Sleeping Planet

by William R. Burkett Jr.

Science Fiction Encyclopedia described this as a “hard-edged” tale of the 24th-century conquest of Earth by an alien empire the humans had judged too stupid to pull off such a coup. Only a handful of humans escaped the effects of a mutated narcoleptic drug that put humanity into protracted hibernation. The battle to liberate Earth is fought by those few with the aid of a vengeful ghost called “Gremper” by the aliens. The action is fast and furious, while the genius general of the invading fleet goes slowly insane at the disruption of his well-laid plans. “A natural-born storyteller,” said bestselling author Frank G. Slaughter. A classic reprint of a sci-fi masterpiece.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

387 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1965

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this in three installments in Analog Science Fiction. Perhaps it was when I read it. At twelve years old, I was hungry for adventure, and this book was chock full of action. The fact that the Terrans were so clever and inventive appealed to me. The plot moved at breakneck speed. There was a good bit of humor in the tale. It might be hard to find the book these days, but it is well worth it. I still re-read it every couple of years, and enjoy it every time.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the first sci-fi I read, it was good enough to get me hooked on the genre.

[Jonathan Palfrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book long ago, perhaps at the end of the 1960s, and remembered it long enough that I was pleased to find a second-hand paperback copy in 1990. In 2023, I bought the Kindle version and reread it.

It’s basically a corny old sf story in the style of the 1950s, very like one of Eric Frank Russell’s stories, in which hostile but not very intelligent aliens are outwitted by humans. However, I really enjoyed rereading it, because it’s an above-average tale of its kind. Burkett turns out to be a good storyteller.

Being a corny old sf story with corny old sf characters sets it back a bit, and I don’t think it’s quite good enough for four stars, but this is a three-plus. I don’t think I’ll reread it often, but I can reread it occasionally with pleasure.

[Katya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every few years I steal this book from my dad's sci-fi collection and reread it with great pleasure. A little hokey, sure, but always satisfying!

[Derek · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not exactly a bad book, but one so mired in its mediocrity and lack of imagination that finishing it seemed unnecessary. It was a story set in the 23rd century, yet life is as we know it (or more specifically as the people of the mid-1960's would have thought of it: there are rocket ships but also cigarettes, the video-phones are answered by C-3PO like snarky androids and the Earth is invaded by aliens of the 'face paint and latex prosthetic head' variety.)

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sleeping Planet by William R. Burkett Jr. and I was pleasantly surprised by it. Definitely an entertaining Sci Fi novel. Originally published it was his first published novel.

Basically the Earth Federation has been at war with the Liralan Empire for a very long time. The Liralans have discovered a new weapon which they use on the central planets of our Solar System, Mars, Earth and Venus. Basically they sow a dust on each planet which puts all humans and animals to sleep. They then land troops on the planets and take them over, placing the sleeping bodies in underground vaults.

It's a successful operation but it turns that a small number of humans have a resistance to the dusk. And they plan to fight back. The first we meet is Bradford Donavan, a damaged taxi driver from London. He lost his legs in an early incident and now has artificial legs. Bitter because the Army has refused his requests to join, he takes on a group of Liralan troops when they land in London. His artificial legs are damaged and he ends up becoming their prisoner. Brought aboard one of the space craft he begins his own plan to disrupt them. He confuses the lower troops by telling them that the ghosts of Earth's past will haunt them, especially his grandpa, who they call Gremper. This begins to spread throughout the ships, causing some consternation.

We next meet James Rierson, a lawyer from Atlanta, vacationing in the town of Baxter, Ga, on a hunting expedition. While there he sees invading troops and fights back and begins a campaign of trying to escape from them, and also causing as much damage as possible.

The story focuses on Donavan and Rierson and the Expedition commander and his intelligence chief, who is tasked to find Rierson and get to the bottom of the Ghost of Baxter and also discover how these two and any others are immune to the dust.

It's a slow building story but it's also quite entertaining. We only hear about the other Earthlings who are resistant a the beginning as the intelligence Chief discovers the links between them. They make more of an appearance later in the novel.

While Donavan becomes more isolated on his prison ship, Rierson finds out more about what is going on and surprisingly discovers allies in Earth's robot workers and Comm systems. The robots aren't pleased at what the aliens are doing on Earth and to the sleeping humans.

It all becomes a more and more fascinating fight between the few surviving humans and the invading Liralans and how it is ultimately resolved is quite satisfying. It's an entertaining space adventure and the characters are all interesting and well-developed. A most enjoyable into to Burkett's writing. (3.5 stars)

[Ernest Hogan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover of the 1967 paperback edition looks, well, psychedelic, and turns out it's another Analog serial with a drug as the primary gimmick. In the 25th century, the Federation looks almost entirely like mid-20th century America. And there aren't many women. It's mentioned that all humans have pink skin. Not much character development, though one character has no legs. The alien Empire invades the solar system, everybody, but a few are still awake. There doesn't seem to be any political commentary intended. Lots of military action, that gets weirder as it goes on because, yeah, the drug. It's oddly entertaining.

[Andy Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book 50 years ago in the 70s, as a teenager, and I loved it. Now I'm finally reviewing it.

It's fun to see all the tropes it uses, after 50 years of reading scifi and fantasy. Humanity is completely conquered and does not put up a fight.

The aliens put everyone to sleep using a rare drug that puts humanity into suspended animation. They are 5 foot tall fox-like creatures and happily use humanity's resources and infrastructure.

But one person has immunity to the drug. He has a sniper rifle and begins picking off the aliens one-by-one.

That'll give you the flavor of the book.

[Mike Stone, · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read in the style of Eric Frank Russell.

I ran into this in my late teens. It's kind of half-serious and half humorous. I was strongly reminded of the work of Eric Frank Russell, especially his "Wasp" and "Next of Kin".

Earth is at war with an alien empire. The story revolves around the invasion of the Earth after the whole population has been rendered unconscious - except half a dozen or so who happen to be immune. The protagonists have at first to thwart the invaders single handed, until one of them is able to enlist the aid of an army of robots. They win in the end , helped by some convenient superstitions on the part of the aliens.

All in all, a good fun read if you don't take it too seriously. One of the heroes starts the invasion in an air-raid shelter, though one wonders if these would be much good against 25th Century weapons. Ok though. Just suspend disbelief and enjoy it.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really awesome read and really thrilling to read. I couldn't put it down wanting to know what happened next to earth.
If only AI and robots were as nice and not so creepy on our earth as they were in the book.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical '60s romp book with the solo human outwitting the human race. Fun but silly.

[Rodders22 · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first science fiction books I ever read, and loved it.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been one of my guilty pleasures since it first appeared in Analog. We have a space invaders opera where the characters are appealing and accessible, especially Sarno and Sjilla. And there are lots of appealing (and non-depressed) robots.
The major drawback is that the alien characters are simply too human, particularly Sarno and Sjilla.... even to the assumption that there will be the same play on "fresh" in their language. I also keep getting distracted by solecisms even in English ("refute" for "negate", and "decried" for "descried".)
Nonetheless, I think I can promise you an enjoyable time.

[Stonebender · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I read this book when I was ten or eleven years old. I know it was the first book I read that had a disabled protagonist. So as not to spoil anything, I'll say, I loved the main gimmick of the story. How two characters managed to work together without even knowing each other was very clever. I started getting bogged down with the story towards the end. I still liked it well enough. I bought it as an e-book recently and reread it. I understand the book has been out of print for a long time. The plot suffers from age. Having been written way before personal computers. If that bothers, you I wouldn't recommend this story.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this during the Eighties. Sadly I don't have this book now, but it was a really good read.