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Alien Child
A girl growing up in an insulated though pleasant environment, with a furry guardian for company, comes to realize that she must be the last human left on earth.
246 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 4, 2015
If I had read this as a teenager, I would've liked it very much. I felt like it occupies a science-fictional space somewhere between Andre Norton's Star Ka'at stories and C.J. Cherryh's Chanur saga.
A young human girl, Nita, has been raised by a catlike alien known as Llipel. Her home, the bounds of which she has never gone beyond, is The Institute - an abandoned facility maintained solely by an artificial intelligence, which has been Nita's source of education, 'socialization' and knowledge about her species.
However, as Nita grows, so does her natural curiosity. Her nature puzzles her guardian, whose species seems to lack some qualities innate to humanity. But Nita is driven to know: what has happened to humanity? What was the purpose of the Institute? What lies outside? And what is Llipel's companion, Llare, occupied by, in the parts of the complex that have been forbidden to Nita?
It's an enjoyable and interesting story with a lot of potential. However, I don't feel that it fully lived up to that potential. The scenario raises questions about what characteristics are innate to humanity - the 'nature vs. nurture' debate. What would a human child be like who had only ever had contact with only one other individual, and that one an alien? I don't feel that the book used enough imagination in proposing answers to these questions. Nita seems remarkably 'normal' and similar to a girl of our society. Even inarguably socially-conditioned ideas such as modesty and the 'attractiveness' of some fashions over others are shown as immediately-adopted by Nita, even though she has NOT been brought up with those ideas. The story gets even more awkward in the way it handles things when it starts dealing with the awakening of sexuality and relationships - presenting events and characters' behaviors in a way that is very much bound to our present society's ideas about gender norms, to the extent that it feels stereotypical. I expected more from Sargent (who's known for editing the groundbreaking 'Women of Wonder' anthology series, and her many female-centric sci-fi books)!
Many thanks to Open Road Media and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review. As always, my opinions are my own.
A young human girl, Nita, has been raised by a catlike alien known as Llipel. Her home, the bounds of which she has never gone beyond, is The Institute - an abandoned facility maintained solely by an artificial intelligence, which has been Nita's source of education, 'socialization' and knowledge about her species.
However, as Nita grows, so does her natural curiosity. Her nature puzzles her guardian, whose species seems to lack some qualities innate to humanity. But Nita is driven to know: what has happened to humanity? What was the purpose of the Institute? What lies outside? And what is Llipel's companion, Llare, occupied by, in the parts of the complex that have been forbidden to Nita?
It's an enjoyable and interesting story with a lot of potential. However, I don't feel that it fully lived up to that potential. The scenario raises questions about what characteristics are innate to humanity - the 'nature vs. nurture' debate. What would a human child be like who had only ever had contact with only one other individual, and that one an alien? I don't feel that the book used enough imagination in proposing answers to these questions. Nita seems remarkably 'normal' and similar to a girl of our society. Even inarguably socially-conditioned ideas such as modesty and the 'attractiveness' of some fashions over others are shown as immediately-adopted by Nita, even though she has NOT been brought up with those ideas. The story gets even more awkward in the way it handles things when it starts dealing with the awakening of sexuality and relationships - presenting events and characters' behaviors in a way that is very much bound to our present society's ideas about gender norms, to the extent that it feels stereotypical. I expected more from Sargent (who's known for editing the groundbreaking 'Women of Wonder' anthology series, and her many female-centric sci-fi books)!
Many thanks to Open Road Media and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review. As always, my opinions are my own.
August 15, 2015
More reviews @ The BiblioSanctum.
Originally published in 1988, Alien Child is a young adult book that follows a human girl named Nita who is being raised by a catlike creature, Llipel, in the remains of a medical institute. Llipel’s companion, Llare, stays holed away from them in another part of the institute that she’s not allowed to access. Nita begins to believe that she’s the last surviving human on Earth as she learns more about what happened to the rest of humanity and how she, a human girl, came to exist in a world where humans no longer roam. Then, she discovers that Llare is actually raising a human boy of the same age named Sven.
This book seems typical fare for young adult books published during the 80s and 90s. I think if I’d read this as a kid, I probably would’ve liked it more. Reading it as an adult, it was a conceptually interesting read, but not the most compelling read. It felt a bit too juvenile, even for my tastes. This skews toward the younger side of young adult. We meet Nita when she’s young and follow her to her fifteenth year, and this book focuses on the issues that she goes through as she ages from precocious child to puberty. These issues are handled in ways that a child would relate to them and not in a way that could be seen as gross or inappropriate, except for maybe one scene between Nita and Sven.
The science fiction aspect of the story is where things get a little atypical. This book explores themes such as “nature vs. nuture.” It questions how would a human child behave if raised by a being that didn’t have an innate curiosity about things, who believed that all answers come in due time. As a mom of two, I could definitely see a human child being overly curious as Nita was, despite having a guardian who was cautious and patient. Honestly, I didn’t think Sargent addressed this as well as she could have. Nita didn’t really seem that much different from a child who hasn’t been raised in isolation, and she took to many things much better than you’d expect.
Sargent did a better job trying to explain the horrors of humanity to the children and what led to their destruction, questioning whether humans were even a race worth saving once the children had full knowledge of their heritage. It might not explore this as deeply as my adult mind would like, but keeping the age group this is aimed toward in mind, this is a great way to start challenging their ideas, especially what they feel the fate of humanity should be after learning something pivotal later in the story.
Twelve-year-old me probably would’ve lapped this story up, and I think it probably would be great for kids as an introduction to science fiction and perhaps as a starting point for some of those uncomfortable conversations parents eventually have to have with their kids but are not quite sure how to get there. Adult me thought this was an okay story, but can still see why this is considered a classic and brings out nostalgia among old science fiction fans.
Originally published in 1988, Alien Child is a young adult book that follows a human girl named Nita who is being raised by a catlike creature, Llipel, in the remains of a medical institute. Llipel’s companion, Llare, stays holed away from them in another part of the institute that she’s not allowed to access. Nita begins to believe that she’s the last surviving human on Earth as she learns more about what happened to the rest of humanity and how she, a human girl, came to exist in a world where humans no longer roam. Then, she discovers that Llare is actually raising a human boy of the same age named Sven.
This book seems typical fare for young adult books published during the 80s and 90s. I think if I’d read this as a kid, I probably would’ve liked it more. Reading it as an adult, it was a conceptually interesting read, but not the most compelling read. It felt a bit too juvenile, even for my tastes. This skews toward the younger side of young adult. We meet Nita when she’s young and follow her to her fifteenth year, and this book focuses on the issues that she goes through as she ages from precocious child to puberty. These issues are handled in ways that a child would relate to them and not in a way that could be seen as gross or inappropriate, except for maybe one scene between Nita and Sven.
The science fiction aspect of the story is where things get a little atypical. This book explores themes such as “nature vs. nuture.” It questions how would a human child behave if raised by a being that didn’t have an innate curiosity about things, who believed that all answers come in due time. As a mom of two, I could definitely see a human child being overly curious as Nita was, despite having a guardian who was cautious and patient. Honestly, I didn’t think Sargent addressed this as well as she could have. Nita didn’t really seem that much different from a child who hasn’t been raised in isolation, and she took to many things much better than you’d expect.
Sargent did a better job trying to explain the horrors of humanity to the children and what led to their destruction, questioning whether humans were even a race worth saving once the children had full knowledge of their heritage. It might not explore this as deeply as my adult mind would like, but keeping the age group this is aimed toward in mind, this is a great way to start challenging their ideas, especially what they feel the fate of humanity should be after learning something pivotal later in the story.
Twelve-year-old me probably would’ve lapped this story up, and I think it probably would be great for kids as an introduction to science fiction and perhaps as a starting point for some of those uncomfortable conversations parents eventually have to have with their kids but are not quite sure how to get there. Adult me thought this was an okay story, but can still see why this is considered a classic and brings out nostalgia among old science fiction fans.
December 23, 2018
3.5 stars rounded up because there aren't enough thoughtful SF novels for the 'tweens and young teens, and this does help fill that gap. Good 'what if' story, though an experienced reader will be arguing and questioning the author's decisions and techniques.
Authors, please, less romance, less dystopia, for YA... less fantasy for 'tweens... let's give young people some solid SF like The Giver and An Alien Music, like this almost was.
Second read: Appreciated it more this time as I was reading for nuances and not just plot and other developments. Interesting exploration of human nature from several perspectives, two of which I've never seen before. A solid four.
Authors, please, less romance, less dystopia, for YA... less fantasy for 'tweens... let's give young people some solid SF like The Giver and An Alien Music, like this almost was.
