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The Quiet Invasion
At eighty-three, Dr. Helen Failia is nearing middle age but has lost none of her fighting spirit. The founder of Earth’s first fully functioning colony on Venus, she will do anything to ensure that the home she’s built and nurtured not only survives, but thrives. Despite her constant work, funding for the colony is running out, and she’s dreading telling the ten thousand colonists they must move to Earth, a world some of them have never even seen. When one of her probes returns with the unprecedented proof of an ancient alien artifact on the surface of Venus she cannot believe her luck. This is the first evidence that humanity is not alone, and the discovery will surely secure the research colony’s future.
As Helen and her team investigate the strange new find, they learn that humanity is not the only species with its eye on the planet. A dying race of spacefaring aliens needs a new home, and Venus is perfect for the people and their massive, living cities. But these newcomers consider the human presence on Venus a very small problem, one that can be swept aside if it dares get in the way.
As Helen and her team investigate the strange new find, they learn that humanity is not the only species with its eye on the planet. A dying race of spacefaring aliens needs a new home, and Venus is perfect for the people and their massive, living cities. But these newcomers consider the human presence on Venus a very small problem, one that can be swept aside if it dares get in the way.
496 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
19 people are currently reading
465 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Zettel
60 books437 followersSarah Zettel is the critically acclaimed author of more than twenty novels, spanning the full range of genre fiction. Her debut novel, Reclamation, won the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her second release, Fool’s War, was a 1997 New York Times Notable Book, and the American Library Association named Playing God one of the Best Books for Young Adults of 1999. Her novel Bitter Angels won the Philip K. Dick Award for best science fiction paperback in 2009. Her latest novel, Dust Girl, was named as one of the best young adult books of the year by both Kirkus Reviews and the American Library Association. Zettel lives in Michigan with her husband, her rapidly growing son, and her cat, Buffy the Vermin Slayer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
April 10, 2017
a quiet book featuring quiet characters, human and alien, and the quiet settling of Venus: The Quiet Invasion.
good book! this is one of those science fiction novels that is all about the characterization. there is science and politics and a wonderfully detailed alien civilization and the deaths of majestic beings and the potential birth of a lifeless planet... but first and foremost, the novel is (quietly) character-driven. Zettel operates with an even hand. although there are two murderous villains - one human, one alien - even that villainy is delivered in understandable although perhaps not relatable shades of gray. humans are portrayed as being driven by higher goals to explore and analyze and improve, to create a new society... but are often dragged down for petty, short-sighted reasons. the aliens who call themselves "The People" are a fascinating and vibrant avian culture that sees the aiding of life as intrinsic to the nature of all living things (and to think otherwise is to be considered insane)... and yet this beautiful society is one that includes indenture to the point of slavery.
this is one of the most female-focused books I've read in years. that's one of the main things I loved about it (the other is its portrait of an alien civilization). ideally, having a novel where female characters dominate the plot shouldn't have felt all that unusual - but of course science fiction is often a boy's world in terms of both authors and characters, so just the basic centralization of women felt fresh and bold. and all of these women - and the occasional male as well - are richly and carefully characterized. the depth of the characterization means that narrative thrills and twists & turns are kept to a minimum and even then slowly parsed out; but when they do occur, they are often jaw-dropping.
unfortunately, I found the ending to be distinctly underwhelming, even disappointing. I'm the sort of reader who likes ambiguity and who doesn't need every plot line to be explicitly resolved to be satisfied, but in this case there were too many important threads left dangling, which was particularly frustrating because this is a standalone novel (usually my preference).
good book! this is one of those science fiction novels that is all about the characterization. there is science and politics and a wonderfully detailed alien civilization and the deaths of majestic beings and the potential birth of a lifeless planet... but first and foremost, the novel is (quietly) character-driven. Zettel operates with an even hand. although there are two murderous villains - one human, one alien - even that villainy is delivered in understandable although perhaps not relatable shades of gray. humans are portrayed as being driven by higher goals to explore and analyze and improve, to create a new society... but are often dragged down for petty, short-sighted reasons. the aliens who call themselves "The People" are a fascinating and vibrant avian culture that sees the aiding of life as intrinsic to the nature of all living things (and to think otherwise is to be considered insane)... and yet this beautiful society is one that includes indenture to the point of slavery.
this is one of the most female-focused books I've read in years. that's one of the main things I loved about it (the other is its portrait of an alien civilization). ideally, having a novel where female characters dominate the plot shouldn't have felt all that unusual - but of course science fiction is often a boy's world in terms of both authors and characters, so just the basic centralization of women felt fresh and bold. and all of these women - and the occasional male as well - are richly and carefully characterized. the depth of the characterization means that narrative thrills and twists & turns are kept to a minimum and even then slowly parsed out; but when they do occur, they are often jaw-dropping.
unfortunately, I found the ending to be distinctly underwhelming, even disappointing. I'm the sort of reader who likes ambiguity and who doesn't need every plot line to be explicitly resolved to be satisfied, but in this case there were too many important threads left dangling, which was particularly frustrating because this is a standalone novel (usually my preference).
March 8, 2017
'The Quiet Invasion' is a terrific science-fiction story as far as I am concerned, but I can easily see that political junkies would be most drawn to the novel.
Every character in the book, whether alien or human, has a strong personal political ideology and narrow nationalist tribal viewpoint which is leading all of them into war and death, no matter whether they are a Venarian (a human citizen of a failing research space station and colony orbiting Venus) or if they represent the Earth or the Moon or Mars governments or if they are a political faction of the aliens who are colonizing Venus secretly. The leaders, whether human or of the aliens calling themselves 'The People', cannot expand their thinking beyond the safety and interests of their own group, and are highly suspicious of the motives of the other groups. There are a minimum of six different human political organizations working against each other on Venara as spies or terrorists or representatives of the different planetary authorities, each striving for a vision of personal power and a version of political freedom. The colonies want to break away from what they feel is an authoritarian Earth.
The aliens, who are fighting an extremely life-threatening disease decimating their civilization on their home planet, need to find a new planet to which to move their race. Their technology is superior to that of the humans, but not their politics. They did not know about the human race, and their culture is quite different philosophically; however, the disease killing their cities has brought out a panicky xenophobia among some of them when they discover and spy on the humans living on the space station. Sigh. Is everybody doomed? Maybe.
However this story turns out (I'm not telling), the aliens are marvelous! The aliens personally have wings and can fly, gentle reader! I also love their amazing science, technology and living cities! Somehow, they have used a kind of genetic manipulation which has given what I think were their world's lower life forms sentience and/or mechanical properties which they use instead of machines or engines. Because everything they use is alive, their philosophy is 'life helps life'. Unfortunately, this technology has inadvertently built in a monoculture of life forms, leaving them susceptible to diseases capable of killing an entire species.
Is Home/Family an exclusive tribal unit of only a particular class, city or race or religious group or country or only related family members? While we each have the power to define a Home and Family unit in our own mind for just ourselves, ordinary politicians have the power to define a Home/Family unit for everyone under their authority. Great Politicians can define a moment of an inclusive Home/Family unit which saves (or harms) people beyond their normal limits of power, such as the American President Roosevelt, who on his own authority, defied the majority of American people and most of the country's politicians to find a way to give weapons and money to support Europe during World War II through the Lend-Lease program (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-...). Roosevelt also defied the Supreme Court and other politicians and states' rights advocates to give all of the American poor a type of universal pension benefit. Today, history has judged Roosevelt a Great Politician of all time (most historians). Almost everyone agrees Roosevelt certainly sacrificed his health, and his life, in going beyond the expectations and 'personal capital' of his political office and class as well as beyond the boundaries of his country, in order to save most of the people in the world, regardless of nationality or class. Roosevelt's definition of his Home/Family clan was the planet Earth and the entire human race.
Author Sarah Zettal, I think, is making such points I mentioned above and about the difference between inclusive and exclusive Politics in 'The Quiet Invasion'. I enjoyed the story very much as a fascinating wonder of science-fiction culture-building and future technology, as well as a detailed look at a life form evolved to live on planets such as Venus. But Zettal also leads the reader into an inside look at how political ideology and nationalist snobbery can cause politicians to find themselves going to war, basically underwritten by of a combination of tribal instincts, xenophobia and greed.
Who we exclude and include as members of our Family hearth can mean the difference of a Greater Civilization for all or some or none. We control those Family definitions through Politics because only Politics can bestow the power to change the perceptions and natural instincts of societies and civilizations.
I must confess I am a bit of political junkie, so, I really enjoyed this novel. It felt gloriously authentic and true.
Every character in the book, whether alien or human, has a strong personal political ideology and narrow nationalist tribal viewpoint which is leading all of them into war and death, no matter whether they are a Venarian (a human citizen of a failing research space station and colony orbiting Venus) or if they represent the Earth or the Moon or Mars governments or if they are a political faction of the aliens who are colonizing Venus secretly. The leaders, whether human or of the aliens calling themselves 'The People', cannot expand their thinking beyond the safety and interests of their own group, and are highly suspicious of the motives of the other groups. There are a minimum of six different human political organizations working against each other on Venara as spies or terrorists or representatives of the different planetary authorities, each striving for a vision of personal power and a version of political freedom. The colonies want to break away from what they feel is an authoritarian Earth.
The aliens, who are fighting an extremely life-threatening disease decimating their civilization on their home planet, need to find a new planet to which to move their race. Their technology is superior to that of the humans, but not their politics. They did not know about the human race, and their culture is quite different philosophically; however, the disease killing their cities has brought out a panicky xenophobia among some of them when they discover and spy on the humans living on the space station. Sigh. Is everybody doomed? Maybe.
However this story turns out (I'm not telling), the aliens are marvelous! The aliens personally have wings and can fly, gentle reader! I also love their amazing science, technology and living cities! Somehow, they have used a kind of genetic manipulation which has given what I think were their world's lower life forms sentience and/or mechanical properties which they use instead of machines or engines. Because everything they use is alive, their philosophy is 'life helps life'. Unfortunately, this technology has inadvertently built in a monoculture of life forms, leaving them susceptible to diseases capable of killing an entire species.
Is Home/Family an exclusive tribal unit of only a particular class, city or race or religious group or country or only related family members? While we each have the power to define a Home and Family unit in our own mind for just ourselves, ordinary politicians have the power to define a Home/Family unit for everyone under their authority. Great Politicians can define a moment of an inclusive Home/Family unit which saves (or harms) people beyond their normal limits of power, such as the American President Roosevelt, who on his own authority, defied the majority of American people and most of the country's politicians to find a way to give weapons and money to support Europe during World War II through the Lend-Lease program (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-...). Roosevelt also defied the Supreme Court and other politicians and states' rights advocates to give all of the American poor a type of universal pension benefit. Today, history has judged Roosevelt a Great Politician of all time (most historians). Almost everyone agrees Roosevelt certainly sacrificed his health, and his life, in going beyond the expectations and 'personal capital' of his political office and class as well as beyond the boundaries of his country, in order to save most of the people in the world, regardless of nationality or class. Roosevelt's definition of his Home/Family clan was the planet Earth and the entire human race.
Author Sarah Zettal, I think, is making such points I mentioned above and about the difference between inclusive and exclusive Politics in 'The Quiet Invasion'. I enjoyed the story very much as a fascinating wonder of science-fiction culture-building and future technology, as well as a detailed look at a life form evolved to live on planets such as Venus. But Zettal also leads the reader into an inside look at how political ideology and nationalist snobbery can cause politicians to find themselves going to war, basically underwritten by of a combination of tribal instincts, xenophobia and greed.
Who we exclude and include as members of our Family hearth can mean the difference of a Greater Civilization for all or some or none. We control those Family definitions through Politics because only Politics can bestow the power to change the perceptions and natural instincts of societies and civilizations.
I must confess I am a bit of political junkie, so, I really enjoyed this novel. It felt gloriously authentic and true.
March 9, 2017
3.5 stars.
December 28, 2011
Sarah Zettel is brilliant at envisioning and describing alien races and she is in top form here. The aliens, their culture and their environment is interesting, believable and well-described. I felt immersed in their world. But as with all things Zettel, brilliance mixes with drivel. The purpose of thing that the whole plot is based on in the beginning is revealed at the end and it makes no sense. It's just dumb. Plus, from the beginning you know that the alien's cities are dying from some disease and they have no reason why. They are moving to a new planet because they think it will sustain life. But there is never any consideration that they will likely bring the disease with them. She tries to work on several levels of intrigue and political machinations but it just comes across as forced and too simple. I also hate the fact that everyone wears veils. Still, by the second half the plot sucks you in and it's hard to put down. The ending left me unsatisfied but it wasn't bad.
October 11, 2025
It took me a long time to get into this one, which surprised me because it has a lot of elements I usually love, but I was finding it quite dry. However, the pace picked up a lot in the second half and brought together all the best elements, particularly the politics of future!Earth and the very different views of humanity between aliens and humans. The unique take on alien life is excellent, even if I found the communication barriers were a little too easy to overcome given how differently they thought. Oh, and I even quite liked the ending, despite that seeming to be the main area of disappointment for many reviewers.
March 8, 2017
What an amazing and complex story! The characters from the People, the Terrans, and the Venerans were varied and, for the most part, three-dimensional. The plot held plenty of surprises and scenes to savor. This thought-provoking book reminded me why I so enjoy reading well-written science fiction. I see more Zettel in my future.
July 21, 2016
It has been a while since I have read a hard science fiction book, with lots of discussion about how things work, be they of a biological or a technological nature (or both). It has also been a while since I read a book set in I don’t know if the word is a “space opera” setting, but set in an environment depicting adventures and politics among different planets and colonies. This book was good in both areas.
