6 Best Alien Invasion Sci-Fi Books: Which Will You Read?

One of the best-known works of science fiction, and one of the earliest to explore alien invasion of Earth,War of the Worlds is a true classic. The story is told by an unnamed narrator who witnesses the invasion of England by technologically advanced Martians, who intend to wipe out humanity. Mars is a dying planet and can no longer support its inhabitants, so the Martians choose Earth as their new home; they come as conquerors, uninterested in peaceful cohabitation with humans.

The narrator describes his contact with the aliens, hiding and escaping from the terrifying, cold, utterly inhuman invaders. He is driven to survive but also keep his loved ones safe, hoping to reunite with them one day.

This book paints a chilling, apocalyptic picture of a London gone quiet and empty, its buildings destroyed and its people dead, fled, or taken. Originally featured in serial form in several magazines, War of the Worlds has been adapted into several movies, radio dramas, and comic book versions, and will continue to be one of the most important science fiction stories for years to come.

Meyer’s first adult novel, and the first story after her wildly successful Twilight series, The Host features a race of alien parasites who infiltrate different planets to take over the inhabitants, using them as the titular Hosts. These alien parasites are small, insectile creatures who call themselves ‘souls’ and can’t survive long without a host. They insert themselves into the host’s brain and take over their mind and body, accessing all their memories, resulting in the original consciousness fading away.

They have subjugated almost everyone on Earth and seek out any humans who have escaped into hiding. But Melanie, a member of the human resistance, refuses to surrender control, clinging to her sense of self. This results in her having to share her body with the alien soul, who names itself Wanderer.

Soon, Melanie and Wanderer become reluctant allies, and together they seek out the secret haven of human rebellion, including Melanie’s lover, whom Wanderer has started to fall in love with through experiencing Melanie’s strong feelings for him, while trying to hide their true dual nature from both the aliens and humans. Can the Souls and Hosts learn to live together, or is war the only answer?

A blend of science fiction and detective noir, Conquest makes you question whether an alien invasion has actually happened, but socially-awkward coder Frank is certain that one has, in secret.

When Frank goes missing after being in contact with an online UFO conspiracy group, his girlfriend Rachel teams up with private investigator Robin to find out what happened. They uncover layers of mystery, dating all the way back to a 1950s sci-fi story that reads like a guidebook to an invasion... Or a prophecy. Conquest includes sections of text from this fictitious book, as well as diary entries and film reviews.

Conquest has quite a different pace from many other alien invasion books and is a complex work of speculative fiction, introspective and psychological, focusing on human connection and the search for truth. 

First Contact is a series of 30 (!) standalone novels that explore humanity's first interaction with extraterrestrial life in various ways, and they can be read in any order. All the books in the series have one thing in common: they speculate how humans might respond to invasion and the social, political, religious, and scientific impacts.

Each book is set during a different time period and in a different country on Earth, but some of the books are also set in space in a future where humans have mastered intergalactic travel. Some invasions are covert, some hostile, and sometimes it’s the humans initiating contact.

In my opinion, stand-out novels include Anomaly (2011), Feedback(2014), Wherever Seeds May Fall(2021), and Generation of Vipers (2022), but all 30 are worth checking out nevertheless.