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Fluger
A dystopian novel where invulnerable monster from somewhere mysterious threatens the gleaming perfect city. Under pressure, Olympus City reveals its flaws; because of the Fluger and its enigmatic opponent, Kam Shar, perhaps humanity is forced to become a little more aware of itself and the squalid world outside the floating cities.
159 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 19, 2018
Not a bad story, but not one of her best. The writing seems a little less polished than it could have been, but it's a quick, fun set-a-monster-to-catch-a-monster romp.
October 11, 2025
an unstoppable deadly alien stowaway lands in mega city earth, this is what “Alien Earth” wish it could be
June 11, 2020
I found this novel at a used bookstore for $1! It was worth the price.
What’s it about? An oversized, extremely strong, extremely resilient, extremely angry alien creature leaves his planet as a stowaway, arriving on earth. He wrecks havoc on the supercity of Olympus, killing hundreds of people and destroying property over the course of several weeks. The mayor hires an alien hitman, Kam Shar, to defeat the creature. The plot follows young street urchin, Hulian, as he hunts the animal that killed his friends, as well as small side plots about the mayor and his councilors.
The supercity is an important part of the story – it’s set up vertically as well as horizontally, clearly an expansion of New York. There are power reactors and “els” – elevators that run all over it. People don’t cook, but eat at vending machine-like kitchens. If people commit a crime, they are banished to an untamed wilderness outside the gates. People are essentially locked in. They can transfer to other cities, which is part of the plot later on, but it’s not easy.
There are some fun futuristic ideas – calling Tv’s “tevs” for instance. Apparently, there was a huge tidal wave in 2020. Given the climate reports lately, this doesn’t seem that far off.
While this book sounds like a Godzilla-esque romp, it really isn’t. It’s extremely serious and at times disturbing, even for me. Usually deaths in big city monster movies are off-screen – people clearly die when building fall over, etc, but Corradado is described as tearing people apart. Regular, normal people. Usually I don’t like regular, normal people, but the ambivalence and hatred Corradado shows towards humans is quite unsettling.
There is a part where Corradado is heading towards the sections where the children live. Thousands of people allow themselves to be ripped to shreds to divert the monster from its path. With a kid myself now, I can understand their panic. The scene is pretty crazy.
The story falls flat with its characters. There are too many (but, only 5 women, only two of whom have names or speak). No one is the focus. Hulian is somewhat, but we don’t learn a lot about him other than he’s 13 and grew up homeless. Kam Shar, the alien, is also not the main character. We learn objective facts about him but nothing too deep. It’s unfortunate, because he’s a super cool character. The way we’re told of his shape-jumping abilities is well done, but I wish we got more of it.
This novel is quite fascinating though. Seeing inside Corradado’s head, understanding why he does what he does, is well-done. She is able to explain his instinctual rationale clearly.
The action scenes are very well described, and the final sentence of the book is quite evocative. There are pithy sentences like this: “Its empty windows were mouths that told of past glories” which served to heighten the serious tone of the book.
Overall, it’s an interesting, weird-as-hell sci-fi from 1980. It has a callous approach to violence that's suggestive of thematic undercurrents, but they, unfortunately, are not addressed.
What’s it about? An oversized, extremely strong, extremely resilient, extremely angry alien creature leaves his planet as a stowaway, arriving on earth. He wrecks havoc on the supercity of Olympus, killing hundreds of people and destroying property over the course of several weeks. The mayor hires an alien hitman, Kam Shar, to defeat the creature. The plot follows young street urchin, Hulian, as he hunts the animal that killed his friends, as well as small side plots about the mayor and his councilors.
The supercity is an important part of the story – it’s set up vertically as well as horizontally, clearly an expansion of New York. There are power reactors and “els” – elevators that run all over it. People don’t cook, but eat at vending machine-like kitchens. If people commit a crime, they are banished to an untamed wilderness outside the gates. People are essentially locked in. They can transfer to other cities, which is part of the plot later on, but it’s not easy.
There are some fun futuristic ideas – calling Tv’s “tevs” for instance. Apparently, there was a huge tidal wave in 2020. Given the climate reports lately, this doesn’t seem that far off.
While this book sounds like a Godzilla-esque romp, it really isn’t. It’s extremely serious and at times disturbing, even for me. Usually deaths in big city monster movies are off-screen – people clearly die when building fall over, etc, but Corradado is described as tearing people apart. Regular, normal people. Usually I don’t like regular, normal people, but the ambivalence and hatred Corradado shows towards humans is quite unsettling.
There is a part where Corradado is heading towards the sections where the children live. Thousands of people allow themselves to be ripped to shreds to divert the monster from its path. With a kid myself now, I can understand their panic. The scene is pretty crazy.
The story falls flat with its characters. There are too many (but, only 5 women, only two of whom have names or speak). No one is the focus. Hulian is somewhat, but we don’t learn a lot about him other than he’s 13 and grew up homeless. Kam Shar, the alien, is also not the main character. We learn objective facts about him but nothing too deep. It’s unfortunate, because he’s a super cool character. The way we’re told of his shape-jumping abilities is well done, but I wish we got more of it.
This novel is quite fascinating though. Seeing inside Corradado’s head, understanding why he does what he does, is well-done. She is able to explain his instinctual rationale clearly.
The action scenes are very well described, and the final sentence of the book is quite evocative. There are pithy sentences like this: “Its empty windows were mouths that told of past glories” which served to heighten the serious tone of the book.
Overall, it’s an interesting, weird-as-hell sci-fi from 1980. It has a callous approach to violence that's suggestive of thematic undercurrents, but they, unfortunately, are not addressed.
January 28, 2018
While the writing may seem...rushed, the story holds together. There's definitely a lot of action, even if there are questions left unanswered. Some great themes here, related to social class and fear.
June 14, 2023
Piserchia's prose is clunky and the characters are cardboard cutouts. But the surreal, sparely hinted world-building redeems the story. It's rather like Edgar Rice Burroughs decided to concoct a riposte to Delany's Dahlgren.
May 24, 2020
The Fluger exceeds expectations as a classic monster novel, but it never sustains excellence long enough to make the book as a whole feel valid. Still, if you approach the book as it is—a quick, pulpy romp—there is enough here to make it worth a read—if quick, pulpy romps are your thing.
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See a full length review at forfemfan.com]
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See a full length review at forfemfan.com]
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July 18, 2022Full review: https://monsterbookclub.com/2022/07/1...
January 6, 2009
Sadly standard Piserchia monster book. I was hoping for better; didn't get it. A sad state of affairs.
September 8, 2025
Something about evil space monster? Interesting
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews