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Nine Last Days on Planet Earth
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When the seeds rained down from deep space, it may have been the first stage of an alien invasion--or something else entirely. How much time do we have left, and do we even understand what timescale to use? As a slow apocalypse blooms across the Earth, planets and plants, animals and microbes, all live and die and evolve at different scales. Is one human life long enough t
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Showing 1-30
Words were not required. Sometimes the only way you could tell someone you loved them was to show them something beautiful. Sometimes, he thought, you have to send it from very far away.
well, damn.
there's a lot here. and if i'm going to stick to my SHORT REVIEW FOR A SHORT STORY vow; the one that's meant to protect me from overthinking a handful of pages of writing - or at any rate, over-reviewing them - spending more time writing the review than it took me to read the story, well, i'm not even ...more
A very good SF novelette, free here on Tor.com. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In 1975, when LT is ten years old, alien plant seeds in silver-and-black metal casings begin raining down on Earth like tiny meteorites, covering our planet’s lands and oceans. Humans attempt to gather up and destroy the “space seeds,” but it’s a hopeless task, and soon various types of odd plant infestations begin to take root and spread.
In 1975, when LT is ten years old, alien plant seeds in silver-and-black metal casings begin raining down on Earth like tiny meteorites, covering our planet’s lands and oceans. Humans attempt to gather up and destroy the “space seeds,” but it’s a hopeless task, and soon various types of odd plant infestations begin to take root and spread.
… the weblike filaments choking the trees in New Orleans, the flame-...more
May 01, 2019
Bradley
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2019-shelf,
sci-fi
Hugo nom '19
I was very impressed with this one. Especially since it read like a narrative taken out of Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence. At first it kinda felt like a PKD right out of The World Jones Made, but I'm very glad it went off on its own track and theme.
Alien invasion done right! With SCIENCE. :) Between When We Were Starless and this one, I have a hard time deciding which I love most out of this year's crop of Hugo shorts. :)
I was very impressed with this one. Especially since it read like a narrative taken out of Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence. At first it kinda felt like a PKD right out of The World Jones Made, but I'm very glad it went off on its own track and theme.
Alien invasion done right! With SCIENCE. :) Between When We Were Starless and this one, I have a hard time deciding which I love most out of this year's crop of Hugo shorts. :)
“It’s all happening so incrementally,” he told her, “it’s hard to see.”
Wow! A Tor short just made me cry. I'm either sleep deprived, or super hormonal, or this was just a fantastic tale of life, and change, and how it all goes too damned fast.
He wanted to do it all over again. He wanted Doran’s shoulder next to him, and tiny Christina in his arms. He wanted Carlos on his shoulders at the National Zoo. All of it, all of it again.
You can read it here: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
Wow! A Tor short just made me cry. I'm either sleep deprived, or super hormonal, or this was just a fantastic tale of life, and change, and how it all goes too damned fast.
He wanted to do it all over again. He wanted Doran’s shoulder next to him, and tiny Christina in his arms. He wanted Carlos on his shoulders at the National Zoo. All of it, all of it again.
You can read it here: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
Words were not required. Sometimes the only way you could tell someone you loved them was to show them something beautiful.
One day, meteorites shower the Earth for what is considered an unusually long time. As can be seen by people's findings, they were small black-and-silver shells containing whoknowswhat seeds. Soon after, governments start confiscating any and all alien seeds they can get their hands on and possession of one becomes illegal. Nonetheless, the seeds spread - some because they ...more
This was a good sci-fi short story. The concept and structure of the story itself worked pretty well in the short story format. We followed the story of LT via nine glimpses into different stages of his life. The first being the day a bunch of alien seeds showered from the sky in 1975 when he was just 10 years old. Over the rest of the story we get a glimpse into how the alien seeds are effecting life on earth and into the personal life of LT.
I felt like the story was good. Daryl Gregory had an ...more
I felt like the story was good. Daryl Gregory had an ...more
“When the seeds rained down from deep space, it may have been the first stage of an alien invasion—or something else entirely.“
I‘m Groot! Interesting. I liked it, fascinating take on evolution and alien invasion, great character development. I felt with LT and almost cried with him at the end. Not sure if I am a fan of that quasi open ending.
Can be found for free here: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
I‘m Groot! Interesting. I liked it, fascinating take on evolution and alien invasion, great character development. I felt with LT and almost cried with him at the end. Not sure if I am a fan of that quasi open ending.
Can be found for free here: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
On the first night of the meteor storm, his mother came to wake him up, but LT was only pretending to sleep. He’d been lying in the dark waiting for the end of the world.
You have to see this, she said. He didn’t want to leave the bed but she was an intense woman who could beam energy into him with a look. She took his hand and led him between the stacks of moving boxes, then across the backyard and through the cattle gate to the field, where the view was unimpeded by trees. Meteors, dozens of me ...more
You have to see this, she said. He didn’t want to leave the bed but she was an intense woman who could beam energy into him with a look. She took his hand and led him between the stacks of moving boxes, then across the backyard and through the cattle gate to the field, where the view was unimpeded by trees. Meteors, dozens of me ...more
Strange one, that.
I finished this today, while I was sitting in a nice restaurant, with a clear view at the river, and a lot of green and some pretty cool old buildings surrounding me. And my first thoughts were, well, that was quite nice, 3 stars probably, but somehow I think I should have liked this a lot more.
And there is a lot to like.
The very subtle approach to the alien invasion theme was kinda cool. Science and all. I mean, they are sending plants. Ha! Well, seeds, actually. But whatever. ...more
I finished this today, while I was sitting in a nice restaurant, with a clear view at the river, and a lot of green and some pretty cool old buildings surrounding me. And my first thoughts were, well, that was quite nice, 3 stars probably, but somehow I think I should have liked this a lot more.
And there is a lot to like.
The very subtle approach to the alien invasion theme was kinda cool. Science and all. I mean, they are sending plants. Ha! Well, seeds, actually. But whatever. ...more
May 02, 2019
Paul E. Morph
rated it
it was amazing
Recommended to Paul by:
Trish
Shelves:
books-read-in-2019
The best SF short story I’ve read for a very long time. Beautiful, really.
May 13, 2019
Lata
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2019-read,
scifi-fantasy
What a great alien invasion and evolution story. The invasion side of the story is kind of creepy, with the earth being taken over by all sorts of plant life. And Gregory's characterization of protagonist LT is wonderful; so much so that I got teary at the close of the story.
4ish stars.
For Hugo 2019 reading (novelettes).
"Nine Last Days on Planet Earth" by Daryl Gregory
Thoughts later. Such a deceptive story - didn't go where I expected and was surprisingly meaningful. I received this story as part of the 2019 Hugo Voters Packet.
Thoughts later. Such a deceptive story - didn't go where I expected and was surprisingly meaningful. I received this story as part of the 2019 Hugo Voters Packet.
OH GOSH. Oh oh, gosh, I absolutely tore through this one. I often struggle through the Hugo-nominated shorts each year -- the side-effect of me being very picky with short fiction and finding them hard to get into sometimes -- but I devoured this novelette, in which a series of meteorites collide with the Earth in 1975 and seed it with inexplicable plantlife ("invasives") which start sprawling across the planet, kicking off new environmental studies and fascinations, and a slow process of fighti
...more
This is a SF novelette. It is already nominated for Nebula Award in 2019 and quite likely will be nominated for Hugo.
The story is about alien invasion, but not of ‘little green men’ but of plants. It starts in 1975, when meteors bring seeds to Earth and a young boy named LT is the witness. As story develops over next decades (if a reader pays attention for the dates, they can be surprised by an Easter Egg there), telling the life of LT and the changing world. The story has several quite interest ...more
The story is about alien invasion, but not of ‘little green men’ but of plants. It starts in 1975, when meteors bring seeds to Earth and a young boy named LT is the witness. As story develops over next decades (if a reader pays attention for the dates, they can be surprised by an Easter Egg there), telling the life of LT and the changing world. The story has several quite interest ...more
Like a shorter version of The War Against the Chtorr, or however Gerrold spells it, this is a century spanning tale of how L.T., and his family, and humans, and earth are affected by a seemingly-random biological invasion from space. The "last nine days" have some interesting interpretations, but I highly suggest reading the story before seeing this (view spoiler)
...more
I found this to be a lovely story about growing up and finding your identity, becoming who you’re meant to be. Of course, it’s set against the backdrop of what might be an alien invasion and certainly seems to at least be some kind of alien interference...
Now, while there are a lot of questions that could be answered, I found the tale’s scope and focus to be perfect. Sure, in other stories I’d love to find out where the seeds came from and what some of the plants did on earth, etc, but with this ...more
Now, while there are a lot of questions that could be answered, I found the tale’s scope and focus to be perfect. Sure, in other stories I’d love to find out where the seeds came from and what some of the plants did on earth, etc, but with this ...more
Could have been three stars but lost one since I think the author got mixed up between Papua New Guinea (a country), New Guinea (an island) and Papua (a province of Indonesia).
Hmmm, I guess it wasn't for me. Ok, it is good, but I wanted a more sci-fi the-world-is-dying tragedy! Anyways, it has the right touch of feeling and cool scifi. Check it out!
Ni siquiera recuerdo bien de que iba. Perl si recuerdo el final. Un final agridulce y bien escrito siempre me llega al corazón. El rating de las 3 estrellas lo reservo para cuando algo se que es bueno pero no para mi.
Ni siquiera recuerdo bien de que iba. Perl si recuerdo el final. Un final agridulce y bien escrito siempre me llega al corazón. El rating de las 3 estrellas lo reservo para cuando algo se que es bueno pero no para mi.
“Neither, Nor.”
Nice concept about space invader vegetables, but Gregory got lost halfway through and, while he returns to the first story at the end, the denouement isn’t. Stopped caring for any of the characters when they devolved into hand puppets.
“He’s had six years of chances. Any time he wants to call, I’ll pick up.”
