Invaders of Earth

'Invaders from Earth' is a collection of short stories by various authors all on the theme of alien invaders. The majority of the stories come from the 1940s, and early 50s. The collection includes the script 'Invasion from Mars' - the legendary reworking of the H.G. Wells classic 'War of the Worlds' which was aired by Orson Welles's radio station in 1938, leading to havoc across the US among listeners who thought it real.
Highlights include:
'Impulse' by Erik Frank Russell, where microscopic, telepathic, aliens take control of a corpse to work their evil ways. This is the best written story in my opinion.
'The Waveries', where aliens come and disrupt all Earth's electrical and electro-magnetic fields, throwing the world into havoc - but show more with an interesting conclusion.
'Storm Warning', in which the weather is disturbed by invaders. Very interesting, and well written.
'Man on the Moon', a strange individual turns up at an observatory - who is he, and what's he up to? Liked this one - it reminded me of late 19th/ early 20th Century science fiction.

Quality did dip in some places, I didn't think 'Child of the Void' was written well.

Overall: Good. show less

Have you looked behind you lately? Is your door firmly bolted -- are your windows locked? Well, you may be safe. But then again….
Here's a book to curl your hair, to make you wonder if your next-door neighbour is a concealed Martian or the postman a Venusian spy. To you Earth is your home planet, a stepping-off place from which to begin explorations to outer space. But for how many might Earth be a place to arrive at? How many from Somewhere Out There are in our midst now?
The 17 spine-chilling and thought-provoking stories (including the famous Orson Welles' broadcast, ""Invasion from Mars"") are very different, but they have one thing in common: they tell of invaders from other stars or other galaxies, some foes, some friends, all show more come to Earth for a look around -- and sometimes for more.
Groff Conklin, science fiction's most versatile editor, has selected the most imagination-stretching tales of some of science fiction's top writers, all adding up to one question: Are we really alone in the Universe -- or are we being watched? What do you think? show less

Most of these stories are not particularly strong offerings by not particularly well remembered authors. They offer potential interest primarily as early efforts to tackle science fiction themes that would be done better later. The one standout for me was Howard Koch's "Invasion from Mars" adaptation of The War of the Worlds, and I have to admit to having a soft spot for just about anything by Theodore Sturgeon, so it was nice to revisit his "Tiny and the Monster".

It has to be said that this isn't necessarily the best example of it's kind but it is quite an old book so it's almost unavoidable that there were a number of stories that tended to make one smile, particulary when one story speaks of the physical sciences having declined relative to the social and mental sciences. Some of the authors, to be frank, I've only ever heard of through this anthology though there ar a number of names that have endured (including the editor, Goff Conklin), amongs whom we have to include Theodore Sturgeon with his story 'Tiny and the Monster' which was my favourite in the anthology.

Contains 15 of the 22 stories that appeared in the original hardcover edition.