Tooth and Talon

by Alex Hernandez

Humanity and creatures on an exoplanet are bound by tragedy.Oya Valette knows that her traditional family values, instilled by her grandmother, will be challenged by her desire to pilot the FTL transport ship HS Hurricane to Beta Hydri, where she and a small crew of base-line humans will ferret out genetically modified 'harpies' and set up their own master colony.

Faced with the potential annihilation of the inhabitants of the planet, Oya must either choose to accept their past illegal deeds or embrace the possibility of a fresh future together.

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Embracing the aspects of inclusivity, society, and human emotion on an alien world, Tooth and Talon explores what it means to be human and stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of Latino and Latina science fiction.

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About the

Alex Hernandez is a Cuban American science fiction writer based in South Florida, and the first of his family to be born in the U.S. He is a library director at Miami Dade College.

For the most part he is a solitary writer, but his work represents as part of the Latinofuturist movement, which includes visions and presentations of space futures.

Hernandez' most influential experience with (written) science fiction was when he discovered Isaac Asimov's short stories and immediately connected with the author's immigrant story. Perhaps because of that, the themes of migration, colonization and posthumanism permeate his work, which usually blend the subgenres of space opera and biopunk. His stories have previously been published by Bean Books, The Colored Lens, Interstellar Fiction and others.

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The future of human travel and engagement with space is usually portrayed in science fiction as a predominantly all-white endeavor. The alternatives to an all-white conquering, space faring society exist, but the views of those coming from those underrepresented, non-white communities are rarely if ever discussed or considered in the public eye. [3]

Genres: Science Fiction

310 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 17, 2017

About the author

Alex Hernandez is a Cuban American science fiction writer. His work often explores themes of migration, colonization, and posthumanism, while blending the subgenres of space opera and biopunk. His first novel, Tooth and Talon, was published by EDGE. He lives in South Florida with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews

[Greymith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly I hard a hard time getting in to the book initially. The prologue hit a wrong nerve with me and instead of drawing me into the story, made me think the book was going to be a terrible read. So with some trepidation, I continued on with the read expecting a less than stellar story. However, the story slowly brought me into the fold and I soon found myself being drawn back to continue reading the book. That being said, there are some areas I had problems. with.

First a quick summary of the plot concept. There are two races of engineered humans that have had a past conflict. One side is of the conflict were the base humans and the other side was bio-engineered humans which merged human with Archaeopteryx genes and become flying human dinosaur hybrids. In the distance past the base human felt threatened by the hybrids and forced them to flee the solar system. A century later the base humans seeking to expand to new colonies and are now enhanced with nanites but the base humans are striving to come to grips with their past actions. A colony of base humans comes out of space travel near an new planet that is discovered to contain a colony of hybrids. The base humans determine that they do not really have enough fuel to continue exploring so they decide to make contact with the hybrids in hope that both sides can live peacefully on the planet.

I like how the author goes back and describes the history of how the hybrids developed, which is integral to the conclusion of the story, I have an issue with how fast the change is described to occur.. Even when it recognized the change of the original hybirds was mentioned to take a while, it still is described to be impossibly fast. Another hard spot I had was when the hybrids infect the humans with the mutation to change them into hybrids but in the process become infected by the nanites. The effect is debilitating on both sides, the nanites attack the hybrids internal systems because it sees the mutation as an illness that needs to be corrected, but the in the humans, the mutation is destroying the hybrids. My first thought and one that I felt was not adequately addressed was how can it be both ways, either the mutation is stronger than the nanites, or the other way around. Also the time for the mutation to occur seems to be days to weeks, which seems unrealistic.

Overall, I do believe the book was an entertaining read and would recommend it to others.

[Maegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

First I would like to say thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers and the publisher EDGE-lite for the free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! The story hooked me right away with the intense prologue. The idea of a genetically modified species clashing with humanity was done really well.
The characters were interesting, and the main character's cultural background was something I hadn't read before and was fascinating. There were also some great connections between characters from the past to characters in the present.

I did have a few cons though. The first few are small qualms, such as the love interest was obvious but it wasn't done poorly and that the opinions of the passengers of the main ship weren't explored well and I would have liked to see more of them.
My biggest qualm is that the name of a planet was given the same name by the humans and the other creatures yet they had no contact to have come up with a name together. I feel that the planet would have been given two different names by the two different creature types. It seemed off that they both called it by the same name, yet for the humans the name was chosen on the spot.

Overall the story was intriguing and hooked me from the start, even with the few qualms I had with it. I would recommend this to anyone who likes SciFi orFantasy and I give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

With 23 chapters to go, I started to read this new adventure from a new author. Written by fellow Miamian, Alex Hernandez, “Tooth and Talon” exceeded my expectations. I read this well-written book late into the early morning hours, self-assured that a respite from my need to know what happens next would come at the end of the next chapter. It never came!

The main character is a woman, unusual for a book written by a male author. We usually portray our own gender as heroes. I'd say the same for female authors in my experience. Hernandez did the unexpected with “Tooth and Talon” and pulled it off by not imbuing male traits and desires on Oya, his purely female character.

This story is about colonizing a planet in another solar system that, without foreknowledge, was already occupied by a race of avian-human mutants. These mutants were former castoffs from the Sol system, slaughtered and dispelled based on the prejudices of that time period. But, prejudices don’t die; they live on in our progeny. Hernandez, the son of Cuban immigrants, writes a story that addresses the hatred and mistakes that prejudices of this sort lead to.

Despite my description touching on migration issues that are relevant today, this book is in no way political. The story being told is purely science fiction with faster than light travel, artificial intelligence, and human ability enhancing nanite technology. The pace is steady and keeps the reader engaged.

I’m glad that I picked this book up as its storytelling befits a more seasoned author.

[Jamilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll admit it, I judged this book by its cover! When I first saw Alex Hernandez’s Tooth & Talon i knew I had to get it! A black woman in braids and a suit of armor exploring a strange and exciting world?!? That’s right up my alley! Then to find out that the MC is from the Caribbean? And speaks creole? What a delight!

Oya Valette, our brave, flawed MC, is a bit bored with her life. As a classical human, modified for longevity, the near eternity stretched in front of her is daunting and she decides to go work as a pilot for colonists, the Hominocracy, a large intergalactic organization, are sending to Beta Hydri, a solar system with the potential to sustain human life.

Things are going fine, when the planet they set their eyes on, already has signs of life.... is it the robots, a mysterious non-biological race of God-like machines set about the universe building ‘solariums’ or worse still harpies, an offshoot of humanity who sliced their human DNA with that of avian dinosaurs and were said to be wiped off in a genocide referred to as ‘the culling’ a century before?

From this point the story kicks off into high gear!

Imaginative. Compelling. Pure Entertainment. From beginning to end! Definitely a recommended read! Hoping for more stories in this universe!

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Cherry London · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and curious space mystery with interesting twist and turns, Oya, and her fellow soldiers found themselves transported into a bundle of feathery mess, which was to be their new home, it was one intrusion they were not giving up on, so they sought a peaceful resolution to their predicament, They were unaware of the steaming kettle of fish they accidentally or I should say willfully found themselves in, they were at the mercy of an unknown intelligence that controls their every movement, and there was nothing they can do about it. They had been outmaneuvered and their imminent survival was at stake, so began a battle of all times where hatred and prejudice knew no bounds, and revenge the steaming motivator or destroyer, let's not forget love, a love that found itself through all the fiery embattlement.

[Mai Mayorga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex Hernandez’s Tooth & Talon is a compelling read that reimagines a colonial clash of cultures in a far-flung planet where Classical Humans (those who still appear human though they have nanobots coursing through their bodies keeping them young and strong) hope to create a new colony but must face Avian Humans (those who have genetically altered their genome with that of avian dinosaurs). The two types of humans have a dark past that Hernandez effectively imbues into the novel providing it with a rich context that adds layers to not only the plot, but also the characters. Most notably, the main characters include Oya Valette, a Classic Human, and Inirigua, an avian human who in order to save the planet must work together and in the process have their biased paradigms forever shifted. All of the main characters, however, are given layers of meaning so just as the characters experience changes in perspective, so too does the reader. And the ultimate understanding for all involved is the common humanity shared by all.

[Mutated Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a world full of genetically modified humans and space ships, fifty eight year old Oya is going to live forever. Or, maybe not. Earth is almost abandoned, and our solar system is just the tip of the iceberg in this new world. Mars is inhabited by Raptors, more commonly referred to as Harpies; people that have altered themselves to have wings and talons.

Check out my full review here!

https://radioactivebookreviews.wordpr...

[Wilson E. Stevens Sr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall and very interesting and a good read. I don't like flashbacks in my books, and had some minor problems understanding what was going on because of the flashback chapters. However, after reviewing them again and writing down the names, I was able to follow the story plot. Well worth the money spent, and time taken to read this book. I am looking for other books by this author to see how his works do overall.

[prplltrs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written, vividly imagined and set in an incredible future, this book drew me into its pages.

[Renae Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and inventive space opera that deals with imprtant real world issues. Fans of the genre should jump into this one with both feet and not look back!

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Orlando Ortega-Medina · Rating 5 out of 5]

What will become of humanity once we have full control over our DNA? Hernandez gives us his take on this in this fantastic tale set in the distant future when humankind (in its various altered versions) has long ago spread throughout the galaxy. Great imaginative writing with strong female characters.

[Michael Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flights of fantasy

Well done. A creative, inviting world has been imagined by the author that comes to life with realistic relationships among the central characters.

[Barbara Dunbar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Avians

Not what I expected and I liked it. Humanity always wants a longer life and everything has consequences. So many unforseen twists and turns kept me enthralled.

[Leonard A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Read

This book was well written. An enjoyable story with plausible basis and respect for beauty, love and art. Worth the time.

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tooth and Talon was just the kind of science fiction/fantasy book I was looking for. I could not put this book down, and that is not praise I often offer. The book is written in a way that draws on science, describing the creatures depicted in the book with the eyes of a biologist, but we do not become so bogged down in this parlance that the plot is lost.

The chapters fly by (forgive the pun), and the writing includes attention to the characters, the world the author has created, and plenty of action to keep the plot rolling.