Hal Clement's Needle

Author: Hal Clement

The Hunter is a small gel-type creature that lives inside of its host. Two such creatures have crashed their ship on Earth. They escaped separately and now the Hunter, who has taken up residence in a teenaged boy, is looking for the other of his kind. The hunter is sent far afield, when the kid is sent to boarding school thousands of miles away from home. At that point, the Hunter decides to come clean and communicates with the boy, Bob. Needless to say, the boy freaks out. The administrators feel that this is due to homesickness, and Bob goes home again. There the two of them begin a search for the other creature. This other creature is far closer to home than he thinks and the risks to get the creature out of its host are great. Why It Made the List The book was the first of its kind to present a lifeform that was not a threat to its host. This was in the age of pod people and a non-threatening lifeform was something new to science fiction. As one of the oldest books in this list, the book is a classic tale, and well worth finding. Read It If You Like Classic science fiction, symbionts,

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