Others: Positive Is that a Rull sitting next to you? Now man has conquered all of space and seemingly he is at peace with everone in it. That is, everything except the Rull. Who and what are the Rulls? They are a race so alien and paranoid that they must have originated in another galaxy. In their true form they resemble some sort of dark, large worm with a variety of appendages. But you almost never see a Rull as he really is. The Rull, you see, can change its outward appearance at will, so that even your closest friend or most trusted colleague may suddenly turn out to be a spy in disguise.
Genres: science fiction
Lists: …
Robert Silverberg
1969 · 191 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveIt was Avluela the Flier's scarlet and ebony wings that led the Watcher to the seven hills of the ancient city, leaving the skies and deep space unguarded. And so the invaders came and conquered and Avluela became lost in the turmoil.
What made the match, strongest first
Vernor Vinge
1984 · 317 pages · 3 reviews
Others: PositiveFirst in a quintessential hard-science fiction adventure, Hugo Award-winning author Vernor Vinge's The Peace War follows a scientist determined to put an end to the militarization of his greatest invention--and of the government behind it. The Peace Authority conquered the world with a weapon that never should have been a weapon--the "bobble," a spherical force-field impenetrable by any force known to mankind. Encasing governmental installations and military bases in bobbles, the Authority becomes virtually omnipotent. But they've never caught Paul Hoehler, the maverick who invented the technology, and who has been working quietly for decades to develop a way to defeat the Authority. With the help of an underground network of determined, independent scientists and a teenager who may be the apprentice genius he's needed for so long, he will shake the world.
What made the match, strongest first
Ken MacLeod
2001 · 292 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveAs the humans of Earth finally achieve space travel, they discover that the universe is filled with an infinite variety of intelligent alien life and that they have become pawns in the deadly wars of the alien gods.
What made the match, strongest first
Vernor Vinge
1986 · 279 pages · 3 reviews
Others: PositiveFrom the back cover: "In The Peace War Vernor Vinge introduced the technology of bobbles, creating spheres where time stands still while minutes, years, or eons pass by outside. Originally used to counter the nucler threat, then to enforce an oppressive government, they don't really come into their own until the century after the Peace War. What better means for one-way time travel? With the bobble plus longevity treatments, human achievements would seem to have no limits... You can hardly turn the pages fast enough... (Marooned in Realtime) is a winner." -- Locus
What made the match, strongest first
Algis Budrys
1960 · 180 pages · 3 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveIt was there on the dark side of the Moon, waiting for the first human explorers to discover it -- an alien formation, a trap for the unwary, a place into which many men would venture but from which none would return.
What made the match, strongest first
Bob Shaw
1972 · 160 pages · 4 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveSlow glass was an amusing scientific toy. Light traveled through it so slowly that, looking through a pane of it, you might see what had happened five minutes ago on the other side--or five years. It stopped being a toy when great new jeliners began to crash, caraccidents multiplied astronomically and a mounting toll of deaths and disasters revealed its true potential. And it was no toy at all when blackmailers discovered how to use it to see into the secret life of any victim--and government officials found it could permit surveillance of any person, any time, anywhere.
What made the match, strongest first
Loved itWar Against the Rull by A.E. van Vogt. I'm really liking it so far. If you want just straight down the middle pulp science fiction that is competently executed, has a little bit more character and political sophistication in it than you would expect from pulp material. I can recommend it.
