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They Walked Like Men
A Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Author The aliens wouldn't kill ... They'd take over earth and let man survive -- if he could. A few people tried to tell that Earth was being taken over by alien beings in the shape of bowling balls, talking dogs, dolls that walked like men. The trouble was, no one believed them.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
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901 people want to read
About the author
Clifford D. Simak
970 books1,061 followers"He was honored by fans with three Hugo awards and by colleagues with one Nebula award and was named the third Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1977." (Wikipedia)
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford...
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
August 1, 2025
The buyers are coming! The buyers are coming!
THEY WALKED LIKE MEN is standard 1950s pulp fiction with an imaginative novel twist - a typical alien invasion scenario but the aliens are playing by earth's rules and the weapon is commerce! Parker Graves, a hard drinking journalist, seems to be one of only a handful of people on the planet who figure out the conspiracy. but he is having the devil's own time finding anyone who's willing to listen to him and he is ultimately left to his own devices to determine the objective of the takeover and thwart the aliens' plans to buy the earth right out from underneath its inhabitants!
With an obvious focus on the soft sci-fi elements centred in small town America, THEY WALKED LIKE MEN is clearly vintage Simak output. In fact, the science is so soft as to be virtually non-existent and Simak seems to have let this novel's theme drift away from sci-fi, through fantasy and clearly into the realm of lightweight horror. Indeed, it's not a big stretch of the imagination to picture THEY WALKED LIKE MEN serving as a screenplay for a late night episode of Rod Serling's THE TWILIGHT ZONE.
And what would a Simak novel be without a sprinkling of his pithy, keen observations on life in general?
On customer service: "There are no manners in the world today, young man. There isn't any kindness. And no consideration. There's no such thing as thinking the best of one's fellowmen. The business world has become a bookkeeping operation, performed by machines and by men who are very like machines in that they have no soul. There is no honor and no trust ..."
On the outdoors: "There ain't enough people that get out into the woods, at night or any other time. I ain't the kind of guy that goes around spouting about communing with nature, but I tell you, friend, if you spent some time with her, you're a better man."
An enjoyable read, to be sure, but THEY WALKED LIKE MEN is at best lack-lustre measured by the standards that readers of his more compelling successes such as CITY, TIME AND AGAIN or TIME IS THE SIMPLEST THING will be using as their yardstick. Shaping the aliens into mobile bowling balls and converting them into tiny dolls when they weren't inhabiting a human form seemed merely juvenile to me and detracted from the development of a really snappy idea that could have been taken so much further in the hands of an acknowledged master such as Simak.
Paul Weiss
THEY WALKED LIKE MEN is standard 1950s pulp fiction with an imaginative novel twist - a typical alien invasion scenario but the aliens are playing by earth's rules and the weapon is commerce! Parker Graves, a hard drinking journalist, seems to be one of only a handful of people on the planet who figure out the conspiracy. but he is having the devil's own time finding anyone who's willing to listen to him and he is ultimately left to his own devices to determine the objective of the takeover and thwart the aliens' plans to buy the earth right out from underneath its inhabitants!
With an obvious focus on the soft sci-fi elements centred in small town America, THEY WALKED LIKE MEN is clearly vintage Simak output. In fact, the science is so soft as to be virtually non-existent and Simak seems to have let this novel's theme drift away from sci-fi, through fantasy and clearly into the realm of lightweight horror. Indeed, it's not a big stretch of the imagination to picture THEY WALKED LIKE MEN serving as a screenplay for a late night episode of Rod Serling's THE TWILIGHT ZONE.
And what would a Simak novel be without a sprinkling of his pithy, keen observations on life in general?
On customer service: "There are no manners in the world today, young man. There isn't any kindness. And no consideration. There's no such thing as thinking the best of one's fellowmen. The business world has become a bookkeeping operation, performed by machines and by men who are very like machines in that they have no soul. There is no honor and no trust ..."
On the outdoors: "There ain't enough people that get out into the woods, at night or any other time. I ain't the kind of guy that goes around spouting about communing with nature, but I tell you, friend, if you spent some time with her, you're a better man."
An enjoyable read, to be sure, but THEY WALKED LIKE MEN is at best lack-lustre measured by the standards that readers of his more compelling successes such as CITY, TIME AND AGAIN or TIME IS THE SIMPLEST THING will be using as their yardstick. Shaping the aliens into mobile bowling balls and converting them into tiny dolls when they weren't inhabiting a human form seemed merely juvenile to me and detracted from the development of a really snappy idea that could have been taken so much further in the hands of an acknowledged master such as Simak.
Paul Weiss
March 13, 2017
In the history of the science fiction novel, there have been any number of depictions of invaders from other worlds trying to conquer good ol' Mother Earth, be it with brute force and death rays (as in H.G. Wells' seminal novel of 1898, "The War of the Worlds") or more insidiously (as in Jack Finney's 1955 masterpiece of paranoia, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"). But nowhere, I suspect, has the reader ever been presented with a takeover attempt akin to the one in Clifford D. Simak's "They Walked Like Men"...or, for that matter, one featuring aliens that resemble the ones in that selfsame book. Simak's eighth novel was initially released in 1962, when the author was already 58; his next would be the hugely beloved Hugo winner "Way Station," the following year. A lighthearted, borderline comical affair that yet mixes in some surprising jolts of violence and mayhem and a goodly dollop of cosmic paranoia, "They Walked Like Men" is written in Simak's trademark style: simply, clearly, compellingly readable. With its rapid pace, compressed time frame (the novel transpires over a period of roughly 40 harrowing hours), brief chapters, and cliffhanger finales at the end of practically every one of those chapters, the book really does manage to sweep the reader along, despite the unlikeliness of many of its central conceits. Personally, I thought the whole thing was a hoot!
In it, the reader encounters Parker Graves, a hard-drinking science writer working for a newspaper in a small Midwestern city. (Actually, strike that; we never learn the name of the city where Parker lives, or how big it is, or where it is. Call it Anywhere, U.S.A. But knowing Simak, a Wisconsin-born author who set so many of his works in that area, one feels safe to make certain assumptions.) Returning home from a drunken spree one evening, Graves is startled to discover what appears to be a bear trap outside his apartment door; a trap that almost catches him off guard. Even more startling is the fact that this dangerous contraption soon morphs into what appears to be a bowling ball; a bowling ball that rolls off, on its own volition, into the night. The following day, Parker is given the assignment, by his editor, of finding out why so many of the city's most revered businesses have suddenly lost their leases and are going belly-up, and why so many homeowners have been losing the roofs over their heads, as well. A little digging leads Parker and his galpal/fellow reporter Joy Kane (Simak's sixth novel, "Time Is the Simplest Thing," had also featured a female reporter, Harriet Quimby, as a main character; Simak, a longtime editor for the "Minneapolis Star," knew the newspaper business well, by the way, and his opening chapters here evince a very convincing atmosphere of that milieu) to the startling truth: Bowling ball-shaped aliens from another world, capable of assuming human shape with the aid of miniature dolls (!), have been buying up all the real estate on Earth with their seemingly limitless monetary hoard! These Realtors from the stars have their own agenda for our fair planet, which will soon be a world entirely comprised of homeless folks, it would seem. Fortunately for Parker and Joy, an alien from still another world--rivals of the balling ball folks--has arrived on Earth to lend some assistance. This alien, whose name we never learn but whom Parker calls Dog, because it resembles a very talkative pooch (!), does indeed come in handy, but can the three do anything to stop the menace of economic collapse when no one in authority, for some strange reason, will believe Parker's story about alien bowling balls and a garrulous mutt....
