Xenophobia

First Contact

by Peter Cawdron

FIRST CONTACT is a series of stand-alone novels that explore humanity's first interaction with extraterrestrial life.

Xenophobia is set in Malawi, Africa, with US soldiers acting as peacekeepers to stop a civil war from erupting. When an alien spacecraft arrives in orbit, America is thrown into turmoil and US troops are withdrawn from hotspots around the globe to provide support at home. Malawi descends into chaos. Xenophobia follows a band of US Rangers that stay behind to get doctors and patients from an outlying field hospital to safety. When hundreds of alien spacecraft begin flying overhead, the dynamics of war take on an entirely new dimension.

FIRST CONTACT is similar to BLACK MIRROR or THE TWILIGHT ZONE in that the series is based on a common theme rather than common characters. This allows these books to be read in any order. Technically, they're all first as they all deal with how we might initially respond to contact with aliens, exploring the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of First Contact.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Aliens, Ebooks, Hard Science Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

360 pages, Paperback

First published June 22, 2013

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Xenophobia
By: Peter Cawdron
Narrated by: Holly Linden, J. T. Johnson
I almost forgot how wonderfully thrilling Cawdron's books are! The first part of the book had me terrified of the realistic action of rebel forces fighting against doctors and civilian populations in Africa. Then there is the added threat of an Alien ship. What will the idiots on Earth do or are the Aliens dangerous. Then part of the group the book is following is caught by nasty rebels that has trapped an Alien in a basement and that is where they plan to dump the doctor and soldiers. Wow! I am so rattled by then....but that's when it gets better! Yep,...Cawdron keeps the story getting better and better! What an amazing story!
The narrator's were awesome! There were two of them, a male and female. Absolutely wonderful! This is going in my favorite file! Recommend to anyone who loves science fiction or wants a different take on aliens.

[reherrma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nachdem ich die bisherigen fünf Erstkontakt-Romane von Peter Cawdron euphorisch gelobt und genossen habe, dachte ich mir doch, dass dieses andauernde Qualitäts-Niveau doch irgendwann mal zu Ende gehen muss, dieses Urteil muss ich jedoch mit diesem, sechsten auf Deutsch erschienenen, Roman dieser Stand-Alone-Reihe revidieren.
Von Anfang an war ich von dieser Geschichte begeistert, Peter Cawdron ist inzwischen einer meiner Lieblingsschriftsteller für diese Art Science-Fiction. „Die Fremden“ (der Orginaltitel „Xenophobia“ würde m.E. besser zum Roman passen!) ist der sechste (auf deutsch erschienene Titel) in seiner Serie, über den ersten Kontakt der Erde mit einer außerirdischen Lebensform. Die Bücher sind alle serienunabhängige Einzelromane und betrachten das Thema aus ganz anderen Szenarien und Perspektiven.
Dieses Buch wurde im Original ursprünglich im Jahr 2013 veröffentlicht, aber diese, in deutscher Sprache hat ein anderes Ende. Cawdron gelang es damals nicht, was er sich ursprünglich für die Geschichte überlegt hatte zu schreiben (siehe sein Nachwort).
Das Besondere von „Die Fremden“ ist, dass fast ein Drittel des Buches keine SF im herkömmlichen Sinn ist bzw. nur in sehr kleinen Dosen vermittelt wird. Die Handlung in diesem (Erstkontakt)-Buch dreht sich um seine menschlichen Charaktere, die um ihr Leben kämpfen, noch bevor die Aliens auftauchen. Die Kulisse für „Die Fremden“ ist mitten in einem Bürgerkrieg in der kleinen Republik Malawi im Südosten Afrikas.
Der Hauptprotagonist ist Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Bower, eine Freiwillige der „Ärzte ohne Grenzen“ die mitten in den Kämpfen des Bürgerkrieges ein Notfallkrankenhaus leitet. Plötzlich kommt eine Gruppe von US-Soldaten, um sie zu evakuieren, da die Rebellen drohen die Stadt anzugreifen. Der erste Teil dieses Buches enthält also eine nervöse und spannende Flucht. Es ist eine interessante Gruppe von Soldaten, zu der ein Elvis -Imitator gehört, der versucht, Liz in Sicherheit zu bringen. Auch wenn ich noch nie in einer Kampfsituation war, scheint mir Cawdrons Beschreibungen ziemlich realistisch zu sein, bis zum Kommandanten, der Liz erklärt, wie die Kugeln in einem kommenden Feuergefecht klingen werden und was zu tun ist. Cawdron schildert hier den Bürger- und Bandenkrieg eines "Failed States", ins "Herz der Finsternis". Brutalität, Missachtung jeglicher Menschlichkeit sind das Tagesgeschäft. Dem Autor scheint auch das wichtig zu sein: uns dieses "gefallene" Afrika näher zu bringen und unsere Verantwortung als ehemalige Kolonialmächte.
Die Konfrontation mit den Außerirdischen sickert nur langsam in diese Afrika-Handlung ein, zunächst über kaum verständliche Radio-Sendungen. Sie erfahren darin, dass ein außerirdisches Raumschiff gesichtet wurde, das auf die Erde zusteuert. Dieses Ereignis scheint zu Chaos, Panik und Bürgerkriegs-ähnlichen Verwerfungen im Westen geführt zu haben, weshalb auch die Truppen ins Heimatland zurückgerufen werden. Trotz des Schiffs, das in jeder Sprache „Wir kommen in Frieden“ sendet, bereitet jedes Land seine Armeen vor, da sie erwarten, von Außerirdischen wie in den meisten Science -Fiction -Filmen (Independece Day, etc.) einzudringen. (Hier bezieht sich auch der Orginaltitel „Xenophobia“ darauf)
Eine fantastische Geschichte aus Realität, Traum und Nabelschau beginnt - und natürlich darf sich der Leser zur Selbstbesinnung aufgefordert fühlen.
Wie die anderen fünf Bücher der Reihe, die ich bisher gelesen habe, ist auch dieses - abgesehen von der spannenden Geschichte - eigentlich höchst philosophisch, zeigt den Wider-, ja Unsinn unseres anthropozentrischen Denkens und ist dabei zutiefst humanistisch. Unbedingt lohnend, die Hoffnung ist, dass auch die weiteren Bücher der Reihe dieses Niveau halten können - woran ich fest glaube.
Es gibt hierin viel Nahrung zum Nachdenken. Leider bezweifle ich, dass unsere derzeitige Zivilisation besser abschneiden würde als die in der Geschichte dargestellte Bevölkerung. Wenn wir nicht mit Mitgliedern unserer eigenen Spezies auskommen können, wie könnten wir dann erwarten mit einer anderen auskommen? Der hier gezeigte Zynismus und Misstrauen sind in unserer Gesellschaft nur allzu real. Manchmal ist Fiktion Realität in einer sehr dünnen Verkleidung. Ich mochte alle Charaktere und genoss die Art und Weise, wie sie miteinander umgehen. Insgesamt eine ausgezeichnete Lektüre - und ein Ende mit etwas Hoffnung.
Peter Cawdron hat nun in seiner „Erstkontakt-Reihe“ dem Thema Erstkontakt genau wie seine klassischen Vorgänger neue, aufregende Perspektiven eröffnet. Vom H. G. Wells'schen Spektakel in "Krieg der Welten" und Ray Bradburys poetisch philosophischer Erzählung "Die Marschroniken" über Arthur C. Clarke und Clifford D. Simak zu den psychologisierenden Geschichten von Stanislaw Lem und den Strugatzki-Brüdern.
Zwei Ansätze scheinen mir grundsätzlich für jede Spekulation zum Erstkontakt :
- Wie kann Kommunikation stattfinden ? Und Kommunikation geht weit über Bilder oder Sprache hinaus. Was vermittelt jede Seite der anderen? Was traut jeder dem Gegenüber zu, im Guten wie im Schlechten? Gibt es überhaupt eine Basis für Verständigung?
- Und EINES ist ganz gewiss: schon das tatsächliche WISSEN, dass da "Jemand" ist, dass da etwas "Fremdes" auf uns zukommt, wird einen Zivilisations- und Kulturbruch zur Folge haben. Sinnbildlich wird bei uns Menschen kein Stein auf dem anderen bleiben….
Ich freue mich schon auf weitere Perspektiven des Erstkontaktes…

