>>14183002
The novel is divided into three parts, following a third-person omniscient narrative with no main character.[5] In some editions, the short first chapter is a separate prologue rather than the beginning of the first part.
Earth and the Overlords
In the late 20th century, the United States and the Soviet Union are competing to launch the first spacecraft into orbit, for military purposes. When vast alien spaceships suddenly position themselves above Earth's principal cities, the space race ceases. After one week, the aliens announce they are assuming supervision of international affairs, to prevent humanity's extinction. They become known as the Overlords. In general, they let humans go on conducting their affairs in their own way. They overtly interfere only twice: in South Africa, where, some time before their arrival, apartheid has collapsed and been replaced with savage persecution of the white minority; and in Spain, where they put an end to bull fighting. Some humans are suspicious of the Overlords' benign intent, as they never visibly appear. The Overlord Karellen, the "Supervisor for Earth," who speaks directly (behind a one-way glass viewscreen) only to Rikki Stormgren, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, tells Stormgren that the Overlords will reveal themselves in 50 years, when humanity will have become used to their presence. Stormgren smuggles a device onto Karellen's ship in an attempt to see Karellen's true form. He partially succeeds, is shocked by what he sees, and chooses to keep silent.
The Golden Age
Men called them Overlords
They had come from outer space—
they had brought peace
and prosperity to Earth
But then the change began.
It appeared first in the children
—frightening, incomprehensible.
Now the Overlords made their announcement:
This was to be the first step
in the elimination of the human race
and the beginning of—What?
—Original back cover quote, paperback edition
Humankind enters a golden age of prosperity at the expense of creativity. Five decades after their arrival, the Overlords reveal their appearance, resembling the traditional Christian folk images of demons: large bipeds with cloven hooves, leathery wings, horns, and barbed tails. The Overlords are interested in psychic research, which humans suppose is part of their anthropological study. Rupert Boyce, a prolific book collector on the subject, allows one Overlord, Rashaverak, to study these books at his home. To impress his friends with Rashaverak's presence, Boyce holds a party, during which he makes use of a Ouija board. Jan Rodricks, an astrophysicist and Rupert's brother-in-law, asks the identity of the Overlords' home star. George Greggson's future wife Jean faints as the Ouija board reveals a number which has no meaning to most of the guests. Then Jan recognizes it as a star-catalog number and learns that it is consistent with the direction in which Overlord supply ships appear and disappear. With the help of an oceanographer friend, Jan stows away on an Overlord supply ship and travels 40 light years to their home planet. Due to the time dilation of special relativity at near-light-speeds, the elapsed time on the ship is only a few weeks, and he has arranged to endure it in hibernation brought on by a drug known as narcosamine.