This novel follows two plot threads that intertwine more and more as the books progresses. The dominant book thread follows the trial and tribulations of Venera, a colony that floats in the clouds of Venus. Set up as a research colony, it has struggled for years to find funding to maintain operations, in part hampered by the fact that the United Nations Colonial Affairs Committee, after a rebellion on Mars a few years back, maintains a very tight control over all the colonies, severely restricting what industries can and cannot exist on the various colonies of the solar system (in this novel Mars, which we never really get to see, Earth’s moon, which we do a few times, some asteroid colonies, just mentioned in passing, and of course the sole Venus colony, Venera).
Though we get the follow the story of a number of humans in the book (maybe too many at times, as some characters didn’t get quite enough page count to really make them completely memorable or at least form enough of an impression that I didn’t occasionally wonder who they were until I was into their chapters), there were five main ones. The first one we get is Dr. Helen Failia, the eighty-three-year-old driving force and founder of Venera. Nothing is unknown on the station to this woman, who is involved in all aspects of not only running the colony but also its scientific discoveries. Passionate about continuing her dream of maintaining Venera, it seems that there almost isn’t anything ruled out as to what she will do to keep the station both in the black financially and free from direct U.N. control.
We follow to a greater or lesser extent three of her staff members. The main one is Michael Lum, an individual who while the right-hand man of Dr. Failia, is a skilled investigator and maintains a strong moral compass. Michael serves on the governing board with Bennet Godwin (Ben throughout the book). Though Michael is a straight-shooter, Ben has a dark past, one that comes to play later in the book when Venera faces first a crisis of finances and later when it faces political takeover by the U.N. The third staffer, though she doesn’t get a lot of “screen time,” is Dr. Grace Meyer, a woman who greatly dislikes Dr. Failia (the feeling is mutual) and who is even more ruthless in her pet cause (which in this case is not so much keeping Venera operating but proving that there is life on Venus).
Rounding out the five main human protagonists is Veronica Hatch, part of a team of investigators sent by the U.N. (with as much input on their selection as Dr. Failia could manage) to investigate the Discovery, an apparent series of artifacts left on the surface of Venus by unknown alien intelligences. Though I liked the fiery determination of Dr. Failia with her (rather deeply buried) moral compass, the dogged investigator that was Michael Lum, I think Veronica was my favorite character, a bit of a jack (jill?) of all trades, with skills in the hard sciences, arts, politics, and great people skills. Originally chosen as a fluffy media personality that wouldn’t be too hard for Venera to handle (but still satisfy her U.N. employers), she finds a series of deep, dark secrets at Venera that she wasn’t meant to discover.
The other plot thread deals with the actual aliens on Venus, immigrants from another world. Calling themselves the People (and humans are therefore the New People), they live in the atmosphere of their homeworld and resemble essentially a type of floating jellyfish with a distinct head, eyes, mouth with teeth, a crest, and large wings. The reader is immediately immersed in their complex society, only much later getting a human view of what they look like (though there are many descriptions prior to this encounter). I really liked their complex largely biological technology, with many sentient or semi-sentient living tools, even huge floating, living, intelligent cities. There society and culture was also nicely alien but not incomprehensible, with dominants concepts being life serves life and that to not serve life is insane (and if one is insane, one can be reduced to their raw materials by others who are sane). Yes, that definitely sets the stage for some conflict!
We find that the People are not just explorers, but seek a new world to settle because their cities are being ravaged by a series of devastating, incurable, cancerous diseases, rendering many homeless or condemned to involuntary servitude, and also devastating their planet’s ecology.
The reader follows essentially two of the People, an engineer by the name of D’seun, who is ruthless in making Venus a colony world for the People, and ambassador T’sha, who like Michael (and Victoria) has a strong moral compass, so strong that it is followed even if it is directly against one’s interests.
I think the book’s pace was a bit slow but definitely readable until around the 180 or 200-page mark but at that point really picked up as conspiracies are discovered both among the aliens by the aliens and various humans on Venera. I thought the intrigue was good and interesting and it really added good wrinkles to what could have been a straight forward first contact story.
The background of past rebellions (chiefly the Bradbury Rebellion on Mars) was good and useful to understand how Venera might act and how others might view its potential actions. I think at times a little too much time was devoted to some of its history and some tangential aspects of it but it certainly made understanding Venera and U.N. motives a lot easier.
There wasn’t a lot of action per se in the book – no real fights or chase scenes – though a disaster on the surface of Venus exploring the Discovery was gripping, as was the drama leading up to the arrival of the U.N. near the end of the novel.
I think characterization was generally good but could have been a little deeper with some of the characters. Some of the secondary and tertiary female characters really blended together, though some of this confusion I think came from how they all adhered to more or less the same fashion tropes of this era; namely everyone wears headscarves or sometimes veils (or if men, at least a baseball cap if not some sort of other hat). Especially early in the book, a lot of time (to my eyes) was spent on describing the colors and patterns of these head coverings. I was a little confused at times, as they didn’t always seem to completely cover a woman’s hair (descriptions of a woman by another often noted both the head covering and then the hair color and sometimes how it was done up) and in one case a woman didn’t have any head covering at all (apparently cosplaying a 20th century woman at a party; her lack of hair covering was briefly remarked on but not scandalous).
I have seen other reviewers raise a question I had throughout the book, namely that there was no guarantee that the diseases ravaging the People’s homeworl wouldn’t also join them on Venus. It wasn’t a huge issue but I think it could have been better handled.
All in all a good book. I really like anything set on Venus, a book not used a lot in science fiction. The descriptions of the world really rang true for me and clearly the author did her research, mentioning at the beginning Dr. David Grinspoon’s excellent _Venus_, which I have read and highly recommend.
This novel follows two plot threads that intertwine more and more as the books progresses. The dominant book thread follows the trial and tribulations of Venera, a colony that floats in the clouds of Venus. Set up as a research colony, it has struggled for years to find funding to maintain operations, in part hampered by the fact that the United Nations Colonial Affairs Committee, after a rebellion on Mars a few years back, maintains a very tight control over all the colonies, severely restricting what industries can and cannot exist on the various colonies of the solar system (in this novel Mars, which we never really get to see, Earth’s moon, which we do a few times, some asteroid colonies, just mentioned in passing, and of course the sole Venus colony, Venera).
Though we get the follow the story of a number of humans in the book (maybe too many at times, as some characters didn’t get quite enough page count to really make them completely memorable or at least form enough of an impression that I didn’t occasionally wonder who they were until I was into their chapters), there were five main ones. The first one we get is Dr. Helen Failia, the eighty-three-year-old driving force and founder of Venera. Nothing is unknown on the station to this woman, who is involved in all aspects of not only running the colony but also its scientific discoveries. Passionate about continuing her dream of maintaining Venera, it seems that there almost isn’t anything ruled out as to what she will do to keep the station both in the black financially and free from direct U.N. control.
We follow to a greater or lesser extent three of her staff members. The main one is Michael Lum, an individual who while the right-hand man of Dr. Failia, is a skilled investigator and maintains a strong moral compass. Michael serves on the governing board with Bennet Godwin (Ben throughout the book). Though Michael is a straight-shooter, Ben has a dark past, one that comes to play later in the book when Venera faces first a crisis of finances and later when it faces political takeover by the U.N. The third staffer, though she doesn’t get a lot of “screen time,” is Dr. Grace Meyer, a woman who greatly dislikes Dr. Failia (the feeling is mutual) and who is even more ruthless in her pet cause (which in this case is not so much keeping Venera operating but proving that there is life on Venus).
