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Distant Cousin #1
Arrival
To mark the beginning of the development of the Distant Cousin stories for a television miniseries, this collector’s edition of the arrival of Ana Darcy features photographs, new details of Ana’s acculturation, new typography, a linked table of contents, links to the online treasury, and a forward by Floyd M. Orr:
What if our first contact from another planet was a human? What if the first real alien to visit Earth from another solar system was a woman on a mission to find the distantly related cousins of her own people? What if she brought with her a warning of an impending disaster of apocalyptic proportions? And what if nobody believed her?
Al Past’s novel Distant Cousin is a most unusual science fiction story with a most unusual heroine. Ana Darcy has jeopardized her mission and cut herself off from her own people to bring a desperate warning to Earth authorities. Astronomers at a Texas observatory don’t believe her, but the US military is willing to interrogate her—under custody of course. Her astonishing escape from Army detainment is our first hint that she may be more than she first appears and capable of more than we imagine. While the military scrambles to locate and recapture the woman they call “Gidget from Outer Space,” Darcy realizes that her journey to Earth has placed her in the path of the oncoming destruction and she will suffer Earth’s fate if the calamity is not avoided. Befriended by ordinary people as varied as the family of a Texas dude ranch foreman, a mild-mannered reporter, and an Olympic contender from the Caribbean, Darcy conceives a daring plan to evade government capture while hiding in plain sight, and to deliver her warning in a manner which cannot possibly be ignored. Afterward, she might just fall in love … if she can trust her own feelings … and if she can trust her boyfriend with the truth about her origins.
This is a science fiction novel which might better be described as a love story with scientific speculation. The premise of humans on another world is startling, and the author reels out details about Darcy’s home world so sparingly that our curiosity is cleverly aroused. It is only when unexpected arrivals provoke a sudden crisis of diplomacy that we learn exactly what Darcy gave up in accepting her mission to Earth—and what she might be running from.
What if our first contact from another planet was a human? What if the first real alien to visit Earth from another solar system was a woman on a mission to find the distantly related cousins of her own people? What if she brought with her a warning of an impending disaster of apocalyptic proportions? And what if nobody believed her?
Al Past’s novel Distant Cousin is a most unusual science fiction story with a most unusual heroine. Ana Darcy has jeopardized her mission and cut herself off from her own people to bring a desperate warning to Earth authorities. Astronomers at a Texas observatory don’t believe her, but the US military is willing to interrogate her—under custody of course. Her astonishing escape from Army detainment is our first hint that she may be more than she first appears and capable of more than we imagine. While the military scrambles to locate and recapture the woman they call “Gidget from Outer Space,” Darcy realizes that her journey to Earth has placed her in the path of the oncoming destruction and she will suffer Earth’s fate if the calamity is not avoided. Befriended by ordinary people as varied as the family of a Texas dude ranch foreman, a mild-mannered reporter, and an Olympic contender from the Caribbean, Darcy conceives a daring plan to evade government capture while hiding in plain sight, and to deliver her warning in a manner which cannot possibly be ignored. Afterward, she might just fall in love … if she can trust her own feelings … and if she can trust her boyfriend with the truth about her origins.
This is a science fiction novel which might better be described as a love story with scientific speculation. The premise of humans on another world is startling, and the author reels out details about Darcy’s home world so sparingly that our curiosity is cleverly aroused. It is only when unexpected arrivals provoke a sudden crisis of diplomacy that we learn exactly what Darcy gave up in accepting her mission to Earth—and what she might be running from.
- GenresScience Fiction
470 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 25, 2005
4 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 18, 2010
I have become acquainted with Al on the Kindle Boards, and enjoyed his first Anna Darcy novel very much. I'm looking forward to reading the others in the series.
September 10, 2015
I'm not a big SciFi nut. This unusual tale of Darcy (a female humanoid who lives on another planet and has been observing Earth for years) and her computer-human symbiant moves at a good pace and pulls you in. When calamity threatens, Darcy decides to warn Earthlings of impending doom. Hence begins an adventure that sets off local police and FBI searches as Darcy tries to find one person who will believe her. This is a clever book in a genre that isn't normally my cup of tea.
April 20, 2011
Interesting premise--a human from a "lost" colony from earth comes to warn earth about asteroids heading our way. A fish-out-of-water story as Ana Darcy tries to fit in. It ended nicely, not too much of a cliffhanger, but also set up for the next book in the series.
June 23, 2016
Great triology! Al is a friend of mine on Kindleboards.com. Nice touch of mystery, romanc with a little light sci fi. Setting: Mexico
May 29, 2009
I really enjoyed this book. The characters really "grabbed" me and it was a very easy story to read. I'm looking forward to the other two books in the series.
August 12, 2011
The beginning and the end were good but the middle was boring. Interesting concept.However, I am not sure I want to read more of these.
June 2, 2012
Ok read - couple of minor plot holes but otherwise quite entetaining
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews