This psychologically complex science-fiction novel focuses on a sensitive adolescent making the difficult transition from childhood into adolescent sexuality and adult society. A boy, fleeing a bullying classmate, inadvertently makes first contact with a race of aliens who live beneath the surface of his planet. Exploring such subjects as the dynamics of dysfunctional families and human society's greed-based political system, the book has eerie psychological undercurrents and tells an emotionally compelling and surprisingly sensual story.
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"Fast moving, entertaining, and indecorous enough for a PG-17 rating...capable of stimulating the intellect as well as the senses." --"Locus"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
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On a colony world, a teenage boy called kaslin is running away from a nasty girl called hirsty who picks on him, when he falls into a cave. In the cave are aliens like none ever seen before. this encounter will change kaslin's life and the life of those he comes into contact with. but can humanity and these aliens communicate?
A short book of 170 pages with quite large print, although slightly tricky to get into at first due to some odd character names and a few strange words. But perserve, because it's worth it. the aliens are convincingly strange, and kaslin and all the other characters are very well drawn and written. you can really relate to them.
Not quite a book for all ages as suggested on the back, because kaslin has just hit puberty so are some sexual themes and references, so more one for teenagers and older readers. but it's a good story, it's complete in one volume, and it's a good read.
A short book of 170 pages with quite large print, although slightly tricky to get into at first due to some odd character names and a few strange words. But perserve, because it's worth it. the aliens are convincingly strange, and kaslin and all the other characters are very well drawn and written. you can really relate to them.
Not quite a book for all ages as suggested on the back, because kaslin has just hit puberty so are some sexual themes and references, so more one for teenagers and older readers. but it's a good story, it's complete in one volume, and it's a good read.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars
11 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unexpected. Provocative. A page turner.
21 Sep 2006
By Rosa Lina
- Published on Amazon.com
I was not expecting this dark science fiction novel from the extraordinary fantasist Nina Kiriki Hoffman, but once I started this disquieting coming-of-age story, I could not stop reading to see what would happen next. This is a story of alienation and what it means to be a human and/or a monster, and how easily the roles change, depending on perspective. A fascinating exploration of alien contact.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
How strange...
7 Dec 2008
By Elizabeth
- Published on Amazon.com
I am normally intensely fond of all of Nina Kiriki Hoffman's writing. I think her character development is phenomenal, her language is lyrical, and her ability to find magic in the ordinary delightful. This book, however, mystified me. It was a strange book, with some interesting concepts, and it held my attention, but I didn't particularly care about or like the characters. Furthermore, although I was moderately interested in what was going on by the time the book ended, the book just stopped. It felt like it ended in the middle of a sentence (although it didn't.) I would heavily recommend all of NKH's other fiction, but this book left something to be desired.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A new direction from a truly unique writer
12 Jan 2007
By Terrell T. Gibbs
- Published on Amazon.com
A cover blurb suggests that Nina Kiriki Hoffman is "this generation's Ray Bradbury." That seems almost entirely wrong, but it is hard to think who would be a more valid comparison. Peter S Beagle, perhaps. Hoffman is more familiar from her modern fantasies regarding the interlocking lives of people touched by magic of one form or another. But in this short novel, she is doing something very different, a science fiction novel of first contact. And in the process, she has created a some genuinely unique aliens and alien biology.
As in her fantasies, Hoffman always surprises. Dramatic tension rarely resolves in a way that is familiar or expected. Situations that appear to be frightening often turn out to be benign, enemies find surprising common ground (as with the protagonist and the bully who is chasing him as the story opens). Conversations and character development take odd and surprising turns.
In some respects, this seems to be a young adult novel. The protagonist starts out beleaguered, but by the end seems on his way to developing his confidence and autonomy. There are some brief scenes involving sex, including a sexualized encounter with the aliens that is handled in a matter-of-fact manner that seems not at all salacious. I am hopeful that as she has in her fantasies, Hoffman will write more stories that interlock with this one. There is clearly room for sequels, as well as for further development of some of the incidental characters.
As in her fantasies, Hoffman always surprises. Dramatic tension rarely resolves in a way that is familiar or expected. Situations that appear to be frightening often turn out to be benign, enemies find surprising common ground (as with the protagonist and the bully who is chasing him as the story opens). Conversations and character development take odd and surprising turns.
In some respects, this seems to be a young adult novel. The protagonist starts out beleaguered, but by the end seems on his way to developing his confidence and autonomy. There are some brief scenes involving sex, including a sexualized encounter with the aliens that is handled in a matter-of-fact manner that seems not at all salacious. I am hopeful that as she has in her fantasies, Hoffman will write more stories that interlock with this one. There is clearly room for sequels, as well as for further development of some of the incidental characters.
›
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3.9 out of 5 stars
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