All-in-all I'd only recommend this book to hardcore classic SF fans. Not many others would enjoy this, despite the clever premise and potential it has. Sep 08, Rob rated it it was amazing. A great science fiction read that has all the charm of classic science fiction like Asimov's , but with a very original premise and wonderful execution. It actually feels like it was written in the 60s or 70s rather than the 40s.
All the technology basically holds up - much better than the majority of its peers. The idea of a new take on War of the Worlds is excellent.
In fact my only gripe with the book is that it does feel quite sexist, particularly as it finishes. I definitely winced a few tim A great science fiction read that has all the charm of classic science fiction like Asimov's , but with a very original premise and wonderful execution.
I definitely winced a few times while reading it -- but its a product of its time and among s sci-fi it's certainly a 5-star book. Sep 16, JoeK rated it liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here. I read somewhere that this story was the reason John W. Campbell created a new fantasy companion magazine to Astounding.
While I can see the concepts are in some ways revolutionary for the time, I wasn't too happy with the execution. I found the story ran a little long, and I was slow to finish it even though it wasn't all that long.
To some extent it may have been some dislike of the main protagonist who was alternately unrealistically intuitive, or recklessly stupid. Specifically his attempted I read somewhere that this story was the reason John W. Specifically his attempted rescue of Hetty who was a puppet of the Vitons. What could he hope to accomplish there. Luckily Hetty blurts out key information and Graham escapes with only half a dozen other agents dying for the cause.
There could have been another way to get the info that would have made more sense, but this is "pulp" and action must trump logic. And as I'm learning by reading the rest of the issue, Campbell is into high ESP mode, which didn't enhance my enjoyment either.
I read the Galaxy paperback version of this book which was updated for publication, but I did have access to the original pulp version and did a quick comparison between the two. The original came out in , but the novelization came out after WWII and Russell expanded it to include the use of nuclear weapons. He obviously didn't know the true danger atomic bombs really posed. Had the Vitons really gone whole-hog like they did in the book, humanity would have died of radiation poisoning in months, thus destroying their food supply.
Russell also felt compelled to put a lot of the "evidence" for Vitons that inspired the novel. I'm sure that these were pulled from Charles Fort's work to help lend authenticity to the tale, it just slowed things down and didn't help convince me of the "truth" of the tale any more than the rest of the book. The same can be said of Graham's search for answers. The first half of the book was a chase from one soon-to-be-dead scientist to the next.
The ending, while similar, was altered from the original. I liked the new one better, but I found that Russell moved the mention of the "sinister barrier" to the beginning of the re-print, and it seemed more impactful in the original where it was mentioned on the last page and sort of underlined just what the barrier was.
Finally, the cover of the pulp, while lovely, is barely related to the contents. It seems more like a yellow menace cover from one of the more grisly pulps like Terror Tales.
The cover of the Galaxy novel while more accurate, probably didn't help sell any extra copies of the story. Feb 28, Rita rated it it was ok. Mark my words, young man, your first and most formidable obstacle will be provided by millions of emotional dimwits among your fellow beings. Eric Frank R "So long as people insist on thinking with their glands, their bellies, their wallets or anything but their brains, they'll be dopey enough for anything, they'll fall for a Well-Organized, persistent and emotional line of propaganda and make suckers of themselves every time.
Eric Frank Russell was a follower of Charles Fort, a man who collected stories of the unexplained, and tried to make sense of them. EFR founded the Fortean Society of Britain on Facebook, you can find"The Fortean London Society," but I don't know if it's the same , and this story is his tongue-in-cheek attempt to explain the mysteries that take place, in this story, at least.
My most un-favorite of EFR's work. Oct 31, Sasha rated it really liked it. The good old smear technique. Millions fall for it every time. Millions will always fall so long as they would rather believe a lie than doubt the truth.
Dec 02, Julian Meynell rated it liked it Shelves: 20th-century , british , science-fiction , reviewed. This is a book about sinister monsters that lurk just out of sight controlling and manipulating humans and feeding off them. It's a work that is a fusion of science fiction and a tough detective mystery.
It is all action pretty much, with numerous strange deaths. It is a fun fast read, although the ending does not quite work. I suppose it was always heading to a climax, which would feel unsatisfactory but it's still a flaw. You would only want to read this if you were interested in SF from this This is a book about sinister monsters that lurk just out of sight controlling and manipulating humans and feeding off them.
You would only want to read this if you were interested in SF from this era, but if you are it is a fun, albeit fairly pointless action set piece. Lettura non indispensabile. Un romanzo noioso e scontato, con personaggi bidimensionali e dialoghi al limite del ridicolo.
Il copione ideale per un mediocre b-movie di fantascienza, per altro datata. Mar 26, Jay Rothermel rated it liked it. A very clever scifi romp. Fast-paced and enjoyable. User icon An illustration of a person's head and chest. Sign up Log in.
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Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. An edition of Sinister Barrier This edition was published in by Paperback Library in New York. Written in English — pages. Sinister Barrier , Ballantine Books. Libraries near you: WorldCat. Sinister Barrier , Methuen. Paperback in English - Revised and expanded edition.
Sinister Barrier , Dennis Dobson. Sinister Barrier , Paperback Library. Paperback in English - 2nd Paperback Library printing.
Sinister Barrier , Kemsley Newspapers. He had come into the land of the women suddenly and without warning. Tall, bronzed, muscular, he stood out among their pale skins and meek spirits. Make that, in worlds of trouble
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