Alien In a Small Town

by Jim Cleaveland

It is The Future, and the Mennonites of rural Pennsylvania live much as they always have, while the world around them has changed enormously. Indira left this place years ago to travel the Earth and beyond, but now for personal reasons she has returned. It is here, of all places, that she encounters "Paul" (his real name unpronounceable), a lumbering, stone-skinned, yet soulful alien who has now settled on Earth as penance for a crime he committed long ago. This is their story. "A wonderful story, beautifully told." — Brynne Chandler, screenwriter for Gargoyles and The Animated Series "Jim Cleaveland's first novel, Alien In a Small Town, is a philosophical meditation on Science and Theology. It's also a lot of fun. A truly alien extraterrestrial, appropriately named Paul, goes on a moral quest in a world of humans. From a sexy female android to space hermits, Cleaveland presents a universe of wild possibilities that never loses its moral center." — Brad Linaweaver, author of Moon of Ice and The Land Beyond Summer.

Genres: Science Fiction, Aliens

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 29, 2014

About the author

Jim Cleaveland (born Jan. 2, 1975) is an American writer, cartoonist, and classical animator originally from Pennsylvania but currently living in California. He is the creator of the long-running science fiction webcomic, "The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob!" and the author of the novel, "Alien In a Small Town."

Reviews

[Some Nerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

You had me until the love triangle. I'd have given it a five if it weren't for that, and it wasn't even that focused on it. Superb worldbuilding, fascinating concept...but midway through the book, the drama shifts to that interpersonal romantic tension, and I can't help but think, with all of the creative stuff going on in that story, that there could have been a less well-traveled direction to take. Especially considering the amount of space out there! It's the final frontier, after all! Or even a more creative setup for a love triangle, where Dwight's the hypotenuse and both competing parties fail at winning her over because 20 other Jan and a rogue android or something stampeded them to death getting there first.

I wish I'd read the Bible the whole way through. I'm probably missing a lot of subtext and symbolism, but I can definitely appreciate where it's coming from.

Honestly, my favorite part of this was when Barney's backstory gets explained. I'd easily read an expanded version of that.

[Chrys Cymri]

A very interesting book. An exploration of a relationship which develops between an alien (with a very well thought out background) and a human woman. In between their growing friendship we have the alien’s thoughts about humans, and God, and love. Not much else happens, so to speak, but the journey alongside the characters is worthwhile and intriguing. At times there are large info dumps which does slow things down, and sudden jumps in point of view. But this is a good novel, and I look forward to his future work with interest.

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel was doing a pretty fine job of a story of aliens that have come to the solar system.
But now at 50%, I cannot get past the sudden drop wherein the protagonist alien moves from religion issues into trying to make sense of sudden jealousy and trying to figure out feelings of love for a human!! The alien species is not even bipartisan like humans, but part of a hive type species like bees!!
I tried multiple times to get past this chapter too see if anything else of interest would emerge, but just haven't been able to get there.
DNF