Alien Invasion/First Contact

[Stephanie]

They're heee-eeere! Mention Science Fiction to a lot of people and the first thing they'll think of is aliens. Alien invasion novels go back at least as far as 1898, with the publication of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. Of course, sometimes we are the ones going out to meet them, as in Carl Sagan's Contact and Ursula LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness. What alien books have you read or recommended? Do you prefer humans to be victorious (in the case of invasion stories) or do you relish a bleaker outcome?

[Cara]

As far as first contact novels go, one series that takes a different path is the Doona series by Anne McCaffery. in that series we set off to colonize a planet and find another species there, the real trick is that both us and them are aliens to the planet. we both are intelligent species out to colonize the galaxy without interfering with indigenous life and we happened upon the same planet.
As far as Alien Invasion stories go I like Enders Game by Card and Starship Troopers by Heinlein. They both involve ongoing wars after invasions have already been repelled.

[Cherie]

I have enjoyed C. J. Cherryh's alien books. I think she has written about some really neat aliens.

[Cara]

I cannot believe that when I commented earlier I neglected to mention my favorite Alien Invasion book of all time. Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein.

[Heather]

I love those CJ Cherryh books, too, if we're talking about the series that start with Foreigner. It's interesting to me how she can sustain the tension while the books pretty much take place inside the one guy Bren's head.

Puppet Masters? What do you love about it? It's one of my least fav Heinlein books, probably because it's creepy. That one lady with the handbag, ew.

[Cara]

I think I love it because it is so creepy. I sometimes feel like modern movies and books make Aliens just like us. I like that in Puppet Masters the Aliens are entirely different than us. I also love that the invasion is subtle, slowly taking over the country and the world by infecting people. also there is the not so subtle commentary on communism and the red scare. plus it has a romance and spies. And I think it's amusing that everyone ends up naked at the end.

[Heather]

You're too right about the heavy-handed communism theme, but we see that a lot with aliens in 20th century sf, don't we, the danger of the hive mind.

[Cara]

Have you ever read Anne McCaffery's rowan series? That has the Aliens being like bees with queen's and an actual Hive mind. It's a fun series if you like a good dose of romance with everything else. And I guess it is a first contact series as there are 3 different aliens they have first contact with through the series. I never really think f it that way because of all the romance I guess

[Heather]

Yup, read 'em!

[Jewel]

John Connolly and his writing partner Jennifer Ridyard have a new teen invasion book Conquest. It is going to be a series. Because it is a teen book, there is also some romance (cross species), and helping the enemy (both sides), and the evil plot inside the alien world.

[Cara]

That sounds interesting is it already out or upcoming?

[Jewel]

Cara wrote: "That sounds interesting is it already out or upcoming?"

Already out.

[Marinda]

I think The Host is Stephenie Meyer's best book. I love the ethical issues brought up on the world with the dragons and the flowers.

[Darin]

Do you think The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury counts as alien invasion? The earthlings are aliens to the Martians. I have to admit, as much of a fan as I am of Ray Bradbury, I really didn't enjoy this book. I wanted to - it was okay. Have any of you read it? What did you think?

[Jewel]

I thought it was an alien invasion. There was an overwhelming sadness about how there were no more Martians (until the end) but the transplants wound up killing the Martians when the made any contact.

[Suzanne]

I loved the book "Humans" by Matt Haig. It is humorous, thought provoking, and tender. It involves an alien coming to earth to keep humans from solving a mathematical problem that would give them too much knowledge. The aliens know better. Give it a try.