Space Invaders

by Nona Fernandez · 2013

Space Invaders is a dreamlike evocation of a generation that grew up in the shadow of the 1980s Chilean dictatorship. The novel follows a group of childhood friends haunted by uneasy memories and visions of their classmate Estrella González Jepsen. Through fragmented dreams, letters, and recollections of regimented school assemblies, nationalistic performances, and a beach trip, they confront the reality that Estrella’s father was a high‑ranking officer implicated in the violent crimes of the Pinochet regime. The story weaves personal nostalgia with collective trauma, using the metaphor of the video‑game “ghostly green bullets” they once fired to explore how they could only control the stories they told each other.