Alien invasion theme and I am getting sick of it

jbcohen · 02-04-2015, 08:42 AM

I have been reading sci-fi books for a while now and this reliance on alien invasion theme seems to dominate the sci-fi books and I am getting a little sick of it. How come the alien invasion theme seems to control the sci-fi genre?

pdurrant · 02-04-2015, 09:25 AM

Really? Not from where I'm sitting. See The Martian for example.

(And the 1632 series, the Honor Harrington series, and the Vorkosigan series.)

DiapDealer · 02-04-2015, 09:25 AM

I can't remember the last scifi book I read that had an alien-invasion theme.

GeoffR · 02-04-2015, 11:14 AM

Of the 66 SF books I read last year, only four had anything remotely to do with an alien invasion.

(Edit: There were a few more if you count humans invading other worlds as an alien invasion though :-)

eschwartz · 02-04-2015, 11:25 AM

Of the I've-lost-track-of-how-many (a lot, though) SF books I have read in the last year, precisely one of them features an alien invasion. A good number don't even have aliens period.

jbcohen · 02-04-2015, 12:25 PM

Of the last five series that I have read, four of them have fetured an alien invasion. I guess I should go to another genre of novels where aliens do not typically show up, mystery perhaps.

DiapDealer · 02-04-2015, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Of the last five series that I have read, four of them have fetured an alien invasion. I guess I should go to another genre of novels where aliens do not typically show up, mystery perhaps.

Or perhaps just try one of the myriad of scifi authors who don't write about aliens?

eschwartz · 02-04-2015, 01:12 PM

I guess you are just getting the ones that have alien invasions -- maybe you should look at different authors within the same genre.

It is a big step to go from "I happen to have read a bunch of alien-invasion-themed SF recently" to "all SF involves alien invasions".

Apache · 02-04-2015, 05:33 PM

I guess you will not want to read this one then.

http://www.baenebooks.com/p-920-footfall.aspx
This is a great alien invasion book and I just started to reread it.
Apache

Penforhire · 02-04-2015, 06:13 PM

Looking at my Goodreads record I see alien invasions are related to less than 25% of my SF reading recently. Higher than I thought it would be but most of these are not straight forward "alien invasions" but are related plots, e.g. James Corey's Leviathan Wakes (and rest of Expanse series), Jason Hough's The Darwin Elevator (and rest of Dire Earth series), and Leonard Richardson's Constellation Games.

I wouldn't say SF is dominated by this theme.

Teknikal · 02-05-2015, 04:29 AM

If anything I don't think there is enough of these type of books or at least good ones the last one I remember reading that was even anything like that was "Out of the Dark by David Weber".

The only others I remember were World War by Harry Turtledove and Footfall by Larry Niven I actually enjoyed all those books and would read more if I could find them.

DrNefario · 02-05-2015, 08:18 AM

Sometimes you just seem to hit a thread of the same theme by chance, I think. I like to make sure I vary the genre of every book I read, but I still had a run of fantasy books recently which all featured dead or fallen gods.

SeaWolf · 02-05-2015, 07:01 PM

I think it probably also depends how broadly you define sci-fi. A lot of people tend to see sci-fi as the space opera type, with starships and space battles. I'd venture to say that there's a lot more alien invasions in that sub-genre.

But sci-fi can be a really broad category with a heap of stuff that's not related to space travel at all.

HarryT · 02-06-2015, 03:13 AM

SF is one of my main reading genres and the overwhelming majority don't involve alien invasion. Sounds as if you need to choose different authors.

crich70 · 02-07-2015, 01:06 AM

The Exiles Trilogy and the Mars books (all by Ben Bova) have no such theme in them.

02-04-2015, 08:42 AM	#1
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,033 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	Alien invasion theme and I am getting sick of it I have been reading sci-fi books for a while now and this reliance on alien invasion theme seems to dominate the sci-fi books and I am getting a little sick of it. How come the alien invasion theme seems to control the sci-fi genre?

02-04-2015, 09:25 AM	#2
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,433 Karma: 318076944 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	Really? Not from where I'm sitting. See The Martian for example. (And the 1632 series, the Honor Harrington series, and the Vorkosigan series.) Last edited by pdurrant; 02-04-2015 at 09:27 AM.

02-04-2015, 11:14 AM	#4
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	Of the 66 SF books I read last year, only four had anything remotely to do with an alien invasion. (Edit: There were a few more if you count humans invading other worlds as an alien invasion though :-) Last edited by GeoffR; 02-04-2015 at 11:36 AM. Reason: if you count ...

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02-04-2015, 09:25 AM	#3
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,880 Karma: 207000000 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I can't remember the last scifi book I read that had an alien-invasion theme.

02-04-2015, 11:25 AM	#5
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Of the I've-lost-track-of-how-many (a lot, though) SF books I have read in the last year, precisely one of them features an alien invasion. A good number don't even have aliens period.

02-04-2015, 12:25 PM	#6
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,033 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	Of the last five series that I have read, four of them have fetured an alien invasion. I guess I should go to another genre of novels where aliens do not typically show up, mystery perhaps.

02-04-2015, 01:12 PM	#8
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	I guess you are just getting the ones that have alien invasions -- maybe you should look at different authors within the same genre. It is a big step to go from "I happen to have read a bunch of alien-invasion-themed SF recently" to "all SF involves alien invasions".

02-04-2015, 05:33 PM	#9
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,306 Karma: 90981752 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	I guess you will not want to read this one then. http://www.baenebooks.com/p-920-footfall.aspx This is a great alien invasion book and I just started to reread it. Apache

02-04-2015, 06:13 PM	#10
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	Looking at my Goodreads record I see alien invasions are related to less than 25% of my SF reading recently. Higher than I thought it would be but most of these are not straight forward "alien invasions" but are related plots, e.g. James Corey's Leviathan Wakes (and rest of Expanse series), Jason Hough's The Darwin Elevator (and rest of Dire Earth series), and Leonard Richardson's Constellation Games. I wouldn't say SF is dominated by this theme.

02-05-2015, 04:29 AM	#11
Teknikal Fanatic Posts: 574 Karma: 5264318 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Belfast Device: Sony T1, Note Pro 12.2, Honor 10	If anything I don't think there is enough of these type of books or at least good ones the last one I remember reading that was even anything like that was "Out of the Dark by David Weber". The only others I remember were World War by Harry Turtledove and Footfall by Larry Niven I actually enjoyed all those books and would read more if I could find them.

02-05-2015, 08:18 AM	#12
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,227 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	Sometimes you just seem to hit a thread of the same theme by chance, I think. I like to make sure I vary the genre of every book I read, but I still had a run of fantasy books recently which all featured dead or fallen gods.

02-05-2015, 07:01 PM	#13
SeaWolf Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 65091 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kindle Paperwhite WiFi	I think it probably also depends how broadly you define sci-fi. A lot of people tend to see sci-fi as the space opera type, with starships and space battles. I'd venture to say that there's a lot more alien invasions in that sub-genre. But sci-fi can be a really broad category with a heap of stuff that's not related to space travel at all.

02-06-2015, 03:13 AM	#14
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	SF is one of my main reading genres and the overwhelming majority don't involve alien invasion. Sounds as if you need to choose different authors.

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02-07-2015, 01:06 AM	#15
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,310 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	The Exiles Trilogy and the Mars books (all by Ben Bova) have no such theme in them.