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Martian Symbiont #1
Been Blued
These aliens have been away from Earth so long they no longer consider themselves human. They lost their women to a virus in space and returned with high hopes. In the few hundred years they've been back, they've run into problems.Incapable of mating until they've 'Been Blued', they search for women who will show them the affection and commitment their symbionts require for the process to begin.Resorting to a reconfiguration cloning technique has given them a reprieve from pending extinction, but their time is still running out.The struggle to respect human free will seems to limit their possibilities; a few of them find the concept open to interpretation while others just want to return to space. One day a human accidentally Blues an alien. She has plans of her own, and they don't include being matriarch to a new species. If her prospective husband and his friends can't change her mind, they may not have a future.To complicate matters, the symbiont has started to spread to mankind. Its slightly telepathic nature will make avoiding detection by the humans that much harder. What's a fun loving alien to do?
- GenresScience Fiction
194 pages, Paperback
First published June 21, 2007
64 people want to read
About the author
Phyllis K. Twombly
3 books14 followersPhyllis K Twombly began writing science fiction in first grade. The northern night sky offered a clear view of the stars, the northern lights, and endless possibilites to think about. Although encouraged by teachers and others to get published 'some day,' she initially persued a different career, which failed to materialize.
Frustrated by what didn't work, she decided to find her real passion. She discovered she had never quit writing, and among all the stories one genre stood out as both fascinating and entertaining: science fiction.
Unwilling to wait once again for someone else to determine her success or failure, Twombly used iUniverse, a supported self-publishing company.
Her desire to add humor to scifi without turning it into spoof led to the Martian Symbiont series: 'Been Blued' came out in June 2007; 'Martian Blues' came out in Feb. 2008; the third novel is currently in production; the fourth manuscript is nearly twenty percent completed.
When the Martian Symbiont series is complete, Twombly plans to start on the many other stories 'inside my head, waiting their turn.'
Frustrated by what didn't work, she decided to find her real passion. She discovered she had never quit writing, and among all the stories one genre stood out as both fascinating and entertaining: science fiction.
Unwilling to wait once again for someone else to determine her success or failure, Twombly used iUniverse, a supported self-publishing company.
Her desire to add humor to scifi without turning it into spoof led to the Martian Symbiont series: 'Been Blued' came out in June 2007; 'Martian Blues' came out in Feb. 2008; the third novel is currently in production; the fourth manuscript is nearly twenty percent completed.
When the Martian Symbiont series is complete, Twombly plans to start on the many other stories 'inside my head, waiting their turn.'
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 13, 2009
The aliens are among us, and they are us! That’s the premise of Phyllis Twombly’s “Been Blued.” At some point in our remote past our ancestors took to space to avoid aliens from invading Earth and reeking havoc. After winning the war in outer space they decided they liked it so much in space that they went out exploring. They made discoveries that altered and improved humans so much they’re now “alien” to those of us on Earth. Due to a crisis they returned in secret to Earth.
Jerod Seventeen is one of the returning “aliens.” Due to reconfiguration, he’s had a few different lifetimes on Earth mostly as a doctor. This time, in an effort to mate, his incarnation is that of rakish matinee star. In their travels in space our distant ancestors picked up a symbiotic life form. While initially beneficial improving the humans, eliminating most disease, increasing mental capacities including telepathy, it killed most of the women. The human/aliens found themselves unable to reproduce so they returned to Earth to find women willing to reproduce with the alien humans. Unfortunately, in 300 years of reconfigurations, Jerod has been unable to find a woman willing to mate with him, and to blue him. One of the side effects of having the symbiotic is that when the men fall in love with a female he’s capable of mating with they momentarily turn a shade of blue, hence the aliens have been blued. Jerod finds Kelly the woman who blues him. With that barrier down, others of the “aliens” are finally able to have been blued by human woman. The aliens also have more on their minds than mating to save their species. They seem very traditionally oriented aliens wanting to get married prior to mating. Although, their marriage ceremony is a pretty quick event.
Like in all things human, after mating comes children. To save time, and the woman’s comfort, the pregnancy and child rearing is an accelerated process done by computer. When your children are ready they’re introduced to their parents as young adults. It seems their mid to late teens with individual personalities already in full flower. Although, I think some parents would advocate not meeting their children until after the teenage years.
