Passengers

Passengers by Robert Silverberg

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RLFHYQRKLXAG0?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp

Spoilers

I read this for the first - and most recent time - in my early to mid-teens back in the 1970s. I remember mostly the weirdness of a world where people can become possessed by alien mental invaders and caused to do things they don't remember afterward. I remember the protagonist trying to form a relationship with the woman he had been caused to have sex with while under possession and I remember his suddenly becoming possessed again. I don't remember the homosexual angle at the end.

At that age, I don't think I really got the sexual angle or what I imagine would be the horror of the heterosexual, womanizing protagonist heading out with a man. I don't know that I feel the same horror I might have felt back in the 1970s.

On the other hand, the horrible weirdness of an alien invasion that is purely mental definitely stands out this time. It occurred to me that the world of Passengers is under Occupation. People go around with their eyes turned to the ground lest they come into eye contact with one of the Occupiers. They are totally passive before the conquerors.

This story won the Nebula Award in 1969 - back when that award meant something. It maintains its impact.