Second read: Appreciated it more this time as I was reading for nuances and not just plot and other developments. Interesting exploration of human nature from several perspectives, two of which I've never seen before. A solid four.
April 3, 2016
https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2016/0...
The beginning of this book is praise from a bunch of folks. I actually bothered to read it all, not only because I was curious about what they thought of this novel but also because it had praise from other books by her. She was defined as writing unique sci-fi, no one has ever done anything like her, she is a master at characterization and so on and so forth. Talk about setting high expectations. I hope I have learned my lesson.
So here I am, beginning the book per se, and immediately I have an issue. The first line is Nita's earliest memory was of the day she had nearly drowned in the pool. She was toddling down the wide, lighted hall of her home, but her short legs could not keep pace with her guardian's long strides. So what do I think? This kid is small, a toddler. And yet, when her guardian engages her later on, she has the speech of a much older child. And this is the issue I have with most books who have children as a main character - few succeed in making them sound as children.
Her guardian has trouble with English and, even though we later learn she has an AI at her service, it just did not justify why Nita seemed so developed from the beginning.
Several things felt like they were thrown out there for the reader to take for granted. Like Nita saying she always knew her guardians came from a spaceship. How did she always know? Did Llita tell her that story? Did the AI?
Not everything was bad. Some descriptions were very beautiful and the idea of Llipel and Llare's people was intriguing and mysterious.
I did try to go along with the story but I kept thinking "wait, why didn't she do this? Why didn't she go there?" or just felt that some things were entirely too convenient. I just didn't buy it and kept trudging on. I figured hey, it's only 246 pages, how long can it take? Well, if felt like ages.
Even the ending was anti-climatic. The dialogues were stretched on for miles and miles and the entire idea was so repetitive.
I just could not take the novel seriously. I believe that had I read it at a younger age I would not have had nearly as many issues as I had. As it is, I cannot recommend it and definitely feel the praise was overdone.
Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The beginning of this book is praise from a bunch of folks. I actually bothered to read it all, not only because I was curious about what they thought of this novel but also because it had praise from other books by her. She was defined as writing unique sci-fi, no one has ever done anything like her, she is a master at characterization and so on and so forth. Talk about setting high expectations. I hope I have learned my lesson.
So here I am, beginning the book per se, and immediately I have an issue. The first line is Nita's earliest memory was of the day she had nearly drowned in the pool. She was toddling down the wide, lighted hall of her home, but her short legs could not keep pace with her guardian's long strides. So what do I think? This kid is small, a toddler. And yet, when her guardian engages her later on, she has the speech of a much older child. And this is the issue I have with most books who have children as a main character - few succeed in making them sound as children.
Her guardian has trouble with English and, even though we later learn she has an AI at her service, it just did not justify why Nita seemed so developed from the beginning.
Several things felt like they were thrown out there for the reader to take for granted. Like Nita saying she always knew her guardians came from a spaceship. How did she always know? Did Llita tell her that story? Did the AI?
Not everything was bad. Some descriptions were very beautiful and the idea of Llipel and Llare's people was intriguing and mysterious.
I did try to go along with the story but I kept thinking "wait, why didn't she do this? Why didn't she go there?" or just felt that some things were entirely too convenient. I just didn't buy it and kept trudging on. I figured hey, it's only 246 pages, how long can it take? Well, if felt like ages.
Even the ending was anti-climatic. The dialogues were stretched on for miles and miles and the entire idea was so repetitive.
I just could not take the novel seriously. I believe that had I read it at a younger age I would not have had nearly as many issues as I had. As it is, I cannot recommend it and definitely feel the praise was overdone.
Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
May 20, 2015
Alien Child by Pam Sargent. A YA book originally published in 1988. Book Description:
"A girl growing up in an insulated though pleasant environment, with a furry guardian for company, comes to realize that she must be the last human left on earth."
Interesting, but not compelling, the novel encourages an examination of what the human condition really entails: trust, love, and humanity's history of violence and war. Might be a good choice for younger readers, giving them a lot to ponder.
NetGalley/Open Road Integrated Media
Dystopian. 1988; 2015. Print version: 246 pages.
"A girl growing up in an insulated though pleasant environment, with a furry guardian for company, comes to realize that she must be the last human left on earth."
Interesting, but not compelling, the novel encourages an examination of what the human condition really entails: trust, love, and humanity's history of violence and war. Might be a good choice for younger readers, giving them a lot to ponder.
NetGalley/Open Road Integrated Media
Dystopian. 1988; 2015. Print version: 246 pages.
May 21, 2023
A YA book originally published in 1988. Set in the distant future, all humans had killed themselves off through war. Aliens landed on Earth and found an AI-controlled building where some human embryos were stored. From them they created two human children, a girl and a boy, and raised them.
Seems like a really interesting plot, doesn't it? Unfortunately the book had one single message: Humans do awful things. It repeated that message endlessly, slammed the reader over the head with it.
Young readers might like the story, might think it's edgy? But as an adult reader, it was so redundant (did nothing but hammer in the awful things humans can do) and had no original message. It was joyless to read, so I DNFed it about a third of the way in.
Seems like a really interesting plot, doesn't it? Unfortunately the book had one single message: Humans do awful things. It repeated that message endlessly, slammed the reader over the head with it.
Young readers might like the story, might think it's edgy? But as an adult reader, it was so redundant (did nothing but hammer in the awful things humans can do) and had no original message. It was joyless to read, so I DNFed it about a third of the way in.
June 6, 2021
A Good Story for Young and Old Readers
Some type of nuclear war wipes out all human life on earth. Then 2 aliens land, find a vacant earth and decide to repopulate. There are Institutions on both sides of the earth with frozen embryos and equipment to repopulate the earth. They start slowly with a male, a female, plants, and animals. When the human children turn 15 they are introduced to each other. This is where our story begins. I liked this book.
Some type of nuclear war wipes out all human life on earth. Then 2 aliens land, find a vacant earth and decide to repopulate. There are Institutions on both sides of the earth with frozen embryos and equipment to repopulate the earth. They start slowly with a male, a female, plants, and animals. When the human children turn 15 they are introduced to each other. This is where our story begins. I liked this book.
June 28, 2018
This was a quick read with some compelling ideas. it managed tbp hold my attention and made me think of Ergo Proxy, an excellent anime, at points. Still, there was something very flat and anticlimactic about the whole venture. Worth the read though.
May 3, 2015
A Solid SciFi Story for the Tween Set
(Full disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC for review through NetGalley. Trigger warning for rape.)
"The emptiness of the world outside told her that the last story of her people had ended badly."
For as long as she can remember, Nita has lived in the east wing of the Kwalung-Ibarra Institute with her furred, cat-like guardian, Llipel. Their only company is the robotic gardeners that maintain the grounds; the artificial intelligence that controls the Institute; and, later, a cat retrieved from the cold room for Nita. Llipel's companion and fellow space traveler Llare occupies the west wing, but the two only communicate through the mind, and then only when necessary: this being their time of separation, Llipel and Llare are compelled to pursue solitude - from members of their own species, if nothing else.
As far as Nita knows, she's the last remaining human on earth. That is, until she attempts to call Llare on the intercom and is stunned to find a furless face staring back at her. On the cusp of womanhood - no longer a child, but not yet an adult - Nita makes a shocking discovery: there's a human boy named Sven just a stone's throw away. And, for some reason that neither of them understand, both their guardians have kept the presence of the other a secret from their charges.
Emboldened by her new friend, Nita eagerly tries to unravel the mystery of their existence. The library located in the west wing - Sven and Llare's wing - tells her the story of humanity's rise - and fall: an escalating series of wars that eventually ended with the extinction of h. sapiens. That is, until Llipel and Llare stumbled upon the Institute - a former laboratory and cryonics facility - and accidentally activated the embryos that would eventually become Nita and Sven.
As Llipel and Llare's time of solitude draws to a close, Nita and Sven must decide what to do with their lives - not to mention humanity, whose future almost literally rests in their hands. Will they go the way of their ancestors, and succumb to their most violent and base impulses? Or will compassion and hope prevail?
Though it's a little young for me, Alien Child is an engaging and relevant science fiction story for the tween set. When first we meet Nita, she's just a toddler, giving the story a middle grade feel. However, as she grows older (and meets Sven, and discovers s-e-x), Alien Child starts to feel a bit more like YA - but on the younger end of the spectrum. Say, junior high?
The story tackles many issues intrinsic to adolescence - understanding your changing body; relating to others around you, especially members of the opposite sex; finding your place in the world; grappling with the mistakes of those who have come before you and trying not to repeat them; feelings of loneliness, isolation, and alienation. Especially interesting is how Sargent navigates issues of sexual desire, expectations, and consent; while far from perfect, it's not bad considering neither protagonist has taken a sex ed. or women's studies class. If anything, it provides a useful jumping-off point for parents to explore such issues with their kids (and teachers, their students).
Pro tip: while I do include a trigger warning for rape here, as the scene between Nita and Sven might be troubling to some readers, there isn't actually a rape scene. No sex scene either. However, there is an attempted sexual assault in which Nita has to fend off a clueless, fumbling, and victim-blaming Sven.
Weirdly enough, I enjoyed the story more before Sven entered the picture; and once the two left to explore the world beyond the Institute, my attention started to wane. There's quite a bit of repetition of detail in their arguments, which slows the story down. And Sven is a bit of a pill. Much more interesting are their respective relationships with their alien caretakers.
The future of humanity? Yeah, that didn't excite me as much. I would have lived a full life exploring the world and let humanity die with me. I mean just look how beautiful and wild and free the rest of earth's creatures are without us! It's a no-brainer.
I particularly appreciate the book's diversity. (It was the book's cover that initially drew me in.) Nita has dark, curly hair and "dark-brown" skin; later we learn that her "parents" were named Juanita Gutierrez and Robert Kufakunesu, and that her father was a native African. (A specific country would be nice, but you can't win 'em all.) There's much confusion about Llipel and Llare's gender; whereas Nita thinks of Llipel as a "she," Sven genders Llare male like himself. However, there's no real indication that they're either/or; in Llipel and Llare's species, the concept of gender seems to be fundamentally different from ours. Likewise, when they meet the humanoid alien Raen ("golden-skinned," with "short black hair" and "pale, yellowish eyes"), zhe is androgynous as well.
3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 where necessary.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2015/05/29/...
(Full disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC for review through NetGalley. Trigger warning for rape.)
"The emptiness of the world outside told her that the last story of her people had ended badly."
For as long as she can remember, Nita has lived in the east wing of the Kwalung-Ibarra Institute with her furred, cat-like guardian, Llipel. Their only company is the robotic gardeners that maintain the grounds; the artificial intelligence that controls the Institute; and, later, a cat retrieved from the cold room for Nita. Llipel's companion and fellow space traveler Llare occupies the west wing, but the two only communicate through the mind, and then only when necessary: this being their time of separation, Llipel and Llare are compelled to pursue solitude - from members of their own species, if nothing else.
As far as Nita knows, she's the last remaining human on earth. That is, until she attempts to call Llare on the intercom and is stunned to find a furless face staring back at her. On the cusp of womanhood - no longer a child, but not yet an adult - Nita makes a shocking discovery: there's a human boy named Sven just a stone's throw away. And, for some reason that neither of them understand, both their guardians have kept the presence of the other a secret from their charges.
Emboldened by her new friend, Nita eagerly tries to unravel the mystery of their existence. The library located in the west wing - Sven and Llare's wing - tells her the story of humanity's rise - and fall: an escalating series of wars that eventually ended with the extinction of h. sapiens. That is, until Llipel and Llare stumbled upon the Institute - a former laboratory and cryonics facility - and accidentally activated the embryos that would eventually become Nita and Sven.
As Llipel and Llare's time of solitude draws to a close, Nita and Sven must decide what to do with their lives - not to mention humanity, whose future almost literally rests in their hands. Will they go the way of their ancestors, and succumb to their most violent and base impulses? Or will compassion and hope prevail?
Though it's a little young for me, Alien Child is an engaging and relevant science fiction story for the tween set. When first we meet Nita, she's just a toddler, giving the story a middle grade feel. However, as she grows older (and meets Sven, and discovers s-e-x), Alien Child starts to feel a bit more like YA - but on the younger end of the spectrum. Say, junior high?
The story tackles many issues intrinsic to adolescence - understanding your changing body; relating to others around you, especially members of the opposite sex; finding your place in the world; grappling with the mistakes of those who have come before you and trying not to repeat them; feelings of loneliness, isolation, and alienation. Especially interesting is how Sargent navigates issues of sexual desire, expectations, and consent; while far from perfect, it's not bad considering neither protagonist has taken a sex ed. or women's studies class. If anything, it provides a useful jumping-off point for parents to explore such issues with their kids (and teachers, their students).
Pro tip: while I do include a trigger warning for rape here, as the scene between Nita and Sven might be troubling to some readers, there isn't actually a rape scene. No sex scene either. However, there is an attempted sexual assault in which Nita has to fend off a clueless, fumbling, and victim-blaming Sven.
Weirdly enough, I enjoyed the story more before Sven entered the picture; and once the two left to explore the world beyond the Institute, my attention started to wane. There's quite a bit of repetition of detail in their arguments, which slows the story down. And Sven is a bit of a pill. Much more interesting are their respective relationships with their alien caretakers.
The future of humanity? Yeah, that didn't excite me as much. I would have lived a full life exploring the world and let humanity die with me. I mean just look how beautiful and wild and free the rest of earth's creatures are without us! It's a no-brainer.
I particularly appreciate the book's diversity. (It was the book's cover that initially drew me in.) Nita has dark, curly hair and "dark-brown" skin; later we learn that her "parents" were named Juanita Gutierrez and Robert Kufakunesu, and that her father was a native African. (A specific country would be nice, but you can't win 'em all.) There's much confusion about Llipel and Llare's gender; whereas Nita thinks of Llipel as a "she," Sven genders Llare male like himself. However, there's no real indication that they're either/or; in Llipel and Llare's species, the concept of gender seems to be fundamentally different from ours. Likewise, when they meet the humanoid alien Raen ("golden-skinned," with "short black hair" and "pale, yellowish eyes"), zhe is androgynous as well.
3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 where necessary.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2015/05/29/...
May 19, 2015
I rarely read modern young adult fiction. Classics, like Pamela Sargent's Alien Child first published in 1988, now released in ebook form, appeal to a wider audience. Accessible to younger readers, Alien Child is not only entertaining, it is thought-provoking, encouraging self-examination and questioning.
Nita has grown up at the Institute. Her only companion is her guardian, a being known as Llipel. As she matures, Nita begins to ask questions. Where are the other humans? What lies in the cold room that Llipel has forbidden her to enter? What do the changes in her body mean? On her 15th birthday, Llipel reveals the events surrounding her birth. She discovers she is not alone, Llare, another being like Llipel, has raised a boy, Sven, in another part of the Institute.
When Nita learns the world was destroyed by war and there are no humans left, she wonders about the nature of humanity. Why did they fight? What drove them to build vast weapons of war and use them against one another? Is violence an inseparable part of human nature? As the only humans what will happen to them? Together, Nita and Sven face a difficult decision. Is humanity able to change, and is it worth trying to build a future?
Although written in the height of the Cold War, the concepts and questions presented by Pamela Sargent's novel are applicable today.
It is a pleasure to see this wonderful science fiction novel made available to a new generation of readers by Open Road Media.
I received a copy of Alien Child from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
Nita has grown up at the Institute. Her only companion is her guardian, a being known as Llipel. As she matures, Nita begins to ask questions. Where are the other humans? What lies in the cold room that Llipel has forbidden her to enter? What do the changes in her body mean? On her 15th birthday, Llipel reveals the events surrounding her birth. She discovers she is not alone, Llare, another being like Llipel, has raised a boy, Sven, in another part of the Institute.
When Nita learns the world was destroyed by war and there are no humans left, she wonders about the nature of humanity. Why did they fight? What drove them to build vast weapons of war and use them against one another? Is violence an inseparable part of human nature? As the only humans what will happen to them? Together, Nita and Sven face a difficult decision. Is humanity able to change, and is it worth trying to build a future?
Although written in the height of the Cold War, the concepts and questions presented by Pamela Sargent's novel are applicable today.
It is a pleasure to see this wonderful science fiction novel made available to a new generation of readers by Open Road Media.
I received a copy of Alien Child from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
February 29, 2012
There is much to admire about "Alien Child". It's a well-thought-out story with convincing aliens and, as a result, convincing misunderstandings. Nita, about 15 during the main events of the story, has been raised by Llippel and has never seen another human being except on computer screens. By the time she's 4 or 5, Nita already knows she and her guardian are very different. As she grows older, she begins to wonder if there are any people who look like her. Then she discovers that a boy her age, Sven, lives in another wing of the building with a creature called Llare. Why has Llippel never told her about Sven and Llare? And, if Nita is not alone in the institute, could there be other human beings somewhere else? When they learn why their world is so empty, Nita and Sven are faced with a life-changing decision.
How you react to a book can depend on where you are in your own life. "Alien Child" has - very understandably - a claustrophobic feel. It deals with imperfect decisions and imperfect communication. There is, in the end, no true meeting of minds between humans and aliens, even though Nita comes to understand her guardian. All this is intellectually satisfying, but emotionally rather distancing. Compounding this problem, for me, was the character of Sven. Nita is optimistic and inclined to action; Sven is depressive. I got rather tired of him toward the end of the book!
Again, this was a well-crafted story. I would recommend it, with the above reservations, to anyone looking for straight SF set on a future earth. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped to.
How you react to a book can depend on where you are in your own life. "Alien Child" has - very understandably - a claustrophobic feel. It deals with imperfect decisions and imperfect communication. There is, in the end, no true meeting of minds between humans and aliens, even though Nita comes to understand her guardian. All this is intellectually satisfying, but emotionally rather distancing. Compounding this problem, for me, was the character of Sven. Nita is optimistic and inclined to action; Sven is depressive. I got rather tired of him toward the end of the book!
Again, this was a well-crafted story. I would recommend it, with the above reservations, to anyone looking for straight SF set on a future earth. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped to.
July 2, 2009
A young girl, Nita, is being raised by a gentle, furred alien being in an abandoned cryogenics facility, where her embryo was accidentally unfrozen by the alien Llipel. She learns from the facility's "mind," the computer that communicates with her through screens, that in another wing of the building, her guardian's partner, Llare, is raising a human boy also brought to life by mistake.
Despite their guardians' intentions to keep them apart, Nita and the boy, Sven, soon meet and compare notes, and Sven shares a horrible secret that he learned in the facility's library: that all the other humans are gone from the earth as a result of the humans' inability to control their violent tendencies.
Though Sven and Nita are horrified by the truth about human nature, their knowledge of it drives them to embrace fear and violence almost immediately...with consequences that neither of them could have foreseen.
This book could be a little slow at times, but overall it really grabbed me. This book seems to be unfortunatley little-known, it's a shame it doesn't have a larger audience. I'll definitely recommend it to teens looking for a good sci-fi read.
Despite their guardians' intentions to keep them apart, Nita and the boy, Sven, soon meet and compare notes, and Sven shares a horrible secret that he learned in the facility's library: that all the other humans are gone from the earth as a result of the humans' inability to control their violent tendencies.
Though Sven and Nita are horrified by the truth about human nature, their knowledge of it drives them to embrace fear and violence almost immediately...with consequences that neither of them could have foreseen.
This book could be a little slow at times, but overall it really grabbed me. This book seems to be unfortunatley little-known, it's a shame it doesn't have a larger audience. I'll definitely recommend it to teens looking for a good sci-fi read.
May 17, 2015
I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a young adult novel that was originally published in 1988. If I had read it as a kid, I'm sure I would have loved it. However, even reading it as an adult, it is a pretty good book. It tells the tale of a young girl who is raised by an alien guardian. It is a fairly brief story that goes along at a pretty good pace. You can kind of tell that it is a young adult novel written in the late 80s, but it was an easy, enjoyable read.
This is a young adult novel that was originally published in 1988. If I had read it as a kid, I'm sure I would have loved it. However, even reading it as an adult, it is a pretty good book. It tells the tale of a young girl who is raised by an alien guardian. It is a fairly brief story that goes along at a pretty good pace. You can kind of tell that it is a young adult novel written in the late 80s, but it was an easy, enjoyable read.
February 16, 2011
I didn't like this one as well as I expected to. I think part of the reason is that Nita's knowledge of her surroundings at the beginning of the book doesn't seem to quite convince me that she was raised by an alien. I suppose I should have hung on for a little longer, before abandoning this book, but my TBR pile is SOOOO high that I am just going to move on.
October 10, 2012
I read this book when I was ten years old, it was my first literary experience of science fiction and it changed my young mind forever. Therefore my high rating can be attributed mostly to nostalgia. Today, as an adult, the book seems simplistic and dated, but that certainly won't stop me from pushing it on impressionable un-indoctrinated youth!
August 15, 2012
I don't know what it was with this book but I clearly enjoyed it when I was 14 years old. I loved how a human girl who thought she was alone in the world was actually not (who was raised by an extra-terrestrial being). It had a surreal type of feeling when I read it.
July 27, 2015
Storyline had potential, but it was so poorly written and edited I couldn't finish it.
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