Rounding out the five main human protagonists is Veronica Hatch, part of a team of investigators sent by the U.N. (with as much input on their selection as Dr. Failia could manage) to investigate the Discovery, an apparent series of artifacts left on the surface of Venus by unknown alien intelligences. Though I liked the fiery determination of Dr. Failia with her (rather deeply buried) moral compass, the dogged investigator that was Michael Lum, I think Veronica was my favorite character, a bit of a jack (jill?) of all trades, with skills in the hard sciences, arts, politics, and great people skills. Originally chosen as a fluffy media personality that wouldn’t be too hard for Venera to handle (but still satisfy her U.N. employers), she finds a series of deep, dark secrets at Venera that she wasn’t meant to discover.
The other plot thread deals with the actual aliens on Venus, immigrants from another world. Calling themselves the People (and humans are therefore the New People), they live in the atmosphere of their homeworld and resemble essentially a type of floating jellyfish with a distinct head, eyes, mouth with teeth, a crest, and large wings. The reader is immediately immersed in their complex society, only much later getting a human view of what they look like (though there are many descriptions prior to this encounter). I really liked their complex largely biological technology, with many sentient or semi-sentient living tools, even huge floating, living, intelligent cities. There society and culture was also nicely alien but not incomprehensible, with dominants concepts being life serves life and that to not serve life is insane (and if one is insane, one can be reduced to their raw materials by others who are sane). Yes, that definitely sets the stage for some conflict!
We find that the People are not just explorers, but seek a new world to settle because their cities are being ravaged by a series of devastating, incurable, cancerous diseases, rendering many homeless or condemned to involuntary servitude, and also devastating their planet’s ecology.
The reader follows essentially two of the People, an engineer by the name of D’seun, who is ruthless in making Venus a colony world for the People, and ambassador T’sha, who like Michael (and Victoria) has a strong moral compass, so strong that it is followed even if it is directly against one’s interests.
I think the book’s pace was a bit slow but definitely readable until around the 180 or 200-page mark but at that point really picked up as conspiracies are discovered both among the aliens by the aliens and various humans on Venera. I thought the intrigue was good and interesting and it really added good wrinkles to what could have been a straight forward first contact story.
The background of past rebellions (chiefly the Bradbury Rebellion on Mars) was good and useful to understand how Venera might act and how others might view its potential actions. I think at times a little too much time was devoted to some of its history and some tangential aspects of it but it certainly made understanding Venera and U.N. motives a lot easier.
There wasn’t a lot of action per se in the book – no real fights or chase scenes – though a disaster on the surface of Venus exploring the Discovery was gripping, as was the drama leading up to the arrival of the U.N. near the end of the novel.
I think characterization was generally good but could have been a little deeper with some of the characters. Some of the secondary and tertiary female characters really blended together, though some of this confusion I think came from how they all adhered to more or less the same fashion tropes of this era; namely everyone wears headscarves or sometimes veils (or if men, at least a baseball cap if not some sort of other hat). Especially early in the book, a lot of time (to my eyes) was spent on describing the colors and patterns of these head coverings. I was a little confused at times, as they didn’t always seem to completely cover a woman’s hair (descriptions of a woman by another often noted both the head covering and then the hair color and sometimes how it was done up) and in one case a woman didn’t have any head covering at all (apparently cosplaying a 20th century woman at a party; her lack of hair covering was briefly remarked on but not scandalous).
I have seen other reviewers raise a question I had throughout the book, namely that there was no guarantee that the diseases ravaging the People’s homeworl wouldn’t also join them on Venus. It wasn’t a huge issue but I think it could have been better handled.
All in all a good book. I really like anything set on Venus, a book not used a lot in science fiction. The descriptions of the world really rang true for me and clearly the author did her research, mentioning at the beginning Dr. David Grinspoon’s excellent _Venus_, which I have read and highly recommend.
November 7, 2025
“All life is linked. If that is forgotten, all life will die.”
Best first contact story I've read since Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky. Well-conceived and subtle. Cements Zettel’s place among the best science fiction writers of her generation. Engages the reader in the lives of characters before fully developing those individuals, thus adding to the complexity of motives and relationships.
“The past did not help [redacted]. We are flying into the night-side, and we may not come out.”
Multitudinous cast and a spaghetti weave of plots and counterplots. More conflicting agendas than a political convention. Hard to tell who the good guys are; plenty of potential bad guys who, of course, are good guys in their own eyes.
“You have politics too, do you?” “Yes, we decidedly have politics too.”
“I’m sorry.” “So am I.”
First published in 2000 and displays the expected missed technology since. Much better projection of the possibilities and limitations of interplanetary communications and travel. Appropriate vagueness for the means of interstellar travel, with proper confusion by some players of how it works.
“What a great thing it is to be able to love even that which cannot return your love.”
Best first contact story I've read since Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky. Well-conceived and subtle. Cements Zettel’s place among the best science fiction writers of her generation. Engages the reader in the lives of characters before fully developing those individuals, thus adding to the complexity of motives and relationships.
“The past did not help [redacted]. We are flying into the night-side, and we may not come out.”
Multitudinous cast and a spaghetti weave of plots and counterplots. More conflicting agendas than a political convention. Hard to tell who the good guys are; plenty of potential bad guys who, of course, are good guys in their own eyes.
“You have politics too, do you?” “Yes, we decidedly have politics too.”
“I’m sorry.” “So am I.”
First published in 2000 and displays the expected missed technology since. Much better projection of the possibilities and limitations of interplanetary communications and travel. Appropriate vagueness for the means of interstellar travel, with proper confusion by some players of how it works.
“What a great thing it is to be able to love even that which cannot return your love.”
October 21, 2023
On one hand, Sarah Zettel has created a world that feels amazing: humanity has established a colony on Venus, with its poisonous clouds and bone-crushing pressure, and it’s solely focused on research! I’d love to live in a place like that. On the other hand, scientists in the future seem to have the same constant stress of finding funding and resorting to research fraud as today, and political schemes and social injustices never seem to disappear.
The aliens actually felt alien, both in appearance and culture, and it was really interesting to follow their political and philosophical struggles in parallel with the human issues. There are a lot of POVs, some only a few pages long, but since they all illustrated different points and opinions, it never became confusing. I do wish that there had been more alien POVs towards the end though, or that the ending hadn’t been so abrupt – it would’ve given more emotional weight to what happened.
I love first-contact stories. Seeing ourselves “from the outside”, in the eyes of something or someone other is a great way to celebrate and criticize humanity. The Quiet Invasion does a bit of both, but in the end, I’m left with a carefully optimistic view of what our future could be like.
The aliens actually felt alien, both in appearance and culture, and it was really interesting to follow their political and philosophical struggles in parallel with the human issues. There are a lot of POVs, some only a few pages long, but since they all illustrated different points and opinions, it never became confusing. I do wish that there had been more alien POVs towards the end though, or that the ending hadn’t been so abrupt – it would’ve given more emotional weight to what happened.
I love first-contact stories. Seeing ourselves “from the outside”, in the eyes of something or someone other is a great way to celebrate and criticize humanity. The Quiet Invasion does a bit of both, but in the end, I’m left with a carefully optimistic view of what our future could be like.
August 6, 2013
I have conflicting feelings about this book. On the one hand, it tells an interesting story. On the other hand, I didn't really like any of the characters (although there were definitely characters who were more sympathetic than others). Plus, the ending felt pretty unsatisfying and the middle dragged a bit.
September 19, 2021
3.5 stars, a really inventive book but a bit underwhelming at times
The Quiet Invasion really does live up to it's name. It's not a dramatic or eye-catching story, despite being about an alien species invading the solar system. Instead it's more about the ways in which an invasive mindset takes hold despite best intentions. It's quite and meditative and that makes it both admirable and highly original on one hand despite the seemingly overdone premise but on the other hand, it can be slow going since the first half of the book is dominated by discussions of the ethics of first contact before either species has met. There are also many subtle and interesting worldbuilding background details that are fun to meditate on but don't get much limelight in the story which I imagine could frustrate a reader though I found the approach refreshing.. Ultimately, I came away mildly positive about the book because of what I found to be a serious flaw in that the characters were less interesting than I'd hoped and so I found it harder to connect to the story. But I also came away with a lot of respect for Zettel's approach to storytelling so I would definitely give another work of hers a shot in the future.
The Quiet Invasion really does live up to it's name. It's not a dramatic or eye-catching story, despite being about an alien species invading the solar system. Instead it's more about the ways in which an invasive mindset takes hold despite best intentions. It's quite and meditative and that makes it both admirable and highly original on one hand despite the seemingly overdone premise but on the other hand, it can be slow going since the first half of the book is dominated by discussions of the ethics of first contact before either species has met. There are also many subtle and interesting worldbuilding background details that are fun to meditate on but don't get much limelight in the story which I imagine could frustrate a reader though I found the approach refreshing.. Ultimately, I came away mildly positive about the book because of what I found to be a serious flaw in that the characters were less interesting than I'd hoped and so I found it harder to connect to the story. But I also came away with a lot of respect for Zettel's approach to storytelling so I would definitely give another work of hers a shot in the future.
June 16, 2025
A book I thoroughly enjoyed, so much so that I overlooked the incorrect synopsis on the back.
Something of a 'harder' sci fi book the main drive of the plot is definitely political and social than any distinct sci-fi element. This however works to the story's favour, the confidence with which the characters interact with technology serves to build the world incredibly quickly and lend it real weight. This also goes for the description of the alien non-human characters known as 'the people'.
For me the brilliance of this book was its ability to create tangible and complex societies rife with nuance and depth. It enables for the motivations of characters, while at times extreme, are understandable and coherent.
The only major perceivable flaw for me is that the plot, as described in the synopsis, takes a very long time to actually happen. The strength though is that when it does occur the characters and more importantly the stakes are very realised and understandable. When events finally begin to occur they happen at such a pace and gives the narrative a real sense of frenetic pace.
I really enjoyed it but I feel that may be due to my particular interests.
Something of a 'harder' sci fi book the main drive of the plot is definitely political and social than any distinct sci-fi element. This however works to the story's favour, the confidence with which the characters interact with technology serves to build the world incredibly quickly and lend it real weight. This also goes for the description of the alien non-human characters known as 'the people'.
For me the brilliance of this book was its ability to create tangible and complex societies rife with nuance and depth. It enables for the motivations of characters, while at times extreme, are understandable and coherent.
The only major perceivable flaw for me is that the plot, as described in the synopsis, takes a very long time to actually happen. The strength though is that when it does occur the characters and more importantly the stakes are very realised and understandable. When events finally begin to occur they happen at such a pace and gives the narrative a real sense of frenetic pace.
I really enjoyed it but I feel that may be due to my particular interests.
September 27, 2021
4 stars for me, I think. In some ways, this is incredible; I think that the mosaic-style POV structure, with around a dozen points of view (some only get a chapter or two), is a brilliant way to handle first contact stories. On the other, the mutual learning of language is one of my favorite parts of first contacts stories, felt like a rushed cop-out to me. The ending also seems a little sudden and might have been better with more alien POVs; there aren't nearly as many alien voices as human ones, so that crystal-clear sense of the crisis about to happen on the human side feels a little more flat on the alien one. The book might have benefited from another fifty pages to add another key alien POV and show a few more conclusion/aftermath ripplies.
I'm going to let impressions settle (this may have suffered from a week of insomnia), but overall this is a really well-constructed book with a slightly unsatisfying ending. Full review to come.
I'm going to let impressions settle (this may have suffered from a week of insomnia), but overall this is a really well-constructed book with a slightly unsatisfying ending. Full review to come.
June 7, 2020
This book is fantastic, and it’s hard for me to understand why it hasn’t gotten more attention than it has. There are some flaws, but they’re comparatively minor, and the compelling characters, and layered and heart-pounding narrative make it well worth your while.
This is at heart a first contact story, as clearly set up in the first two chapters, where an underfunded research base on Venus discovers an unexplained object on the planet’s surface, while at the same time, an alien race on a dying planet singles out Venus as the last hope of their species. And the first contact plot is fascinating. But all the while, there are political machinations going on in the background with both people groups—the humans are struggling with the colonists being viewed as second-class citizens by those still on earth, while the aliens are trying to figure out what to do with the species that stands in the way of their interplanetary migration.
All told, we have three major alien characters and a whole host of humans, and Zettel does a fantastic job of putting the reader inside their heads, to understand why they act as they do. Because there are so many human characters, some of them don’t get much page time, but the abundance of points-of-view allow us to see the major characters from that many more perspectives. The aliens are wonderfully alien but with motivations that are compelling, and with a small POV group, we get plenty of time to understand them.
So the characters are great, the plot is interesting and multi-layered, and the first contact is fascinating. There are a few points of complaint, but they’re minor. It’s hard to do sci-fi without anything that feels dated, and wall screens and “jacking in” certainly feel like a late 90s conception of the future, as does the idea that the twentieth century was dark and that things would get progressively better, more peaceful, etc. from there. And there are a few editing errors, a stray quotation mark here and there. But this is all background—none of it meaningfully affects the story, which does not fall prey to an unchecked optimism that would seem naive in 2020.
I’ve read 25ish books this year, including the much-hyped Leviathan Wakes, and this is one of the best. The Quiet Invasion and Leviathan Wakes touch on some of the same themes, but while the latter is an excellent thriller, this one felt like it had more depth and a much more interesting cast of characters.
This is at heart a first contact story, as clearly set up in the first two chapters, where an underfunded research base on Venus discovers an unexplained object on the planet’s surface, while at the same time, an alien race on a dying planet singles out Venus as the last hope of their species. And the first contact plot is fascinating. But all the while, there are political machinations going on in the background with both people groups—the humans are struggling with the colonists being viewed as second-class citizens by those still on earth, while the aliens are trying to figure out what to do with the species that stands in the way of their interplanetary migration.
All told, we have three major alien characters and a whole host of humans, and Zettel does a fantastic job of putting the reader inside their heads, to understand why they act as they do. Because there are so many human characters, some of them don’t get much page time, but the abundance of points-of-view allow us to see the major characters from that many more perspectives. The aliens are wonderfully alien but with motivations that are compelling, and with a small POV group, we get plenty of time to understand them.
So the characters are great, the plot is interesting and multi-layered, and the first contact is fascinating. There are a few points of complaint, but they’re minor. It’s hard to do sci-fi without anything that feels dated, and wall screens and “jacking in” certainly feel like a late 90s conception of the future, as does the idea that the twentieth century was dark and that things would get progressively better, more peaceful, etc. from there. And there are a few editing errors, a stray quotation mark here and there. But this is all background—none of it meaningfully affects the story, which does not fall prey to an unchecked optimism that would seem naive in 2020.
I’ve read 25ish books this year, including the much-hyped Leviathan Wakes, and this is one of the best. The Quiet Invasion and Leviathan Wakes touch on some of the same themes, but while the latter is an excellent thriller, this one felt like it had more depth and a much more interesting cast of characters.
March 9, 2009
This is one of those rare books where I'm not sure if I failed it as a reader or if the author failed me as a story teller. For me the problem was with the over abundance of characters and the way they more or less fell in as the plot went on. Would I have been less confused if I'd read it in one sitting or, say in three consecutive days or so? I don't know.
One thing I know for sure is that the ending rushed everything in the last chapters. This is where something was definitively lacking in Zettel's effort. Was it because of lack of story telling skills at the very end? Was it because she lacked time to finely craft the ending, as a writer? All I know is that she's done better in the only other book of hers I've read till now, the more recent "The usurper's crown" in her Isvalta series.
Despite its faults "The Quiet Invasion" remains full of convincing characters and it's not their fault if they seem disconnected in the grand scheme of things, at times. Blame the author! The alien characters seem less disconnected from the story than the humans. Also everything moves along at a better pace with them around.
More importantly "The Quiet Invasion" offers a true, complete, perfect science fiction novel in the sense of being solidly grounded in science and technology. This is so for physics as well as biological sciences. Too many SF novels present themselves as being "hard" SF, true to science, while they fail in biology. This is not the case with Zettel. She worked and worked at it to ensure consistency, and a marvellous illusion of reality, integrating everything in the ongoing story without having to bore us with boring exposition.
One thing I know for sure is that the ending rushed everything in the last chapters. This is where something was definitively lacking in Zettel's effort. Was it because of lack of story telling skills at the very end? Was it because she lacked time to finely craft the ending, as a writer? All I know is that she's done better in the only other book of hers I've read till now, the more recent "The usurper's crown" in her Isvalta series.
Despite its faults "The Quiet Invasion" remains full of convincing characters and it's not their fault if they seem disconnected in the grand scheme of things, at times. Blame the author! The alien characters seem less disconnected from the story than the humans. Also everything moves along at a better pace with them around.
More importantly "The Quiet Invasion" offers a true, complete, perfect science fiction novel in the sense of being solidly grounded in science and technology. This is so for physics as well as biological sciences. Too many SF novels present themselves as being "hard" SF, true to science, while they fail in biology. This is not the case with Zettel. She worked and worked at it to ensure consistency, and a marvellous illusion of reality, integrating everything in the ongoing story without having to bore us with boring exposition.
May 3, 2014
A floating research/proto-colony on Venus finds itself caught between a rigidly governed Earth hostile to all space colonies, and aliens from an ecologically diseased world checking out the hospitable-to-them planet for themselves. As other reviews point out, the ending is rushed and the author blithely leaves out the likelihood that alien settlers would bring the disease with them...but I think she might have been setting up a sequel that hasn't (yet) been written. Not her best, I'll agree, but only because she's set a really high bar for herself with her other books. Solid B.
Cute coinage award goes to: "There had been aliens on Venus, and Earth was alive with all the wonder that the idea brought. At first, a lot of people had been worried that there would be riots and panics, but, so far, no one had seen fit to go twentieth over the news."
Cute coinage award goes to: "There had been aliens on Venus, and Earth was alive with all the wonder that the idea brought. At first, a lot of people had been worried that there would be riots and panics, but, so far, no one had seen fit to go twentieth over the news."
May 22, 2015
Desperate aliens plan to colonize Venus"," but are worried about Human designs on the planet. Told from alternating Human and People viewpoints"," this is an extremely suspenseful novel. "Decision at Doona" for adults.The characterization of the aliens reminded me a lot of Hal Clement's work.
December 30, 2023
File under: Science Fiction > Space > Aliens > First Contact > Political
In which the people of a dying planet find a near-perfect new world to colonize. But it's right next door to a planet inhabited by billions of bipeds, who might have already laid claim to it. What will they do about the questionable locals?
This is why I love science fiction – amazing portraits of aliens and their worlds and cultures. And how they collide with humanity. But it may be a bit political for some, and the politics unfold slowly. If you're itching for a cool first-contact story, you'll have to wait until about the halfway point. And they won't truly start talking until about the 2/3 point. As the interests of the bipeds of Earth and the newcomers very slowly collide, delicate and elaborate dances of internal politics are going on in each camp, and all too often, narrow internecine squabbling is preventing people on both sides from seeing the bigger picture. The slow pace and the sheer level of politicking going on dragged it down a bit for me despite the very cool aliens, and my rating is not quite a solid 4 stars - call it a 3.75.
Among the humans – the Venusian colonists who are desperate to keep what for some is their only home. Versus the larger interests on Earth who just pulled the plug on further funding for the Venus project. Versus some other hidden interests I'll leave you to discover as you vread. There is a confusingly large cast of human characters, but you can pick up what the angles are by focusing on the topics of conversation without having to carefully analyze who's saying what.
Among the aliens – those who believe a scrupulously objective determination must be made of whether humanity has a legitimate prior claim on Venus, and any such claim must be respected at all costs. Versus those more pragmatic souls who believe that because their people's survival is at stake, the most important thing is eliminating any obstacles to successfully colonizing Venus, including some pesky bipeds. The cast of aliens is smaller and their internal conflicts more straightforward... at least to begin with.
As the plot comes to a head, the local leaders of both humans and aliens are showing signs of seriously bad judgment, and you'll find yourself wondering just how badly first contact between two ostensibly non-hostile sapient species can go when self-interested factions on both sides are each working to advance internal agendas of their own. Will it end in war? Genocide? And by whom, upon whom? It does strike me as an alarmingly realistic picture of just how badly humanity could bungle first contact with an alien race.
About the aliens: Our first look at the aliens is from inside their society on their home planet, where everything about them is perfectly normal, so we don't get a really comprehensive description of what they would look like to human eyes until fairly late in the book. But the early hints had me picturing something like a golden wyvern crossed with a puffer fish, except smooth-skinned like an amphibian rather than scaled. They're lightweight flying creatures evolved for an aerial lifestyle, and they almost constantly inflate and deflate themselves as mood and social indicators. The body parts mentioned include bones, wings, muzzles, eyes, teeth, forehands, and posthands. They quickly became perhaps my second-favorite aliens in all of science fiction, right after the Tines from A Fire Upon the Deep. They may seem kind and gentle and moral when we first meet them, but you may feel differently about their notions of morality by the time it's over. But they're not a monolith - each of the aliens is presented as a whole and distinct person with a clear personality and backstory, including the ones you can like and the the ones you can hate.
Does it pass the Bechdel test? Yes!
Reminds me of: Red Mars, The Left Hand of Darkness (domestic politics get in the way of actual progress).
In which the people of a dying planet find a near-perfect new world to colonize. But it's right next door to a planet inhabited by billions of bipeds, who might have already laid claim to it. What will they do about the questionable locals?
This is why I love science fiction – amazing portraits of aliens and their worlds and cultures. And how they collide with humanity. But it may be a bit political for some, and the politics unfold slowly. If you're itching for a cool first-contact story, you'll have to wait until about the halfway point. And they won't truly start talking until about the 2/3 point. As the interests of the bipeds of Earth and the newcomers very slowly collide, delicate and elaborate dances of internal politics are going on in each camp, and all too often, narrow internecine squabbling is preventing people on both sides from seeing the bigger picture. The slow pace and the sheer level of politicking going on dragged it down a bit for me despite the very cool aliens, and my rating is not quite a solid 4 stars - call it a 3.75.
Among the humans – the Venusian colonists who are desperate to keep what for some is their only home. Versus the larger interests on Earth who just pulled the plug on further funding for the Venus project. Versus some other hidden interests I'll leave you to discover as you vread. There is a confusingly large cast of human characters, but you can pick up what the angles are by focusing on the topics of conversation without having to carefully analyze who's saying what.
Among the aliens – those who believe a scrupulously objective determination must be made of whether humanity has a legitimate prior claim on Venus, and any such claim must be respected at all costs. Versus those more pragmatic souls who believe that because their people's survival is at stake, the most important thing is eliminating any obstacles to successfully colonizing Venus, including some pesky bipeds. The cast of aliens is smaller and their internal conflicts more straightforward... at least to begin with.
As the plot comes to a head, the local leaders of both humans and aliens are showing signs of seriously bad judgment, and you'll find yourself wondering just how badly first contact between two ostensibly non-hostile sapient species can go when self-interested factions on both sides are each working to advance internal agendas of their own. Will it end in war? Genocide? And by whom, upon whom? It does strike me as an alarmingly realistic picture of just how badly humanity could bungle first contact with an alien race.
About the aliens: Our first look at the aliens is from inside their society on their home planet, where everything about them is perfectly normal, so we don't get a really comprehensive description of what they would look like to human eyes until fairly late in the book. But the early hints had me picturing something like a golden wyvern crossed with a puffer fish, except smooth-skinned like an amphibian rather than scaled. They're lightweight flying creatures evolved for an aerial lifestyle, and they almost constantly inflate and deflate themselves as mood and social indicators. The body parts mentioned include bones, wings, muzzles, eyes, teeth, forehands, and posthands. They quickly became perhaps my second-favorite aliens in all of science fiction, right after the Tines from A Fire Upon the Deep. They may seem kind and gentle and moral when we first meet them, but you may feel differently about their notions of morality by the time it's over. But they're not a monolith - each of the aliens is presented as a whole and distinct person with a clear personality and backstory, including the ones you can like and the the ones you can hate.
Does it pass the Bechdel test? Yes!
Reminds me of: Red Mars, The Left Hand of Darkness (domestic politics get in the way of actual progress).
September 7, 2017
Sarah Zettel is a prolific author who has successful books in several genres. In fact when I got this book, The Quiet Invasion, I didn't realize I had already read a book of hers...it was several years ago and a YA title I had read in 2013. It is fiction based on 18th century British history and is called Palace of Spies, a title I recognized in the list of her previous works. I enjoyed that book, and I enjoyed this sci fi book as well.
The Quiet Invasion takes place in a future time when the One World government is a reality on Earth; civilization and technology have advanced to the extent that there are colonies of people from Earth on Mars, the moon, and even orbiting Venus since the atmosphere of the planet is so hot and unwelcoming to the people from Earth. The story begins with Helen Failia, the woman who first envisions a colony on Venus and convinces a few key people, some in the UN, to back her efforts with money and research grants. But now, some 50 years later, some at the UN feel enough is enough and threaten to close the channels of funding that the Venera colony must have to survive. But Helen is not ready to give up so easily.
Unbeknownst to Helen, the people of Earth, specifically the Venerans, are not the only beings interested in colonizing Venus. The reader is introduced to the civilization of very unusual creatures in alternating chapters. They are bird-like people with wings, the ability to fly, and incredibly, have mastered rapid travel between planets far beyond what earth's technology is capable of. They have a strong moral code, loyalty to family and to their home towns. In fact another distinctive aspect of their culture is that their cities are actual living, with the capacity to think and feel. Talk about world building...Ms. Zettel has got it down.
The reader comes to know many of the Venerans, several characters from Earth (called Terrans), and the complex people of the alien civilization. All represent competing viewpoints. The humans tend to be more selfish and manipulative in their thinking, whereas the aliens, who call themselves The People, have as their moral imperative, to support life wherever they find it. Yet "The People," do not all think alike and neither do the human beings. In the end, it is ironic that "The People," though more advanced scientifically and morally, are fooled by some of the humans into acts of aggression toward another group of humans.
So it seems that all the possibilities of being mutually enriched by other beings when humans from Earth meet non-Earth beings is summarily quashed by selfish short-sighted lies from selfish, short sighted human beings. This was published originally in 2001, but I am holding out hope that a sequel will show me I was wrong in my interpretation of the conclusion.
Over all, a thoroughly enjoyable read! So read away and interpret that ending on your own!
The Quiet Invasion takes place in a future time when the One World government is a reality on Earth; civilization and technology have advanced to the extent that there are colonies of people from Earth on Mars, the moon, and even orbiting Venus since the atmosphere of the planet is so hot and unwelcoming to the people from Earth. The story begins with Helen Failia, the woman who first envisions a colony on Venus and convinces a few key people, some in the UN, to back her efforts with money and research grants. But now, some 50 years later, some at the UN feel enough is enough and threaten to close the channels of funding that the Venera colony must have to survive. But Helen is not ready to give up so easily.
Unbeknownst to Helen, the people of Earth, specifically the Venerans, are not the only beings interested in colonizing Venus. The reader is introduced to the civilization of very unusual creatures in alternating chapters. They are bird-like people with wings, the ability to fly, and incredibly, have mastered rapid travel between planets far beyond what earth's technology is capable of. They have a strong moral code, loyalty to family and to their home towns. In fact another distinctive aspect of their culture is that their cities are actual living, with the capacity to think and feel. Talk about world building...Ms. Zettel has got it down.
The reader comes to know many of the Venerans, several characters from Earth (called Terrans), and the complex people of the alien civilization. All represent competing viewpoints. The humans tend to be more selfish and manipulative in their thinking, whereas the aliens, who call themselves The People, have as their moral imperative, to support life wherever they find it. Yet "The People," do not all think alike and neither do the human beings. In the end, it is ironic that "The People," though more advanced scientifically and morally, are fooled by some of the humans into acts of aggression toward another group of humans.
So it seems that all the possibilities of being mutually enriched by other beings when humans from Earth meet non-Earth beings is summarily quashed by selfish short-sighted lies from selfish, short sighted human beings. This was published originally in 2001, but I am holding out hope that a sequel will show me I was wrong in my interpretation of the conclusion.
Over all, a thoroughly enjoyable read! So read away and interpret that ending on your own!
February 7, 2018
I think the highest compliment you can pay a writer is to say that the last book you read of hers was better than the one before, even more so if you liked the book before!
In The Quiet Invasion, Sarah Zettel once again takes us to a new world and introduces us to new aliens. This time the new world is right next door - Venus.
I have criticized Zettel for not being "hard science" enough for my tastes. In The Quiet Invasion she has clearly done her homework as well as consulted with experts so that much more "real science" about Venus, lasers, climates, etc. is in this book. I would still not classify The Quiet Invasion as a "hard science, science fiction" read but it is far better than books which ignore laws of space and time.
A recurring theme in this and the other two Zettel books that I have read is that all species lie and deceive to gain power, status, etc. and that governments do this even better than their citizens. While we know this to be a problem for our race, it is a bit disappointing to see it in worlds and species far removed from Earth. If you subscribe to the theory that all life in the universe is related in chemical makeup and form, it isn't a leap to suppose we are connected by our deceitfulness as well. Hopefully this theory will be proven wrong.
In The Quiet Invasion, Sarah Zettel once again takes us to a new world and introduces us to new aliens. This time the new world is right next door - Venus.
I have criticized Zettel for not being "hard science" enough for my tastes. In The Quiet Invasion she has clearly done her homework as well as consulted with experts so that much more "real science" about Venus, lasers, climates, etc. is in this book. I would still not classify The Quiet Invasion as a "hard science, science fiction" read but it is far better than books which ignore laws of space and time.
A recurring theme in this and the other two Zettel books that I have read is that all species lie and deceive to gain power, status, etc. and that governments do this even better than their citizens. While we know this to be a problem for our race, it is a bit disappointing to see it in worlds and species far removed from Earth. If you subscribe to the theory that all life in the universe is related in chemical makeup and form, it isn't a leap to suppose we are connected by our deceitfulness as well. Hopefully this theory will be proven wrong.
January 26, 2019
The Quiet Invasion had all the elements of a great sci-fi story, but they never quite cohered into one. Still, it was an interesting story about first contact with a reasonably strange culture. It was also set on Venus with at least a reasonably hard take on the science, and the backdrop was definitely great.
The plot was, at times, a mess, the politics alternated between silly, tired and interesting, the characters were mostly excellent even if many of them grabbed the Idiot Ball more often than I'd have liked, the dialogue was surprisingly clunky ... the book kept alternating between being really good and interesting, and being just overly simple. Also, the ending was very abrupt; I'd have liked to have seen more.
I can still recommend Quiet Invasion, because I was never bored or annoyed by it, except for the feel that it could have been so much better if it had got one more round of editing.
The plot was, at times, a mess, the politics alternated between silly, tired and interesting, the characters were mostly excellent even if many of them grabbed the Idiot Ball more often than I'd have liked, the dialogue was surprisingly clunky ... the book kept alternating between being really good and interesting, and being just overly simple. Also, the ending was very abrupt; I'd have liked to have seen more.
I can still recommend Quiet Invasion, because I was never bored or annoyed by it, except for the feel that it could have been so much better if it had got one more round of editing.
November 26, 2019
Ahhh such a mixed bag. I am always intreiged by stories that show the meeting of 2 cultures, especially well fleshed out first contacts with extraterrestrials. This book certainly delivers on this front with some of the most fleshed out, compelling and original aliens I've had the pressure to read.
The setting is also wonderfully imagined, I love the idea of a venus populated by cloud cities and I feel its a possibility under explored in scifi.
That being said, I don't find the main human protagonist compelling (I'm assuming Vee is the protagonist), instead I find her impulsive and annoying.
Pacing is also a little inconsistent, and the ending left quite a lot to be desired.
That being said.... I would read a sequal!
The setting is also wonderfully imagined, I love the idea of a venus populated by cloud cities and I feel its a possibility under explored in scifi.
That being said, I don't find the main human protagonist compelling (I'm assuming Vee is the protagonist), instead I find her impulsive and annoying.
Pacing is also a little inconsistent, and the ending left quite a lot to be desired.
That being said.... I would read a sequal!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2024
First Contact on Venus, with political tension between Earth and the colonies running on the background plus we got a few aliens' POVs! The alien got their own world, culture and politics too (not as complex as Foreigner but it's different enough). My only complaint was the ending was too abrupt and .
April 19, 2024
I really liked The Quiet Invasion and I think the design of the aliens, both appearance and the way their society worked, was incredibly unique and fascinating. However I really wished this had been at Least 2 books as the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying.
Despite that one complaint I think Sarah Zettel does a great job at world building and has really interesting ideas. I look forward to picking up another science fiction book from her and seeing what else she has come up with!
Despite that one complaint I think Sarah Zettel does a great job at world building and has really interesting ideas. I look forward to picking up another science fiction book from her and seeing what else she has come up with!
September 19, 2022
Science Fiction - the way this book progresses you almost wonder if it is the start of a series. Humans meet The People as both try to claim Venus. Part of the story is biology versus mechanics. There is also a liberal sprinkling of politics within both cultures.
No Canadian or pharmacy references.
No Canadian or pharmacy references.
September 14, 2020
The Quiet Invasion is story of first contact wrapped up in mystery and political intrigue. I really enjoyed the depth Zettel wrote into the aliens and the world they come from. The characters, both alien and human, were well thought out and interesting.
February 25, 2023
Well written science fiction with a powerful chapter ten that I loved. Very dramatic. If you're looking for space battles with ships shooting at each other, this book is not for you. This is a first contact type of novel
August 10, 2024
A novel of the best kind of huge ideas, full of political intrigue, planetary machinations, science for the love of research, and a fascinating alien society. Maybe a few too many big ideas, because just when one section hit its stride, we'd be tossed back to one of the other interwoven plots. And yikes the ending is abrupt!
May 15, 2017
Good to see a well formed alien perspective and characters that made sense.
In the end though it just felt a bit, well, flat. On the whole though a decent read.
In the end though it just felt a bit, well, flat. On the whole though a decent read.
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