[~nikki the recovering book addict · Rating 3 out of 5]

Earlier work..

This is one of the author’s earlier work. Reading this, I’ve realised the author has come a long way since then. Comparatively, the author has improved in keeping the balance of the story - details vs story progression.

Also, unlike his more recent works, this is in 3rd person POV, even though it’s only focussed on one character. I like the 1st person POV better. I don’t know if it’s because it was 3rd person POV, but I did not like Liz very much, especially since we get to hear way too much of her internal dialogue.

Which also reminds me, Liz wasn’t very much consistent in her beliefs, waffling between believing the aliens come in peace and being scared shitless of them. Which, okay fine, is a completely normal thing to do. But it just gave me whiplash with how much waffling between the two she does. And I didn’t like her very much for being so hypocritical.

I do very much enjoy the author’s depiction of xenophobia, as odd as that sounds. It’s one thing to talk about it but quite another to have it pictured so vividly. Makes me think how completely selfish, self centred and self absorbed humans tend to be. Our default mode. Which is sad 😔

The great thing about this author is, even though it’s always about aliens and first contact, humanity and humans are always the centre point focus.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. In fact, I lost big chunks of time over two days of reading it. Don't start this book when you're in a hurry!

This is a story of first contact gone very wrong. The plot is complicated, with a lot of things going on at the same time. I found it engrossing, to say the least. While there is no lack of action, there is also a great deal of exposition, all both informative and entertaining, and woven into the story very well. There's a lot of food for thought here. Sadly, I doubt that our current civilization would perform any better than the populace portrayed in the story. If we can't get along with members of our own species, how could we possibly get along with another race? The cynicism and distrust displayed here are all too real in our society. Sometimes fiction is reality in a very thin disguise.

I liked all of the characters, and enjoyed the way they related to each other. And I've got to say - "Combat Barbie" made me laugh a lot.

Overall, an excellent read - and an ending with some hope.

[Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Cawdron is one talented fellow. This was both an enjoyable read and a story that stuck with me for a few days after I finished it. A terrific first contact story, blending white knuckle action with seriously deep philosophical questions. Like Monsters by the same author, this is another book I will certainly come back to again and again.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book started well but quickly went downhill about halfway through. Basically a "first contact" story that was intriguing at first because it blended a war-torn setting with alien visitors. The character development is pretty good, but the author fairly often goes into transparent and tedious dialogues about war, environmentalism, naturalism, etc. This tendency gets more frequent in the latter half until the final chapters *SPOILER ALERT* becomes so much so that I ended up just skimming over it. Content aside, the author and editor mistakenly used "weary" for "wary" numerous times which really bugged me! All in all, not a bad plot but too preachy for my taste.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only picked this book because I needed one that started with the letter X for an A-Z challenge. My friend Sarah had started the audiobook and said that the narration was great so I went that way too. It's a great story by itself but the audio production is fantastic. It's full of really cool sound effects, great accents, and just overall great narration.

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aliens and first contact is why I got this. Unfortunately that takes a back seat to lots of long philosophical diatribes and opinionating. I couldn't get through it.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW - I was hooked by this story from the beginning. Peter Cawdron is one of my favorite Hard Science Fiction writers. Xenophobia is the third book in his series all about Earth’s First Contact with an alien life form. The books are all stand-alones and each looks at the topic from completely different scenarios and perspectives. This book was originally published in 2013 but this latest edition has a different ending, one Cawdron says is what he had originally envisioned for the story.

Xenophobia is a very different type of science fiction book. There is nothing about science fiction until you are nearly a third of the way into the book and then the sci fi only comes in small doses for quite a while. The story line for most of the book centers around his human characters battling for their lives even before the aliens show up.

The setting for Cawdron’s book is the middle of a civil war in the small Republic of Malawi in southeastern Africa. Our protagonist is Dr. Elizabeth Bower, a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) volunteer who is running an emergency hospital right in the middle of the fighting. Suddenly a group of army rangers comes to evacuate her as the rebels are about to overrun her location. So, the first part of this book features an edgy and suspenseful overland trek. It is an interesting group of soldiers, that includes an Elvis impersonator, who are trying to get Liz to safety. I have never been in either the military or a combat situation but Cawdron’s descriptions seem pretty realistic to me, down to the commander explaining to Liz what the bullets are going to sound like in an upcoming firefight.

Eventually the alien ship makes it’s appearance and, as you might suspect, people around the world panic. Despite the ship broadcasting “we come in peace” in every language every country prepares their armies as they expect to be invaded by aliens like in all of our science fiction movies.

I cannot say enough good things about Cawdron’s writing. His science is well researched and realistic, his characters are complex and engaging, his storylines are creative and unique, and his writing style clear and captivating. The idea he has for first contact is different in each book as are the aliens and their purpose in meeting the people for earth.

I have now read five of his First Contact books and Xenophobia may be the most gripping book of his yet. I accidentally read two out of order but am now back to reading them chronlogically as it lets me follow the evolution of his writing.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few writers have thought more deeply about how First Contact with extraterrestrial intelligence might unfold than the Australian science fiction author Peter Cawdron. To date, Cawdron has published fifteen novellas and novels on the theme (with three more due out in 2021). And in Xenophobia, the second book in the series, he demonstrates what might be his most incisive thinking about the subject. Until nearly the end, this insightful First Contact novel is a brilliant tale of a fantasy gone awry. Only in its ending, which is both pat and preachy, does Cawdron fail to deliver what might have been a minor masterpiece.

A story set in a war zone in the African interior

Xenophobia opens in the not-too-distant future at a tiny jungle hospital in Malawi operated by Médecins Sans Frontières. (It’s better known in English as Doctors Without Borders. And for the benefit of those who are geographically challenged, Malawi is a small former British colony located in southeastern Africa. It shares borders with Tanzania and Mozambique to the east.) There, two European doctors and a staff of local nurses struggle against disease and the wounds of civil war under the constant threat of attack by rebel soldiers. A small peacekeeping detachment of US Army Rangers protects them. Suddenly, the helicopter they were expecting to deliver supplies instead arrives with orders for both the soldiers and the doctors to evacuate the hospital. Mysteriously, both the US and the United Nations are pulling out of the country.

For Dr. Elizabeth Bower, a British physician of Malawian descent, and her colleague, a Polish doctor named Kowalski, there is never any question they will abandon their patients to certain death. And their insistence on staying behind persuades Sergeant Jameson and the contingent of Rangers he leads to defy orders and remain in Malawi, too. Their plan is to ferry all the staff and patients to the nation’s capital, Lilongwe, in hopes of finding a flight out of the country from there.

In this insightful First Contact novel, humans react with fear

Yet soon after they set out on the long trek over land, startling news arrives by radio: a massive extraterrestrial vessel is approaching Earth, and all hell has broken loose practically everywhere around the world. The US and UN withdrawal from Malawi is just one minor example of the unfolding events. Widespread hysteria has led to rioting and repressive measures. And when the alien ship finally enters Earth orbit and sends probes hurtling toward the surface, the hysteria reaches new heights, and people everywhere react with mindless violence, killing what Liz Bower and the sergeant have come to understand are living creatures.

Liz is unsurprised. “[F]ear is our default response to the unknown,” she notes. “It’s a survival reaction over a reasoned response. Our history’s checkered with xenophobia—the fear of something different—different people from different countries, different cultures. We’re tribal. We want everyone to be the same.”

Face-to-face with an alien under tragic circumstances

Inevitably, Liz and the Rangers will come face to face with one of the aliens. This is, after all, a First Contact novel. But how that comes about, and what later transpires, is another story entirely. And that contact offers Cawdron ample opportunities for his characters in this insightful First Contact novel to muse aloud about interspecies communication, the morals of animals (or lack of them), and the likelihood that extraterrestrials will possess sense organs similar in any way to our own.

As Liz argues, “if we can’t communicate openly with species [such as dolphins and apes] on our planet without reading our emotions into their responses, what chances do we have of talking to someone from another planet? What chance do they have of talking to us without there being some kind of misunderstanding?” And all this becomes abundantly clear once we meet the aliens in Xenophobia.

How would we react to First Contact?

And speaking for himself in an Afterword, Cawdron writes, “As exciting as it would be to encounter intelligent extraterrestrials, I suspect our penchant for the sensational, for conspiracies and distrust, for hidden agendas and illogical beliefs would grossly distort First Contact.” In other words, the arrival of aliens from another world would very likely trigger humanity’s fight-or-flight response. And doesn’t that conclusion ring true?

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The major downfall of this novel is the fact that Peter Cawdron can write. He knows it, and he's done a lot of it. He writes descriptive, sophisticated prose; he writes punchy action; he writes sympathetic but not saccharin characters.

But he can also spell. By which I mean he spells out every point he means to make: clearly, unequivocally, and repeated and paraphrased for greater reinforcement. This is a book with a Message For You.

The title is a bit of a giveaway: Xenophobia is all about fear of the foreign. An alien craft makes appears in Earth's orbit, and humanity goes mad with terror. 'Local' conflicts don't stop just because a greater 'threat' has appeared. Countries are still turned against one another and against themselves.

It's a fair point. People are pretty crap like that.

(I actually quite liked Watchmen's spin on the same concept - !!!SPOILER WARNING!!!! - an alien attack ends the Cold War and reunites Russia and the US, because according to that story, enemies will band together to ward off a greater, shared enemy.)

In any case - I did enjoy and finish this book, but I don't think Cawdron is a mature writer just yet. He needs to trust readers to be able to find meaning within his narrative. Let us take a more active role in drawing conclusions about The Nature of Humanity from an Outside Perspective.

This novel has so much potential to leave the reader with a sense of fear, wonder and motivation for change. It left me feeling like I'd just walked out of a stern lecture.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. The narration on this was absolutely awesome. It was more of a production that included voices, someone who was quite brilliant with accents, and sound effects that were absolutely amazing. Especially when the alien was whipping it's tentacles around. Spiked tentacles. As for the book itself, I really loved the story and it took several turns that were so unexpected that I was really surprised. It was a book with a vision and a book with a message. I loved every minute of it and would recommend it to any sci-fi fan. The audio of course :) It was truly fabulous.

[Mike Franklin · Rating 3 out of 5]

When an alien spacecraft unexpectedly arrives in orbit the UN peacekeeping force is pulled out of Malawi allowing it to collapse into the civil war the UN has just about been managing to keep the lid on. Are the aliens friends or foes? And with no common language to allow meaningful communication do the UN or any of the world’s governments dare gamble on them being friendly especially when much of the human population are terrified of them and attacking any of their draft on sight.

Peter Cawdron clearly has a fascination with first contact scenarios but both this book and his previous first contact book I’ve read – Anomaly – leave me struggling with the way he has events play out. Decisions and actions close to the main protagonists I mostly found plausible but further afield I just don’t feel Cawdron has taken the time to make them realistic. It felt like he needed certain things to happen so they just happened; he needed panic so there was panic, he needed people to attack the aliens so they attacked them. And whilst he seemed to pay lip service to realism, having at least some of the characters condemning these actions and pointing out their stupidity and ineffectiveness he didn’t, for me at least, provide sufficient motivation for these actions to be believable.

He also fell with remarkable ease into the much overused trope of essentially benign aliens, horrified by the destructive forces of humankind’s stewardship of Earth, preparing to forcibly correct our behaviour and, of course, one human managing to convince them of our essential good nature. By the end of the book I was really beginning to feel the need for a bucket. This is a shame as Cawdron is not a bad writer but I don’t think he’s quite good enough, yet at least, to take on quite such ambitious subjects without them feeling forced and polemic.

[Tony da Napoli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading in order, this is the 4th. This one did not work for me. I admire what Cawdron is doing with his comprehensive approach to getting the science and technology behind the stories out to the reader in a non-textbook way. I think he is really helping many people to understand otherwise complex subjects. The reason it is not working for me is that I do know most of the technology/science, so a great deal of discussion is tedious to me. Plus, he also must build a credible story around all of this. This story also became long-winded (to me) in the process. Also, for some reason, he seems to have a need to interject social and political commentary and opinion into the narrative which may come across to some as an agenda or bias. Is it science tech, or is it sociology class? Maybe he does it subconsciously?
I am leaving the series while recommending it to those that feel they need to better understand the subject matter.
Check some of the expert reviews for more detail of the story line, "characterography" etc.

[Tony Calder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a first contact novel in which the aliens are truly alien and humans react the way that decades of Hollywood films have said they should react - which is the way the millennia of human nature has reinforced - fear the unknown. The story is engaging and the characters are well-developed. This book does what sci-fi does at its best - it examines the human condition. Highly enjoyable and highly recommended.

The version I read was the 2017 revised edition, not the 2013 original - I believe the author made some significant changes to the ending of the original edition.

[E.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing and a fine story until the last two chapters. How such a good writer could so utterly blow up his work with a preachy hammer over the reader's head at the end is beyond me. Just skip the last two chapters and you'll be happy. Trust me.

[Ben Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun & Exciting

This is the second or third First Contact book I’ve read and it continues to entice me. It does what good science fiction does: invites you to contemplate yourself. Certain elements were a little too stereotypical, but I enjoyed it.

[Lisa Hapney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great first contact story, I really enjoyed it and it was accurately named. It was gritty, sweaty, realistic and moved at a good pace. I mentioned in another review recently that I like a story that can be introspective without sacrificing excitement and action and was glad to see that this story had managed to do just that. I also like a story that requires you to think and I wasn't disappointed in that area either. Xenophobia certainly delivered by investigating not only our fears of strange or alien things from outside our galaxy, but also how we fear and treat one another due to those same irrational fears of things and persons unknown though we may only be from different countries rather than different planets.

There are several characters in this book, but Bower, a doctor who stays behind to care for her patients that need to be transported, and Elvis (nickname, not a resurrection lol), one of a group of US soldiers that volunteers to stay behind to protect them, are the mains for most of the story and they were both interesting travel companions. I thought the aliens were really cool and well thought out and I loved the journey as a whole. It was nice to get away from the Hollywood action movie clichés about what first contact will be where the aliens are generally hell-bent on eating, killing or in some other way making us subservient. I also liked that the book looked at how we treat one another and what types of behavior might be expected given a first contact situation on Earth.

Peter Cawdron has a great perspective on the world and it definitely comes through in his stories like a fresh gust of air. Each story I've read by Mr. Cawdron has been better than the last both technically and in overall storytelling. I'm just glad I got to take this trip through reading rather than stomping the road these characters traveled. Though that last part would have been pretty wonderful, but I dare not say too much. If you like a smart story that challenges you to look beyond what we see everyday then I think you would enjoy this one as much as I did.

This review was originally posted at http://tjhapney.wordpress.com/

[Graeme Tindale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being both a sci-fi and adventure story fan, I find myself reading the two genres hoping that any given story will include both. Often I find a routine military-based story whether in the future or the present that is somewhat predictable, somewhat interesting and a pleasant read. I hit the jackpot occasionally when I get a story that fully engages the reader with a well-developed plot and which happens to take place in the future and also includes these two genres. This is the case with this story. The plot is set in Central Africa where a doctor is working to help the African people in the middle of an armed rebellion and accompanied by American ranger troops. The author grabs the reader almost immediately by starting the story where the American troops are pulled out leaving the medical staff unprotected. We become very interested in the personalities and the risks they face. As a group of soldiers decides to stay and help the doctor evacuate her staff and patients, it turns into a real nail biter. In the middle this appears a large in spaceship circling the earth. I found it amazing to be totally wrapped up in the African struggle only to be equally wrapped up as the discussion centers around the impact of this alien spaceship. It created an amazing dichotomy. The story goes on to outline the struggles faced by the characters both in exiting Africa and, of course, when they come face-to-face with an alien. We experience the obvious challenges one would face communicating, understanding etc. an alien species. It is a great read with an unexpected ending. It was quite a treat and I will certainly read more from this author.

[John Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm fast becoming a fan of Cawdron. I enjoyed his "little green men" and now this. I don't like to spoil in my reviews, especially when that would really hurt your enjoyment of this, so I'll talk in general terms.

The military unit at first seems to be flat stereotypes, mainly from their nicknames with each other at the beginning, but as you progress in the book, their characters unfold like a delicious origami creation. All the characters are multidimensional but I only mention the military escort because they show the most change in exploring their depths.

The beauty of this book is how a major, and deadly conflagration on the ground is contrasted with an enigmatic and tantalizing story above ground (not going to give you more details than that). The intersections of those two story lines are handled deftly and creatively in a way that never makes you feel it isn't real, even if the characters themselves can't decide if things are real or not.

I think if you like Scifi or well-written stories, or interesting characters, or just a darn good ride, please put down all your other books and move this to the top of your "to read" list. you'll thank me.

[Jennifer Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book unfolded in an entirely new way. It was completely unexpected and kept me guessing. This is not your average first contact story.. It's about character, the best and worst of humanity, and has the most unique depiction of an alien species I've seen for a long time, which was exceedingly refreshing. I was completely wrapped up in these characters and their struggle in believable situations in war-torn Africa. This author must have done insane amounts of research and it shows. I need to read more by Peter Cawdron!

[Brenda Fryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last third of the book was awesome! I knew this was a first contact novel and expected to read about aliens right from the start. however the author wrote it as more of a character study forbthe first half. for me., too muchbtime spent in the mind of Bower., the female lead and charity doctor. there was action then too. but man against man. last third gets five stars from me but slower start knocked it down. the aliens and their world are ingenious--bravo Mr cawdron!

[Anna Risko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Xenophobia is a well thought out book.
The parallel stories of conflict were great ways to show how struggles may occur when you don't understand others.
I loved how we, the humans, are thought of almost as we think of dolphins. Intelligent, with limits.
It was a great science fiction read that will stay with me for a long time. And a book I plan to reread again.

[Colette Chadwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Cawdron is highly knowledgeable in the scientific and military aspects of this story. He is also very descriptive, and with an exceptional perspective that reveals the fears of mankind. All that makes this a wonder read. I loved that he used an Africa war zone, with the U.S. Army peacekeepers as a backdrop for an earth invasion.
A well written story, a great plot, and strong characters.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cawdron's work is amazing! This first-contact tale is "real" in the sense that it is believable. It is creative; as the cover photo suggests, we are not looking at gray humanoids with sideways eyes. It's scary, from multiple perspectives, while also hopeful, with a fair amount of awe. The only criticism I could raise is that it ended.

[Justin Pigors · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great novel with a unique premise and very interesting characters. I really enjoyed reading this and I highly recommend it to anyone.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.85

[Rita Lehto · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very weird

This book was very disappointing. It’s poorly written, doesn’t have much substance to it. It’s illogical and out right boring.

