All Were Monsters

A lonely farmer's homemade telescope gives him a front-row seat to the impossible: he becomes the first human to meet Provvorr, an alien visitor who claims to come in peace and speaks directly into his mind. At first, the encounter seems almost miraculous. Provvorr appears human-like, performs astonishing feats, and seems able to transform metal into gold and restore life to a dead moth. But the wonder quickly curdles when the alien recoils in horror at the farmer's casual killing of the insect, revealing that his ideas of life, death, and civilization are radically unlike humanity's. Provvorr explains that his people have studied Earth from afar and shaped his appearance to match human expectations, but his true mission is to judge whether the planet can support colonization. He insists his race means no conquest, yet predicts humanity will destroy itself within decades. That certainty begins to unravel when the farmer's dog arrives, exposing a blind spot in the alien's understanding. As the farmer introduces him to dogs, cats, and the rest of Earth's animal life, Provvorr grows increasingly disturbed by a world full of creatures he cannot read, control, or comprehend. In the end, he abandons the colonization plan and asks the one question that matters most: how can humanity save itself? This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.