Scan barcode
kb_208's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this sci-fi adventure novel. It puts me in the mind of The martian series from Edgar Rice Burroughs. This is set within the walls of the homes of monsters where the last of mankind is dwelling. It's been a long time since the monsters took over, so most technology is lost and forgotten. Humans live in small tribal bands and make their living by sneaking out and stealing from the Monsters. This book is about one particular human named Eric who is outlawed from his people and forced to explore the world of the monsters away from the safe area of his burrow.
This story hints on more than just a journey, but thinking about the lives of those smaller (or larger) that we may not understand and assume don't have a language or culture.
It's a great romp through a world of monsters and strange humans. Worth checking out.
This story hints on more than just a journey, but thinking about the lives of those smaller (or larger) that we may not understand and assume don't have a language or culture.
It's a great romp through a world of monsters and strange humans. Worth checking out.
majortomwaits's review against another edition
3.75
It took me a bit to get into it. The pacing wasn't exactly up to my liking, as soon as I'd get used to one situation, it would shift and turn itself upside down. However, the story is interesting and I'm ashamed to say that it took me a bit until I figured that it was a satyre.
hochnessmonster's review
2.0
The conceit of this book is great- I think it's safe to say it's the best part. I didn't figure it out right away (it took until they were under the "monster furniture" for me to realize it- I'd thought they were underground).
I didn't feel like many of the interesting ideas were fleshed out to the extent they could have been, and the character development was so weak. Especially for all of the women in the story. The entire Rachel portion was just ughhhhhh. There was literally no motivation. I know the book is a satire, but I can't tell where the satirization of masculinity ends and true opinions or just lazy writing kick in.
It took me half the book to really get into the story, and there were some interesting parts, but the writing style was so tell me rather than show me.
I didn't feel like many of the interesting ideas were fleshed out to the extent they could have been, and the character development was so weak. Especially for all of the women in the story. The entire Rachel portion was just ughhhhhh. There was literally no motivation. I know the book is a satire, but I can't tell where the satirization of masculinity ends and true opinions or just lazy writing kick in.
It took me half the book to really get into the story, and there were some interesting parts, but the writing style was so tell me rather than show me.
weesam_nz's review
4.0
For most of the way through I found this book interesting, but average. And then there was the ending, which I will not give away, so let's just say it made me stop and go 'huh'. And I haven't stopped thinking about it since.
markyon's review
4.0
Here’s another in those series of ‘SF authors you should have heard of but probably haven’t’. William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass (1920-2010) who was famous for his satirical short stories, mainly published in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In 1999 he was selected as the Science Fiction Writers of America’s Author Emeritus.
He only published one novel, which this is, in 1968.
It is a post-apocalyptic tale of sorts. Aliens -big, technologically proficient aliens, called Monsters here - have taken over the Earth. The human population collectively named ‘Mankind’ – all 128 of them – live like mice, in the walls of the aliens’ houses and scrabble for food scraps when they need them. (We later find out that Mankind is not the only human group still existing, called ‘front-burrow’ groups.)
In this human world we have the tale of Eric.
Eric, or to give him his full title, Eric the Only, is an initiate into the Brotherhood of the force known as The Male Society. For in this society women are the healers and knowledge-bearers whilst men hunt and fight, as warriors and thieves.
Eric has to, in order to be classed as a fully-fledged adult, complete a Theft. The scale of the theft chosen, ranging from First level category (Food) to Third level (a Monster souvenir) determines the respect that will be bestowed upon Eric, renamed Eric the Eye, should he finish his initiative rite. Eric chooses the rarely selected Third level on the advice of his uncle, Thomas the Trap-Smasher, who feels that this would be the best way for Eric to make a name for himself.
We follow Eric, led by his uncle, on his quest. We soon discover that the humans are pretty unnoticed by the aliens, or seen as no more than annoying vermin, rather like mice in the human world today. We are in that strange position where roles of homesteader and pest are reversed and we are the pest! Eric meets The Strangers, humans who live outside the tribe but with whom the tribe deals with on occasions.
Having completed his quest, Eric returns to find that there has been a revolt and that he and his uncle have been labelled as outlaws and are therefore subject to a lynching and a hanging. Eric uses the magic red substance (a form of explosive) given to him by The Strangers to escape.
His uncle dies and Eric is forced to make the journey to Monster territory. There he leads the fight against Ancestor-Science (that which has always been) and in favour of Alien Science, the heretic view that his Uncle believed in, that it was by using such that the future of Mankind lays.
The second part of the book is where Eric grows up fast: he realises that there is a world outside the front burrow tribe, is captured but then escapes, finds a partner and begins to uncover Earth’s secret history.
By the end, the reader realises that what it is most is a comment on people, society and class structures. The characters within and their behaviour are all recognisable, 40-odd years on. It is a tale of evolution and revolution, in that it is Eric that causes change and deals with the consequences.
On reading this book my overall feeling is that William’s book is funny. Not laugh-out-loud, belly-laugh funny, but intelligent funny. I found myself smiling when events occurred, or remembering things after I’d finished reading the novel. (There’s an ongoing joke about ‘the cages of sin’ which made me grin a lot.) Eric is a likeable enough chap, whose naivety means that he blunders into situations but manages somehow to come out of it better.
And that’s what this book does. It makes you smile. It makes you appreciate witty writing. It makes you feel that reading this book was worth it. The ending is very clever, and surprisingly positive in a tale basically that tells of world catastrophe.
I was repeatedly reminded of Terry Pratchett in tone, perhaps The Wee Free Men or Maurice and his Educated Rodents, though this predated most of Terry’s better known work by at least a decade. This is as good, or dare I say it, allowing for its age, better than Pratchett, though Terry is very good. (Surely it can’t be coincidence that one of Terry’s Discworld novels is indeed titled Eric?)
Graham Sleight, in his Introduction to this novel, points out that ‘Satire is angry humour.’ And at that, Tenn/Klass was one of the best. If you like Robert Sheckley or Terry Pratchett, then I can see you liking this one.
It’s sharp, it’s funny, it’s angry. It makes its point but doesn’t outstay its welcome. And is totally deserving of your attention.
He only published one novel, which this is, in 1968.
It is a post-apocalyptic tale of sorts. Aliens -big, technologically proficient aliens, called Monsters here - have taken over the Earth. The human population collectively named ‘Mankind’ – all 128 of them – live like mice, in the walls of the aliens’ houses and scrabble for food scraps when they need them. (We later find out that Mankind is not the only human group still existing, called ‘front-burrow’ groups.)
In this human world we have the tale of Eric.
Eric, or to give him his full title, Eric the Only, is an initiate into the Brotherhood of the force known as The Male Society. For in this society women are the healers and knowledge-bearers whilst men hunt and fight, as warriors and thieves.
Eric has to, in order to be classed as a fully-fledged adult, complete a Theft. The scale of the theft chosen, ranging from First level category (Food) to Third level (a Monster souvenir) determines the respect that will be bestowed upon Eric, renamed Eric the Eye, should he finish his initiative rite. Eric chooses the rarely selected Third level on the advice of his uncle, Thomas the Trap-Smasher, who feels that this would be the best way for Eric to make a name for himself.
We follow Eric, led by his uncle, on his quest. We soon discover that the humans are pretty unnoticed by the aliens, or seen as no more than annoying vermin, rather like mice in the human world today. We are in that strange position where roles of homesteader and pest are reversed and we are the pest! Eric meets The Strangers, humans who live outside the tribe but with whom the tribe deals with on occasions.
Having completed his quest, Eric returns to find that there has been a revolt and that he and his uncle have been labelled as outlaws and are therefore subject to a lynching and a hanging. Eric uses the magic red substance (a form of explosive) given to him by The Strangers to escape.
His uncle dies and Eric is forced to make the journey to Monster territory. There he leads the fight against Ancestor-Science (that which has always been) and in favour of Alien Science, the heretic view that his Uncle believed in, that it was by using such that the future of Mankind lays.
The second part of the book is where Eric grows up fast: he realises that there is a world outside the front burrow tribe, is captured but then escapes, finds a partner and begins to uncover Earth’s secret history.
By the end, the reader realises that what it is most is a comment on people, society and class structures. The characters within and their behaviour are all recognisable, 40-odd years on. It is a tale of evolution and revolution, in that it is Eric that causes change and deals with the consequences.
On reading this book my overall feeling is that William’s book is funny. Not laugh-out-loud, belly-laugh funny, but intelligent funny. I found myself smiling when events occurred, or remembering things after I’d finished reading the novel. (There’s an ongoing joke about ‘the cages of sin’ which made me grin a lot.) Eric is a likeable enough chap, whose naivety means that he blunders into situations but manages somehow to come out of it better.
And that’s what this book does. It makes you smile. It makes you appreciate witty writing. It makes you feel that reading this book was worth it. The ending is very clever, and surprisingly positive in a tale basically that tells of world catastrophe.
I was repeatedly reminded of Terry Pratchett in tone, perhaps The Wee Free Men or Maurice and his Educated Rodents, though this predated most of Terry’s better known work by at least a decade. This is as good, or dare I say it, allowing for its age, better than Pratchett, though Terry is very good. (Surely it can’t be coincidence that one of Terry’s Discworld novels is indeed titled Eric?)
Graham Sleight, in his Introduction to this novel, points out that ‘Satire is angry humour.’ And at that, Tenn/Klass was one of the best. If you like Robert Sheckley or Terry Pratchett, then I can see you liking this one.
It’s sharp, it’s funny, it’s angry. It makes its point but doesn’t outstay its welcome. And is totally deserving of your attention.
hylian_narwhal's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
fellfromfiction's review
3.0
Interesting concept, often quite difficult to picture. Kept thinking of the humans as Borrowers, when actually they're still the same size as us, meaning the giant aliens are impossible to imagine. Good jaunt.
gengelcox's review
2.0
This novel recalled for me a [a:Thomas M. Disch|29998|Thomas M. Disch|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1215627384p2/29998.jpg] novel that I read back in high school. I’m not sure of the title at the moment, but I think it was [b:The Puppies of Terra|939291|The Puppies of Terra|Thomas M. Disch|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496887927s/939291.jpg|924266]. Tenn’s novel could easily be retitled The Cockroaches of Terra. Earth has been invaded, and conquered, by giant beings. Mankind is still alive–underground and in the walls of the houses built by the monsters. The first part of the book reads like your typical post-holocaust story: young man seeks acceptance in the new order of society, which gives the author plenty of chance to show you how things have changed. Luckily, Tenn has an agenda, and we quickly move beyond the standard hunter/gatherer phase into a darkly satiric view of humans. Tenn is supposedly a very funny author, but in Of Men and Monsters, it’s all black (as in Disch’s novels).
More...