[John Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Cawdron’s stories are about more than science fiction or first contact. Cawdron attempts to make the reader think about the human condition by applying it to his first contact storylines. This book is profound in that regard, conveying how humans might react to an alien presence with a “fight or flight” reaction and how we may, or may not, be capable of communicating with an alien being when we have so much difficulty communicating with other species that reside on the same planet as ourselves. It describes the civil wars existing in many African countries for decades. It shows how human beings could be viewed as warmongers by aliens visiting our planet in the hopes of finding intelligent life, but instead, being scared off because of the way they were greeted. It is very much like the history of humanity with its tribal nature, being afraid of anything different.

Cawdron did an excellent job in this story of creating aliens far different from what Hollywood would have us believe. Not only did he create characters for the story so well crafted and developed that the reader can empathize and sympathize with them through every move they make, but he also created an alien that you can root for, regardless of how dangerous it might be. He showed that his alien had intelligence and could discern when someone was trying to harm it or when someone else may try to help it.

Cawdron creates characters for his stories by taking the reader through the characters' daily activities and showing how they react to the things around them so the reader can see inside their minds and understand how they think. He can make the reader feel they are right there in action alongside the protagonists. His character development is the best this reader has seen in a very long time. But he always seems to sense how far he can go with developing them without bogging down the storyline. His novels always have a good pace.

Peter’s ability to weave actual science into his fictional story is fascinating. In most of his novels, the reader will find extensive research done to make sure the story is as factual as possible. This talent he possesses is one of the things that make him so good at hard science fiction. His knowledge of over a dozen different science genres is so good that it makes the reader wonder how he finds the time to write all his novels when he is obviously doing much reading to ensure his stories are factual. His knowledge is immense.

When you combine the fantastic and well-paced storyline with character development that is so good that you feel like you know Elvis, Liz, and Stella as close as you do your neighbor or friend, the result is an excellent novel. This was one of Cawdron’s first attempts at first contact novels. In his afterword, he admits that he had to rewrite the ending several years after the book was initially written because at the time it was written, he simply couldn’t craft the ending he wanted. But the major components of the story are there in full flourish, showing that Peter Cawdron had a gift when he began writing. His subsequent novels have only gotten better as he has learned his craft, and he now should be considered one of the best science fiction authors of today.

This novel was so compelling that it was read in two sittings, and when it was finished, the reader wished it had been longer to continue such an excellent story.

[Fred M · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book is mostly about the chaotic and desperate conditions brought about by all the fighting between rival factions in war-torn Africa. A small squad of US Rangers tries to convoy two Doctors-Without-Borders, plus a few of their patients and staff, from Malawi to a safer African location. Although this first half was well written, I kept thinking “where’s the sci-fi”? The sci-fi was mostly limited to the convoy’s radios picking up a few static-filled reports of an alien spacecraft and of the populace’s resulting panic and paranoia both within the US and elsewhere.

By the second half of the book, two of the protagonists have been captured by some rebel fighters. Those rebels have also captured an alien. (The book never explains how they managed that improbable feat.) At this point, the book (finally!) goes into full sci-fi mode. The alien is satisfyingly ALIEN. And the human/alien interactions and attempts at communication are at the core of this second half.

So why was so much of the book devoted to the African strife? A cynic might say: to make the book a novel instead of a novella. But I think the author wanted to illustrate that regional squabbles and country boundaries appear petty and inconsequential when you view Earth from space (but taking half the book to illustrate that seemed extreme to me).

Bottom line: Nice sci-fi story, but that was only the second half of the book. Author should have shortened the first half of the book (a lot!) and used those remaining pages to create a more complete and satisfying ending.

FYI: The Amazon description is misleading because, since all the book’s characters are in Africa, all their information about “America in turmoil” only comes via a few brief static-filled radio reports.