As you might be able to tell, Simak's book surely does demand a lot from the reader, as regards credence. "They Walked Like Men" surely is some kind of lark, but wow, is it ever an entertaining one! Simak seems to be in on the joke, and indeed, at one point, Parker tells us "there was nothing quite so outrageous as a shaggy dog that talked. And, perhaps, when you came to think of it, it was no whit more ridiculous than a bunch of bowling balls about to grab the Earth...." And yet, despite the self-mockery, Simak's book is also an increasingly paranoid one, never more so than when Parker and Joy cling to one another in the nighttime drizzle, each too afraid to return home and at a loss as to how to proceed. It is also a surprisingly realistic tale, as regards the main characters' reactions to what is going on around them. When Parker first meets one of the aliens in human form, and later sees "him" decompose into constituent bowling balls, what does he do? He runs outside and vomits against a tree, stunned and aghast at what he's just witnessed. Parker is certainly no traditional action hero, and with the amount of drinking that he does, it's remarkable that he's able to do anything at all! The aliens that he is up against are an interesting lot, to be sure; sticklers about buying up the Earth in complete conformity with the legalities of Terran business, and yet making rationalizations and excuses for such little things as counterfeiting and murder!
Simak's book contains any number of nail-biting sequences, among them: Parker exploring the city building where the aliens seem to have an office and discovering those weird dolls and an icy-cold portal leading to...; Parker exploring a creepy old deserted house in the countryside, another base for the aliens; and Parker being trapped inside a speeding car that really isn't a car at all, but rather an agglomeration of the bowling ball creatures out to kill him on the road. Ultimately, Parker realizes that he just cannot trust anyone or anything; as in Finney's book, any human (or any object, in the Simak novel) could be an alien in disguise. And the reader shares poor Parker's discomfort.
Writing in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," Scottish critic David Pringle tells us that Simak's book is "an entertaining first-person tale of economic mayhem, with rather a cop-out ending," but to be fair, it is an ending that had been set up earlier on, and one that is in conformity with much of the levity that had preceded it. (Hint: It involves skunks. That’s right...skunks.) Personally, this finale didn’t bother me as much as some other minor matters. For example, we never learn quite enough about the aliens, for this reader's money; it would have been nice to read about how those dolls work, how those portals operate, if the alien race has a name, if the Dog character has a name, what exactly that man-shaped shadow thingy that attacks Parker in the office building is, and so on. Simak's book could easily have spun on for another 100 pages or so, even after the aliens' game is exposed to the world, instead of ending abruptly, as it does. Still, this reader was fairly satisfied with what Simak has given us here.
Take a 1950s tale of sci-fi paranoia, and in some decidedly noirish elements, sprinkle with some fantasy trimmings and a goodly dose of screwball comedy and you might come up with something very similar to "They Walked Like Men." For pure entertainment, you could do a lot worse. Given the nature of the book's aliens, you will perhaps forgive me when I say that here, Clifford D. Simak has bowled yet another strike!
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit site at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Clifford D. Simak....)
In it, the reader encounters Parker Graves, a hard-drinking science writer working for a newspaper in a small Midwestern city. (Actually, strike that; we never learn the name of the city where Parker lives, or how big it is, or where it is. Call it Anywhere, U.S.A. But knowing Simak, a Wisconsin-born author who set so many of his works in that area, one feels safe to make certain assumptions.) Returning home from a drunken spree one evening, Graves is startled to discover what appears to be a bear trap outside his apartment door; a trap that almost catches him off guard. Even more startling is the fact that this dangerous contraption soon morphs into what appears to be a bowling ball; a bowling ball that rolls off, on its own volition, into the night. The following day, Parker is given the assignment, by his editor, of finding out why so many of the city's most revered businesses have suddenly lost their leases and are going belly-up, and why so many homeowners have been losing the roofs over their heads, as well. A little digging leads Parker and his galpal/fellow reporter Joy Kane (Simak's sixth novel, "Time Is the Simplest Thing," had also featured a female reporter, Harriet Quimby, as a main character; Simak, a longtime editor for the "Minneapolis Star," knew the newspaper business well, by the way, and his opening chapters here evince a very convincing atmosphere of that milieu) to the startling truth: Bowling ball-shaped aliens from another world, capable of assuming human shape with the aid of miniature dolls (!), have been buying up all the real estate on Earth with their seemingly limitless monetary hoard! These Realtors from the stars have their own agenda for our fair planet, which will soon be a world entirely comprised of homeless folks, it would seem. Fortunately for Parker and Joy, an alien from still another world--rivals of the balling ball folks--has arrived on Earth to lend some assistance. This alien, whose name we never learn but whom Parker calls Dog, because it resembles a very talkative pooch (!), does indeed come in handy, but can the three do anything to stop the menace of economic collapse when no one in authority, for some strange reason, will believe Parker's story about alien bowling balls and a garrulous mutt....
As you might be able to tell, Simak's book surely does demand a lot from the reader, as regards credence. "They Walked Like Men" surely is some kind of lark, but wow, is it ever an entertaining one! Simak seems to be in on the joke, and indeed, at one point, Parker tells us "there was nothing quite so outrageous as a shaggy dog that talked. And, perhaps, when you came to think of it, it was no whit more ridiculous than a bunch of bowling balls about to grab the Earth...." And yet, despite the self-mockery, Simak's book is also an increasingly paranoid one, never more so than when Parker and Joy cling to one another in the nighttime drizzle, each too afraid to return home and at a loss as to how to proceed. It is also a surprisingly realistic tale, as regards the main characters' reactions to what is going on around them. When Parker first meets one of the aliens in human form, and later sees "him" decompose into constituent bowling balls, what does he do? He runs outside and vomits against a tree, stunned and aghast at what he's just witnessed. Parker is certainly no traditional action hero, and with the amount of drinking that he does, it's remarkable that he's able to do anything at all! The aliens that he is up against are an interesting lot, to be sure; sticklers about buying up the Earth in complete conformity with the legalities of Terran business, and yet making rationalizations and excuses for such little things as counterfeiting and murder!
Simak's book contains any number of nail-biting sequences, among them: Parker exploring the city building where the aliens seem to have an office and discovering those weird dolls and an icy-cold portal leading to...; Parker exploring a creepy old deserted house in the countryside, another base for the aliens; and Parker being trapped inside a speeding car that really isn't a car at all, but rather an agglomeration of the bowling ball creatures out to kill him on the road. Ultimately, Parker realizes that he just cannot trust anyone or anything; as in Finney's book, any human (or any object, in the Simak novel) could be an alien in disguise. And the reader shares poor Parker's discomfort.