I understand why stories like this are nominated for SF/F awards; the Hugos have always been a popularity contest. Hopefully someday there’ll be awards for speculative fiction, ...more
Nice concept about space invader vegetables, but Gregory got lost halfway through and, while he returns to the first story at the end, the denouement isn’t. Stopped caring for any of the characters when they devolved into hand puppets.
“He’s had six years of chances. Any time he wants to call, I’ll pick up.”
I understand why stories like this are nominated for SF/F awards; the Hugos have always been a popularity contest. Hopefully someday there’ll be awards for speculative fiction, ...more
A slow blooming apocalypse it was. Great weird little novelette.
Words were not required. Sometimes the only way you could tell someone you loved them was to show them something beautiful. Sometimes, he thought, you have to send it from very far away.
Some times stories come to us in the most unsuspecting ways, I'm taking part in a readathon and need it a story set in the future, and looking for an easy way out found this amazing short story, that I think will haunt me for days to come.
Debating if I should give it the full 5 stars, will sleep on it.
Some times stories come to us in the most unsuspecting ways, I'm taking part in a readathon and need it a story set in the future, and looking for an easy way out found this amazing short story, that I think will haunt me for days to come.
Debating if I should give it the full 5 stars, will sleep on it.
A remarkable short story full of mystery and great portrayal of intra family relationships.
The story starts when strange seeds rain down from deep space. We are left wandering if this may be the first stage of an alien invasion... or something else entirely. How much time do we have left, and do we even understand what timescale to use? As a slow apocalypse blooms across the Earth, planets and plants, animals and microbes, all live and die and evolve at different scales. Is one human life long e ...more
The story starts when strange seeds rain down from deep space. We are left wandering if this may be the first stage of an alien invasion... or something else entirely. How much time do we have left, and do we even understand what timescale to use? As a slow apocalypse blooms across the Earth, planets and plants, animals and microbes, all live and die and evolve at different scales. Is one human life long e ...more
A very nice story, albeit I have to agree with previous reviewers, this could easily have been a novella or a novel, it explored many motives that could and should have been expanded. I very much appreciate this kind of story-telling where the big themes (the end of the world) is told in a very intimate, personal setting. I also liked the scenario that such a thing does not come from a huge invasion, it is much more subtle and takes time, although having the same result.
A slow-moving, sweet story told in quick images from many points in one life! Great for biologists.
Wonderful short from underappreciated author Daryl Gregory, available free at Tor.com (https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...). Initially this feels like a riff on John Wyndham's SF classic The Day of the Triffids mixed with elements of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation, yet develops in a different direction. A touching story of family, love and survival in a future where aliens have made first contact in a very unexpected way.
Good, quick reading short story, I liked the epic scale of it, following the life of one man from childhood to the end of his life, telling two tales, one story being the significant mileposts in the life of a man named LT and the other the rise and fall of invasive alien plants as they slowly take over the earth (and are possibly beaten back). The story is told as nine significant days in LT’s life, each day the last of something, such as the last time his father and mother are together, each l
...more
Book #74 for 2018
GenreLand: October - Weird
Daryl! Where was this when I needed that character lifespan book last year?
This is fairly short -- nine vignettes of the main character on key "last days" throughout his life -- but it's a story that made me think about a lot of different things. It's very layered, and despite its clearly fantastical elements, it rings of truth. It may be tempting to zip through this, but I'd recommend taking it slowly, letting things sink in good and proper.
GenreLand: October - Weird
Daryl! Where was this when I needed that character lifespan book last year?
This is fairly short -- nine vignettes of the main character on key "last days" throughout his life -- but it's a story that made me think about a lot of different things. It's very layered, and despite its clearly fantastical elements, it rings of truth. It may be tempting to zip through this, but I'd recommend taking it slowly, letting things sink in good and proper.
Aug 11, 2019
Maija
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
short-fiction
It's a good story, but it failed to grab me and took me quite long to read because of that. I can see how other people would love this, it has science and alien plants and a story spanning a lifetime. I think I lost focus of the story and its themes by reading it in short bursts over a long period of time.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| SciFi and Fantasy...: "Nine Last Days on Planet Earth" by Daryl Gregory | 21 | 31 | Mar 22, 2019 02:08PM |
Award-winning author of Spoonbenders, We Are All Completely Fine, Afterparty, Pandemonium, and others. Some of his short fiction has been collected in Unpossible and Other Stories.
He's won the World Fantasy Award, as well as the Shirley Jackson, Crawford, Asimov Readers, and Geffen awards, and his work has been short-listed for many other awards, including the Nebula . His books have been translat ...more
He's won the World Fantasy Award, as well as the Shirley Jackson, Crawford, Asimov Readers, and Geffen awards, and his work has been short-listed for many other awards, including the Nebula . His books have been translat ...more
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“He could talk at length about the known invasive species, and why there were so many different ones: the weblike filaments choking the trees in New Orleans, the flame-colored poppies erupting on Mexico City rooftops, the green fins popping up in Florida beach sand like sharks coming ashore. Every shell that struck Earth, and some that hit the surface of the water, cracked and sent millions of seeds into the air or into the oceans.”
—
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