Customer Reviews

The Day The Martians Came

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I can understand why some won't like this novel, but I for one loved it. I found it very realistic. This is exactly how people would react to Martians, I suspect. Pohl really captured the essence of humanity with this one. The book is a literary piece, not the pulp sci-fi the title might imply.

A collection of short stories. The best story is the first one and you may as well stop reading the book afterwards. All the other stories have got weak plot lines. I often had the feeling FP was word-filling pages after pages without inspiration and was relieved by quickly getting the scattered pieces he had dropped along wrapped up in the last story. In a nutshell, a rather disappointing book.

How will strange people react to strange beings? This is the main frame of this book. I found it easy to read, nice to understand and the story flows with some surprises. The well written pace and narrative helps, and the stereotypes included are just what you need for a smile or a thought. It takes five days to end it, if you only read at night and it is an enjoyable text before you go to sleep.

The impetus of this book is Pohl's short contribution to _Dangerous Visions_, stripped of Ellison's hyperbolic title. That story serves as the punchline of the book, so if you're familiar with it the volume won't pack as much of a kick; but it's a great punchline regardless (though it probably read better in the late sixties).

Ths book is not an expansion of a story in the same way that _Ender's Game_ or _World Out of Time_ are; it is more like Pohl's own _Years of the City_ , a series of linked short stories. Each story investigates the impact the discovery of life on Mars has on the everyday life of humans. Now, these are no ordinary Martians--they're much more pathetic, and the impact they have is consequently nothing like the impact of, say, Valentine Michael Smith. Which is, of course, what makes it that much more interesting. The initial story is a little slow, but the rest are all winners; and if you haven't read that punchline story yet, you're missing out.

You gotta be kidding me! This isn't a book, it is a collection of randomly chosen words. If you give this book to someone who have never read a book before, you'll be sure that person will never read another...

This book is annoyingly boring, I read it only to say "Of course I`ve read that one." In this book Martians are not what you`d expect. They are boring little creatures, nothing to it. The explorations of the planet and the techie stuff was enjoyable but the beginning, the middle, and the end destroyed it. Waste of time.