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30 Day Wonder
30 Day Wonder is a great tale in which Aliens comically invade Earth, written by science fiction specialist, Richard Wilson The story revolves around a reporter—a good one—who’s an average guy with a sense of humor and reasonable views about the rights of his fellow man. Maybe that’s why the Monolithians picked him to head up their public-relations program. After all, they had to reach a lot of average people and even though they were invulnerable, they couldn’t afford to take chances. Because they had a message, and EVERYBODY had to be convinced. So he didn’t have any choice in the matter…That’s where the system went wrong…no choice. Act peaceful. Love thy neighbor. Obey the law. Why, people could go mad living that way. And many would.
- GenresScience Fiction
158 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
14 people want to read
About the author
Richard Wilson
115 books4 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Richard Wilson (1920–1987) was a Nebula Award winning American science fiction writer and fan. He was a member of the Futurians, and was married at one time to Leslie Perri.
His books included the novels The Girls from Planet 5 (1955); 30-Day Wonder (1960); and And Then the Town Took Off (1960); and the collections Those Idiots from Earth (1957) and Time Out for Tomorrow (1962). His short stories included "The Eight Billion" (nominated for a Nebula Award as Best Short Story in 1965); "Mother to the World" (nominated for the Hugo for Best Novelette in 1969 and winner of the Nebula in 1968); and "The Story Writer" (nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1979).
(source: Wikipedia:)
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Richard Wilson (1920–1987) was a Nebula Award winning American science fiction writer and fan. He was a member of the Futurians, and was married at one time to Leslie Perri.
His books included the novels The Girls from Planet 5 (1955); 30-Day Wonder (1960); and And Then the Town Took Off (1960); and the collections Those Idiots from Earth (1957) and Time Out for Tomorrow (1962). His short stories included "The Eight Billion" (nominated for a Nebula Award as Best Short Story in 1965); "Mother to the World" (nominated for the Hugo for Best Novelette in 1969 and winner of the Nebula in 1968); and "The Story Writer" (nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1979).
(source: Wikipedia:)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 11, 2024
"THE MONOLITHIANS ...
they were such gentle, friendly, affable creatures—they even looked okay—handsome, human males, all of them.
They were law-abiding too. If a local speed limit was 25 m.p.h., that's how fast they'd go, no matter if traffic snarled up for miles in back of them. If a Blue Law town said nobody should work on Sunday, they'd do their duty as citizens and let the town burn before they'd permit a fireman to put out the blaze. No one could do anything about it because the Monolithians were impregnable.
So when they got into the United Nations and the politicians found themselves having to live by what they said, the world was in real trouble.
Or was it?"
The book had potential. It really did, it was funny at the start. The Monolithians plotline was interesting, it kept you going. Sam Kent, the protagonist, was a crackshot, joke-slinging, witty journalist. But throughout the plot, he lost his entire charm. In a ham-fisted attempt to add some dangerous romance, the author made the married man Sam Kent with a pregnant wife fall VERY ABRUPTLY in love with his hot, young and attractive secretary.
And somehow it had no consequences. The longer this book went on, the more Sam became sexually obsessed and that killed his entire charm, making him a creep and a psychopathic loser. This book had the potential to reach a 4 star in my eyes, but it slowly went into white saviour territory alongside the poor romance and poor track of some short-lived plotlines with no proper answers to end them with. I got the feeling that the longer the book went on, the less Richard Wilson knew what to do with this story. I might pick up another book of his, as this is my first from him, but that is to be seen. If I do, hopefully they are better than this.
I know this book was published in 1960, but I review each and every book I read within the rule of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I judge books not only based on the writing, but also our modern confines of what is socially acceptable in the society I grew up in. This book is heavily dated and these things I critiqued might have been the standard back then, now it is not and I will judge within modern literary and moral standards and personal ones aswell.
Read it if you want to love the start and hate the end.
they were such gentle, friendly, affable creatures—they even looked okay—handsome, human males, all of them.
They were law-abiding too. If a local speed limit was 25 m.p.h., that's how fast they'd go, no matter if traffic snarled up for miles in back of them. If a Blue Law town said nobody should work on Sunday, they'd do their duty as citizens and let the town burn before they'd permit a fireman to put out the blaze. No one could do anything about it because the Monolithians were impregnable.
So when they got into the United Nations and the politicians found themselves having to live by what they said, the world was in real trouble.
Or was it?"
The book had potential. It really did, it was funny at the start. The Monolithians plotline was interesting, it kept you going. Sam Kent, the protagonist, was a crackshot, joke-slinging, witty journalist. But throughout the plot, he lost his entire charm. In a ham-fisted attempt to add some dangerous romance, the author made the married man Sam Kent with a pregnant wife fall VERY ABRUPTLY in love with his hot, young and attractive secretary.
And somehow it had no consequences. The longer this book went on, the more Sam became sexually obsessed and that killed his entire charm, making him a creep and a psychopathic loser. This book had the potential to reach a 4 star in my eyes, but it slowly went into white saviour territory alongside the poor romance and poor track of some short-lived plotlines with no proper answers to end them with. I got the feeling that the longer the book went on, the less Richard Wilson knew what to do with this story. I might pick up another book of his, as this is my first from him, but that is to be seen. If I do, hopefully they are better than this.
I know this book was published in 1960, but I review each and every book I read within the rule of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I judge books not only based on the writing, but also our modern confines of what is socially acceptable in the society I grew up in. This book is heavily dated and these things I critiqued might have been the standard back then, now it is not and I will judge within modern literary and moral standards and personal ones aswell.
Read it if you want to love the start and hate the end.
July 3, 2023
Dated, but amusing.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews