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First Contact
Feedback
Twenty years ago, a UFO crashed into the Yellow Sea off the Korean Peninsula. The only survivor was a young English-speaking child, captured by the North Koreans. Two decades later, a physics student watches his girlfriend disappear before his eyes, abducted from the streets of New York by what appears to be the same UFO.
Feedback will carry you from the desolate, windswept coastline of North Korea to the bustling streets of New York and on into the depths of space as you journey to the outer edge of our solar system looking for answers.
Feedback will carry you from the desolate, windswept coastline of North Korea to the bustling streets of New York and on into the depths of space as you journey to the outer edge of our solar system looking for answers.
390 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 9, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
February 23, 2014
I had a hard time putting this book down to get some sleep. This is a fascinating story, from the first chapter to the last one. The stories of two main characters are told alternately, one in the present, and one twenty years in the past. It's soon apparent that the two tales relate to each other.
Both first contact and time travel form the basis for the book, and both are handled in a unique fashion. I've read a lot of time travel stories, but I've not seen the topic explored in quite this way before. While the story is complex, I didn't find it to be confusing. This type of plot is impossible to discuss without spoilers. I'm not ruining the surprises for anyone with details.
I liked the characters and the fast pace of the book. If you enjoy time travel tales, don't pass this one up. I've read and loved all of Peter Cawdron's work, but I believe this book to be his best one to date.
Both first contact and time travel form the basis for the book, and both are handled in a unique fashion. I've read a lot of time travel stories, but I've not seen the topic explored in quite this way before. While the story is complex, I didn't find it to be confusing. This type of plot is impossible to discuss without spoilers. I'm not ruining the surprises for anyone with details.
I liked the characters and the fast pace of the book. If you enjoy time travel tales, don't pass this one up. I've read and loved all of Peter Cawdron's work, but I believe this book to be his best one to date.
August 11, 2014
This book hooked me right away. I only paused for emergencies, I had to know what happened next. Jason is a loveable, gentle, smart man thrust into a confusing situation because he tried to help a girl out. Lee is a brave, honorable helicopter pilot stuck in a bad place because of his job. Both characters will stick with you after the book ends making you think. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, enough that although I was given a free copy in the hopes that I would review this book; after reading it I purchased a copy. I know indie authors live by reviews, but reviews don't pay the rent.
Enough about my thoughts, go buy the book and enjoy!
Enough about my thoughts, go buy the book and enjoy!
March 16, 2014
The blurb on this book probably caught your attention, or you wouldn't be reading the reviews to see if you want to order the book. Order the book. As interesting as the blurb was, the book is exponentially more exciting.
Hire a maid, put the dog in a kennel, tell your friends you are off to a desert island on vacation and there is no cell phone reception, and pull the shades . . . you're not going to want to put this one down until you read the very last word.
I've read 4 Cawdron books, which were recommended to me by a very unlikely source. If this person tells me to read a book, I expect excellence. I picked up my first Cawdron book with some hesitation because I could not believe the recommendation was for an indie author. I said it in a review for another of his books, but i will repeat it here: either Cawdron is paying a professional editor or he is a true writer in every sense of the word. He is honing his craft nicely and each new book is better than the one before.
Hire a maid, put the dog in a kennel, tell your friends you are off to a desert island on vacation and there is no cell phone reception, and pull the shades . . . you're not going to want to put this one down until you read the very last word.
I've read 4 Cawdron books, which were recommended to me by a very unlikely source. If this person tells me to read a book, I expect excellence. I picked up my first Cawdron book with some hesitation because I could not believe the recommendation was for an indie author. I said it in a review for another of his books, but i will repeat it here: either Cawdron is paying a professional editor or he is a true writer in every sense of the word. He is honing his craft nicely and each new book is better than the one before.
January 5, 2020
If you want to give this book a try, get a reading sample which includes at least the first three chapters. The first chapter is not just a boring prologue meant to leave behind. This pace which makes you think, time stands still, will continue in later chapters. Which are filled by commonplaces of the worst kind. I couldn't find one unique idea.
March 14, 2014
I didn't know what I was getting into when I opened this book. It was well-written and really interesting. I was always kept guessing. I especially liked that the main characters are Korean without the author making it all about their racial/ethnic background. In science fiction (and a lot of other fiction), you rarely see characters who are non-white, and when you do, the author writes it as a BIG DEAL (I especially think of Amy Tan books). Their backgrounds matter, but no more than I'd (as a white American) casually mention how being a Southerner or my religious background affects my outlook on a situation. I'd like to see more books written like this, presenting stories with more ethnic and racial diversity as "normal" people.
I had a hard time putting it down.
I had a hard time putting it down.
April 16, 2025
Great read! The first book in a long time I had trouble putting away at night. So Peter thanks for a few long days at work. Both because I was sleepy and because I was actually looking forward to be able to continue to read at night.
It's hard to tell anything about the story without giving spoilers so lets just say it's a classic scifi story with a number of good (and good timed) twists.
The con's? Maybe now and then it's a bit to descriptive for some people but I actually liked this. It helps me imagine the settings of the story.
It's hard to tell anything about the story without giving spoilers so lets just say it's a classic scifi story with a number of good (and good timed) twists.
The con's? Maybe now and then it's a bit to descriptive for some people but I actually liked this. It helps me imagine the settings of the story.
January 18, 2015
Very interesting plot, extremely vague for the bulk of the book but manages to keep people interested. The ending is a huge standout, managing to tie together loose plot threads as the main plot threatens to (for lack of a better phrase) become lost up it's own rectum. Despite this, it's a book that will remain fresh in your head for a while trying to fully comprehend it and an interesting take on aliens in the Science-Fiction genre.
Plus it's always nice to support independent authors like Mr Cawdron
Plus it's always nice to support independent authors like Mr Cawdron
November 13, 2016
4.70
Really enjoyed this book, read it pretty quickly and had so many feelings for the dragon in the end.
Really enjoyed this book, read it pretty quickly and had so many feelings for the dragon in the end.
October 12, 2020
Feedback is the third of the eleven First Contact novels published to date by the gifted Australian science fiction author Peter Cawdron. Like the others I’ve read, it’s a serious effort to explore the scientific issues raised by the expectation of encountering extraterrestrial intelligence. Unfortunately, it’s the least successful. Although First Contact is at the heart of the tale, time travel dominates, and it’s monumentally confusing to follow. If the themes intrigue you and you elect to read this book, I suggest you start at the Afterword, which includes a diagram of the time loops traversed in the story. Otherwise, you may find yourself caught in a time loop yourself. I did.
At first, Feedback seems to be a First Contact tale
Feedback opens “twenty years ago” off the coast of North Korea. A helicopter of the South Korean Coast Guard is ferrying eight US Navy SEALs on a mission to rescue a child who appears to have emerged from—get this—a flying saucer after it crashed into the sea. When the helicopter comes under fire from a North Korean MIG fighter jet, the pilot, Captain John Lee, ditches it in the ocean and floats to shore, only to be captured by North Korean soldiers. In escaping from the camp where he was tortured, Lee learns that the “star child” was not a girl, as he had expected, but a small boy. Like him, the boy is ethnically Korean.
Three characters caught in a time loop
Now, twenty years later, a mathematical prodigy named Jason—a first generation Korean-American—is studying for a master’s degree in physics under the brilliant and demanding Professor Lachlan at Columbia University. Then a beautiful young Korean-American woman named Lily enters his life, and in short order all hell breaks loose. Quick cut then to John Lee back in North Korea. And you’re on your own from then on, because I don’t want to spoil any more of the story than I already have.
Exploring the issues bundled into time travel
Have no doubt: Peter Cawdron is serious about exploring the issues bundled into First Contact. For example, Jason speculates in a conversation with his friends, “One day we’ll travel to the stars, and that will be the greatest act of exploration ever undertaken, but make no mistake about it, we’re traversing an arid desert, a desolate Arctic wilderness, an oxygen-starved mountain far more dangerous and inhospitable than Everest. The distances involved and the difficulty of maintaining life in outer space should not be underestimated.” However, it seems highly improbable to me that future space explorers will become caught in a time loop.
A problem with language
Apart from the difficulty I had in following the story, I have one serious beef about this novel. Cawdron seems to assume, or at least one of his characters asserts, that “English could last in pretty much its current form for the next ten thousand years!” Unfortunately, most science fiction writers seem to make the same assumption. But it’s hogwash. Ask any linguist.
Language is always a work in progress, evolving year by year so rapidly that much of what is spoken today may well be difficult to decipher a century from now. Consider how much change English has undergone since the fifteenth century—only five hundred years ago—when Modern English was only a glimmer on the horizon and the lingua franca of England, as it were, was still Middle English. If you’ve ever tried to read Middle English, you’ll understand. You may even understand if you’ve traveled to India lately—of if you’ve tried to talk to anybody from Scotland.
At first, Feedback seems to be a First Contact tale
Feedback opens “twenty years ago” off the coast of North Korea. A helicopter of the South Korean Coast Guard is ferrying eight US Navy SEALs on a mission to rescue a child who appears to have emerged from—get this—a flying saucer after it crashed into the sea. When the helicopter comes under fire from a North Korean MIG fighter jet, the pilot, Captain John Lee, ditches it in the ocean and floats to shore, only to be captured by North Korean soldiers. In escaping from the camp where he was tortured, Lee learns that the “star child” was not a girl, as he had expected, but a small boy. Like him, the boy is ethnically Korean.
Three characters caught in a time loop
Now, twenty years later, a mathematical prodigy named Jason—a first generation Korean-American—is studying for a master’s degree in physics under the brilliant and demanding Professor Lachlan at Columbia University. Then a beautiful young Korean-American woman named Lily enters his life, and in short order all hell breaks loose. Quick cut then to John Lee back in North Korea. And you’re on your own from then on, because I don’t want to spoil any more of the story than I already have.
Exploring the issues bundled into time travel
Have no doubt: Peter Cawdron is serious about exploring the issues bundled into First Contact. For example, Jason speculates in a conversation with his friends, “One day we’ll travel to the stars, and that will be the greatest act of exploration ever undertaken, but make no mistake about it, we’re traversing an arid desert, a desolate Arctic wilderness, an oxygen-starved mountain far more dangerous and inhospitable than Everest. The distances involved and the difficulty of maintaining life in outer space should not be underestimated.” However, it seems highly improbable to me that future space explorers will become caught in a time loop.
A problem with language
Apart from the difficulty I had in following the story, I have one serious beef about this novel. Cawdron seems to assume, or at least one of his characters asserts, that “English could last in pretty much its current form for the next ten thousand years!” Unfortunately, most science fiction writers seem to make the same assumption. But it’s hogwash. Ask any linguist.
Language is always a work in progress, evolving year by year so rapidly that much of what is spoken today may well be difficult to decipher a century from now. Consider how much change English has undergone since the fifteenth century—only five hundred years ago—when Modern English was only a glimmer on the horizon and the lingua franca of England, as it were, was still Middle English. If you’ve ever tried to read Middle English, you’ll understand. You may even understand if you’ve traveled to India lately—of if you’ve tried to talk to anybody from Scotland.
June 30, 2020
Different kind of first contact story
Time travel and first contact scenario are a great combination in the hands of this writer. The background universe is early 21st century but he uses the two Koreas as a major setting for the story. He uses it very well for setting a tone and major character backstory.
The alien's history isn't fully told until the end and adds twists that change upend all your expectations. It's a good read with a certain darkness that makes the time travel component work really well.
Great characters, several puzzles, and timey-wimey stuff made for a very good book. This is the second book of his that I've read and I'm going on to number three with confidence that it will also be entertaining.
Time travel and first contact scenario are a great combination in the hands of this writer. The background universe is early 21st century but he uses the two Koreas as a major setting for the story. He uses it very well for setting a tone and major character backstory.
The alien's history isn't fully told until the end and adds twists that change upend all your expectations. It's a good read with a certain darkness that makes the time travel component work really well.
Great characters, several puzzles, and timey-wimey stuff made for a very good book. This is the second book of his that I've read and I'm going on to number three with confidence that it will also be entertaining.
January 18, 2019
Time travel for Dummies?
This book has plenty of time travel physics for beginners in sci-fi books with a very human ending. Peter Cawdron, I must confess, has become one of my favorite science fiction writers his stories seem to flow flawlessly throughout his novels, I always find myself lost in the action that the need to get to the end becomes an obsession so I can find out its resolution, get to the happy ending if you will. Peter Cawdron does not disappoint, he's true to human principles in its purest description as to what it means to be human, it may be just my interpretation but in his books the main character always does the right thing!
This book has plenty of time travel physics for beginners in sci-fi books with a very human ending. Peter Cawdron, I must confess, has become one of my favorite science fiction writers his stories seem to flow flawlessly throughout his novels, I always find myself lost in the action that the need to get to the end becomes an obsession so I can find out its resolution, get to the happy ending if you will. Peter Cawdron does not disappoint, he's true to human principles in its purest description as to what it means to be human, it may be just my interpretation but in his books the main character always does the right thing!
March 16, 2014
Ever since I read Little Green Men last year, I've been a Peter Cawdron fan. I looked forward to reading Feedback ever since I saw the early look at Jason Gurley's fantastic cover and I was not disappointed. Cawdron's story starts with a bang, but then slowly moves back and forth until the truth finally is revealed.
I enjoyed Jason's story and how his present-day story related to a downed helicopter in North Korea 20 years earlier. I loved the way Cawdron went to a flash-forward (or was it a flash-back) with each alternating chapter and in the end, it had a great tie in to one of my favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes ever. He could have left it there, but then Cawdron wraps it all up in a nice little package with his epilogue.
Well done by a master storyteller.
I enjoyed Jason's story and how his present-day story related to a downed helicopter in North Korea 20 years earlier. I loved the way Cawdron went to a flash-forward (or was it a flash-back) with each alternating chapter and in the end, it had a great tie in to one of my favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes ever. He could have left it there, but then Cawdron wraps it all up in a nice little package with his epilogue.
Well done by a master storyteller.
February 26, 2014
Great mix of action, adventure, sci-fi, and mystery. This book revolves around two stories: a physics students who discovers he's not what he appears to be, and a downed pilot's escape from a North Korean prison camp. Of course, they are related but I won't reveal that spoiler. Page turner until the end, with a nice epilogue to wrap it up. Recommend.
March 2, 2014
As with many other reviewers, I also found this book hard to put down. It captured me from the beginning and I had to keep reading until I found out how everything worked out. Some of the discussions on time travel were a bit confusing, but that only made me slow down to make sure I got it before moving on. Overall, I enjoyed the book.
March 7, 2014
EXCELLENT!!! It's can't-put-it-down good. I am sad that it's over - loved every minute. It's riveting, complex, full of science, aliens, space, time, and great characters. I'd get a little confused, but Mr. Cawdron brought me back soon thereafter. I have thoroughly enjoyed every Peter Cawdron book that I've read - I think this is 4 or 5 books now! Looking for more, keep writing sir!
February 2, 2021
It's a wild ride worth taking!
Be careful what you wish for. I really liked this book. I'd actually give it 4.5 stars. But I was beginning to hate the ending...Then , it became perfect. First Contact plus time travel equalsfraught adventure.
Be careful what you wish for. I really liked this book. I'd actually give it 4.5 stars. But I was beginning to hate the ending...Then , it became perfect. First Contact plus time travel equalsfraught adventure.
June 29, 2014
Great story. Works make a good movie
December 9, 2018
This is my second book of this author and I have a feeling I will simply be going down the line and reading all of his work.
I gave only 4 stars because it did not leave me in the same state of awe that books I rate 5 stars must leave me in, such as the way the book Dark Matter did. I mention that book because there were some elements that reminded me of it, like the themes of beautifully epic yet disturbing navigations through space and time in the name of love.
Some elements that led to this being a 4 star instead of 5 include character development and dialogue. I never developed the amiable or relatable feelings for the characters I so desperately wanted. Jason came off as a fairly boring guy who lacked depth in his actions and relationships and comes off robotic at times. His friendship with Mitchell is forced and juvenile, especially the dialogue they share. It’s based on lame sexual innuendo between two men who are apparently intelligent yet their interactions go no deeper than “Bro, you scored!” While I had suspected that Mitchell wasn’t who we thought he was (where he showed up at the school and appeared to be fishing for information just after Jason tells his teacher of his theories on time travel), I feel that this being the only relationship discussed in the book led to my lack of feelings for Jason as a whole. He never talks to his parents and has no other friends or love prospects. He is flat as he floats around in his world without much meaning and when the meaning is finally revealed, it’s not enough for me to truly care about his outcome or feelings towards it. Luckily, the story and sinuous structure as well as the science behind this book are enough to overshadow these character flaws and still keep it as an incredible book.
I say that I’ve “finished” the book but in reality I went to sleep (finally) at 3 am after a few pages of the epilogue and am about to finish it now. The last line of the book says it is the beginning to the end and I sat there confused because I kept not understanding what the initial event was that caused the loop to begin and after a few pages into the Epilogue, I quickly was able to assume that it was a hijacking of one of these time traveling beasts during a technology age where humans inhabit many realms of space that began the loop. For some reason I don’t feel compelled to go beyond that assumption because it answered my question that burned upon reading that last line of the book. I think it’s that lack of feelings for Jason (which probably will also be lacking for Jae-Sun as well) that make it so a simple answer to my question is enough for me.
Just a couple questions/comments I would discuss with others who read the book if I had the chance:
What was the purpose of Lily’s faked abduction? Was it just to throw off the reader from thinking they knew what was happening? After finding out it was staged, it’s actual purpose was lost on me.
Would Mitchell and his girlfriend simply be ok having their entire lives be based on monitoring Jason’s life? It reminds me of the relationships in the movie The Truman show a bit, how their entire lives (for thousands and thousands of years in this book’s case) are solely there for the main character and have no other meaning beyond that.
Why does Jason forget everything? He as a child seems to remember how Lee dies and has knowledge of him always able to free them from terrible situations but doesn’t ever remember who he is or what he is? Why does Lachlan tell the reporter that everything will come back to him yet it doesn’t ever really?
I had more but can’t remember them right now, I will edit this if they come to me again.
I gave only 4 stars because it did not leave me in the same state of awe that books I rate 5 stars must leave me in, such as the way the book Dark Matter did. I mention that book because there were some elements that reminded me of it, like the themes of beautifully epic yet disturbing navigations through space and time in the name of love.
Some elements that led to this being a 4 star instead of 5 include character development and dialogue. I never developed the amiable or relatable feelings for the characters I so desperately wanted. Jason came off as a fairly boring guy who lacked depth in his actions and relationships and comes off robotic at times. His friendship with Mitchell is forced and juvenile, especially the dialogue they share. It’s based on lame sexual innuendo between two men who are apparently intelligent yet their interactions go no deeper than “Bro, you scored!” While I had suspected that Mitchell wasn’t who we thought he was (where he showed up at the school and appeared to be fishing for information just after Jason tells his teacher of his theories on time travel), I feel that this being the only relationship discussed in the book led to my lack of feelings for Jason as a whole. He never talks to his parents and has no other friends or love prospects. He is flat as he floats around in his world without much meaning and when the meaning is finally revealed, it’s not enough for me to truly care about his outcome or feelings towards it. Luckily, the story and sinuous structure as well as the science behind this book are enough to overshadow these character flaws and still keep it as an incredible book.
I say that I’ve “finished” the book but in reality I went to sleep (finally) at 3 am after a few pages of the epilogue and am about to finish it now. The last line of the book says it is the beginning to the end and I sat there confused because I kept not understanding what the initial event was that caused the loop to begin and after a few pages into the Epilogue, I quickly was able to assume that it was a hijacking of one of these time traveling beasts during a technology age where humans inhabit many realms of space that began the loop. For some reason I don’t feel compelled to go beyond that assumption because it answered my question that burned upon reading that last line of the book. I think it’s that lack of feelings for Jason (which probably will also be lacking for Jae-Sun as well) that make it so a simple answer to my question is enough for me.
Just a couple questions/comments I would discuss with others who read the book if I had the chance:
What was the purpose of Lily’s faked abduction? Was it just to throw off the reader from thinking they knew what was happening? After finding out it was staged, it’s actual purpose was lost on me.
Would Mitchell and his girlfriend simply be ok having their entire lives be based on monitoring Jason’s life? It reminds me of the relationships in the movie The Truman show a bit, how their entire lives (for thousands and thousands of years in this book’s case) are solely there for the main character and have no other meaning beyond that.
Why does Jason forget everything? He as a child seems to remember how Lee dies and has knowledge of him always able to free them from terrible situations but doesn’t ever remember who he is or what he is? Why does Lachlan tell the reporter that everything will come back to him yet it doesn’t ever really?
I had more but can’t remember them right now, I will edit this if they come to me again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2021
Peter Cawdron’s First Contact series continues to amaze me. Feedback is the fifth book in his Science Fiction series devoted to the topic of how Earth’s First Contact with an alien life forms might go. The books in this series are all stand-alones and each looks at the topic with completely different scenarios and perspectives. This is my seventh read in this series (I accidentally read two out of order) and I keep being more and more impressed by Cawdron’s writing. His first book was already good and the writing improves with each subsequent title.
Feedback is another action packed book. Like in his earlier book Xenophobia, Cawdron puts you right in the middle of the action from the opening page. In this book you are on a South Korean Search and Rescue helicopter that is flying within North Korean airspace so that they can drop off a US Navy SEAL team. They are flying in a huge storm with North Korea threatening to shoot the chopper out of the sky and with Cawdron’s writing you feel the storm and tension right through the pages.
The book flips back and forth between this mission to rescue a young child that was in a UFO that crashed near North Korea and the life of a physics graduate student in New York City twenty years later. Confused? That is exactly what makes this book such an interesting read. Cawdron has written a science fiction mystery story that takes place over many years. In different chapters you are shifted back and forth in time trying to unravel the story.
To me, Chapter Six: Professor Lachlan was the most amazing part of this book. In a few pages Cawdron presents both the theory of Times Arrow and a concept based on string theory that like up and down, right and left, there is are two directions to time. The writing here about the concept and theory of time are, by themselves, worth the read. Of course, since this is only a small part of the storyline the adventure gets even better.
This book does evolve a time travel theme and, as a rule, I do not like time travel books. For one, there is always the problem of a time paradox and for another I do not believe we could (or should) travel back in time. Despite my dislike of this theme, I have to admit that Cawdron has done an excellent job with the topic. His approach is scientific and he addresses some of my complaints with the time travel idea.
Feedback was so engaging that I literally read it from cover to cover in one day.
Feedback is another action packed book. Like in his earlier book Xenophobia, Cawdron puts you right in the middle of the action from the opening page. In this book you are on a South Korean Search and Rescue helicopter that is flying within North Korean airspace so that they can drop off a US Navy SEAL team. They are flying in a huge storm with North Korea threatening to shoot the chopper out of the sky and with Cawdron’s writing you feel the storm and tension right through the pages.
The book flips back and forth between this mission to rescue a young child that was in a UFO that crashed near North Korea and the life of a physics graduate student in New York City twenty years later. Confused? That is exactly what makes this book such an interesting read. Cawdron has written a science fiction mystery story that takes place over many years. In different chapters you are shifted back and forth in time trying to unravel the story.
To me, Chapter Six: Professor Lachlan was the most amazing part of this book. In a few pages Cawdron presents both the theory of Times Arrow and a concept based on string theory that like up and down, right and left, there is are two directions to time. The writing here about the concept and theory of time are, by themselves, worth the read. Of course, since this is only a small part of the storyline the adventure gets even better.
This book does evolve a time travel theme and, as a rule, I do not like time travel books. For one, there is always the problem of a time paradox and for another I do not believe we could (or should) travel back in time. Despite my dislike of this theme, I have to admit that Cawdron has done an excellent job with the topic. His approach is scientific and he addresses some of my complaints with the time travel idea.
Feedback was so engaging that I literally read it from cover to cover in one day.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2020
Beautiful! (Caution, Thar Be Spoilers Here!)
Mr. Cawdron has captured me! I’m now a Follower...I’d read only one of his books prior to Feedback. In that read, emotional and psychological, as well as intellectual, impact was a surprising experience for this old woman!
I’m not a sci-fi purist who gleens the writing for flaws or doors opening into new concepts.
I love a good read, not being a fan of paradoxes, again I was surprised and relieved by Mr. Cawdron’s writing manipulations as he brought a new, refreshing perspective to even the time paradox!
The beautiful (ship) creature, which begs for release, is a lovely creation from a beautiful imagination. The horror of humanity’s lack of compassion coupled with insect-like creatures who also choose to destroy and enslave them invokes a nauseous, visceral reaction for me! It does not diminish my reverence, beauty, and awe of these creatures, but showing humanity is not the only creatures exploiting them, grievously murders hope that “we” are the exception. Sadness descends as I ponder the horrors of our own ‘real’ history of destruction, exploitation, oppression, and ego-driven behaviors. As a ‘white’ North American, I’m compelled to see my own beautiful mahogany ‘daughter’, my Native American and Aboriginal brothers and sisters all in a different light. I see the African tribes capturing and trading human beings like cattle. Was this a practice even before between themselves? I see the white poor pressed into slavery in workhouses or indentured to North America with our darker cousins. I see the Dutch heedlessly pitting brother against brother based upon stature and in manipulative ignorance of the genocidal future they have perpetrated into this new century. Alas! Do we ever learn?
I’ve been artistically educated to understand one of the determinators of ‘good’ art is to what degree the ‘art’ has effected the participant of said art.
The ability to affect masses of humanity is a dangerous, two-edged sword -one wielded skillfully by Mr. Cawdron.
Thank you for refreshing my mind!
Mr. Cawdron has captured me! I’m now a Follower...I’d read only one of his books prior to Feedback. In that read, emotional and psychological, as well as intellectual, impact was a surprising experience for this old woman!
I’m not a sci-fi purist who gleens the writing for flaws or doors opening into new concepts.
I love a good read, not being a fan of paradoxes, again I was surprised and relieved by Mr. Cawdron’s writing manipulations as he brought a new, refreshing perspective to even the time paradox!
The beautiful (ship) creature, which begs for release, is a lovely creation from a beautiful imagination. The horror of humanity’s lack of compassion coupled with insect-like creatures who also choose to destroy and enslave them invokes a nauseous, visceral reaction for me! It does not diminish my reverence, beauty, and awe of these creatures, but showing humanity is not the only creatures exploiting them, grievously murders hope that “we” are the exception. Sadness descends as I ponder the horrors of our own ‘real’ history of destruction, exploitation, oppression, and ego-driven behaviors. As a ‘white’ North American, I’m compelled to see my own beautiful mahogany ‘daughter’, my Native American and Aboriginal brothers and sisters all in a different light. I see the African tribes capturing and trading human beings like cattle. Was this a practice even before between themselves? I see the white poor pressed into slavery in workhouses or indentured to North America with our darker cousins. I see the Dutch heedlessly pitting brother against brother based upon stature and in manipulative ignorance of the genocidal future they have perpetrated into this new century. Alas! Do we ever learn?
I’ve been artistically educated to understand one of the determinators of ‘good’ art is to what degree the ‘art’ has effected the participant of said art.
The ability to affect masses of humanity is a dangerous, two-edged sword -one wielded skillfully by Mr. Cawdron.
Thank you for refreshing my mind!
November 15, 2021
Reading a book by Peter Cawdron is like partaking in a wonderful meal, then having sawdust for dessert. He is such a good writer. His research is impeccable, his science meticulous, his sense of drama and suspense superior. Then he ruins it all with a woke lesson about how humans are deficient, destructive, backwards, immature, and not worthy of being introduced to the much farther advanced alien life forms who have visited Earth. I've started four of his books, finished two. I enjoyed "Losing Mars" ... could not put it down. The ending made me furious. I just finished "Feedback" ... a nicely crafted story of first contact. In "Feedback," it seemed Cawdron was going to keep his social justice wand in his pants, but no ... 95% of the way in, he starts to lecture. And you can't just skip past his imperiousness, as it's woven into the plot, so to find out what happens you have to get through his character's condescending revelation that what he/she has discovered must remain secret, as humans aren't ready for it. I might test the Cawdron waters yet again, because he tells good stories. I'm not sure how much my Earthbound soul can take.
March 15, 2022
fast paced, complex and creative sci-fi take
Overall this was a fantastic read for such a new (or just under-appreciated?) author. The characters were developed just enough for believability but not too much to stop the pace of a very fun story. While its beginning is grounded in familiar problems of present day, (North Korea, government overreach, etc) it doesn’t linger on them. Instead, Cawdron finds a way to transcend them and arrive at a bigger message about humanity by the end of the book. That message is uplifting and positive, which is hard to find with sci-fi writers, who I think are often haunted by childhood obsessions with twilight zone endings and eye rolling pseudo-political allegories that are never very encouraging about the future. This story just… unravels a subtle hopefulness. It won’t change the world. It shouldn’t have to. It’s just fun to read. A little bit of tolerance for the insanity of time loops is necessary, but it’s worth the brain struggle.
All in all, I’m reading every other book in this series. Thank you Peter for being an upbeat sci-fi writer (at least for this one)
Overall this was a fantastic read for such a new (or just under-appreciated?) author. The characters were developed just enough for believability but not too much to stop the pace of a very fun story. While its beginning is grounded in familiar problems of present day, (North Korea, government overreach, etc) it doesn’t linger on them. Instead, Cawdron finds a way to transcend them and arrive at a bigger message about humanity by the end of the book. That message is uplifting and positive, which is hard to find with sci-fi writers, who I think are often haunted by childhood obsessions with twilight zone endings and eye rolling pseudo-political allegories that are never very encouraging about the future. This story just… unravels a subtle hopefulness. It won’t change the world. It shouldn’t have to. It’s just fun to read. A little bit of tolerance for the insanity of time loops is necessary, but it’s worth the brain struggle.
All in all, I’m reading every other book in this series. Thank you Peter for being an upbeat sci-fi writer (at least for this one)
October 26, 2017
A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:
Another incredible first-contact story! I can't tell you much because it would be too easy to spoil it for you but I can tell you it was a great read.
The book is set up as two separate stories happening in different time periods. As the book continues, you'll start to understand how they're linked and the pieces fall together. You may start to jump to several, partially correct assumptions, but by the end of the book, the whole story is so much more.
And then there's the epilogue. I don't know if it was written a while after the book or if it was always part of the original story, but wow, I got a bit emotional! It was a perfect ending and explanation to an already fantastic book.
Read it!
Another incredible first-contact story! I can't tell you much because it would be too easy to spoil it for you but I can tell you it was a great read.
The book is set up as two separate stories happening in different time periods. As the book continues, you'll start to understand how they're linked and the pieces fall together. You may start to jump to several, partially correct assumptions, but by the end of the book, the whole story is so much more.
And then there's the epilogue. I don't know if it was written a while after the book or if it was always part of the original story, but wow, I got a bit emotional! It was a perfect ending and explanation to an already fantastic book.
Read it!
December 24, 2017
This! This is a great time travel science fiction story!
Feedback is so good. I've tried many a free novel, and this one's among the gems I'd have paid for, which is the highest compliment I know how to give. It isn't perfect but those imperfections were in craft, not plot or characters, and I know he's learned his craft since its release, because I stumbled across Peter Cawdron's work via his book Alien Space Tentacle Porn, a title I made a face at. I couldn't tell from title or description/blurb, but the e-sample sold me. It's funny and complex and you should go read it, too.
Anyway. Do you love sf? First contact stories? Time travel stories? Stories that have tragedy but are also positive? Read this one.
