Spacevasion

by Deepak Menon, Julie Sneeden (Illustrator)

Is mankind ready to face a new kind of invasion - a Spacevasion? Will a little band of scientists be able to save mankind from extinction? Many questions and no answers. Spacevasion is about the coming future where mankind may have to unite and open its eyes to survive an alien invasion or face extinction!

234 pages, Paperback

Published October 20, 2016

About the author

Deepak Menon, a banker with a difference,left his job as a senior officer in a commercial bank in India,in Sept 2011 to write stories to delight and gladden the hearts of adults and children alike. He writes across genres - so far has written 3 Books of Tales, 4 Volumes of Classical Structured Poetry & Quatrains and 3 Science Fiction Epic novels set in outer space
1. Tales & Fables:- He narrates stories of great adventure and thrilling rescues undertaken by a little Pixie and his amazing OctoDoll, with help from myriad fantasy creatures of the enchanted Booga Dooga Land. The author has filled his books of the Series - "Tales of the Booga Dooga Land" :- Pickwick's Plan, The Wormus and the just published "The Horus" with brilliant wordplay, designed to bring chuckles to readers of all ages, while they read through these sparkling "family together" children's books, where the author has created an entirely original and fascinating new wonderland - the Booga Dooga Land.
The author does not forget to integrate little lessons into the events which are written about in the book, designed to promote what he considers to be the most important aspect of life, “Family Values” .
These are wonderful books where he has introduced a new meaning to the word “Plan”, straight from the Booga Dooga Land.
His debut book Pickwick's Plan- is a 5 Star award winner of the 2013 Reader's Favorite International Book Award Contest in the "Fables Category".
The Illustrations have been painted by Julie Sneeden of South Africa, a wonderful visualizer and internationally renowned artist whose sparkling illustrations have lighted up the book immeasurably. These books deserve a place of pride on every adult and child's bookshelf.
2. : He has republished his well received Volume of structured poetry - Quatrains - with the title "All Pure - Poems of Passion - A tribute to Omar Khayyam", which is also being well received.
Deepak has published a 2nd volume of longer poems "What Worth My Tomorrows"
3. : His first Book was "Skymerge" which has started with several 5 Star Amazon Customer Reviews as well as a Readers Favorite 5 Star review, an epic well researched 311 Page Novel of Interstellar travel and adventure which touches several planets Skymerge shows us a window which may make Interstellar Travel a distinct possibility tomorrow ...
Deepak followed up Skymerge with his 2nd Sci Fi thriller of interstellar adventure and travel - Skysplitter - which also started with Readers Favorite and Amazon Customers with 5 Star Reviews.
His third Sci Fi Thriller SPACEVASION has just been published in Print and Kindle editions and promises to be an eyeopener for the people of Earth

Reviews

[Gautam Dutta · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a long journey indeed. The adventures of John Kriel and company, which started in the intriguing Skymerge, culminate with the last part of the trilogy Spacevasion. Back then, John Kriel was a Taxi Driver and Saki was an Archaeology student. Since then, many years have passed and contact been made with people of other planets. They are the Earth’s top space diplomats, and perhaps the most respected among Earth’s denizens. John Kriel and Saki are still young, thanks to the time dilation in their space journeys. Their son, Sam Kriel, has graduated from college. This time, Earth is faced with the challenge of invasion from a hostile alien race. Can the combined forces of Earth and its allied planets stop them?

While interesting in many parts, the trilogy has entered the zone of diminishing marginal utility. A lot of words are spent on elaborating procedures of different kinds- like mining an asteroid to maneuvering space vehicles. The author has done his technical homework, but these details slow down the narrative. And this time, Kriel and company are only supporting characters. The focus is on the different fronts of teams preparing for the space battle- the astronauts in the outposts of Mars and the Moon, the high-level representatives of Earth’s nations, and a cash-endowed conglomerate that comes up with a solution to save Earth. Most of the book is about people discussing and executing strategies to fight the aliens. And unlike most alien invasion books/movies, this one even shows the perspective of the invading aliens- they are speaking human-like characters, and not grotesque creatures. The final battle is almost an anti-climax.

The three books have been very different in their tone. The first was replete with a sense of the mysterious unknown, and the second was a Space Opera. I expected this to be an alien-invasion adventure. That was not it. It was like watching an RPG being played. It was interesting in some parts. But lacked the serendipity of the first and the second books.

[Jeanette Godreau · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I read and reviewed this book, but I highly don't recommend. Check out the review and see why here.