The Aliens

Description

Murray Leinster, with the real name William Fitzgerald Jenkins, is one of the most notable science fiction and alternate human history writer of the 20th century. He was a pioneer in the emerging science fiction genre, publishing more than 1,500 stories and articles over the course of his life. Perhaps one of his most popular is The Aliens -a collection of short stories which is centered about the interaction between two civilizations: the humans and the aliens, obviously.

The Aliens is a First Contact story about how two expanding intergalactic empires clash. The novel contains five stories, each with its own narrative and protagonists. However, the background is still the same, as the aliens and humans are on a race to win more of the galaxy.

The stories follow several characters, such as the crew ship on a quest that will get to encounter an alien starship, scientists, tree-planting civilizations and more. We get to meet an alien criminal in Fugitive from Space, who plans to blend in the environment on Earth after crash landing it on the planet and taking a few hostages. Another story, Anthropological Note, follows a female researcher who plans to mingle with Venusians in order to get to know more about them and write an award winning research paper. However, she soon discovers that the murderer of her sister is there as well.

One notable story is Skit – Tree Planet. As scouts keep bumping into planets with no sign of civilization but with lots of apparently planted trees, questions arise. An expedition is sent to investigate, only to find a hidden city within the forest, and aliens whose intentions are not well known.

The Aliens is a great collection of stories that will delight SF aficionados as well as anyone who enjoys a well written story with a well-knit plot.
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