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Invaders from Rigel
Astronomers had observed the comet for some time, and had predicted its course. It would collide with Earth. There was no hysteria; scientists were apparently convinced that the results wouldn't be dangerous to life.
But Muuray Lee woke up with a feeling of overpowering stiffness in every muscle. He turned over in bed and felt his left elbow, which seemed to be aching particularly - and received the shock of his life. The motion was attended by a creaking clang, and his elbow felt like a complex wheel.
Why - he was metal all over!
But Muuray Lee woke up with a feeling of overpowering stiffness in every muscle. He turned over in bed and felt his left elbow, which seemed to be aching particularly - and received the shock of his life. The motion was attended by a creaking clang, and his elbow felt like a complex wheel.
Why - he was metal all over!
127 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1960
3 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Fletcher Pratt
256 books33 followersMurray Fletcher Pratt (1897–1956) was a science fiction and fantasy writer; he was also well-known as a writer on naval history and on the American Civil War.
Pratt attended Hobart College for one year. During the 1920s he worked for the Buffalo Courier-Express and on a Staten Island newspaper. In the late 1920s he began selling stories to pulp magazines. When a fire gutted his apartment in the 1930s he used the insurance money to study at the Sorbonne for a year. After that he began writing histories.
Wargamers know Pratt as the inventor of a set of rules for civilian naval wargaming before the Second World War. This was known as the "Naval War Game" and was based on a wargame developed by Fred T. Jane involving dozens of tiny wooden ships, built on a scale of one inch to 50 feet. These were spread over the floor of Pratt's apartment and their maneuvers were calculated via a complex mathematical formula. Noted author and artist Jack Coggins was a frequent participant in Pratt's Navy Game, and L. Sprague de Camp met him through his wargaming group.
Pratt established the literary dining club known as the Trap Door Spiders in 1944. The name is a reference to the exclusive habits of the trapdoor spider, which when it enters its burrow pulls the hatch shut behind it. The club was later fictionalized as the Black Widowers in a series of mystery stories by Isaac Asimov. Pratt himself was fictionalized in one story, "To the Barest", as the Widowers’ founder, Ralph Ottur.
Pratt is best known for his fantasy collaborations with de Camp, the most famous of which is the humorous Harold Shea series, was eventually published in full as The Complete Compleat Enchanter. His solo fantasy novels Well of the Unicorn and The Blue Star are also highly regarded.
Pratt wrote in a markedly identifiable prose style, reminiscent of the style of Bernard DeVoto. One of his books is dedicated "To Benny DeVoto, who taught me to write."
Pratt attended Hobart College for one year. During the 1920s he worked for the Buffalo Courier-Express and on a Staten Island newspaper. In the late 1920s he began selling stories to pulp magazines. When a fire gutted his apartment in the 1930s he used the insurance money to study at the Sorbonne for a year. After that he began writing histories.
Wargamers know Pratt as the inventor of a set of rules for civilian naval wargaming before the Second World War. This was known as the "Naval War Game" and was based on a wargame developed by Fred T. Jane involving dozens of tiny wooden ships, built on a scale of one inch to 50 feet. These were spread over the floor of Pratt's apartment and their maneuvers were calculated via a complex mathematical formula. Noted author and artist Jack Coggins was a frequent participant in Pratt's Navy Game, and L. Sprague de Camp met him through his wargaming group.
Pratt established the literary dining club known as the Trap Door Spiders in 1944. The name is a reference to the exclusive habits of the trapdoor spider, which when it enters its burrow pulls the hatch shut behind it. The club was later fictionalized as the Black Widowers in a series of mystery stories by Isaac Asimov. Pratt himself was fictionalized in one story, "To the Barest", as the Widowers’ founder, Ralph Ottur.
Pratt is best known for his fantasy collaborations with de Camp, the most famous of which is the humorous Harold Shea series, was eventually published in full as The Complete Compleat Enchanter. His solo fantasy novels Well of the Unicorn and The Blue Star are also highly regarded.
Pratt wrote in a markedly identifiable prose style, reminiscent of the style of Bernard DeVoto. One of his books is dedicated "To Benny DeVoto, who taught me to write."