Writing in his "Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction," Scottish critic David Pringle tells us that Simak's book is "an entertaining first-person tale of economic mayhem, with rather a cop-out ending," but to be fair, it is an ending that had been set up earlier on, and one that is in conformity with much of the levity that had preceded it. (Hint: It involves skunks. That’s right...skunks.) Personally, this finale didn’t bother me as much as some other minor matters. For example, we never learn quite enough about the aliens, for this reader's money; it would have been nice to read about how those dolls work, how those portals operate, if the alien race has a name, if the Dog character has a name, what exactly that man-shaped shadow thingy that attacks Parker in the office building is, and so on. Simak's book could easily have spun on for another 100 pages or so, even after the aliens' game is exposed to the world, instead of ending abruptly, as it does. Still, this reader was fairly satisfied with what Simak has given us here.
Take a 1950s tale of sci-fi paranoia, and in some decidedly noirish elements, sprinkle with some fantasy trimmings and a goodly dose of screwball comedy and you might come up with something very similar to "They Walked Like Men." For pure entertainment, you could do a lot worse. Given the nature of the book's aliens, you will perhaps forgive me when I say that here, Clifford D. Simak has bowled yet another strike!
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit site at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of Clifford D. Simak....)
November 19, 2024
They Walked Like Men is an alien invasion story with more of the heart and humor of John Scalzi or Connie Willis than the weird menace feel of Wells or Finney. Shape-changing bowling balls are taking over the Earth legally, by purchasing it one piece at a time. It's up to a romantic pair of reporters, who could've stepped right out of a 1965 Disney romantic comedy by way of a Norman Rockwell painting, to save the planet. (With the help of an intelligent dog... Simak did intelligent dogs just as well as Dean Koontz ever did.) It's a fun and feel-good story, as full of small-town charm as Mayberry, quite unlike City or Way Station, and though it's now sadly somewhat dated I think it's still very enjoyable.
October 23, 2018
Един изненадващ фантастичен ноар, който хем покрива всички критерии на жанра, хем успява да се измъкне някъде по средата на произведениято и да достави доста оптимистична развръзка.
Тук отново имаме журналист за протагонист. Нещо, което обикновено ме дразни, но Саймък е работил десетилетия тази професия и пише за нея с разбиране и много любов, а и си е съвсем в реда на нещата за жанра.
Паркър е журналист и много готин образ, системно подпийващ, разхайтен ерген, който приема професията си завидно сериозно. След нескопосан и странен опит за покушение над светлата му личност, той се впуска в разследване на необясними случаи на изкупуване на търговски обекти в градчето му. Скоро се оказва, че е надушил схема, която заплашва не само града и държавата, а и цялата Земя. А „злодеите” са доволно странни, мистериозни и с необясними мотиви. След среща с говорещо куче, живи топки за боулинг, изчезващи агенти и няколко учудващо щедри предложения и още по-учудващи опити за очистване, Паркър успява не само да разплете случая, а и да предотврати краха на човечеството.
Освен че книгата е наситена с напрежение, екшън и доволно много забавни ситуации, Саймък успява да вкара доста груба социална сатира към заспалото американско общество и нефелната му икономическа система. Препратките и алюзиите са доста хапливи и въпреки надеждата в края, на читателя му става пределно ясно, че има нещо гнило в Дания, както си трябва за ноар. Има и директни позиви за бунт срещу въпросната система, но те минават сякаш между другото.
Тук отново имаме журналист за протагонист. Нещо, което обикновено ме дразни, но Саймък е работил десетилетия тази професия и пише за нея с разбиране и много любов, а и си е съвсем в реда на нещата за жанра.
Паркър е журналист и много готин образ, системно подпийващ, разхайтен ерген, който приема професията си завидно сериозно. След нескопосан и странен опит за покушение над светлата му личност, той се впуска в разследване на необясними случаи на изкупуване на търговски обекти в градчето му. Скоро се оказва, че е надушил схема, която заплашва не само града и държавата, а и цялата Земя. А „злодеите” са доволно странни, мистериозни и с необясними мотиви. След среща с говорещо куче, живи топки за боулинг, изчезващи агенти и няколко учудващо щедри предложения и още по-учудващи опити за очистване, Паркър успява не само да разплете случая, а и да предотврати краха на човечеството.
Освен че книгата е наситена с напрежение, екшън и доволно много забавни ситуации, Саймък успява да вкара доста груба социална сатира към заспалото американско общество и нефелната му икономическа система. Препратките и алюзиите са доста хапливи и въпреки надеждата в края, на читателя му става пределно ясно, че има нещо гнило в Дания, както си трябва за ноар. Има и директни позиви за бунт срещу въпросната система, но те минават сякаш между другото.
August 22, 2024
Кулясті прибульці, які мають змогу набувати будь-якої органічної та неорганічної подоби вирішили захопити Землю … барабанний дріб.., викупивши всю приватну власність та бізнес структури. Ось такі от поганці. Крім того, вони дуже стримані у своїх прагненнях, бо для них важливо не виходити за рамки законів (Земних законів😂)
Я такого наївного чтива давненько не читав😁 Як на мене, ця книга- гарна жила для моцного стендапу. Там стільки можна почерпнути.
Головне, не сприймати книгу всерйоз, інакше починається тахікардія свідомості😁
Я такого наївного чтива давненько не читав😁 Як на мене, ця книга- гарна жила для моцного стендапу. Там стільки можна почерпнути.
Головне, не сприймати книгу всерйоз, інакше починається тахікардія свідомості😁
September 11, 2019
A rather interesting, entertaining short novel by Simak. Shape-shifting aliens (who's natural shape is that of bowling balls) takes over the world by simply buying it one building at a time - then again, they don't stop there, they want the whole solar system! And then there is a rival alien among us, who in this case, takes the shape of a dog - yes Simak loves his talking dogs. Funny, easy early sixties scifi read from the a master author of the genre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2016
Classic science fiction book that is creepily relevant today. The book features a newspaper reporter who discovers aliens have bought the Earth (legally) out from under mankind, therefore ending mankind.
While I see no evidence aliens have done this, we currently have an economic system in place that rewards greed and psychopathy. The toll this is taking on Earth is high enough that I worry that the end of mankind may come by our own hand. And I am REALLY not forward to when the globalists glare at us and scream, "this is all your fault. You did not stop us."
While I see no evidence aliens have done this, we currently have an economic system in place that rewards greed and psychopathy. The toll this is taking on Earth is high enough that I worry that the end of mankind may come by our own hand. And I am REALLY not forward to when the globalists glare at us and scream, "this is all your fault. You did not stop us."
April 13, 2021
Hay invasiones a la Tierra tipo "La guerra de los mundos". También están las formas insidiosas como"La invasión de los ultracuerpos". Y luego, a dos cuerpos de distancia está la que se propone aquí, más original es difícil.
Mención imprescindible al análisis que se hace del dinero como concepto titánico y casi omnipotente de nuestra sociedad.
Si no fuera porque la narración y la historia en sí no acompañan, podría ser un cinco estrellas sin problema.
Mención imprescindible al análisis que se hace del dinero como concepto titánico y casi omnipotente de nuestra sociedad.
Si no fuera porque la narración y la historia en sí no acompañan, podría ser un cinco estrellas sin problema.
June 26, 2017
Клифърд Саймък преоткривам с всяка следваща негова (пре)прочетена книга.
Стилът му тук за пореден път е нещо средно между социална фантастика и чандлъров пълп. Изключителна любим коктейл, изключително добре приготвен.
В историята има всичко - симпатичен репортер/детектив, двуизмерно гадже, говорещи животни, алчни и оригинално пресъздадени нашественици, смразяващи кръвта моменти, както и комични такива.
Какво няма ли? Няма скука. Няма клише. Няма пост-модернистични краски.
Толкова добра и непретенциозно мъдра книга, че ми идва да си я превърна в настолна.
Стилът му тук за пореден път е нещо средно между социална фантастика и чандлъров пълп. Изключителна любим коктейл, изключително добре приготвен.
В историята има всичко - симпатичен репортер/детектив, двуизмерно гадже, говорещи животни, алчни и оригинално пресъздадени нашественици, смразяващи кръвта моменти, както и комични такива.
Какво няма ли? Няма скука. Няма клише. Няма пост-модернистични краски.
Толкова добра и непретенциозно мъдра книга, че ми идва да си я превърна в настолна.
January 13, 2020
In the late 70s and early 80s, I was reading through the backlog of Clifford Simak novels.
April 29, 2009
First draft of review:
I have tried to start this book review in so many ways, trying to be witty or funny, but I’ll have to write it as honestly as I can because the book itself is one, long punch-line. I picked it up about a month or two ago, intrigued by the cigarette burns and yellowed pages that are red on edges, popular with old science fiction books. On the cover, there are a myriad of balls seemingly invading a road (they don’t stray onto the lawns of what looks to be an English countryside at midnight) that have twin disks that are glittering fiercely from the low-hung moon. It’s ridiculous looking, to be honest, and I yanked it up quick. How could I with a catchphrase (on the cover) that stated: spaceraiders determined to buy Earth roll relentlessly toward conquest! I wasn’t disappointed.
Mixed with good ol’ fashioned sexism, bowling ball aliens, dames, skunks, newspapers, economy, and talking dogs, this hard-boiled Sci-Fi novel by Clifford D. Simak has a bit of everything…everything ridiculous. Our hero is Parker Graves, a tough reporter that has a flair for inner monologues and contemplations, sometimes leading into poetry…sort of (e.g. “Above me I heard the tiny singing of the tiny light bulb and I knew by the singing that it was on the verge of burning out). His gal, Joy, who goes into hysterics occasionally, but knows when to keep her mouth shut. And their ally, the talking dog, which Parker ingeniously names The Dog. The main problem in their town is that real estate and business are being bought out and then torn down for no reason. People are suddenly losing their homes to much richer (and unseen) investors and things are getting desperate.
One night as our protagonist stumbles his way home after a few too many drinks at the local bar, he finds a trap set out for him in front of his apartment. And not just any trap, as he goes on to describe awkwardly: “It was a human trap, I told myself, it had been set for humans.” Surprise, though, as the trap turns into an alien bowling ball and tries to attack him, along with cartoon effects (“I hit with quite a thud and banged my head, and my brain was full of stars. I got my hands under me and hoisted up my front and shook the stars away.”). The bowling ball manages to roll away, though. Parker deserves an “obvious win” point for description for his trouble: “It was a trap, of course-no regular trap, that it. For regular traps do not wilt and roll into a ball and go rolling away when they’ve failed to catch their quarry.”
So, after that he starts to find out that major stores in the area are being bought out and destroyed, including houses and apartments. He looks into it and then the bowling ball aliens start stalking him at his apartment. One great quote that came after being stalked, he was shaken up and thought that they were in his closet, so waxes some kind of poetics. It makes no sense to me (but I’m not a man, so maybe that’s why I wouldn’t understand a man’s love for his closet): “A man’s chair may develop jaws and snap him up as he bends to sit in it; his scatter rugs may glide treacherously from beneath his feet; his refrigerator may lie in ambush to topple over on him; but the closet is the place where nothing of the sort can happen. For the closet is a part of man himself.” That gem comes from page 93.
Long story (256 pages worth), short, so the bowling balls can take the form of people by somehow using dolls. They become people and buy out companies hoping to rule the world and turn it into a resort-type hotel because of all the scents that are on Earth. One bowling ball gets into a sexy human doll to try to talk our hero into becoming in on their plan (she’s described as every man’s dream from the 1950’s as “part blond goddess, part efficient secretary” on page 193). Suddenly there’s a talking dog that is another space realtor, but hates the bowling balls, and he’s trying to help Parker.
So, stuff happens. Finally the blond goddess asks him to be their PR and he’s likely to survive them taking over and whatnot, plus lot of money and a new car. He says that he’ll think it over because he’s feeling a bit hopeless since most people think he’s drunk or crazy (hell, I was reading along and I even did). So, he thinks it over, but decides to double-cross them and they find out about it, so they follow him in the car. A car chase ensues (there’s a few of them in here, plus guns, but sadly no strippers, in fact there’s a blatant lack of sexuality), and Parker outwits the other driver, who is a bowling ball man. The bowling man gets out of the car and goes crazy when he smells a skunk, like rolling all over the skunk as if it were a dog.
So, Parker gets this idea because Joy had written a paper about this crazy old guy that kept skunks as pets. He goes over there and talks to the guy, crazy guy believes him and they make a plan. Yes, it’s skunks. The secret against the bowling balls is skunks. Bowling ball aliens love skunks. So, he gets in his car, but he realizes that it’s actually a bowling ball alien and it takes him where it wants at super high speeds before it vanishes quickly and he’s still flying through the air…right into a tree. He lives and walks into town to find that the mansion these bowling balls were living in is burning down because Joy went crazy after the bowling balls called her and told her Parker was dead. Meanwhile, the crazy old coot went downtown and released the skunks. Suddenly MILLIONS of bowling balls swarm downtown. That’s right, all it took were a dozen skunks to attract 6 building STORIES worth of bowling ball aliens.
The last line of the book takes one final sexist jab as the Parker says he’s going to make a pass at Joy and she’s ecstatic. I can picture him shaking his head as he thinks: “You can live to be a million and still never figure women.” THE END.
Along with the silliness, there’s obvious slang issues that I’m just child enough to laugh at and man enough to admit it:
“I got myself in hand and made my voice calm” (pg 16)
“Miss,” I told her, “someone at your office has pulled a boner.” (pg 53)
“Some blankets on the floor, then. We’ll make out.”
There were a few rough spots when it came to writing/editing:
“I gagged just think of it.” Pg 12
“He made his face go startled.” 157
As a side note, I love this crazy quote: “Bruce Montgomery was bald- aggressively bald, as if he took pride in baldness, so completely bald that I found myself wondering if he’d ever grown hair.” (pg 35)
Bottom line: Skunks save the day? Really? Are you sure?
This was a great book if you’re looking to laugh, but not laugh along with, if you get my drift. It’s silly, from start to finish. I didn’t take it seriously and found it fun. It had a great premise, but the execution was…SKUNKS! Come on. Really?
I have tried to start this book review in so many ways, trying to be witty or funny, but I’ll have to write it as honestly as I can because the book itself is one, long punch-line. I picked it up about a month or two ago, intrigued by the cigarette burns and yellowed pages that are red on edges, popular with old science fiction books. On the cover, there are a myriad of balls seemingly invading a road (they don’t stray onto the lawns of what looks to be an English countryside at midnight) that have twin disks that are glittering fiercely from the low-hung moon. It’s ridiculous looking, to be honest, and I yanked it up quick. How could I with a catchphrase (on the cover) that stated: spaceraiders determined to buy Earth roll relentlessly toward conquest! I wasn’t disappointed.
Mixed with good ol’ fashioned sexism, bowling ball aliens, dames, skunks, newspapers, economy, and talking dogs, this hard-boiled Sci-Fi novel by Clifford D. Simak has a bit of everything…everything ridiculous. Our hero is Parker Graves, a tough reporter that has a flair for inner monologues and contemplations, sometimes leading into poetry…sort of (e.g. “Above me I heard the tiny singing of the tiny light bulb and I knew by the singing that it was on the verge of burning out). His gal, Joy, who goes into hysterics occasionally, but knows when to keep her mouth shut. And their ally, the talking dog, which Parker ingeniously names The Dog. The main problem in their town is that real estate and business are being bought out and then torn down for no reason. People are suddenly losing their homes to much richer (and unseen) investors and things are getting desperate.
One night as our protagonist stumbles his way home after a few too many drinks at the local bar, he finds a trap set out for him in front of his apartment. And not just any trap, as he goes on to describe awkwardly: “It was a human trap, I told myself, it had been set for humans.” Surprise, though, as the trap turns into an alien bowling ball and tries to attack him, along with cartoon effects (“I hit with quite a thud and banged my head, and my brain was full of stars. I got my hands under me and hoisted up my front and shook the stars away.”). The bowling ball manages to roll away, though. Parker deserves an “obvious win” point for description for his trouble: “It was a trap, of course-no regular trap, that it. For regular traps do not wilt and roll into a ball and go rolling away when they’ve failed to catch their quarry.”
So, after that he starts to find out that major stores in the area are being bought out and destroyed, including houses and apartments. He looks into it and then the bowling ball aliens start stalking him at his apartment. One great quote that came after being stalked, he was shaken up and thought that they were in his closet, so waxes some kind of poetics. It makes no sense to me (but I’m not a man, so maybe that’s why I wouldn’t understand a man’s love for his closet): “A man’s chair may develop jaws and snap him up as he bends to sit in it; his scatter rugs may glide treacherously from beneath his feet; his refrigerator may lie in ambush to topple over on him; but the closet is the place where nothing of the sort can happen. For the closet is a part of man himself.” That gem comes from page 93.
Long story (256 pages worth), short, so the bowling balls can take the form of people by somehow using dolls. They become people and buy out companies hoping to rule the world and turn it into a resort-type hotel because of all the scents that are on Earth. One bowling ball gets into a sexy human doll to try to talk our hero into becoming in on their plan (she’s described as every man’s dream from the 1950’s as “part blond goddess, part efficient secretary” on page 193). Suddenly there’s a talking dog that is another space realtor, but hates the bowling balls, and he’s trying to help Parker.
So, stuff happens. Finally the blond goddess asks him to be their PR and he’s likely to survive them taking over and whatnot, plus lot of money and a new car. He says that he’ll think it over because he’s feeling a bit hopeless since most people think he’s drunk or crazy (hell, I was reading along and I even did). So, he thinks it over, but decides to double-cross them and they find out about it, so they follow him in the car. A car chase ensues (there’s a few of them in here, plus guns, but sadly no strippers, in fact there’s a blatant lack of sexuality), and Parker outwits the other driver, who is a bowling ball man. The bowling man gets out of the car and goes crazy when he smells a skunk, like rolling all over the skunk as if it were a dog.
So, Parker gets this idea because Joy had written a paper about this crazy old guy that kept skunks as pets. He goes over there and talks to the guy, crazy guy believes him and they make a plan. Yes, it’s skunks. The secret against the bowling balls is skunks. Bowling ball aliens love skunks. So, he gets in his car, but he realizes that it’s actually a bowling ball alien and it takes him where it wants at super high speeds before it vanishes quickly and he’s still flying through the air…right into a tree. He lives and walks into town to find that the mansion these bowling balls were living in is burning down because Joy went crazy after the bowling balls called her and told her Parker was dead. Meanwhile, the crazy old coot went downtown and released the skunks. Suddenly MILLIONS of bowling balls swarm downtown. That’s right, all it took were a dozen skunks to attract 6 building STORIES worth of bowling ball aliens.
The last line of the book takes one final sexist jab as the Parker says he’s going to make a pass at Joy and she’s ecstatic. I can picture him shaking his head as he thinks: “You can live to be a million and still never figure women.” THE END.
Along with the silliness, there’s obvious slang issues that I’m just child enough to laugh at and man enough to admit it:
“I got myself in hand and made my voice calm” (pg 16)
“Miss,” I told her, “someone at your office has pulled a boner.” (pg 53)
“Some blankets on the floor, then. We’ll make out.”
There were a few rough spots when it came to writing/editing:
“I gagged just think of it.” Pg 12
“He made his face go startled.” 157
As a side note, I love this crazy quote: “Bruce Montgomery was bald- aggressively bald, as if he took pride in baldness, so completely bald that I found myself wondering if he’d ever grown hair.” (pg 35)
Bottom line: Skunks save the day? Really? Are you sure?
This was a great book if you’re looking to laugh, but not laugh along with, if you get my drift. It’s silly, from start to finish. I didn’t take it seriously and found it fun. It had a great premise, but the execution was…SKUNKS! Come on. Really?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 25, 2023
Earlier this year I revisited another Simak novel,
Way Station
, that had been a childhood favorite of mine, and found I appreciated it even more as an adult. I loved They Walked Like Men even more as a child; I read it over and over again, and I think I even used the name of its narrator-protagonist, Parker Graves, in some stories of my own that I wrote at the time.
Reading it now, I'd say it is tremendous fun. It's not as pretty or as meditative as Way Station, but it's not intended to be. It's intended to be a ripping yarn, quick-paced (both from the reader's perspective and from Parker's; the entire story takes place within 48 hours, a fact that repeatedly stuns Parker when he thinks about it), and light, with a hefty side order of humor. It doesn't take itself too seriously--and it's a good thing, because a book featuring aliens that are best described as autonomous bowling balls and a talking shaggy dog would probably be insufferable if it took itself too seriously.
Parker and his best girl Joy Kane are newspaper reporters, and Simak imbues their patter with a His Girl Friday sort of flavor that just adds to the light, fun rhythm of the thing. (After circumstances lead to Parker and Joy spending a night in adjoining motel rooms, Joy leaves Parker a note that says "Where is that vaunted manhood? You didn't even make a pass at me.") So what if the narrative is a little breathless, if a few too many high-stakes scenes end with an exclamation point? It's raucous and a ton of fun, with good guys who are easy to root for. Parker is a genuinely sweet guy, dedicated to his job, loyal to his friends, and slowly waking up to just how special a woman he has in Joy. And, delightfully, Simak allows Joy to make the decisive move that wins the day for our heroes. Everyone wins--except the bowling balls.
Reading it now, I'd say it is tremendous fun. It's not as pretty or as meditative as Way Station, but it's not intended to be. It's intended to be a ripping yarn, quick-paced (both from the reader's perspective and from Parker's; the entire story takes place within 48 hours, a fact that repeatedly stuns Parker when he thinks about it), and light, with a hefty side order of humor. It doesn't take itself too seriously--and it's a good thing, because a book featuring aliens that are best described as autonomous bowling balls and a talking shaggy dog would probably be insufferable if it took itself too seriously.
Parker and his best girl Joy Kane are newspaper reporters, and Simak imbues their patter with a His Girl Friday sort of flavor that just adds to the light, fun rhythm of the thing. (After circumstances lead to Parker and Joy spending a night in adjoining motel rooms, Joy leaves Parker a note that says "Where is that vaunted manhood? You didn't even make a pass at me.") So what if the narrative is a little breathless, if a few too many high-stakes scenes end with an exclamation point? It's raucous and a ton of fun, with good guys who are easy to root for. Parker is a genuinely sweet guy, dedicated to his job, loyal to his friends, and slowly waking up to just how special a woman he has in Joy. And, delightfully, Simak allows Joy to make the decisive move that wins the day for our heroes. Everyone wins--except the bowling balls.
August 6, 2016
Good idea. The rest, not so... The author even present the most obvious soultion to the main characters problem. It is not how the book ends though. (The aliens say they do everything legally, but the money they use is not legal. They are counterfeit. Just tell that to the aliens, and they have to give up! ...or find another way. Could have been a nice turn in the book)
December 8, 2008
Fun alien invasion novel.
July 26, 2025
They Walked Like Men was first published in 1962. Ostensibly, it recounts a simple tale of alien invasion. Yet one need only read between the lines to discern rather more cunning implications.
This time, the extraterrestrials do not arrive with overwhelming military might, no death rays, no unstoppable starships, no mind-altering contraptions. They come… as real estate investors, armed not with firepower but capital. They will not conquer us by force, merely purchase us, inch by inch, quietly and gradually, until one day not a single square metre (or should I say square foot, since Simak was writing under the blessed auspices of the Imperial System) of land remains in human hands (or feet, though let us not descend into anatomical pedantry).
Now, let us take a step back and consider the book’s title: They Walked Like Men. Who did we say was coming? Once again, Simak, with steady literary hands, holds the mirror aloft to humanity, reflecting not its splendours but its faults — always, however, with a glimmer of hope. His protagonists are rarely extraordinary beings. Rather, they are the sort of quietly decent fellows you’d rather your daughter marry, as opposed to the dishevelled, motorcycling, rock-'n'-rolling rogues she’s currently gallivanting with.
Simak explores what happens when our darker collective instincts begin to triumph, all the while preserving a fundamentally optimistic belief in humankind: we are the descendants of a few thousand monkeys on the brink of extinction, and now we’re reaching for the stars — we can face any challenge, if we choose to, provided our moral compass remains intact. There will always be a few beacons of will, courage and inspiration — people like you and me — to lead the way.
Knowing full well his audience — the average spotty, slightly maladjusted adolescent of the 1960s, clutching a fanzine in hopes of intergalactic pew-pew and Buck Rogers' buxom companions — Simak lays it bare: They are doing to us exactly what we did to others — to animals, to fellow humans. He even lets the aliens voice it: “When did you ever behave differently? We play by your rules — since our arrival, we have committed not a single crime.” Power and exploitation need not contravene the law — not when the law itself is wielded as an instrument of domination. It lies within human nature to twist legality into an engine of supremacy. It lies within the inhuman nature of multinationals, cartels, consolidated interests and corporate monoliths to ravage the planet with impunity (and if you’ve seen how little Bezos — no, not the actor, the other one — or Elon Musk pays in taxes, you’ll feel like a complete imbecile).
Perhaps because science fiction has so often served as a vehicle for subversive thought — a way to slip past the censors of the McCarthyite wasteland of American political hysteria, where anything not drenched in narrow-minded misanthropy, sexism, thinly-veiled racism and gleeful surrender to the crude vulgarities of supply and demand was branded subversive — Simak does not shy away from allowing his protagonist to glimpse salvation in radical terms: the abolition of land ownership, and the dissolution of money as both currency and store of value. The novel’s apogee arrives when the aliens simply erase money — or rather, transmute it into something utterly useless — thereby collapsing the entire economic order in a moment of near-poetic prophecy. One cannot help but think of today’s world, in which wealth is increasingly intangible, and one’s access to what one ostensibly owns may be revoked with the flick of a bureaucratic switch.
Because, of course, the true threat is never the little green men from Mars — it is the persistent flaws of the human psyche, amplified and unrestrained in large groups. Those who walked like men are not invaders from another world, but reflections of our own worst impulses.
Alas, the novel’s conclusion is something of a hurried wrap-up — a faint anticlimax that costs it one star from the perfect five. Yet this in no way detracts from the deep pleasure of reading the rest of this remarkable work.
This time, the extraterrestrials do not arrive with overwhelming military might, no death rays, no unstoppable starships, no mind-altering contraptions. They come… as real estate investors, armed not with firepower but capital. They will not conquer us by force, merely purchase us, inch by inch, quietly and gradually, until one day not a single square metre (or should I say square foot, since Simak was writing under the blessed auspices of the Imperial System) of land remains in human hands (or feet, though let us not descend into anatomical pedantry).
Now, let us take a step back and consider the book’s title: They Walked Like Men. Who did we say was coming? Once again, Simak, with steady literary hands, holds the mirror aloft to humanity, reflecting not its splendours but its faults — always, however, with a glimmer of hope. His protagonists are rarely extraordinary beings. Rather, they are the sort of quietly decent fellows you’d rather your daughter marry, as opposed to the dishevelled, motorcycling, rock-'n'-rolling rogues she’s currently gallivanting with.
Simak explores what happens when our darker collective instincts begin to triumph, all the while preserving a fundamentally optimistic belief in humankind: we are the descendants of a few thousand monkeys on the brink of extinction, and now we’re reaching for the stars — we can face any challenge, if we choose to, provided our moral compass remains intact. There will always be a few beacons of will, courage and inspiration — people like you and me — to lead the way.
Knowing full well his audience — the average spotty, slightly maladjusted adolescent of the 1960s, clutching a fanzine in hopes of intergalactic pew-pew and Buck Rogers' buxom companions — Simak lays it bare: They are doing to us exactly what we did to others — to animals, to fellow humans. He even lets the aliens voice it: “When did you ever behave differently? We play by your rules — since our arrival, we have committed not a single crime.” Power and exploitation need not contravene the law — not when the law itself is wielded as an instrument of domination. It lies within human nature to twist legality into an engine of supremacy. It lies within the inhuman nature of multinationals, cartels, consolidated interests and corporate monoliths to ravage the planet with impunity (and if you’ve seen how little Bezos — no, not the actor, the other one — or Elon Musk pays in taxes, you’ll feel like a complete imbecile).
Perhaps because science fiction has so often served as a vehicle for subversive thought — a way to slip past the censors of the McCarthyite wasteland of American political hysteria, where anything not drenched in narrow-minded misanthropy, sexism, thinly-veiled racism and gleeful surrender to the crude vulgarities of supply and demand was branded subversive — Simak does not shy away from allowing his protagonist to glimpse salvation in radical terms: the abolition of land ownership, and the dissolution of money as both currency and store of value. The novel’s apogee arrives when the aliens simply erase money — or rather, transmute it into something utterly useless — thereby collapsing the entire economic order in a moment of near-poetic prophecy. One cannot help but think of today’s world, in which wealth is increasingly intangible, and one’s access to what one ostensibly owns may be revoked with the flick of a bureaucratic switch.
Because, of course, the true threat is never the little green men from Mars — it is the persistent flaws of the human psyche, amplified and unrestrained in large groups. Those who walked like men are not invaders from another world, but reflections of our own worst impulses.
Alas, the novel’s conclusion is something of a hurried wrap-up — a faint anticlimax that costs it one star from the perfect five. Yet this in no way detracts from the deep pleasure of reading the rest of this remarkable work.
January 18, 2019
Започва много увлекателно (и под започва имам предвид първите 60%), основната идея е силно експлоатирана, но пък детайлите към нея са уникални.
За съжаление качеството на книгата започва рязко да пада, когато мистерията започва да се разбулва - губи се част от атмосферата, доста се принизяват нещата, стават наивни отвсякъде, а краят си е направо бутафорен. Има и тук там излишни герои и сюжетни нишки, които не виждам с какво оправдават присъствието си в книгата и акцентът върху им.
"Те вървяха като хора" е приятна, като се тегли чертата, но не ми е от любимите неща на Саймък със сигурност.
Задната корица = описанието в Goodreads съдържат неприятен spoiler - ако още не сте ги прочели и възнамерявате да четете книгата, не го правете.
ПП. Алф и Кейт защо са на корицата един Димо знае :)
За съжаление качеството на книгата започва рязко да пада, когато мистерията започва да се разбулва - губи се част от атмосферата, доста се принизяват нещата, стават наивни отвсякъде, а краят си е направо бутафорен. Има и тук там излишни герои и сюжетни нишки, които не виждам с какво оправдават присъствието си в книгата и акцентът върху им.
"Те вървяха като хора" е приятна, като се тегли чертата, но не ми е от любимите неща на Саймък със сигурност.
Задната корица = описанието в Goodreads съдържат неприятен spoiler - ако още не сте ги прочели и възнамерявате да четете книгата, не го правете.
ПП. Алф и Кейт защо са на корицата един Димо знае :)
April 25, 2018
Lo primero que sorprende de esta novela es que las surrealistas (casi cómicas) escenas que se suceden esconden una idea tan lógica como brillante. Algo parecido a servir caviar encima de una burda galleta de mantequilla holandesa. Lo que sucede y como sucede, puede que resulte divertido a ojos del lector, pero ensombrece la brillantez de la idea original. Aunque no se le puede negar una evidente capacidad de entretenimiento. La literatura es buena, siempre suceden cosas que nos sorprenden de la misma manera que sorprendería un perro vestido con un esmoquin. Y es una verdadera pena porque la premisa de esta inaudita invasión extraterrestre es tan original como lógica e incluso esconde una divertida crítica a los políticos y a la sociedad de consumo. Pero todo eso se pierde cuando aparecen seres que se convierten en muñecos, perros parlantes que acosan al presidente de los EEUU, entes extraterrestres que se transmutan en coches o bolas de billar asesinas. ¿Este anacronismo está hecho a posta? Seguramente que sí y eso otorga a “Caminaban como hombres” cierta personalidad, aunque, desde mi punto de vista, el conjunto acabe siendo es irregular.
August 16, 2016
After several mediocre Simak book it was nice to be able to read one that reminded me why I liked him in the first place.
This was great because it was a story about an alien invasion, but not a story about aliens with a military invasion but an economic one. An economic one which targeted the idea of ownership of property. It was a fantastic idea and told in the style of a 40s or 50s pulp adventure. The main character was a hard drinking newspaper man, and lived in that world and then thrown into a science fiction adventure instead of a film noir. There were also a couple women characters who did things. (Mostly minor characters but still an improvement on the previous two books of his that I read). The aliens were bizarre and utterly alien. Definitely one I'm glad I read.
This was great because it was a story about an alien invasion, but not a story about aliens with a military invasion but an economic one. An economic one which targeted the idea of ownership of property. It was a fantastic idea and told in the style of a 40s or 50s pulp adventure. The main character was a hard drinking newspaper man, and lived in that world and then thrown into a science fiction adventure instead of a film noir. There were also a couple women characters who did things. (Mostly minor characters but still an improvement on the previous two books of his that I read). The aliens were bizarre and utterly alien. Definitely one I'm glad I read.
September 1, 2020
Un libro bastante curioso. De esos que no sabes si te gustó del todo o si perdiste tu tiempo leyéndolo. Comienza con una historia bastante interesante sobre seres extraterrestres tratando de capturar al protagonista, pero termina de una manera muy simple y hasta boba.
La mitad del libro realmente me ha picado, pero a medida que avanzaba la trama me pareció cada vez más sin sentido. El final no es el que uno espera para nada... No por qué sea brutal y emocionante, sino por que no tenía nada de relación con la historia.
La mitad del libro realmente me ha picado, pero a medida que avanzaba la trama me pareció cada vez más sin sentido. El final no es el que uno espera para nada... No por qué sea brutal y emocionante, sino por que no tenía nada de relación con la historia.
May 28, 2025
Arguably the poorest book by Simak.
Want to read
October 10, 2021se escucha muy rara pero igual a tomar en cuenta.
April 12, 2024
"If there had been no trap--" novel narrator Parker Graves said to the alien. Until the moment he found a bear (aka human) trap at his front door, Parker knew something was off.
The alien replied, "You were the one who could have two and two together."
And he was right. Parker soon learned that life forms from another planet were out to buy up planet Earth for their own nefarious plans.
From the first page of this science fiction thriller, Parker rockets through the story to discover a way to save his planet from an insidious invasion from entities that could masquerade as anything.
When they rolled down the streets as bowling balls, I laughed, thinking this had to be a foolish way for aliens to travel. But no, because Parker soon learned that other people didn't take bowling balls seriously. No one believed anything the person seeing this spectacle said after that. Very clever.
Clever, too, of acclaimed sci-fi author Clifford Simak for creating such a scenario. This is why the award winning author is my favorite in his field.
But wait, does Parker save the Earth? Read it yourself and find out.
The alien replied, "You were the one who could have two and two together."
And he was right. Parker soon learned that life forms from another planet were out to buy up planet Earth for their own nefarious plans.
From the first page of this science fiction thriller, Parker rockets through the story to discover a way to save his planet from an insidious invasion from entities that could masquerade as anything.
When they rolled down the streets as bowling balls, I laughed, thinking this had to be a foolish way for aliens to travel. But no, because Parker soon learned that other people didn't take bowling balls seriously. No one believed anything the person seeing this spectacle said after that. Very clever.
Clever, too, of acclaimed sci-fi author Clifford Simak for creating such a scenario. This is why the award winning author is my favorite in his field.
But wait, does Parker save the Earth? Read it yourself and find out.
January 4, 2020
They Walked Like men is the closest that Clifford D. Simak came to a screwball comedy novel, that I've come across. This is an alien invasion story like no other. They came to buy us out lock, stock and barrel. They are what look like bowling balls in their "natural" state, but could pass as human by using miniature dolls. By the time Parker, a newspaper writer, begins to notice some strange goings on, it may be too late.
People all over begin complaining that they cannot find a home or apartment, though they are all still standing, they are bought and left empty. People begin losing jobs, because the company they may have worked for for years has been sold and shut down. Parker begins to piece together the story, but who could he tell? No-one would believe him.
This is Simak at his whimsical best. There is tension and action, and at the same time laugh out loud comedic riffs that make what is essentially a nonsensical story, not only bearable, but a darn good read.
People all over begin complaining that they cannot find a home or apartment, though they are all still standing, they are bought and left empty. People begin losing jobs, because the company they may have worked for for years has been sold and shut down. Parker begins to piece together the story, but who could he tell? No-one would believe him.
This is Simak at his whimsical best. There is tension and action, and at the same time laugh out loud comedic riffs that make what is essentially a nonsensical story, not only bearable, but a darn good read.
April 11, 2025
(1962). I was looking for another book along the lines of The Body Snatchers—vintage sci-fi horror in an everyday setting—and while this one is sillier than the Finney, it still delivers some of the same creepy thrills. It also had me laughing within seconds, which is never a bad thing.
The half-baked story about aliens snapping up properties and industries, causing a housing crisis and turning beloved stores into shell companies, might seem too on-the-nose were it written today, tailor-made for socialist and nationalist readings alike, but coming from 1962 it feels remarkably prescient, in an oddly specific way. Again, though, it is deeply goofy.
The half-baked story about aliens snapping up properties and industries, causing a housing crisis and turning beloved stores into shell companies, might seem too on-the-nose were it written today, tailor-made for socialist and nationalist readings alike, but coming from 1962 it feels remarkably prescient, in an oddly specific way. Again, though, it is deeply goofy.
December 21, 2024
There's a unique/special/quintessential 1960s feel with this otherworldly tome. They walk among us...or roll among us, technically. ;-)
I had a feeling the outcome would be a positive one; we can't lose mankind to a bunch of bowling ball/ shape-shiftshaping beings, right?! See how it unfolds for yourself, and the story's amusing path it takes to save our fate.
I had a feeling the outcome would be a positive one; we can't lose mankind to a bunch of bowling ball/ shape-shiftshaping beings, right?! See how it unfolds for yourself, and the story's amusing path it takes to save our fate.
May 11, 2025
Poor Ebook Version
It's a bit of a silly story, but Simak's writing made it work. What didn't work was this ebook version. There was basically no quality control with the digital scan, so I was constantly submitting errors. This pulled me out of the story too many times to count. If you do check it out, get a physical copy or do Audible.
It's a bit of a silly story, but Simak's writing made it work. What didn't work was this ebook version. There was basically no quality control with the digital scan, so I was constantly submitting errors. This pulled me out of the story too many times to count. If you do check it out, get a physical copy or do Audible.
February 10, 2017
"There are some ideas so monstrous, so perverted, so outrageous that one's mind must take a little time to become accustomed to them. And one of these ideas is that anyone should even think of trying to buy up the Earth. Conquer it -- most certainly, for that is an old and fine and traditional idea... Destroy it -- that also is understandable... But buying it was unthinkable."
A hard-drinking newspaperman is the first person to discover a shocking scheme: Earth is being invaded by alien realtors, who are literally buying the planet piece by piece, shuttering businesses and evicting families from their homes. ("They usually don't concern themselves with anything much less than a solar system. And it has to be a good one or they won't even touch it.") Partially a comedy, there's nevertheless an edge here: people get killed, and the idea of humanity reduced to economic collapse and mass homelessness is taken seriously enough, in a conscious indictment of capitalism of a type that seems amazing for a book written in 1962 America. ("It would not work in Russia, and it wouldn't work in China, but perhaps it didn't have to. Perhaps it didn't have to work anywhere except in the majority of the great industrial nations.") Small family-owned businesses come off better, with the inorganic aliens seemingly representing heartless, detached modern capitalism as opposed to 'traditional' small-town values.
Stylistically, the book reads like a hard-boiled detective novel, with sneaky investigations and mysterious dames. The aliens initially appear in the goofy form of black 'bowling balls' . There's also a friendly alien, a talking dog, who assures the reader that there's nothing exactly as illogical as human capitalism anywhere in the universe. The ending tips the book towards comedy (), but the rest of the book is tense enough it's a welcome ending to this great novel.
A hard-drinking newspaperman is the first person to discover a shocking scheme: Earth is being invaded by alien realtors, who are literally buying the planet piece by piece, shuttering businesses and evicting families from their homes. ("They usually don't concern themselves with anything much less than a solar system. And it has to be a good one or they won't even touch it.") Partially a comedy, there's nevertheless an edge here: people get killed, and the idea of humanity reduced to economic collapse and mass homelessness is taken seriously enough, in a conscious indictment of capitalism of a type that seems amazing for a book written in 1962 America. ("It would not work in Russia, and it wouldn't work in China, but perhaps it didn't have to. Perhaps it didn't have to work anywhere except in the majority of the great industrial nations.") Small family-owned businesses come off better, with the inorganic aliens seemingly representing heartless, detached modern capitalism as opposed to 'traditional' small-town values.
Stylistically, the book reads like a hard-boiled detective novel, with sneaky investigations and mysterious dames. The aliens initially appear in the goofy form of black 'bowling balls' . There's also a friendly alien, a talking dog, who assures the reader that there's nothing exactly as illogical as human capitalism anywhere in the universe. The ending tips the book towards comedy (), but the rest of the book is tense enough it's a welcome ending to this great novel.
October 8, 2024
This explains why were are having the current housing crisis and all the economic turmoil. We are being invaded by aliens. They are already here living among us.
Great satire which is more true now, then when it was first written in the 70s.
Great satire which is more true now, then when it was first written in the 70s.
February 16, 2025
I like Simak, but this seems to me an odd and untypical Simak novel. It was published in 1962, between Time Is the Simplest Thing and Way Station, which may be his best novels; but it’s unlike either of them. I rather suspect (without evidence) that he drafted it much earlier and left it in a drawer for years before deciding to publish it in 1962.
The hero is a very 1950s newspaperman (like Simak himself), who discovers that Earth is being quietly and secretly invaded and taken over by aliens who can disguise themselves as humans. There seems to be nothing he can do about it, until he discovers that they have a bizarre vulnerability.
It’s a highly improbable story, and it’s not one that I actively enjoyed, although it’s readable enough that I got all the way through it. Some people read and enjoy it as a comedy, but I find that difficult: what I see is another Simak hero who is lonely and puzzled and faced with major (if unlikely) problems.
This time it’s only the aliens who can do weird things. The hero remains an ordinary guy throughout, apparently alcoholic, with a rather tolerant girlfriend but no special powers.
The hero is a very 1950s newspaperman (like Simak himself), who discovers that Earth is being quietly and secretly invaded and taken over by aliens who can disguise themselves as humans. There seems to be nothing he can do about it, until he discovers that they have a bizarre vulnerability.
It’s a highly improbable story, and it’s not one that I actively enjoyed, although it’s readable enough that I got all the way through it. Some people read and enjoy it as a comedy, but I find that difficult: what I see is another Simak hero who is lonely and puzzled and faced with major (if unlikely) problems.
This time it’s only the aliens who can do weird things. The hero remains an ordinary guy throughout, apparently alcoholic, with a rather tolerant girlfriend but no special powers.
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