Invaders of Earth

by Groff Conklin

A collection of 14 shortstories about space and time, featuring such great writers as Murray Leinster, Howard Koch, Robert Moore Williams and A.E. Van Vogt.

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

333 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Edward Groff Conklin (September 6, 1904, Glen Ridge, New Jersey - July 19, 1968, Pawling, New York) was a leading science fiction anthologist. Conklin edited 41 anthologies of science fiction, wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects. From 1950 to 1955, he was the book critic for Galaxy Science Fiction.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Groff Conklin was a prolific anthologist in the early days of the sf field, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre and a real knack for selecting good stories that weren't too familiar and putting them together in ways that complemented and contrasted with one another that really enhanced the reading experience. This was one of his best, and one of the first that I read, so I have a real soft spot for it. There's one story from 1938, and the rest date from the 1940s and the first couple of years of the 1950s. The book is broken into two sections on the theme of alien invasion, "The Immediate Past: It Could Have Happened Already" and "The Immediate Future: It May Happen Yet," with a prologue story set in the distant past by Murray Leinster and an epilogue story by Anthony Boucher set in the far future. There are good stories by Robert Moore Williams, Margaret St. Clair, Theodore Sturgeon, A.E. Van Vogt, etc., and I didn't think there was a bad one in the bunch. My favorites were The Waveries by Fredric Brown and Angel's Egg by Edgar Pangborn.

[K. Axel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will be updating this review as I finish the stories within this science fiction anthology. You could call this a review-in-progress.

This Star Shall Be Free (by Murray Leinster) is a story of Tork, a cro-magnon cave man. Imagine that a spacecraft from some foreign civilization (lets call it Antares) arrived on earth. Imagine that the aliens don't really care about the humans, since all they want is the water and imagine that they perform some kind of experiment on the humans... what would happen? This Star Shall Be Free is a clever little story that will make you smile - the third best in the anthology. (3 stars)

Castaway (by Robert Moore Williams) is the story of Parker, a soldier who is sent to a remote island to watch for subs (submarines) and take care of the lighthouse. The man before him, called Johnson, fell and broke his arm, but is that really what happened or did something stranger happen? This story was written during the second world war - and it shows. (2 stars)

Impulse (by Eric Frank Russell) is the bizarre meeting between Dr. Blain and a... corpse? For some reason this weird story reminded me of Men in Black - a fun read. (2.5 stars)

An Eel by the Tail (by Allen K. Lang) is perhaps the weirdest story so far. It is about a physics teacher trying to motivate his students, when something... weird, happens. And by weird, I mean that an erotic dancer appears out of nowhere... in the middle of class! (1.5 stars)

Storm Warning (by Donald Wollheim) is the story about... a storm and a meteor. Yeah, its pretty slow and not all that exciting, but then again, perhaps I missed something. (1 star)

Child of Void (by Magaret St. Clair) is the story about a small family that lives in the Hidden Valley, far away from civilization. The entire family may have succumbed to depression and madness (being all alone out there on the outskirts of the civilized world), and if not, then something strange is happening in the world! This story presents some very different invaders of earth... definitely worth reading. (2.5 stars)

Not Only Dead Men (by A. E. Van Vogt) is the story about a whaler finding something strange on the alaskan shores. The question is... who is the real enemy? A good and entertaining story. (2 stars)

Enemies in Space (by Karl Grunert) is the story about a man who gets a message from outer space... the question is, who sent the message and what does it mean? (1 star)

Invasion from Mars (by Howard Koch) is not so much a story as a radio broadcast from the night that something strange fell from the sky. I did not like the form to begin with, but 4 pages into the story, it had won me over. Entertaining. (3 stars)

The Waveries (by Fredric Brown) is a story about how earth was invaded... by strange radio waves. Its a little messy and not all that interesting. (1.5 stars)

Angel's Egg (by Edgar Pangborn) is (finally) a beautiful and insightful tale. This one involves a very special traveler through space, one that resembles an... angel. The story is told by Dr. Bannerman, the finder of the Angel's Egg. Very easy to read and definitely the best story in this anthology. (4 stars)

The Man in the Moon (by Henry Norton) is a mess of a story. I can't really tell you what it is about, except that it tells of a really strange creature that doesn't so much invade earth as leave it... I can't recommend it. (0 stars)

Pictures Don't Lie (by Katherine MacLean) is a story about first contact. A man named Nathen has been picking up noise from space and trying to understand it - now it is time to meet the aliens. The noise is actually pictures and then I probably shouldn't tell you any more since this is A STORY WITH A TWIST! I love stories with a twist and this has a great (and fun) one. The second best in the anthology. (4 stars)

The Greatest Tertian (by Anthony Boucher) is a weird "story" about language and... earth. Probably clever, but I didn't really get it. (1.5 stars)

All in all, not worth much, except a few stories. Don't waste your time on the rest.

[Jim Mcclanahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as I might have expected. Some very old stories, which isn't a bad thing. But many were pretty pedestrian. No real adventure or excitement, despite the title.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the books that introduced me to SF in the 1960's. Classic stories from the 40's and 50's. Great stuff.

[Emilio Arias H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selección de 15 historias de ciencia ficción sobre extraterrestres que vienen a la Tierra, para perjuicio o beneficio de la humanidad (depende la óptica de cada autor), realizada por Groff Conklin.
Para mi gusto, es una colección de cuentos mediocre, en la que destacan de sobremanera "Invasión procedente de Marte", el más famoso guion radiofónico de la historia que adapta La guerra de los mundos, de H. G. Wells, y que allá por 1938 aterrorizó a los radioyentes más desprevenidos; y también "Huevo de ángel", una tierna y humanista joya ignota del no menos desconocido Edgar Pangborn, en la que un ángel con forma femenina y plumaje quiere salvar a la humanidad haciéndola trascender.
Después, solo por destacar algunos de entre la mediocridad: "Aviso de tempestad", "¿Quieren ustedes avanzar un poco más deprisa?" y "Las imágenes no mienten". El resto se olvida bastante rápido.

Mis puntajes:
-"Esta estrella será libre": 2
-"Impulso": 2
-"Secreto importante": 2
-"Una anguila por la cola": 3
-"Aviso de tempestad": 3
-"Tiny y el monstruo": 3
-"Los promotores de discordia": 3
-"Corresponsal": 3
-"Invasión procedente de Marte": 4
-"Ministro sin cartera": 3
-"Crisis": 2
-"Huevo de ángel": 4
-"¿Quieren ustedes avanzar un poco más deprisa?": 3
-"Las imágenes no mienten": 3
-"El más importante hombre terciario": 2

(Leído en la edición española de Vértice —editada en 1965—, que cuenta con 262 páginas. La misma no figura en esta ficha de Goodreads).

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was only one story in here which I didn't really like. There was one story set in the prehistoric era which I loved and a transcript of a story based on aliens invading from Mars which was written by H G Wells which was fun to read. One of my favorites is called Pictures Don't Lie about aliens trying to make contact and things may or may not go as planned in the end. A cool book to read about strange adventures and aliens