Feedback is so good. I've tried many a free novel, and this one's among the gems I'd have paid for, which is the highest compliment I know how to give. It isn't perfect but those imperfections were in craft, not plot or characters, and I know he's learned his craft since its release, because I stumbled across Peter Cawdron's work via his book Alien Space Tentacle Porn, a title I made a face at. I couldn't tell from title or description/blurb, but the e-sample sold me. It's funny and complex and you should go read it, too.
Anyway. Do you love sf? First contact stories? Time travel stories? Stories that have tragedy but are also positive? Read this one.
May 4, 2020
4.5 Stars.
Very enjoyable read with two distinct timelined story arcs alternating chapter to chapter. Once it really kicked off, there were some very odd glaring holes in how we got certain characters to where they were (the daughter standing on the sidewalk all day... acting like she doenst know what pancakes are... etc). It felt very forced and a bit forced to get folks where they needed to be, also a bit unnecessary. (If he hadnt explained his equations to the professor, would this have all gone down? But the girl was already on the sidewalk..?, doesnt matter)
That said, for all the annoying plot mechanisms, the actual ending took you to another place and made up for many of the shortfalls. Final ending was wonderfully imaginative and let me have closure when I could have been much more annoyed
Very enjoyable read with two distinct timelined story arcs alternating chapter to chapter. Once it really kicked off, there were some very odd glaring holes in how we got certain characters to where they were (the daughter standing on the sidewalk all day... acting like she doenst know what pancakes are... etc). It felt very forced and a bit forced to get folks where they needed to be, also a bit unnecessary. (If he hadnt explained his equations to the professor, would this have all gone down? But the girl was already on the sidewalk..?, doesnt matter)
That said, for all the annoying plot mechanisms, the actual ending took you to another place and made up for many of the shortfalls. Final ending was wonderfully imaginative and let me have closure when I could have been much more annoyed
May 27, 2022
I have a bunch of Cawdron books waiting for me. I believe he offered them up for free during the height of the pandemic. I was not a big fan of ebooks at the time, but have warmed up to the experience out of necessity/convenience. Recently, I have decided to start reading this stack and selected this one randomly, since they are all supposedly stand alone.
I have always appreciated a good and well thought out hard science fiction book. I do enjoy the effort and imagination it takes to put one together. This one combined a bit of time travel, in a Groundhog Day sense. I always enjoy a Cawdron story. This one is no exception. I did not expect the ending, but it was different and made me rethink alien life. I would have liked a bit more character development.
This was a GoodReads.
I have always appreciated a good and well thought out hard science fiction book. I do enjoy the effort and imagination it takes to put one together. This one combined a bit of time travel, in a Groundhog Day sense. I always enjoy a Cawdron story. This one is no exception. I did not expect the ending, but it was different and made me rethink alien life. I would have liked a bit more character development.
This was a GoodReads.
December 2, 2024
Feedback was an incredibly intriguing read that had me wondering where the story was going right up until the end with the time jumps and the seemingly (at least in the beginning) lack of a relationship between the two time periods. It defintely kept me going! The whole story had a feel of the movie "Arrival" if it met with a non-predatory version of the creature from "Nope". It ended being a very thoughtful narrative on the folly of wanting to go back and undo the mistakes of the past, and again, as in all of the books in this series, a very interesting take on the theme of First Contact. Once again, Peter Cawdron delivers! I've read half the books in the First Contact series of standalone novels, and I will be reading the rest.
December 12, 2023
WOW!
What a plot and what a great way to thread it. This story is mesmerizing, particularly in its propensity of leading the reader through multiple interconnecting layers adorned with mystery, suspense and oh!, surprises.
The author (again) keeps you guessing where these parts fit, until the very end when all the pieces finally come together to bring sense and clarity to this story.
It is a first 5 stars for me but it’s my way of acknowledging this was a great read!
Well done sir!
What a plot and what a great way to thread it. This story is mesmerizing, particularly in its propensity of leading the reader through multiple interconnecting layers adorned with mystery, suspense and oh!, surprises.
The author (again) keeps you guessing where these parts fit, until the very end when all the pieces finally come together to bring sense and clarity to this story.
It is a first 5 stars for me but it’s my way of acknowledging this was a great read!
Well done sir!
June 2, 2017
Feedback's a story with alternating chapters - one set 20 years ago when a UFO crashed off North Korea, the second in the present when a strange girl appears out the front of Jason's window.
It starts off with a bang and pretty much kept me interested for most of the story, but in a superficial way - it won't win any literary awards and some of it gets a bit far-fetched, especially towards the end.
Readable but not memorable.
It starts off with a bang and pretty much kept me interested for most of the story, but in a superficial way - it won't win any literary awards and some of it gets a bit far-fetched, especially towards the end.
Readable but not memorable.
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