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Originally Posted by Razorback  As for the replication delay, maybe they needed some time to adapt to earths gravity and/or atmosphere before replicating. As for the nine-day fever, maybe no alien survivors go off Venus to provide a vector or clue to the rest as to what adaptation was needed. Overall, I thought the handling of biological issues was pretty good for 1951. |
I'll buy the replication delay...I'll even buy the second point, although I think it is a bit more of a stretch. These guys are supposedly from Titan, have taken over Venus, and using them to springboard their attack on Earth. They learn about human physiology quickly enough...if the 9 day fever is Venusian, you would think they would have encountered it.
I was really impressed how he put so much thought into both the invasion and the human response. His working through of the bureaucratic and psychological response of the humans made it very realistic or plausible...as opposed to most "alien invasion" type books.
Wish Heinlein wasn't quite so American-centric on this one though. There was mention of Canada and Mexico and others but nothing about what they were doing, or how they were responding. Part of this I'm sure is the telling of the story through Sam, and his limited view...but even when discussing issues with the President and congress, etc there was no mention of other nations.