Οι παράξενοι εισβολείς

by Alun Llewellyn

A time in the future when the habitable earth is growing smaller, as the grip of a new ice age gets stronger. Man is slipping back to his primitive state; the result of disastrous wars and the changing face of the earth. Then the Strange Invaders come. An army of enormous lizards—vast, cold-blooded creatures that are almost invulnerable. Man faces his ultimate struggle for survival.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction

154 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

David William Alun Llewellyn

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was under the mistaken impression that this novel was going to be pure pulp. Since the cover has giant alien dinosaurs on it, I don’t think this was an unreasonable assumption. I was thus somewhat baffled to find that the narrative took itself very seriously and spent 95 pages establishing the world and characters, before a sauropod so much as reared its head. Said world is a feudal city-state, somewhere in a Europe gripped by a new ice age. The prevailing theocracy has as its holy trinity Marx (father), Lenin (son), and Stalin (holy ghost!). Nonetheless, a lot of the power lies with the Swords, as the makeshift army are called. Their first response to peril is to commit genocide, viciously killing their neighbours the Tatars. When the giant dinosaur/lizards do appear, everyone seems to faint or go mad with terror upon seeing them. Whilst massive reptiles clearly represent a potential problem, it is evident that they are basically frolicking in the sun. It isn’t even clear whether they are carnivores, let alone if they eat people.

My sympathies were with the monsters, in short. Was this the author’s intention? Who knows. The whole thing could be an interesting political allegory, were it better written. The style is terribly awkward, though. 'The Strange Invaders' was first published in 1934, but that does not excuse this sort of thing: ‘His throat sobbed dryly with the leaping of his heart’. There was also a certain overuse of ellipses and the characters did not achieve a great deal of depth. Alun, the main narrator, is tedious and his inner monologue caused the first 80 pages to drag. I did like that his beloved Erya had no interest in him, nor in the other man who wanted to marry her. Alun’s brother helpfully summarises the moral of the story at the end. What I learned from this experience, though, is that giant lizards aren’t enough to make a post-apocalyptic story exciting. Sorry Brian Aldiss, we must agree to disagree. If you fancy an early 20th century novel about men fighting huge reptiles, I’d recommend The Worm Ouroboros instead.

[Viorel Mocanu · Rating 5 out of 5]

a masterpiece

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το πολύχρωμο εξώφυλλο και η ποιότητα της έκδοσης ίσως σας ξεγελάσει. Προσωπικά, κρίνοντας μόνο από το εξώφυλλο πίστευα ότι θα διάβαζα μια "πάλπ" ιστορία ανάλογη των ταξιδιών του Γκιούλιβερ. Ευτυχώς, όμως, που τα φαινόμενα απατούν.
Ο συγγραφέας του βιβλίου μας δίνει μαι αφήγηση μεστή, περιεκτική και με πολύ καλό ρυθμό. Καταφέρνει μέσα στις 154 σελίδες του βιβλίου να μας εισαγάγει πλήρως στον κόσμο που δημιουργεί. Ενός κόσμου μεταποκαλυπτικού όπου σε κάποιο μέρος της πρώην Σοβιετικής ένωσης οι διασωθέντες κάτοικοι λατρεύουν τον κομμουνισμό σαν θρησκεία και έχουν αγιοποιήσει τον Μαρξ, τον Λένιν και τον Σταλιν που νίκησε τον κακό δαίμονα Τροτσκι, αλλά και τον φασισμό...
Οι άνθρωποι, λοιπόν, αυτοί διοικούνται από το ιερατείο και μια κάστα πολεμιστών και η επιβίωση τους τον χειμώνα εξαρτάται από ένα καραβάνι που φέρνει προμήθειες από άλλες μεριές της γης. Η ιστορία μας ξεκινάει από το σημείο όπου αυτό το καραβάνι δεν εμφανίζεται την αναμενόμενη εποχή και τις φήμες που κυκλοφορούν γύρω από την εξαφάνισή του.
Πέραν της συναρπαστικής δράσης που χει το βιβλίο, ο συγγραφέας καταφέρνει να σκιαγραφήσει με λεπτομέρεια και αντικειμενικότητα τους χαρακτήρες του, αλλά και να σχολιάσει θέματα όπως ο φανατισμός και η καταστροφική φύση του ανθρώπου.
Εκεί, λοιπόν, που άλλοι σύγχρονοι συγγραφείς πλατειάζουν άσκοπα με μόνο σκοπό να γεμίσουν σελίδες, ο Alun Llewellyn σε 154 σελίδες πετυχαίνει σχεδόν απόλυτα τον σκοπό του.
Διαβάστε το οπωσδήποτε.....

[Allan Olley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a look at a post-apocalyptic world that has reverted to medieval elements in some ways. A new ice age threatens and on top of this are strange rumours and hints of the titular Strange Invaders giant lizards that will depose man. The actual story is a brutal tale of a love triangle among the political machinations of the city of the a surviving remnant of the Soviet Union where Marx, Lenin and Stalin have become a trinity in a faith that in other ways resembles a medieval catholic church.

The story is often told well enough in terms of the descriptions. However the allegory of Soviet Marxism becoming a superstitious religion while funny and bracing is not in anyway subtle or getting to the deeper intellectual themes. Only the protagonist Alun and one or two of his associates and antagonists are drawn as characters at all and even they get little dialogue or development and may be quickly dropped. The rest of the dramatist personae are caricatures at best, often somewhat unfortunate ones. Some of the action is very brutal and the giant lizards are actually not in that much of the story. The plot unfolds slowly at various points but then has quick resolutions that are not that satisfying and can be boring.

I read the pdf scan of this edition provided by the Toronto Public library system. It is perfectly readable, but lacks any features or even a colour scan of the cover.

[Fabio R. Crespi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siamo in un mondo da dopobomba, nelle steppe siberiane con una nuova glaciazione in progressione, dove l'umanità è decisamente regredita a un modello sociale elementare costituito da poche classi (preti, guerrieri, contadini e nomadi) e retto su una nuova fede che è una celebrazione decontestualizzata dei "bei tempi che furono": si elevano preghiere a Marx, Lenin e Stalin, si invoca il comunismo e si maledice il fascismo in maniera totalmente avulsa dai significati originari (d'altra parte è sempre davvero corto il passo tra ideologia e fede).
Un classico, praticamente, ma "Gli invasori" ("The Strange Invaders", 1934) di Alun Llewellyn (autore semisconosciuto che si è dato alle sf in questa unica occasione - più info in appendice alla storia) è stato scritto quando ancora la "Bomba" non era ancora un incubo per intere popolazioni.

Non fossero già tutti quanti, in partenza, così malmessi, socialmente e mentalmente, al contesto si aggiunge l'ascesa di una nuova razza che pare intenzionata a far piazza pulita dei rimasugli dell'umanità: ritornano i sauri (senza piume perché negli anni '30 non ne usavano) e pare che niente li possa fermare (e, diciamolo, potrebbe non essere proprio un male).
Della sottotrama non dico nulla, del pensiero dell'autore, ben distribuito nel corso della narrazione, si può dire che ha ancora una valenza attuale e che è interessante scoprirlo in un'opera che ha una novantina d'anni.