Human to Human

Saga of Tom Red-Clay #3

by Rebecca Ore

After being abducted from rural Virginia by aliens, Tom Red-Clay is returned to Earth and given the task of convincing his fellow humans to join the galaxy-spanning Federation of Sapients

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

282 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Rebecca Ore is the pseudonym of science fiction writer Rebecca B. Brown.

Rebecca Ore was born in Louisville, KY, out of people from Kentucky and Virginia, Irish Catholic and French Protestant turned Southern Baptist on her mother's side and Welsh and Borderer on her father's. She grew up in South Carolina and fell in love with New York City from a distance, moved there in 1968 and lived on the Upper West Side and Lower East Side for seven years. Somehow, she also attended Columbia University School of General Studies while spending most of her energy in the St. Mark Poetry Project. In 1975, she moved to San Francisco for almost a year, then moved to Virginia, back and forth several places for several years, finished a Masters in English, then moved to rural Virginia for ten years, writing s.f. novels and living in her grandparent's house after they died.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a decade and a half (something like that) to get around to this, the last book in the Tom Red-Clay trilogy. I'm sad that so few people have read these, as they are genuinely interesting. Ore had a lot to say about both humans and non-humans - or us and not-us if you want to apply it to reality. Perhaps one day these will be reprinted, but until then, track them down used. They are worthwhile.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hovering between a 3 and a 4 on this - great depiction of one alien species (Gwyngs); the others not as well drawn (still not sure how much Jereks & Barcons differ).

The tension of first contact and a multi-species Federation seemed much more realistic than portrayed in other spec-fic.

[Patricia Urban · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final book in one of my all-time favorite series. Ore has a way with creating aliens that I enjoy and greatly respect for her creativity. She also convincingly portrays a central character with a seemingpermanent case of imposter syndrome, despite his successes. As other reviewers have mentioned, I'm surprised that this trilogy hasn't been more widely read. It is fascinating from start to finish.

[Scout Who · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this "incomprehensible" when I first read it. Possibly that was because I hadn't read the first two. May be worth a reread sometime.

[Fayme Lacasse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just discovered that it has been released in ebook formats; I'll be buying it again soon, as the paperback version I had is long gone. I also discovered it's part of a trilogy, which I didn't know ...

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still love the concept of these books. But wow, Tom is much more insecure and annoying than I recalled. And the OCR for the kindle version was really, really bad.