I'm hovering between 2 and 3 stars on this. It would make a great (and doubtless "bad") disaster movie. The premise is that beings called Vitons are living off our negative emotions, and controlling our history to get the best possible harvest. But we are unaware of them until a scientist (in a technologically advanced future) invents a way for humans to "see" wavelengths that are ordinarily invisible. The scientist shares his knowledge with others before the Vitons destroy him. The Vitons can read minds, so they pursue anyone else (at first, only some fellow-scientists) who has obtained the forbidden knowledge that will make humanity aware of them.Anyway, the book was fun at the beginning, because it's unknown why prominent scientists are dying suddenly and violently. There are great descriptions of these guys going up in balls of flame or plummeting from high-rise windows. Cities blow up, and World War III begins. That's why this book is the perfect model for a mega-disaster movie.A bit more than half way through, the plot starts to drag. Clearly, it's just a matter of time before humans figure out how to outwit the Vitons and then live happily ever after. I should mention that the Vitons are floating blue spheres that can anchor themselves into our nervous systems and take nourishment. Russell is constantly comparing this process to the milking of a cow.I was inspired to read this after learning that the book was originally presented as a serial in the legendary pulp magazine, "Unknown," edited by John W. Campbell. The magazine only lasted about 4 years (1939 to 1943, I think), but it is credited with beginning a whole new tradition in modern fantasy writing. Other works which appeared in "Unknown" include: Jack Williamson's novel, "Darker Than You Think," a book that brilliantly combines lycanthropy, anthropology and pseudo-science for a surprisingly good story; Leiber's first Grey Mouser story; and several excellent but lesser-known Heinlein stories. I'd love to lay my hands on a copy of "Unknown," but the prices are beyond what I'm willing to pay. "Sinister Barrier" disappointed me. It is, more than anything, a disaster/action novel. In a way, it's in the tradition of H.G. Wells's "War of the Worlds," but the premise is that we have been unwittingly been dominated by an invisible species for the duration of our history. All hell breaks loose when we discover our dominators. I'll give Russell credit for the originality of his premise, and his decent prose. The title of this book, however, suggests something more creepy and insidious than what we get. Instead, we get gratuitous violence like this: "He saw Sheehan, an operative, shove the muzzle of his gun straight into a slobbering mouth and let her blow. Gobs of noggin, slop and goo flew in all directions as the headless victim toppled under his stamping feet." If you're in the mood for a potboiler, this is the book for you.
Книги как люди, одни стареют красиво и с чувством собственного достоинства, а другие с годами превращаются в отвратительных скособоченных уродцев. "Зловещий барьер", увы, из второй категории. В 1939 году этим романом наверняка зачитывались - это же был крутейший фантастический боевик! Тут и операции спецслужб, и загадки науки, и мировые войны, и инопланетные захватчики, и юмор, и романтическая линия. Сама идея, что человечеством, как стадом бараном, с древних времён управляют невидимые энергетические существа, явно взрывала мозг довоенному читателю, непривычному к масштабным "мысленным экспериментам" современной НФ.А сегодня открываешь книжку, и с трудом продираешься сквозь корявый язык, и видишь, что персонажи деревянные, и шутки натужные, и любовная линия ощущается как сплошной непрекращающийся фейспалм. Ситуация в точности как с "Тайной двух океанов" Адамова - все идеи, образы, сюжетные ходы очень зачётные, но написано так плохо и заскорузло, что невозможно читать.При всей личной любви к Эрику Расселлу, данный роман рекомендовать никак не могу.
Do You like book Sinister Barrier (1986)?
http://clarkevivo.blogspot.it/2013/04...Ognuno di noi ha fantasticato almeno una volta nella vita sull'eventualità che degli alieni possano girovagare sulla Terra all'insaputa di tutti o di pochi disgraziati. Nell'immaginario collettivo ha preso piede l'ormai secolare concetto di Ufo, o per meglio dire disco volante, di cui nel web sono presenti migliaia di foto (tutte sfocate) che mostrano navicelle aliene a forma di lampione, lanterna cinese o cappello a bombetta. Chiunque avrà avuto l'occasione di leggere o ascoltare teorie strampalate sui poteri occulti che governano il mondo. Poche teorie raggiungono però gli spaventosi livelli di orrore e paranoia presenti in "Schiavi degli invisibili" di Eric Frank Russell, scritto nel lontano 1939 ma che nonostante l'età riesce ancora a sorprendere e affascinare.
—Sbulf
First half better than the second--genuinely creepy and subversive. But then it devolves into the standard Heinlein thing about kicking alien butt. Also, the witty (and flirty) banter bit is often ridiculous (and irrelevant). You might think too that the Vitons would sort of relish being brought into the open, since it fosters all of that delicious human hatred to munch. But a basically cool use of Fort...despite how often EFR's lines manage to gobble the scenery; stuff like: "Three bodies lay near the window, their cold faces indelibly stamped with the mark of diabolical fate." And worse...though there is the occasional good line ("The man who jumps in the river wins nothing but everlasting peace").
—TrumanCoyote