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 5, 2021
When I was a teen-ager I somehow acquired this novel. I tried to read it several times but never managed to get past a certain point before I put it aside. Over the last few years I'd developed a desire to track down a copy and try to finish it. Unfortunately, I had forgotten both title and author (I was operating under the mistaken belief it was Murray Leinster). A GoodReader, however, recognized the story as I described it in a comment and supplied title and author (the blessings of St. Leibowitz on his soul).
Was it worth the effort?
Alas, no. I should have listened to that 14-year old's counsel and left this book on the shelf.
Aside from its weak story, the casual racism, classism and misogyny would turn off most modern readers.
An example of its racism are the first words out the mouth of the only Asian character, a Japanese servant named Yoshio: "Perhaps sir can inform inquirer in such case, what is curious avian object?" It doesn't get any better. Worse, in fact.
As to classism, a surviving scientist blithely experiments on a "scrubwoman" who's survived the invasion to see what the humans' new bodies are vulnerable to. No one has an issue with this.
As to women, they are never "women." They're always referred to as "girls"; and we're treated to gems like this: "She swung with that underarm motion which is the nearest any woman can achieve to a throw."
And there are no Black characters at all, unless the scrubwoman was originally so but she's never really described and never gets to speak. The reader would be forgiven if she believed most of the world was populated by scrappy, brave white men and the perky, always cheerful women who supported them.
All this might - might - be tolerable if the story were any good or the author addressed interesting social issues or philosophical themes. But Invaders from Rigel isn't and doesn't. The plot is ridiculous, the aliens implausible and . There's no character development because there are no characters to develop and the plot is profoundly "meh."
Don't waste your time with this deservedly forgotten work.
Was it worth the effort?
Alas, no. I should have listened to that 14-year old's counsel and left this book on the shelf.
Aside from its weak story, the casual racism, classism and misogyny would turn off most modern readers.
An example of its racism are the first words out the mouth of the only Asian character, a Japanese servant named Yoshio: "Perhaps sir can inform inquirer in such case, what is curious avian object?" It doesn't get any better. Worse, in fact.
As to classism, a surviving scientist blithely experiments on a "scrubwoman" who's survived the invasion to see what the humans' new bodies are vulnerable to. No one has an issue with this.
As to women, they are never "women." They're always referred to as "girls"; and we're treated to gems like this: "She swung with that underarm motion which is the nearest any woman can achieve to a throw."
And there are no Black characters at all, unless the scrubwoman was originally so but she's never really described and never gets to speak. The reader would be forgiven if she believed most of the world was populated by scrappy, brave white men and the perky, always cheerful women who supported them.
All this might - might - be tolerable if the story were any good or the author addressed interesting social issues or philosophical themes. But Invaders from Rigel isn't and doesn't. The plot is ridiculous, the aliens implausible and . There's no character development because there are no characters to develop and the plot is profoundly "meh."
Don't waste your time with this deservedly forgotten work.
February 26, 2013
My very first science fiction novel! I bought it at a school book fair for about fifteen cents of something. So cool. It doesn't hold up well, but so cool, back in 1979 when I was twelve!
March 17, 2016
Excellent SiFi for younger readers or new SiFi fans. Pratt is a long neglected and forgotten master of SFi. Very Recommended
April 4, 2023
Warum tut man sich das an? Einen Roman von rekordverdächtig jämmerlichen 2.70 von 5 Sternen zu lesen? Also: Erstens hat das Ullstein-Bändchen einen abgewetzten Buchrücken und sieht hässlich aus im Regal, 2. wurde ich schon neugierig, ob er wirklich so schlecht ist und 3. ist es dünn.
Zur Handlung: Als Murray Lee erwacht, besteht sein Körper aus Metall. Wie das seines Zimmergenossen Ben. Der ist Wissenschaftler und meint, die Umwandlung müsse von dem Kometen herstammen, der auf Amerika gestürzt ist. Es gibt nur wenige andere Überlebende, dafür 4-flüglige Metallvögel, die agressiv sind, sie entführen immer mehr der Überlebenden. Hinter allem steht eine Alien-Invasion.
Von hahnebüchenden Ideen ausgehend liest sich der Roman eine Zeitlang ganz OK. Der Autor pflegt einen hemdsärmligen, flotten Stil. Gegen Schluss basiert die Handlung immer mehr auf absurden "wissenschaftlichen" Ideen. z.B. "Ihr erinnert euch doch an Einsteins Beweisführung, dass Magnetismus und Schwerkraft im Grunde ein und dasselbe sind.". Äh... nein! Der arme Einstein...
