SF short story about people forming ubermind to repel invaders?

October 11, 2018 10:33 AM

I read this story in an anthology in the 70s/80s about how a group of alien/robotic invaders have easily taken over the Earth, and are ignoring the remaining population while they extract the resources they came for. (Not the prequel to Half-Life 2.) At some point, the outraged humans form a giant telepathic consciousness and give themselves up for the greater good. The consciousness uses human bodies as swarming weapons to immobilize the alien vehicles and stop their advance, finally chasing them off the planet. Any thoughts on what that story is?
posted by sneebler to Society & Culture (5 answers total)

Can't remember the title, but there's a Theodore Sturgeon that fits -- do you recall a moment where a violinist who's been subsumed into the group mind jams an alien vehicle with his beloved violin? If so, than that's the same story I'm thinking of.
posted by LizardBreath at 10:51 AM on October 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The linked TV Tropes page has the Sturgeon I was thinking of: "The Cosmic Rape", which I read under the title of "To Marry Medusa."
posted by LizardBreath at 11:42 AM on October 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Yes, sounds very much like "To Marry Medusa" / "The Cosmic Rape", except [spoiler] at the end of that story the humans don't simply chase the invaders off of Earth. [/spoiler]
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:43 PM on October 11, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks!
posted by sneebler at 9:20 AM on October 14, 2018

Response by poster: I haven't finished re-reading it, but this seems like what I remember, only much longer. I was a pretty fast reader back in the day...

https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1958-08/Galaxy_1958_08#page/n5/mode/2up
posted by sneebler at 9:26 AM on October 14, 2018