Description/Blurb:

Eight days to planetfall, and I’m being transferred to Gunner. My tentacles slime in disgust.

Or is it fear?

If this is the last planet we ever conquer, I’ll be glad. Be nice to settle down somewhere, get off this ship, own a square of land, learn to love all that open sky.

Eight more days before planetfall. Eight days before we reach planet Earth.

Review 4 of 5 Stars

This short story from Hugh Howey was a fun piece to read. Despite some of the alien invader’s more serious issues, the story did not take itself too seriously. I found myself smiling at more than one point. The main character, Hyk, is an invading alien who finds himself transferred from a cushy intelligence job to a combat unit. Hyk is an entertaining character and I enjoyed reading about his experiences. Unfortunately our main character’s roommate, Kur, is essentially a 12-year-old with regard to his mentality, especially with regard to humor. I truly felt for our main character because of this, but not enough to want them to invade Earth. Although this story has a complete story arc, it is a short story and I wouldn’t want to ruin the fun. I enjoyed reading Second Suicide, got a few juvenile laughs from it and liked that it was told from the tentacled alien’s perspective. I won’t say it is Hugh Howey’s best story, but it was entertaining. If you have a spare dollar then you might want to take a look.