Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Another by Frederick Pohl...

THE DAY THE MARTIANS CAME
*SPOILER ALERT*
I don't ususally do spoilers, but in this case it's kind of hard to avoid. The Martians come to Earth. Says so in the title. However, the story isn't so much about the day the Martians came, as it is about the discovery of the Martians and how people on Earth respond to the astronauts bringing them back to Earth. I found the different viewpoints interesting and thought-provoking. In the end, tho, the Martians do come to Earth. The part of the story devoted to them on Earth is minimal. I'm thinking the important part is how Earthlings handle the news and relate to the Martians. An enjoyable story otherwise, considering it was pieced together from several short stories. I didn't know that going in, but it does explain the couple of instances where the story seemed to jump with no connection to another "scene", and why some of the chapters didn't flow evenly together. A tribute to the author that the story is cohesive despite those instances.

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