# Best alien invasion themed books?



## Sci-Fi Junkie (Aug 10, 2010)

Please recommend your best alien invasion themed books, preferably where the aliens use the humans as hosts. Thanks.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I can't think of any I particularly liked where the aliens used humans as hosts.

Possibly my favorite invasion of Earth novel was _Footfall_ by Niven & Pournelle.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Heinlein's "The Puppet Masters," of course, which was made into a bad movie.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Brother Termite by Patricia Anthony was an interesting variation on the theme, though they don't every use humans as hosts.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Footfall and Puppet Masters are indeed great.

Harry Turtledove's massive Worldwar series is great for the first several books and good after that.  The first two novels are in a Kindle bundle for about half price.

Christoper Anvil's Pandora's Planet is an oldie but goodie.


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## pdallen (Aug 3, 2010)

Let's not forget the original invasion novel, War of the Worlds. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it yet.

Also, a favorite old classic of mine was The Day of the Triffids.


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## Lyndl (Apr 2, 2010)

NogDog said:


> I can't think of any I particularly liked where the aliens used humans as hosts.
> 
> Possibly my favorite invasion of Earth novel was _Footfall_ by Niven & Pournelle.


 My favourite too ! I love Footfall, I've read it at least 3 times.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Hard to decide between "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" and "Return of the Killer Tomatoes" . . . . . 

(Yeah, I know: those are movies. . . .I don't _read_ that genre. . . . . .)


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## cagnes (Oct 13, 2009)

I've only read one alien invasion themed book & loved it... The Host by Stephenie Meyer.


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## Carld (Dec 2, 2009)

NogDog said:


> I can't think of any I particularly liked where the aliens used humans as hosts.
> 
> Possibly my favorite invasion of Earth novel was _Footfall_ by Niven & Pournelle.


I second _Footfall_, which sadly isn't available for the Kindle. _Worldwar_ was good too, but it's cut up into some many little chapters amongst so many characters I found myself skipping storylines that didn't interest me and jumping ahead to ones that did.

_Battlefield Earth_ by Mr. Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard is loaded chockablock full with well-worn Sci-Fi tropes, but it's still a good read (way way better than the movie).


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I was just thinking (yeah, I know, what an aberration) that Crichton's _Andromeda Strain_ could be considered an alien invasion book where the aliens use humans as hosts. It's also a very good book. (Caveat: it's been many years since I read it, so I don't recall if there is much in there that might seem dated now since it was written as a contemporary account, e.g. there won't be any Internet in it and the computers probably fill up rooms or such.  )


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## Carld (Dec 2, 2009)

Surprisingly Andromeda Strain isn't available as an ebook (so far as I can tell).


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Loved this one:











I have not yet read the sequel....


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## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

cagnes said:


> I've only read one alien invasion themed book & loved it... The Host by Stephenie Meyer.


 I also really liked this one. It is much better than her Twilight series.


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

Carld said:


> I second _Footfall_, which sadly isn't available for the Kindle.


Footfall is available at Baen Books
http://www.webscription.net/p-920-footfall.aspx


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## Carld (Dec 2, 2009)

stevene9 said:


> Footfall is available at Baen Books
> http://www.webscription.net/p-920-footfall.aspx


Awesome, thanks. I should have checked on Inkmesh first.


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## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

There's always the old pulp sci-fi book _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. Yes it was a book first. Not available on Kindle, though.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Pandora's Planet, by Chris Anvil, which I mentioned in my post aways back, is also available from Baen Books, and it is free!

http://www.webscription.net/p-315-pandoras-legions.aspx

Pandora's Planet is the first half of a two-book set here, the title of course is Pandora's Legions.

Be advised this is an interstellar invasion with a light, humorous touch. What if we met the alien invaders and deployed battalions of used car and condo salesmen instead of tanks and fighter jets? Though it might be more accurate to say the sales people deployed themselves....


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

The novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell.  There is a Kindle version from Rossetta Books--notorious for poorly formatted Kindle editions.


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## Barry Eysman (Jul 19, 2010)

NogDog said:


> I can't think of any I particularly liked where the aliens used humans as hosts.
> 
> Possibly my favorite invasion of Earth novel was _Footfall_ by Niven & Pournelle.


The Body Snatchers Jack Finney
Day of the Triffids John Wyndam


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## Bane766 (Aug 2, 2010)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.  The background is of an alien invasion, although that's not the center story-line.  They don't use humans as hosts, though.


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## pdallen (Aug 3, 2010)

There's also David Brin's Uplift series, in which the human species is considered an abberation. All other intelligent species having been uplifted by previous species, on back to the original sentient lifeforms. With support from a few other sentient species, humanity must stand against the aliens, or become their slaves.


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## Bane766 (Aug 2, 2010)

One I'm reading now is Tommyknockers by Stephen King.  The alien to human host is definitely in it.  It's not really an invasion, though.


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## VanillaEps (May 5, 2010)

pidgeon92 said:


> Loved this one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Read them both. Definitely recommend.


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

Checked and it's unfortunately one of those "Tell the publisher I'd like to read this on Kindle" books, but "A Matter for Men" by David Gerrold is excellent, first in a series. Very intelligent, multi-layered invasion story.


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## Vyrl (Jun 7, 2010)

pidgeon92 said:


> Loved this one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Seconded!


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## jason10mm (Apr 7, 2009)

I know I'm probably an EXTREME outlier here, but I think L. Ron Hubbards "Battlefield Earth" was quite enjoyable. Heck, even his Mission:Earth series started off brilliantly, though about halfway through even I was struggling with it. Granted, I was a teenager at the time, so hard to say if I would appreciate his sly comments about society now or be turned off by the sour taste of Scientology (even if I projected it onto the works).

Another pretty good invasion series, albeit in the grand ole space opera vein, though it does have some hidden alien influences, is Peter F. Hamilton's "Pandora's Star"/"Judas Unchained" novels. Hamilton is a bit in the deep end of sci-fi due to his massive roster of characters, convoluted plots, and far out tech, but his stuff is always rewarding.

Reading "Mech" right now, which is about aliens recolonizing one of their planets which has since been inhabited by humans. Only a quarter way through it but it does have cranium infesting aliens.

The Rho project (Second Ship series??) has a hidden alien menace. The first book was free, IIRC. Wasn't wowed by it, as I am not really a big Area 51 guy anymore, but for the grand price of free it might scratch your itch.


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## zartang123 (Aug 6, 2010)

VanillaEps said:


> Read them both. Definitely recommend.


 My favourite was War of the Worlds. I love H G Wells and even did my dissertation on him. Something that was to lead to my children's Kindle comedy The Zartang Shopping Empire (Not intended to be a plug by the way) which I hope is a light hearted homage to the great man only for kids. Although the world wasn't invaded by alien supermakets in his book I seem to recall.


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## Groggy1 (Jun 21, 2010)

jason10mm said:


> I
> 
> Reading "Mech" right now, which is about aliens recolonizing one of their planets which has since been inhabited by humans. Only a quarter way through it but it does have cranium infesting aliens.
> 
> The Rho project (Second Ship series??) has a hidden alien menace. The first book was free, IIRC. Wasn't wowed by it, as I am not really a big Area 51 guy anymore, but for the grand price of free it might scratch your itch.


I tried the Rho project too and I put it down - as a possible try again later book. You might want to try Peace Warrior as an alien invader book. Granted I'm only 3/4 the way through but it's better than Second Ship.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

Footfall of course, and Puppet Masters...Jack Finney rules with his story "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," and another vote for A Matter for Men by David Gerrold.


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## sal (Aug 4, 2009)

I recommend "The Mind Parasites" by Colin Wilson (IIRC).

The plot has been stolen and made into multiple bad movies, but I'm not sure he gets credit 
on any of them. 


Sal


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## AnelaBelladonna (Apr 8, 2009)

cagnes said:


> I've only read one alien invasion themed book & loved it... The Host by Stephenie Meyer.


I love that one too.


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## Neekeebee (Jan 10, 2009)

This is the only book I can think of that qualifies 







and I_ highly_ recommend it.

N


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## SimonWood (Nov 13, 2009)

Everyone named my favorites:
DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
PUPPET MASTERS


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Neekeebee said:


> This is the only book I can think of that qualifies
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ooohhhh. . . .Excellent choice. . . . no microbes in people's bodies, but it's all the better for that.


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## WilliamEsmont (May 3, 2010)

+1 for Footfall. Read it for the first time when I was 10 or 11. Then again in college. Would read it again if I could find my copy


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

WilliamEsmont said:


> +1 for Footfall. Read it for the first time when I was 10 or 11. Then again in college. Would read it again if I could find my copy


http://www.webscription.net/p-920-footfall.aspx

($4 DRM free ebook at Baen.com)


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## sixnsolid (Mar 13, 2009)

WilliamEsmont said:


> +1 for Footfall. Read it for the first time when I was 10 or 11. Then again in college. Would read it again if I could find my copy


Thanks everyone for mentioning Footfall. I had forgotten it - fabulous boook I intend to read again!


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

The Tripods.


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## tbrookside (Nov 4, 2009)

It's not available on Kindle, but I really liked Murray Leinster's _The Greks Bring Gifts_ as a kid.

_Armageddon 2149_ is another fond memory.

[The Lost Books of Childhood thread made me think of these. They may not stand up to adult reading, though.]


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