Antony's Library #10 - Invasion by Luke Rhinehart
Started Reading: 29th September 2016
Finished Reading: 28th October 2016
Number of Pages: 432
Published: September 2016
This review may contain spoilers. You have been warned!
So far in this reading challenge, I have not highlighted as many quotes in a book as I have with this one.
This book is about an invasion of furry beach balls who have come to Earth "to have fun". Everything they do, is just to have fun. It is set mostly in America, so we see America's reaction to these aliens which is basically to see them as terrorist threats and to fight back.
The book clearly gives a message about the state of our society. Looking through the eyes of these ultra intelligent beings from another Universe really shows some of the flaws in today's society. Mostly highlighting the corruption in the people at the top of the big corporations and in government.
The world in the book isn't far off from our own. That is why I was able to highlight so many quotes because it gets you thinking. It is not just about society, but it also gets you thinking about how we personally are. How we spend our lives worrying about things and in some ways we lose our inner child that can just have fun.
I have seen some reviews saying that this book was too silly. But in some ways, that is the whole point! If you are not expecting a hardcore sci-fi and then you will enjoy it. It is best to read it with the laid back attitude of the main character, Billy Morton.
One interesting thing about this book is that it is actually a collection of extracts from various sources. Most of these sources are from Billy's autobiography which happens to read exactly like a story. But there are also extracts from newspapers and transcripts of conversations. This provided a unique way to give exposition and other points of view without bogging down the story too much.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It appears there is going to be a sequel which was announced on the final page, so I am looking forward to it.
Next Time
For the penultimate book of this challenge, I have finally found a "fantasy quest" type book in the form of, The Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly.