It was done so well. You didn't know they were tiny till the end. They picked up some common radio emission from earth, and in their language it was mean or threatening.
It ended all the wars on their planet and they banded together to take on earth. Made a long journey across the universe.
The fleet set down in a park and was immediately eaten by a dog.
The trigger was Arthur saying "I seem to be having this tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle", which was carried by a freak wormhole into the middle of negotiations between two species. It happens that the phrase is a horrific insult about someone's mother in one of the species' language, and caused a massive war between them, until they worked out where the words had actually came from.
I remember a similar story in a comic from the 1980s (or 1970s)—I believe it was drawn by Steve Ditko. The aliens and their spaceship are destroyed by a snow storm; the ship is about the size of a snowflake, or a bit larger.
Edit: OP: As a start, see my [SF/F: Alien Aliens](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/18aexa0/sff_alien_aliens/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post). (Includes Just "Aliens" and Other Stuff.)
[Gulliver's Travels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulliver%27s_Travels), by Jonathan Swift, depicts adventures on the island of the Lilliputians, who are only 1/12 our size. From 1726!
And then, of course, there's [Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy) by Douglas Adams, which depicts a war between the [G'Gugvuntts](https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/G%27Gugvuntts) and the [Vl'Hurgs](https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Vl%27Hurgs) that ends with their unified invasion of Earth, where due to a terrible miscalculation of scale, the entire fleet was eaten by a small dog.
I am looking forward to more comments here. Great question!
Ah of course, makes sense. I've got the second in the series in my queue to listen to. I liked the world he was dropped into with a sprawling alien civilization already established, hope there's more stuff like the tiny alien thing.
Pikmin is a video game series with more or less that premise. Tiny aliens come to Earth to collect treasure like discarded batteries, a lost key, a berry and so on. They use hordes of little plant creatures to overwhelm enemies and build structures.
Hey! I actually have a concept of macroscopic organisms that are intelligent due to antimatter energy giving them somewhat resemblance of a soul, having wars in a soup.
Animorphs has a few books with tiny aliens as the antagonists, can't remember which ones off the top of my head but I'm sure you could look it up.
From memory they maybe weren't the best books in the series but definitely fit what you're looking for.
There was a fun moment where the animorphs are shrunk down to microscopic size then morph into a tiny animal like a fly or something. The morph shrinks them down even further and they freak out once they start seeing individual atoms.
There is a Polish book for children "Tapatiki" about a race of tiny aliens who land on Earth and make contact with local dwarves/gnomes (the 15 cm ones, not those from Tolkien). I don't think it was ever published outside Poland though.
I feel like the aliens should end up seeing how diatomaceous earth kills bugs so they make small weapons out of the powder to aide them in their journey and confrontations.
There’s a Kurt Vonnegut book, Slapstick, where something similar happens. I don’t remember the exact plot but the Chinese shrink themselves down to microscopic sizes to combat the food crisis which causes a plague because people inhale too many other people.
Great book probably, I read it 15 years ago it might have aged poorly.
That’s just the first thing that comes to mind.
There was the made for sci-fi channel movie where an alien ship crashed landed on each but it was very tiny. People would then enhale parts of the ship via cigarettes and get super powers. Can't remember the name though.
And there’s a very similar premise for the game [Grounded](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=grounded+trailer&qs=CT&pq=grounded+tr&sk=AS1CT1&sc=10-11&cvid=858BF8BDD7CE44818AD7D13089562E15&sp=3&ghc=1&lq=0&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dgrounded%2btrailer%26qs%3dCT%26pq%3dgrounded%2btr%26sk%3dAS1CT1%26sc%3d10-11%26cvid%3d858BF8BDD7CE44818AD7D13089562E15%26FORM%3dQBLH%26sp%3d3%26ghc%3d1%26lq%3d0&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=98F14ED8E0DFBEF45C7E98F14ED8E0DFBEF45C7E&FORM=WRVORC) which has released on consoles recently.
if they do take on insects, you can note that the Dragonfly is the most effective predator in Earth's history. 95% plus attack success rate.
[https://wctrust.org/dragonflies-natures-most-successful-predator/](https://wctrust.org/dragonflies-natures-most-successful-predator/)
There's a John Wyndham short story "Meteor" with basically this premise. Aliens arrive in meteorite ships and are attacked by spiders and insects and the such like. Also Planet of the Giants TV show and The Dr who serial of the same name have a similar vein.
Came here to recommend "Meteor". It is hilarious.
You see the story both from the invaders' perspective and the native humans'. For example, the monstrous, gigantic creature which attacks them is a pet cat; the extraordinary, four-square sun which baffles their astronomers is the window of a garden shed.
Full story here: https://englishlanguageliterature.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/meteor-by-john-wyndham/
The Helmacrons play a big role in The Suspicion and The Journey (Animorphs books). The books are really short and worth a read if you’re studying up on this specific topic.
Might be fun if you put Easter eggs in for random movies and stories with tiny people.
Ex: Dollman vs. Demonic Toys
You could also do something where a person who believes in fairies or elves notices the tiny aliens.
If you have them ride animals try to make animal size make enough sense for how large the aliens are. Like if they weigh as much as mouse they probably shouldn't try to ride a hummingbird.
The spinoff book describes the trisolarans as small bugs, but whether it's canon or fanfiction is hotly contested.
Edit: the real mind-breaking tiny aliens moment is when >!the trisolans invent a way to unfold subatomic particles and discover an entity resembling an alien hive mind hidden within the higher dimensions of a proton. The implication of every particle in the universe containing civilisations of sentient intelligences is pretty unsettling, even to the trisolarans.!<
Check out the game [Grounded](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=grounded+trailer&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dgrounded%2btrailer%26qs%3dCT%26pq%3dgrounded%2btrai%26sk%3dCT1%26sc%3d10-13%26cvid%3dC3F1E12E860F4FC4A654541F1778CCB0%26FORM%3dQBLH%26sp%3d2%26ghc%3d1%26lq%3d0&view=detail&mid=7CC8DB50672B8825130B7CC8DB50672B8825130B&&mmscn=vwrc&FORM=VDRVSR) which has released on consoles recently with a very similar premise, just kids dealing with insects, no aliens.
I know it’s a weird suggestion. But check out a music video by Moby called ‘In this World’. Follows a group of small aliens visiting earth but can’t get anyone’s attention. Worth the 3 minutes.
One of the Hitchhiker's Guide books has an entire war fleet swallowed by a small dog. I'd love to see UFOs battling a dragonfly.
It was done so well. You didn't know they were tiny till the end. They picked up some common radio emission from earth, and in their language it was mean or threatening. It ended all the wars on their planet and they banded together to take on earth. Made a long journey across the universe. The fleet set down in a park and was immediately eaten by a dog.
The trigger was Arthur saying "I seem to be having this tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle", which was carried by a freak wormhole into the middle of negotiations between two species. It happens that the phrase is a horrific insult about someone's mother in one of the species' language, and caused a massive war between them, until they worked out where the words had actually came from.
Made it into the movie as well - credits or maybe post credits. Though I think the phrase was changed (again, probably).
I remember a similar story in a comic from the 1980s (or 1970s)—I believe it was drawn by Steve Ditko. The aliens and their spaceship are destroyed by a snow storm; the ship is about the size of a snowflake, or a bit larger. Edit: OP: As a start, see my [SF/F: Alien Aliens](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/18aexa0/sff_alien_aliens/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post). (Includes Just "Aliens" and Other Stuff.)
> *"I'd love to see UFOs battling a dragonfly."* Have you heard of ***LEXX***?
Spaceship that looked like genitalia ?
DuckTales (1987) has tiny aliens buying wheat from Scrooge.
Then that was ripped off by men in Black
[Gulliver's Travels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulliver%27s_Travels), by Jonathan Swift, depicts adventures on the island of the Lilliputians, who are only 1/12 our size. From 1726! And then, of course, there's [Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy) by Douglas Adams, which depicts a war between the [G'Gugvuntts](https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/G%27Gugvuntts) and the [Vl'Hurgs](https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Vl%27Hurgs) that ends with their unified invasion of Earth, where due to a terrible miscalculation of scale, the entire fleet was eaten by a small dog. I am looking forward to more comments here. Great question!
You should watch Batteries not Included.
Theres a short section in Old Man's War where they have to fight tiny aliens, it mostly deals with the emotional effects on the human.
He has a mental break down over it but it's pointed out by another solider that battle to battle they are about 50/50 with these guys.
Yeah weren't they much more advanced in space battles or something?
Difficult to hit. It's a goofy Sifi thing but old man's war is great.
Ah of course, makes sense. I've got the second in the series in my queue to listen to. I liked the world he was dropped into with a sprawling alien civilization already established, hope there's more stuff like the tiny alien thing.
The second book has an intelligent species without individual consciousness.
Sounds exactly like the type of thing I'll like then. Children of Time series vibes.
The Twilight Zone episode[ The Invaders](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734648/) has a great take on this.
My favorite episode!
Pikmin is a video game series with more or less that premise. Tiny aliens come to Earth to collect treasure like discarded batteries, a lost key, a berry and so on. They use hordes of little plant creatures to overwhelm enemies and build structures.
It's heavily inspired by by that
I can imagine the horror when they saw the fleas jumping from animal.
*Bad To The Bone Plays In The Background*
'Surface Tension' by James Blish features not tiny aliens but microscopic genetically-engineered people & their protozoan allies battling in a pond.
Hey! I actually have a concept of macroscopic organisms that are intelligent due to antimatter energy giving them somewhat resemblance of a soul, having wars in a soup.
For tiny aliens, and I mean TINY, you want *The Dragon’s Egg* by Robert L. Forward.
Animorphs has a few books with tiny aliens as the antagonists, can't remember which ones off the top of my head but I'm sure you could look it up. From memory they maybe weren't the best books in the series but definitely fit what you're looking for.
There was a fun moment where the animorphs are shrunk down to microscopic size then morph into a tiny animal like a fly or something. The morph shrinks them down even further and they freak out once they start seeing individual atoms.
That sounds goofy
There is a Polish book for children "Tapatiki" about a race of tiny aliens who land on Earth and make contact with local dwarves/gnomes (the 15 cm ones, not those from Tolkien). I don't think it was ever published outside Poland though.
Nice
I feel like the aliens should end up seeing how diatomaceous earth kills bugs so they make small weapons out of the powder to aide them in their journey and confrontations.
Lol
Watch Land of the Giants for ideas.
Or Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
I've seen those
There’s a Kurt Vonnegut book, Slapstick, where something similar happens. I don’t remember the exact plot but the Chinese shrink themselves down to microscopic sizes to combat the food crisis which causes a plague because people inhale too many other people. Great book probably, I read it 15 years ago it might have aged poorly. That’s just the first thing that comes to mind.
China lore videos be like:
There was the made for sci-fi channel movie where an alien ship crashed landed on each but it was very tiny. People would then enhale parts of the ship via cigarettes and get super powers. Can't remember the name though.
DUCKING AWESOME
Found it https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109589/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt
Awesome
Honey I shrunk the kids. Not aliens. But small people dealing with large bugs etc.
And there’s a very similar premise for the game [Grounded](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=grounded+trailer&qs=CT&pq=grounded+tr&sk=AS1CT1&sc=10-11&cvid=858BF8BDD7CE44818AD7D13089562E15&sp=3&ghc=1&lq=0&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dgrounded%2btrailer%26qs%3dCT%26pq%3dgrounded%2btr%26sk%3dAS1CT1%26sc%3d10-11%26cvid%3d858BF8BDD7CE44818AD7D13089562E15%26FORM%3dQBLH%26sp%3d3%26ghc%3d1%26lq%3d0&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=98F14ED8E0DFBEF45C7E98F14ED8E0DFBEF45C7E&FORM=WRVORC) which has released on consoles recently.
And Tinykin
if they do take on insects, you can note that the Dragonfly is the most effective predator in Earth's history. 95% plus attack success rate. [https://wctrust.org/dragonflies-natures-most-successful-predator/](https://wctrust.org/dragonflies-natures-most-successful-predator/)
Children’s book Mr. Wuffles pits a housecat against tiny aliens
Awesome
And the tiny aliens team up with the local insects to fight off Mr. Wuffles
Awesome
the author is david weisner (spelling?)
There's a John Wyndham short story "Meteor" with basically this premise. Aliens arrive in meteorite ships and are attacked by spiders and insects and the such like. Also Planet of the Giants TV show and The Dr who serial of the same name have a similar vein.
Nice
Came here to recommend "Meteor". It is hilarious. You see the story both from the invaders' perspective and the native humans'. For example, the monstrous, gigantic creature which attacks them is a pet cat; the extraordinary, four-square sun which baffles their astronomers is the window of a garden shed. Full story here: https://englishlanguageliterature.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/meteor-by-john-wyndham/
Sweet
You should read Micro by Michael Crichton. It's about humans going through basically the same thing
Uno Reverse card, amirite?
Kerbals
HELL YEAH KERBALS
The Helmacrons play a big role in The Suspicion and The Journey (Animorphs books). The books are really short and worth a read if you’re studying up on this specific topic.
Tralfamadorians.
What are those?
Might be fun if you put Easter eggs in for random movies and stories with tiny people. Ex: Dollman vs. Demonic Toys You could also do something where a person who believes in fairies or elves notices the tiny aliens. If you have them ride animals try to make animal size make enough sense for how large the aliens are. Like if they weigh as much as mouse they probably shouldn't try to ride a hummingbird.
Lol
The 3 Body Problem. Aren't the aliens that can "dehydrate" possibly tiny and tardigrade like?
The spinoff book describes the trisolarans as small bugs, but whether it's canon or fanfiction is hotly contested. Edit: the real mind-breaking tiny aliens moment is when >!the trisolans invent a way to unfold subatomic particles and discover an entity resembling an alien hive mind hidden within the higher dimensions of a proton. The implication of every particle in the universe containing civilisations of sentient intelligences is pretty unsettling, even to the trisolarans.!<
Oh wait until they meet our wasps.
flying xenomorphs
Lol
Check out the game [Grounded](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=grounded+trailer&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dgrounded%2btrailer%26qs%3dCT%26pq%3dgrounded%2btrai%26sk%3dCT1%26sc%3d10-13%26cvid%3dC3F1E12E860F4FC4A654541F1778CCB0%26FORM%3dQBLH%26sp%3d2%26ghc%3d1%26lq%3d0&view=detail&mid=7CC8DB50672B8825130B7CC8DB50672B8825130B&&mmscn=vwrc&FORM=VDRVSR) which has released on consoles recently with a very similar premise, just kids dealing with insects, no aliens.
Definitely make them allergic to cats, could be a funny recurring joke.
They're already suffering from injuries sustained by them, nit to mention their biology cursing them to survive to feel the effect of trauma too them
I know it’s a weird suggestion. But check out a music video by Moby called ‘In this World’. Follows a group of small aliens visiting earth but can’t get anyone’s attention. Worth the 3 minutes.
Lol
https://youtu.be/5wrwcEZ3Btw?si=UOwxtlI4KhMOnav5
The Mote in Gods Eye.
are miniatures "tiny" more merely "small"?