Solcherart Unsinn wurde mir dann zuviel, so dass ich 20 Seiten vor Schluss doch noch aufgab.
Zur Handlung: Als Murray Lee erwacht, besteht sein Körper aus Metall. Wie das seines Zimmergenossen Ben. Der ist Wissenschaftler und meint, die Umwandlung müsse von dem Kometen herstammen, der auf Amerika gestürzt ist. Es gibt nur wenige andere Überlebende, dafür 4-flüglige Metallvögel, die agressiv sind, sie entführen immer mehr der Überlebenden. Hinter allem steht eine Alien-Invasion.
Von hahnebüchenden Ideen ausgehend liest sich der Roman eine Zeitlang ganz OK. Der Autor pflegt einen hemdsärmligen, flotten Stil. Gegen Schluss basiert die Handlung immer mehr auf absurden "wissenschaftlichen" Ideen. z.B. "Ihr erinnert euch doch an Einsteins Beweisführung, dass Magnetismus und Schwerkraft im Grunde ein und dasselbe sind.". Äh... nein! Der arme Einstein...
Solcherart Unsinn wurde mir dann zuviel, so dass ich 20 Seiten vor Schluss doch noch aufgab.
January 14, 2018
Kind of formulaic, asteroid crashes into the Catskill Mountains and transforms surviving members of society into metal man and women. The rest of the story is like a grab bag of Sci-fi ideas combined into a stew, but Pratt makes it work and entertainingly so. Invaders from River may not be great Lit. but it is enjoyable light reading.
March 27, 2022
Read it to better understand my father.
This was his first and favorite book in grade school.
This was his first and favorite book in grade school.
March 8, 2023
Skip it. Save yourselves!
September 4, 2021
Several New Yorkers wake up in summer after having fallen asleep in winter. And now they’re made of metal. Everyone else in New York is also made of metal, but most of them are inert. Suddenly, they’re attacked by strange birds…
This was originally a 1932 novella from Wonder Stories Quarterly that was expanded into a very short book in 1960. I can’t imagine it was expanded that much. This is very much an early science from the pre-Golden Age pulp era. The science is wacky, the characters accept the strangest surmises, and the explanation is a very thin excuse for action and weird science.
People keep going to hardware stores for firearms and ammunition, even in New York City.
I can’t imagine that Pratt spent much time expanding it in 1964; if he had, the power source would probably have been changed from electrons vs. protons to matter vs. antimatter; and the geopolitics would have had to be updated, too. Despite being set in the mid-sixties (which I suspect was itself an update), it has no sense of the cold war in it nor of the post-World War II economy. The collapse of the United States after a comet fall has no repercussions anywhere else in the world; the Soviet Union takes no advantage of it (and, in fact, is never mentioned).
Despite all of that, this is still a lot of fun. It’s very obvious from the start that this is very old-school, and a great representation of it.
“Why, they’re a living refutation of the laws of evolution on the earth!”
This was originally a 1932 novella from Wonder Stories Quarterly that was expanded into a very short book in 1960. I can’t imagine it was expanded that much. This is very much an early science from the pre-Golden Age pulp era. The science is wacky, the characters accept the strangest surmises, and the explanation is a very thin excuse for action and weird science.
People keep going to hardware stores for firearms and ammunition, even in New York City.
I can’t imagine that Pratt spent much time expanding it in 1964; if he had, the power source would probably have been changed from electrons vs. protons to matter vs. antimatter; and the geopolitics would have had to be updated, too. Despite being set in the mid-sixties (which I suspect was itself an update), it has no sense of the cold war in it nor of the post-World War II economy. The collapse of the United States after a comet fall has no repercussions anywhere else in the world; the Soviet Union takes no advantage of it (and, in fact, is never mentioned).
Despite all of that, this is still a lot of fun. It’s very obvious from the start that this is very old-school, and a great representation of it.
“You are not familiar with the history of this planet or you would know that Americans can’t be anybody’s slaves.”
February 19, 2009
An amusing early science fiction novel, originally published in 1932.
May 19, 2012
Not much I can say really
February 9, 2018
Read this for the first time when I was a kid. I loved this book.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews