Invasion

I loved this book, which is a great combination of topical social comment and humour. I think those with their eyes open to what is going on in the USA will find this book both funny and sad, while the rest will probably not get the important message that this book conveys.

Funny

Overall, the book is entertaining and nicely written with lots of political commentary. However, after investing several hours reading the book I discovered that it ends mid-way through a series of interesting developments with an invitation to purchase the follow-up book that will continue the story. Unless you plan to buy the second book as well as the first (and for all I know the third and fourth books) then you might feel happier if you don't invest your time and your money in this book only to find yourself feeling quite unfulfilled by the story.

Leave it to Luke Rhinehart to turn an alien invasion on its head. No, this time the space invaders (furry beach balls capable of shape shifting!) don’t want to take over our primitive race, instead (like that Cyndi Lauper song) they just want to have fun. Soon enough though, through the use of their super-de-duper brains, they have hacked into the government’s funds and spread them a little more evenly…take that you one percenters!. As with much of Luke’s work, things go off the rails from there. I don’t want to be the one to spoil things – I have already said too much – so I’ll leave it at that. Just know that Luke is in rare form here, spreading mayhem, and ideas, as only he can. Regarding the ‘ideas’ part, Invasion is much more than just a simple romp (as the Dice Man was much more than the story of a bored NYC psychiatrist). While the Dice Man was a treatise on what makes us who we are, this book takes aim at many of the things that have gone wrong with our society - of course, with tongue always planted firmly in cheek. The book, like many of Luke’s past work (again, think The Dice Man), is not a purely straight-ahead narrative. Much of it is the first-person narrative of Billy, the ex-hippy, Long Island fisherman who meets the first alien, but a good bit of the story comes to us by way of other documents (reports and such) that together tell the story of this alien invasion and how it begins to reshape humanity. The slam-bang end of the book – something Luke does so well - leaves things wide open for a sequel. Let’s hope that he delivers on this promise.

Billy Morton does not realise how much his life will change when he takes a hairy, gelatinous and spherical being home with him to meet his family. The creature or 'Louie' as the family names him is all about playing and having fun, he does not speak but he can mould himself into many different forms and Billy's boys Lucas and Jimmy have a great time with him. Billy's concerns only begin when Louie starts reading, talking and using the computer to hack government entities like the NSA to steal money. Protective of his new alien friend, Billy and his family try to hide him as best as they can, but sightings in the community of a 'hairy beach ball' shaped being as well as other sightings of similar creatures around the world bring the government to Greenport, Long Island to meet the Morton's and their new 'pet'. Once the 'cat' is out of the bag so to speak, events elevate to a whole other level, with Louie and other 'Protean' friends taking to the media and speaking out against capitalism, war and all the other problems that the common human faces everyday. Billy and his family are taken along for the ride and it is a chaotic one for sure. With an agenda packed full of hacking, sexual innuendo, huge parties, espionage, sold out theatre shows, inter-universe sex and nuclear disarmament to name a few. Invasion is a hilarious/worrying series of events and scenarios that highlight everything that is wrong with the world and what we can do about it. Invasion is a unique and refreshing take on the arrival of a extraterrestrial beings that manages to side step most of the cliches we see in an invasion scenario. Genre/Writing Style: Invasion is a mash up of many genres. Though focusing highly on the comedy, adventure and political side of things throughout most of the book, there are also elements of thriller, action, romance and other popular genres. The book takes the idea of an alien invasion to a new place, instead of picturing oppression and obliteration, Luke Rhinehart brings us a story of revolution and equality. Invasion definitely stands out from other books in its field. I cannot really put my finger on a definitive audience for this book as there is a lot of fun, play and light amusement here, but there is also lots of foul language, sexual references and outright violence, so be wary when picking this book up. The story in Invasion is told from several different view points across multiple formats so it is prevented from being too stale, though my main criticism of this book is its length. I found the stroy to become slightly repetitive and bizarre in the middle of the book and felt it could have been somewhat shaved down. Mainly I was amused by this book, at times I was scared for humanity and occasionally I was uninterested by the escapades of the hairy aliens and their fisherman friend. Characters: First off, Billy Morton is a great character, he has a certain way of looking at life and though he is in his early 70s he still embraces the new and tolerates the odd. I found his perspective to be inspiring and his satire to be hilarious, I hope I see things his way when I am that age. The other standout character here is Louie, the leader of the 'Proteans'. These aliens are bizarre, unpredictable and super intelligent but mainly they just want the human race to stop seeking riches and building weapons and just chill out and have some fun. Louie leads this charge and we get to see him evolve and lead his people through the events in this story. The enemy in the book is the government, Luke Rhinehart has made them paranoid, brutal and devious, which is really much different from reality. The lengths that all the American government entities and politicians go to fight the aliens that just want to help is insanely intense but makes for such a good back and forth storyline between both sides. The 'Proteans' just want humans to see what they are doing to themselves and their planet and they start to make headway but it is left on a cliffhanger. Whether to let us determine what happened next or to set up another book in the series (there is a message at the end that states there will be another book but I am not sure I can take it seriously due to the name of the sequel :D) Setting: The story starts so small, in a little fishing town in the USA and it just grows and grows until it envelops the whole world. Yes it is focused on America for its storyline and politics, but it does take into the consideration all countries, states of mind and people. The Morton's are taken all over the world, they are harassed, imprisoned, blown up, resurrected and many other crazy scenarios, Luke Rhinehart obviously had a great time writing this story but by the end of it you may just have to hang your head in shame :(. This is a hilarious and concerning insight into our existence as humans and the fact that an alien invasion may shake things up for the better.

First up, this won't come up as a verified purchase because I read my books on my spouse's kindle, but I really have read it and I loved it. Why? For exactly all the reasons every other reviewer here mentions - even the pissed off ones who wanted their money back. They're right too. It's got a definite political viewpoint, and I can see that if you were rich or evangelical or conservative (but not Libertarian), you could really hate it. But that's also kind of the point of the book. We box ourselves into being too serious about everything all the time and it gets us doing some really stupid things that are detrimental to ourselves.

Couldn't make myself finish it, the 'super smart' aliens were essentially complete morons. And if you permanently advocate to stop working and just play ... well then how about also stopping to use the results of the work of others? Very much not coherent in approach, nihilistic without a solution ... or maybe that would have come towards the end after I couldn't make myself read anymore, I will never find out and happy with that.

I don't usually write reviews, but i found this book very amusing yet with subtle (and not so subtle undertones). I don't live in the US but it led to to question certain things and all for the better. Well worth the read and highly amusing

This is a cleverly disguised, hilarious and Swiftian satire on the American condition. The Aliens in question are unlike any we've seen before - they can telepathically interpret information from creatures within a 20 mile radius, they can grow breasts and genitals at will and are shaped like hairy beach balls, but most important of all they live not for world domination but for play. Invasion is a clever discourse on play as a revolutionary force - which evokes some of the writings of 60s radicals but without every being preachy. The aliens with their ideology of endless fun haphazardly expose all the games we humans play - like hoarding money and rigging elections, like dominating other countries and exploiting each other. Rhinehart handles all this polemical material with a light and joking touch, with so much resting between the lines. The book itself is playful - which may also be a cunning strategy on behalf of the author for invading our minds.

Not as good as "Dice Man"

Has funny moments but I felt Luke was making a party political broadcast at points. Good concept/ good beginning - ran out of steam for me.

Another fabulous read from a great writer. If the thought of a book that blends Douglas Adams with Kurt Vonnegut Jnr appeals, then this is a must.