Been Blued is a nice light summer read (since it is summer) to entertain yourself while sitting on a sandy beach or on a porch swing with a nice pitcher of iced tea next to you. The adventures Jerod and Kelly experience, are a little episodic as they struggle to integrate the societies, meet with the President of the United States to announce the presence of the “aliens” and there’s some intrigue as some “aliens” and humans are resistant to changes in their societies, no matter how beneficial. But that leaves the reader with natural points to stop and absorb the story to that point or refill the glass with iced tea and continue on.
There are a couple cool things in Been Blued that you won’t find in your average science fiction novel. The most noticeable is a symbiont that is beneficial to humans (except that they initially killed all the women) and that the people don’t seem to mind carrying around in their bodies. The second thing would be when computer downloads are made from people the information floats around their foreheads in green lettering before it’s absorbed by the person.
There are a couple reservations I have. The biggest would be in the second half of the novel, Ms. Twombly seems to tell much of the information instead of showing it. That is letting the reader get the information organically as the story unfolds. In a couple of instances a problem is presented and is resolved in the following paragraph by having one of the characters explain it what happened instead of letting it happen. And some events happen too effortlessly. Such as Kelly’s acceptance of aliens being on Earth but the acceptance of the situation she finds herself in and falling in love with and mating with Jerod. As I mentioned before, if you’re looking for a nice summertime distraction Been Blued is a highly enjoyable book and I found myself losing myself in the what if’s of the ideas a few times.
Jerod Seventeen is one of the returning “aliens.” Due to reconfiguration, he’s had a few different lifetimes on Earth mostly as a doctor. This time, in an effort to mate, his incarnation is that of rakish matinee star. In their travels in space our distant ancestors picked up a symbiotic life form. While initially beneficial improving the humans, eliminating most disease, increasing mental capacities including telepathy, it killed most of the women. The human/aliens found themselves unable to reproduce so they returned to Earth to find women willing to reproduce with the alien humans. Unfortunately, in 300 years of reconfigurations, Jerod has been unable to find a woman willing to mate with him, and to blue him. One of the side effects of having the symbiotic is that when the men fall in love with a female he’s capable of mating with they momentarily turn a shade of blue, hence the aliens have been blued. Jerod finds Kelly the woman who blues him. With that barrier down, others of the “aliens” are finally able to have been blued by human woman. The aliens also have more on their minds than mating to save their species. They seem very traditionally oriented aliens wanting to get married prior to mating. Although, their marriage ceremony is a pretty quick event.
Like in all things human, after mating comes children. To save time, and the woman’s comfort, the pregnancy and child rearing is an accelerated process done by computer. When your children are ready they’re introduced to their parents as young adults. It seems their mid to late teens with individual personalities already in full flower. Although, I think some parents would advocate not meeting their children until after the teenage years.
Been Blued is a nice light summer read (since it is summer) to entertain yourself while sitting on a sandy beach or on a porch swing with a nice pitcher of iced tea next to you. The adventures Jerod and Kelly experience, are a little episodic as they struggle to integrate the societies, meet with the President of the United States to announce the presence of the “aliens” and there’s some intrigue as some “aliens” and humans are resistant to changes in their societies, no matter how beneficial. But that leaves the reader with natural points to stop and absorb the story to that point or refill the glass with iced tea and continue on.
There are a couple cool things in Been Blued that you won’t find in your average science fiction novel. The most noticeable is a symbiont that is beneficial to humans (except that they initially killed all the women) and that the people don’t seem to mind carrying around in their bodies. The second thing would be when computer downloads are made from people the information floats around their foreheads in green lettering before it’s absorbed by the person.
There are a couple reservations I have. The biggest would be in the second half of the novel, Ms. Twombly seems to tell much of the information instead of showing it. That is letting the reader get the information organically as the story unfolds. In a couple of instances a problem is presented and is resolved in the following paragraph by having one of the characters explain it what happened instead of letting it happen. And some events happen too effortlessly. Such as Kelly’s acceptance of aliens being on Earth but the acceptance of the situation she finds herself in and falling in love with and mating with Jerod. As I mentioned before, if you’re looking for a nice summertime distraction Been Blued is a highly enjoyable book and I found myself losing myself in the what if’s of the ideas a few times.
Displaying 1 of 1 review