody Martin
Both of these books are based on the game City of Heros - so the major characters are “metahumans”. These are fun books to while away a few afternoons they are not deep thinking invasions novels.
I recommend Highways In Hiding by George O. Smith. An oldie but goodie. An alien space organism invades Earth and things get very, very science fictional. You can legally download it for free thanks to Project Gutenberg.
You could read War Of The Worlds. You probably have already, but if not, you should. It’s the granddaddy of them all.
I was not impressed by the first book.
It suffered badly from Turtledove Bloat. I finished the series but none of the follow-ups because, hey, Nazis versus Space Lizards!