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5 Books to Ready You for an Alien Invasion

By July 2, 2016Literature

We as a species have always been fascinated with what is out there, in space, are we alone, or do we have company? Both options are frightening in their own way, imagine us, this tiny little blue and green ball of rock floating in a universe filled with galaxies innumerable and planets uncountable and yet there is only one that is inhabited?
Surely we cannot be the only inhabited planet, surely there are sentient beings asking the same questions but several millions of light years away. But then what if there are other inhabited planets? What if their technology is vastly superior to ours? What if they’ve looked through their telescopes, seen our home planet and have decided that actually, they quite like it, and they’re going to have it.

What if they do not come in peace?

Fret not, we at For Reading Addicts have planned ahead and here we have for you 5 Books to Ready you for an Alien Invasion. Read them, take them in, and plan carefully; the world depends upon you dear reader; do not let it down!

The War of the Worlds – H G Wells

First published in 1898 The War of the Worlds is probably most remembered for the unfortunate effects it had on radio listeners in 1938 who, upon turning their radios on mid show did not realise they were listening to a book narrated by Orson Welles and thought that the Earth was really being invaded ( the effects later discredited somewhat as being over-hyped by the media). Such is the power of this novel’s writing; written in a first person narrative it documents the arrival of an invading Martian force who are determined to wipe mankind out and take the Earth for themselves. Fortunately they have an Achilles heel, it’s just a case of finding it before it’s too late.

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The Puppet Masters – Robert A. Heinlein

Written in 1951 and set in 2007 The Puppet Masters is a brilliantly paranoiac novel, the aliens in this tale don’t need anything as cumbersome as a body, they have no need for death rays or laser guns, why bother when they can just quietly slither up onto the backs of the human population, infiltrate their nervous systems and take control. These little slug-like beings that originate from Titan, the sixth moon of Saturn make for one of the most disturbing invasions ever written and just when you think it couldn’t get any better, you get a bonus Venetian woman who is determined to help wipe out these Titanic slugs.

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The 5th Wave – Rick Yancey

A new pretender to the crown or a genuine contender for the throne? Rick Yancey’s take on Alien invasion literature has everything you could ever want from a good UFO book. The aliens are truly terrifying and have no mercy. Humanity has been reduced down to a few pockets of survivors, reduced to a scrabbling existence fearing everything, even each other. Beginning after the invasion has already hit and humanity is on the brink of extinction, this title is the first in a trilogy that promises great things.

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The Tommyknockers – Stephen King

In truly epic King style the Tommyknockers are not what you might think they are, and of course what they are, is far worse than anything you could have imagined. Whilst out walking in Maine, Bobbi Anderson stumbles across a cylindrical metal object and decided to find out what it is. Surely by now people have learned that if you are in Maine, leave things alone? It seems not and as the strange object is revealed, even stranger things are occurring to the residents of the local town. The future rests with Gard, an alcoholic veteran with a steel plate in his head and an immunity to the horrors that are happening around him.

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Childhood’s End – Arthur C Clarke

Ahh another classic take on the Alien Invasion genre. Here Arthur C. Clarke introduces us to a benign alien force who upon their appearance in the skies overhead, announce they are to take over the running of planet Earth in order to stop humanity destroying itself. What follows is a period of peace and prosperity for all of man kind, but at what cost? Fast forward 80 years and our protagonist, Jan Rodricks wakes from hibernation aboard an alien supply ship to find that the Earth he left is no more and her inhabitants are anything but human.

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So when you see a strange craft hovering over you as you drive down that dark country lane, if you see lights in the sky, if grey men with huge eyes and glowing fingers appear at your bedside, remember the words of wisdom written upon these pages. It might just mean the difference between life and death.

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