Customer Reviews

The Invasion (Extended Version)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Rating: 3 1/2

What I liked:

It was fast moving with a lot of action and offered an imaginative approach to a story about an alien invasion. The characters, particularly Alice, were people you cared about.

What I didn't like:

Too short. I thought the story was going to extend all the way until the end. I read this on my Kindle and at about the 60% mark I thought the story was winding down and had been wondering what new twists would be coming, since there was still 40% to go, but then at the 66% marker the book ended. It turns out that the other third of the book were samples of his other book (or books).

Editing. There were a lot of typos. Every time I come across an error it tends to take me out of the story.

Overall it was a pretty good book. If grammatical errors don't bother you, I'd recommend reading it. If errors get under your skin, you might want to pass on this one.

I dislike sounding like the grammar police, but the over-abundance of serious typos in William Meikele's The Invasion made me wonder if the real invaders were aliens or uneducated proofreaders. I know it's hard to catch every single typo in a book, but for heaven's sakes, this one could be used as a teaching tool for English teachers who can hand out treats to their students who find the most errors.

In addition to spelling errors, there are sentences where it's apparent words have been left out. In fact, in one sentence, the word "have" apparently was mispelled as "gave." (I say apparently because it's possible "gave" was the correct word, but then it would mean that a portion of the sentence was missing.)

Another issue I had with the book involve statements that are obviously made by a character, but appear without quotation marks, leaving the reader to wonder if the statement was actually made or was just a thought in a character's head. Also, there's the overuse of italics. Sometimes it apparent that the author is using italics for emphasis; but at others it seems as though the italics appear randomly.

OK, enough with channeling my fifth grade English teacher. The plot of The Invasion made for interesting reading. Meikle is one of those writers who can take an idea that would be at home in a pulp novel or a cheesy '50s-style sci-fi movie and work it into a story that is relevant to today's sci-fi or horror readers. In more than a few spots I was reminded of the classic sci-fi film "Day of the Triffids." While Meikle may pay homage to such earlier classics, he makes The Invasion his own invention.

The Invasion brings a whole new look at alien life and how it could change earth.

Meikle keeps you on edge as you read about an alien life form that drips to earth in a green rain

only to change, change again, adapt and change again to try to overcome life on earth

and steal the planet for themselves. The scary part is that its not so unrealistic that

it could not happen. Meikle writes page turners and once you have read one of his books

you will want to read them all. This would make a great movie!

I ordered this on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. The story moved fast, held my interest and the overall story was very entertaining. The author talks about this being a sci-fi pulp book and that it is...and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. I only gave it 4 stars because I felt the ending was a bit rushed and wrapped up too quickly. I was actually secretly hoping there would be an opening left for a sequel.

Great read. Quick paced, good way to spend a couple of hours. Reads like an adventure movie.

Wow!! I can finally take a breath! I was just going to quickly read the sample this morning before breakfast. I often do a quick read through of a group of samples to decide which ones I want to add to my reading list and which ones to put aside. The Invasion grabbed me right off the bat and I was lost. The story was relentless. It moved along at rocket speed and just when I thought it could not get any more frightening or creepy - it did. This was an easy read. I liked that it wasn't filled with a lot of techno-babble. There were just a few main characters and it was easy to keep up with the action. I absolutely love stories which allow mankind to shine with the best virtues even under untenable circumstances. I love triumphs of perseverance against alien devices and ingenuity. The Invasion was an exciting and scary armchair adventure.

I have read several reviews that complained about an inordinate number of typos, misspellings, incorrect or missing words. Perhaps they read an earlier version of the manuscript?? I am observant when it comes to those types of editing problems and I can say that while I did come across about 4 or 5 little word problems they were minor errors and did not interfere with my enjoyment of the story.

One last comment, the book was fairly short. It ended about 66% through the file at location 2846. The remainder was filled with excerpts and blurbs from other tales by William Meikle. On the same page that The Invasion concluded there began a long excerpt of another book, The Road Hole Bunker Mystery, by the author. This story apparently is a mystery featuring a Scottish Private Investigator. It occupies locations 2846-3834. I was wholly unprepared for that sharp of a transition - it was very unwelcome. I would have preferred an afterward by the author or even the listing (with short blurbs) of his other works which, by the way, was provided at the end of the file starting at location 4102. In other words, a gentler weaning away from my devastated and depopulated planet would have been appreciated.

I've been reading William Meikle for a while and his cross-genre style can be addictive. Polished craft with a B-movie action sensibility, Meikle is an old-school storyteller in the best possible way--he makes stories fun. But The Invasion also contains that kind of creeping plausibility that makes you go "What if..."

The author isn't as well known as say, Stephen King. But this book was a whole lot better than the previous two King books I have read.

I read that in previous editions, there was an abundance of spelling and grammatical errors. I understand that can be frustrating, and that those things should be caught during proofreading / editing. However, the author himself responded to those issues on this forum, and indicated his willingness to provide corrected versions to those who had already purchased the book (the newest corrected version has also been uploaded to amazon, and what you get when you buy the book). This was a stand up gesture that I was very refreshed to see. In any case, I'd be more willing to deal with some grammar and spelling errors than I would to be to endure books in which the facts of the story, chronology, cardinal directions, etc, are inconsistent and aren't even given consideration by the author (see my two previous Stephen King reviews of the first three Dark Tower books, and From a Buick 8).

The Invasion, in my opinion, is also detailed enough to make for an excellent read, yet not drawn out so much as to be a 'bore me to death reading marathon.' I really enjoyed it.

Good work.

I picked this up for the Kindle on a whim, and was definitely not disappointed. For the price, I wasn't looking for perfect grammar and a robustly-edited novel. I just wanted something that I could kick back with, turn my mind off, and let my imagination be taken by the hand to an post-apocalyptic Earth. Mr. Meikle did NOT let me down! I read it e-cover to e-cover in one sitting and enjoyed it immensely. If you're looking for a story of this nature to break up another long series that you're reading (Malazan Book of the Fallen for me), to enjoy after a long week of work, or to simply just read without having to work at it, this is it.

The author laid out in the book description what he was going for here and that is exactly what he delivered. This book is not the next great (North?) American Novel it's a by the seat of your pants adventure story.

I found the book to be a fast read, with few characters and locations the author was able to move everything right along without the need to build very much outside of the main story. I really liked the aliens method of invading here and how quickly they pretty much mopped up all organized resistance allowing story if our small group of protagonists to come together and get to work amazingly fast.

Nothing new here to be sure but a quick entertaining story if plucky earthlings triumphing over the bad aliens. If you can handle typos I recommend this for fans of the genre.