The Alien Years (1998)

This is my first novel by Silverberg, and it doesn't make me want to grab another book by him.

In this novel, set in the near future, aliens of greatly superior force and inscrutable motives invade and occupy Earth. The story mostly follows one family, the Carmichaels of Southern California, over five decades as they cope and resist. I rather liked that the eldest males in the line were named "Anson"--Heinlein's middle name. Nice homage that.

Early on the Carmichael patriarch, "The Colonel," reflects that the invasion brings to mind Wells' The War of the Worlds and expresses his frustration Wells resorted at the end to a deus ex machina and never really answered the question as to how to overcome an overwhelmingly superior force. Ironic that. Silverberg in this book makes (not) answering that question his theme.

The characters of the Carmichael clan are likable enough and Silverberg's style is readable, but there just wasn't anything here I found imaginative or thought-provoking or caused me to connect with the characters in a way that made me care overmuch. Too many important events happened off the page. The chapters are very episodic in feel with years between the the end of one and the start of another. (I've read several portions of this novel first appeared as short stories, which might explain that.)

Moreover, I found how a lot of the plot developed inexplicable or implausible--in terms of actions of the humans and aliens both. For instance, there's utter anarchy and things are reverting to savagery, the infrastructure has crumbled, there's plague--but apparently still a functioning internet?

The ending, although I could see it fitting a novel that can be seen as the anti-Independence Day, felt like an anti-climatic cheat after such a long sprawl of a book--over 400 pages. Had that resolution come at the end of a short story or novella, I might have seen the ending as satisfying, but at this epic length it's not enough of a payoff for a long novel more slow-moving than a L.A. traffic jam. ( )

Interesting novel about aliens on earth. It has a different perspective. Thoughtful about relationships. ( )

Aliens all of a sudden arrive on earth, and they are pretty cryptic, but brook no resistance. They do take over some people to use as agents.

A few resisters do hold out, particularly the Carmichael family in the hills over Los Angeles. However, are they really kidding themselves about what is really happening?

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/03/alien-years-robert-silverberg.html ( )