Yesterday's Kin

Yesterday's Kin Trilogy #0.5

by Nancy Kress

Nebula Award WinnerLocus Award WinnerAliens have landed in New York. After several months of no explanations, they finally reveal the reason for their arrival. The news is not good.Geneticist Marianne Jenner is having a career breakthrough, yet her family is tearing itself apart. Her children Elizabeth and Ryan constantly bicker, agreeing only that an alien conspiracy is in play. Her youngest, Noah, is addicted to a drug that keeps temporarily changing his identity. The Jenner family could not be further apart. But between the four of them, the course of human history will be forever altered.Earth's most elite scientists have ten months to prevent a disaster—and not everyone is willing to wait.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Novella, Aliens, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Ebooks

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 18, 2014

About the author

Nancy Kress is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo and Nebula-winning 1991 novella Beggars in Spain which was later expanded into a novel with the same title. In addition to her novels, Kress has written numerous short stories and is a regular columnist for Writer's Digest. She is a regular at Clarion writing workshops and at The Writers Center in Bethesda, Maryland. During the Winter of 2008/09, Nancy Kress is the Picador Guest Professor for Literature at the University of Leipzig's Institute for American Studies in Leipzig, Germany.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aliens have arrived, bringing warning of a world-ending plague from space. Geneticist Marianne is recruited to work with the aliens although her specialty of population genetics hardly seems relevant to the epidemiological threat facing the planet. Her adult children embody responses to the arrival of the alien. Marianne's daughter is an immigration enforcement officer who id deeply suspicious of them. Her older son is a biologist who again is hostile to the aliens thinking of them as an invasive species. And her youngest son has spent his life looking for meaning and belonging, and the aliens may offer that to him.

This novella models the reaction of the world to alien arrival and subsequent bad news, spanning disbelief, anger and all the negative reactions that panicking humans are capable of as well as great effort, bravery and sacrifice on the part of people working to stop the oncoming disaster. It focuses mainly on Marianne and her youngest son's experiences in isolation though, so the crisis is at a remove and almost doesn't quite feel as real as it might in the narrative, even though it does intrude in violent ways.

This has been expanded into a trilogy of novels starting with Tomorrow's Kin, and it should be very interesting to see where it goes, particularly if the first book ends where this novella does.

[Metodi Markov · Rating 2 out of 5]

В "Братовчедите от вчера" авторката разработва прилична, макар и доста наивна идея, но слабите герои и нескопосания превод определено провалят книгата.

Моята оценка - 2,5*.

Ако искате да прочетете нещо по-добро от Нанси Крес, в трети брой на списанието "Фантастични светове" е публикуван разказът ѝ "Шива в сянка":

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Оказва се, че "Братовчедите от вчера" е спечелил наградата "Небюла" за новела през 2014 година! Не проумявам как и защо...

P.S. Тази книга е първата част от трилогия, другите две вероятно няма да се появят на български...

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's odd when a novel of the future feels a little old-fashioned... there's nothing at all wrong with that, but to me, this feels like it harks back to a lot of books I've read that were published in the 70s and 80s. I just haven't encountered many not-too-long, idea-based hard sci-fi novels lately. Maybe I just haven't been picking them up?

Actually this is more like epidemic-thriller meets hard sci-fi. Aliens arrive, and make first contact. Or - they sort of make first contact. They're quite reclusive, inside their shielded ship. They say, through their mechanical translators, that they are here on a mission of peace: they wish to work with humanity to discover a cure for a coming event that threatens to wipe out humanity: Earth will soon be passing through a 'spore cloud' full of a virus which, they say, will kill both humans and aliens, unless a solution is found.

To this end, the aliens demand that a number of UN leaders and scientific experts be brought to them. One of these is the middle-aged geneticist Marianne Jenner. The aliens seem to think her recent paper in 'Nature' documenting a previously-unknown mitochondrial haplogroup is relevant to the current crisis - but she's not sure why.

Conveniently, for purposes of the plot, each member of Marianne's family ends up embodying one of the different attitudes humanity takes toward the aliens: Marianne herself is open-minded and curious. Her daughter, a top Border Security officer, has one set of concerns. Her older son, an environmental expert on invasive plant species, sees the aliens as invaders. And her younger son, who's always been a social misfit, seeking to 'belong' through drugs, sees other possibilities in the aliens altogether.

The plot presents some interesting scientific ideas, and throws in a few unexpected twists. It's a good, solid sci-fi novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy. As always, my opinions are my own.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

~3.5

The aliens arrived four months ago. They touched down next to NYC and immediately shielded the ship with an opaque wall of energy. No one has seen them. No one has conversed with them. All they will say, over and over, is that they are here

“To make contact with humanity. A peace mission.”

Despite the innocuous reassurances, they’ve been rather shy about actually making said contact--at least, until now, when an obscure paper in genetics finally breaks the loop. Marianne was thrilled enough to have her paper on evolutionary genetics accepted into Nature, but she cannot even begin to imagine the ramifications of her work or the bombshell that the aliens are about to drop on Earth.
 
One of the aspects that I really enjoyed in Yesterday’s Kin is the science. The plot involves everything from panspermia to the mitochondrial Eve to the bottleneck event theory. The story itself centres around Marianne and her children, the belligerent Elizabeth, the passionate Ryan, and the hapless Noah. Yet although the story is about families, I felt distanced from all of the characters, unable to connect or empathise with any of them. This strange sense of isolation is oddly fitting: in some ways, the characters are cut adrift from one another, trapped in mutual incomprehension of each others’ minds and hearts. Marianne’s emotional and mental distance from her children, her closest family, serves to reinforce and intensify the book’s overall theme of biological kinship. As Marianne thinks,

“Yes, she had seen her grandchild. But whatever comfort or connection that had been supposed to bring her, it hadn’t. It seemed to her, perhaps irrationally, that never had she felt so alone.”

As always seems to be the case with alien stories, much of the plot focuses on determining which side of the trope these particular aliens fall on. While the overall story is promising, I think this would have worked better as a short story rather than a novel. For me at least, it felt as though much of the book’s volume was taken up with rambling or repetitious scenes, and while these may have served to increase the tension, I found them rather tedious. While the ending is interesting, it is eminently guessable from about halfway through. Perhaps my disconnect from the characters warped my viewpoint, but I felt that given the rather limited worldbuilding, the story was too drawn out for the meagre payoff.
At the same time, the book is a fast and enjoyable read. I loved the way that Kress intertwined the themes of alien-human ties with family ones. Some of the characters' thoughts about relationships were especially poignant; for example:

“When your children were small you worried that they would die and you would lose them, and then they grew up and you ended up losing the children they’d been, anyway.”

“He had always been selfish. He’d known that about himself. Only before now, he’d called it ‘independent.’”

Overall, while I think the story could have benefited from a certain amount of judicious cutting, I still found it an enjoyable read, and would recommend it for fans of slow-building plots and scientifically-detailed alien tales.

Excerpted from my review on BookLikes, which also has additional spoilertagged sections.

~~I received this ebook through NetGalley from the publisher, Tachyon Publications, in exchange for my honest review. ~~

[Frank Errington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review copy

A quick comment on the cover art by Thomas Canty. Eye-catching and a nice blending of the extra-terrestrial and DNA themes of the story. This would make me pick up the book and at least see what it's about. Kudos.

Nancy Kress is a well-respected and prolific SF novelist with more than 30 published novels to her credit. Her latest work, Yesterday's Kin, was published last September. It's a relatively short piece, coming in at a bit under 200 pages.

Yesterday's Kin tells the story of the Deneb, visitors from another galaxy, but there's a twist. The visitors aren't exactly aliens. Their stated mission is peaceful, they're here to warn us of a "spore cloud" with an Earth trajectory,which could unleash a virus that could decimate the world's population.

A lab is set up at their Embassy in New York Harbor in a race against time in a joint effort to find a vaccine to protect humans from extinction.

But there is so much more to this multi-layered story. I particularly liked the writer's handling of the public's reaction to the space travelers and their stated purpose. In many ways it's the same way we react to change in the 21st century. I couldn't help but think about how divided we are over the Affordable Healthcare Act and how much of a panic there was over the Ebola threat. Take that and multiply it to a global scale.

As much as the story is about visitors from another world and the horrors of global annihilation, it's mostly about family connections

Overall, I found Yesterday's Kin to be an enjoyable read. True, not everything made perfect sense, but much of what I read for enjoyment makes no sense at all. I can certainly suspend my disbelief long enough to allow for a few leaps in logic.

Available now from Tachyon Publications and the usual online retailers, Yesterday's Kin can be purchased in paperback and all of the popular e-reader formats.

Recommended.

[Netanella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yesterday's Kin is an incredible story of alien contact, a viral plague from space, and evolutionary genetics. It's also a story about family, of the human and alien kind. Nancy Kress is an incredible author, and this story, which won the Nebula prize for its category, is a true winner for me. I love that the narrative framework shifts from Marianne, the geneticist working with the aliens, and her three children, each seemingly straying in a different direction.

This story was expanded into a full-length novel, Tomorrow's Kin. I'm not sure that I want to read the expanded version of the same story - I want to find out what happens next! For that, I will need to jump ahead to If Tomorrow Comes. I'm looking forward to it.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great movie. In fact, I think it might even be better in movie format than as a book.

There isn't a whole lot I can say without giving something away. I had one main issue with the story but otherwise it was really good. My issue for those who have already read the story: Why would some alien race scoop up all the humans in one family group, take them to another planet, and never return?? This just makes no sense and makes me feel like Kress just couldn't have been bothered to think up something realistic.

This is my second Kress story and I'm starting to think she has great ideas but isn't so good at covering all the bases to make it seem real. They are both very readable and likable but in both cases there was something just a bit off. Maybe I'm just being fussy

[Петър Стойков · Rating 2 out of 5]

Наивна научна фантастика за посещение на извънземни на Земята. За щастие е доста кратка.

За пореден път виждам във фантастика идеята, че ако някакви разумни раси еволюират в някакъв свят тип "райска градина", те няма да развият така типичната за хората (и за целия живот на Земята) агресивност и обществото им някак от самосебеси ще бъде по-извисено, мирно и ще добрува во веки веков.

Това издава фрапиращо непознаване както на принципите на еволюцията, така и на историята на човешкия вид като цяло.

[Yzabel Ginsberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I got an ARC courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

3.5 out of 5 stars. It was a quick and pleasant read, though I must admit I guessed the twist fairly easily (am I getting good, or what? I used to never see them coming...).

I quite liked the science the story rested on (mitochondrial DNA). I'm not knowledgeable enough to tell whether everything was right or not, but it seemed to me it was, and I didn't find it difficult to follow the more technical explanations later in the book.

The relationships between characters were interesting, and echoed the way aliens and terrans remained estranged from each other: isolationist aliens, communicating only with a select few, in an isolationist country, while the world has to face the prospect of a widespread, lethal disease... yet all the while, the concept of "family" keeps playing an important role, as a reminder that no matter what, emotional ties remain strong.

The reason why I didn't like this book more is mostly because I thought it was too short. There would have been so many aspects to explore, go deeper into: the characters themselves (interesting family dynamics, that would've deserved more "screen time", especially as far as Ryan and Elizabeth were concerned); the reactions in the months between the aliens' arrival and the actual beginning of the story; the reactions of the rest of the world, too. The novel broached these topics, and gave more than just a few pointers—yet for me, it was a case of "either you've said too much, or not enough". I wanted more, plain and simple, more of what looked like a fascinating society (the aliens), more of the humans' actions and views on what would happen after the end. There's a strong opening there, with two equally strong possible outcomes, and I felt it just ended a little too abruptly.

A good and entertaining story nonetheless. I do'nt think I've ever read any novel by this author (though I have one of her "how to write" books), but I'd definitely check out for more of her works in the future.

[Iskren Zayryanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Жалко е, че Нанси Крес е толкова малко издавана в България. Преди години „Камея” издаде наградената с „Хюго“ и „Небюла“ „Безсмъртни в Испания”, и след това дълги години – нищо. Радвам се, че „Екслибирс” са се решили отново да посегнат към тази, незнайно защо пренебрегвана у нас авторка.

„Братовчедите от вчера“ отнася „Небюла” и то напълно заслужено.

Първият контакт е осъществен и той не е съпроводен със взривове, потопени градове или изригващи от гръдния кош ксеноморфи. Не, той е спокоен, мирен и много, много цивилизован. Те се появяват и изграждат своя база в акваторията на Ню Йорк.

Извънземните се оказват всъщност наши много далечни братовчеди, взети от Земята преди хилядолетия.

Не става ясно от кого, или с каква цел, но това не е и толкова важно за историята на романа. Историята се върти около заплаха за Земята, която ще я сполети след месеци. Планетата ще премине през облак с вирус, който е заплаха за хората. Извънземните знаят това, защото други колонии вече са били заличени от тази чума. И започва надпревара с времето за откриване на лек. Земни учени са привлечени да работят в базата на посетителите. Това е история колкото за биологичната еволюция на две групи от един и същи вид, но в различни биосфери, толкова и за социалната еволюция на обществата. Едно сравнение между култури основани на коренно противоположни възгледи за това как трябва да оцелява индивида.

Стилът е максимално изчистен. Със стегнат и немногословен изказ. Героите са по-скоро схематично представени с няколко щриха индивидуализъм. Бях забравил, че все още някой пише с такъв стил. Кратко, точно и ясно. Прилича по-скоро на сценарий за филм, отколкото на роман. Но пък за сметка на това се чете много леко и бързо. Дойде ми много добре след „тухлите” в които се бях потопил от известно време. Всъщност тук са водещи идеите, които Нанси добре развива, въпреки конспективния стил на романа.

Или пък може би точно заради него.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella has two complementary storylines, really: each relies on the other to give it more meaning and to create tension, although each could be a satisfying story on its own. One thread of the story isn’t SF at all, as such: it’s about family and belonging, knowing who you are and knowing who your family are. The other thread is fairly typical SF: an alien civilisation contact Earth saying that they are very close to humans, genetically, and that a disease that devastated them is coming toward Earth. So then there’s a scramble to find a cure or a vaccine, with plenty of secrets and inequalities in the relationships, etc, etc.

Where the two come together is in the customs of the aliens, which emphasise family, and one of the scientists from the humans, who has besides her interests in genetics a somewhat dysfunctional family. I’m not going to spoil the various twists in the story which weave the two threads together, because I found it fairly predictable even without hints!

My main feeling is one that I’ve had before with Kress’ writing: I didn’t really feel the emotions deeply. It seemed like I should, but there was something distant about the characters. I could relate to them fine, but I almost didn’t believe their emotional moments, their turmoil. It was quite weird, intellectually recognising each reaction and knowing it was appropriate for the situation, and yet somehow not feeling as if it was real for the character.

Overall, I liked the ideas and the way the two threads work together, and though I’d begun to expect the twist, I did enjoy the way it happened. I just didn’t feel much for the story.

Originally posted here.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

...That being said, I did enjoy the science Kress put into this story an awful lot. The use of genetics in science fiction is widespread but I can't think of any other author in the field who takes her inspiration from recent scientific research in the field like Kress does. The life sciences are a very important part of her story but she consistently manages to keep her stories quite close to the everyday life of the characters. It is not the sense of wonder Kress is looking for, but the impact on everyday life. They are a combination of fascinating science and well drawn characters. Stories that are both emotionally powerful and thought provoking. In many ways Yesterday's Kin is a signature Kress novella. If you liked her other work, you can't really go wrong with this one. I have read Kress stories where the elements of the story fall into place more convincingly but it is still a high quality read. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up on a few award shortlists next year.

Full Random Comments review

[Христо Блажев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Братовчедите от вчера са тук, за да има утре: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/b...

“Братовчедите от вчера” описва един кротък първи контакт. Корабът на извънземните се появява тихо-кротко иззад слънцето, след кратки преговори си изграждат база, обградена с непробиваем щит, в акваторията на Ню Йорк, и след като изчакват да стихне световния шум, съобщават защо са дошли. Новината наистина не е добра, но няма да ви издавам същността на романа, само ще кажа, че темата е едновременно биологична и космична, както и че една хубава сочна еволюционно-историческа загадка е вплетена в действието. Но контактът с извънземните и самите те са само фон на драматичните отношения в рамките на едно семейство – майката е топ учен, която се ангажира тясно с ключови изследвания, инициирани от инопланетяните.

издателство "Екслибрис"
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/b...

[Sharman Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the mother of adult children, I very much enjoyed this story told by a character who is the mother of adult children--with that relationship actually being part of this sci-fi story! I have noticed this as a trend. More science fiction writers bringing in more aspects of the human condition. Parenthood. Divorce. Hoarding. And then, yes, aliens, too. If this novel felt a little thin or undeveloped for me, I suspect that this is because this is the first in a trilogy.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Panspermia, a virus, and human nature collide. A twisty and thoughtful read.

[Tasula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable SF story about aliens landing in NYC, claiming to warn Earth of a deadly spore cloud that will wipe out humanity in 9 months. The news causes disbelief, panic, economic catastrophes, as people react in different ways to impending doom. A small group of scientists is allowed aboard the alien ship to research the spores, in an attempt to find a vaccine. The group includes Marianne, a scientist who discovered a new matriarchal mitochondrial DNA line, and the aliens are interested in people descended from this ancestor.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Superb Short Hard Science Fiction Novel About First Contact

With “Yesterday’s Kin”, Nancy Kress demonstrates once again why she is one of the premier hard science fiction writers in speculative fiction, creating in her short novel, a memorable tale that is also a fast-paced realistic thriller that discusses intelligently, terrorism and family relationships. “Yesterday’s Kin” should be read widely, especially by those who are mainstream literary fiction writers interested in writing credible speculative fiction. Kress’s earlier Nebula Award-winning novella “After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall” may be the best work of dystopian fiction published in recently years, and one that is vastly superior to anything written by American mainstream literary fiction writers, with the exception of Peter Heller’s “The Dog Stars”. Drawing upon the latest advances in molecular biology, especially as it pertains to human evolution, Kress has written a compelling readable novel that should interest even those who have a superficial understanding of science; it is one of the finest, most unique, “first contact with aliens” speculative fiction novels ever written.

An alien ship lands in the midst of New York City harbor, remaining dormant for four months, until it sends word to United Nations headquarters that it is interested in meeting with geneticist Marianne Jenner, who has just published an important scientific paper on human evolution. Jenner, along with the Secretary General of the United Nations, and several others is invited aboard, learning both pleasant and dire news. The good news is that the aliens are human, members of our own species, transported to a distant world light-years from Earth 150,000 years ago by some unknown technologically advanced space-faring race. The dire news is that they have ten months to deal with an extraterrestrial threat, a spore cloud that has wiped out two of the aliens’ colonies and is on a collision course trajectory with Earth. Jenner agrees to head the molecular biological effort to isolate the deadly spore virus that has claimed the lives of everyone on those two colony worlds and to find a cure. Racing against time, she must also deal with her difficult relationship with her three children, Elizabeth and Ryan, and especially, Noah, addicted to a drug that alters his perception of himself in space and time. “Yesterday’s Kin” is a noteworthy addition to Kress’ substantial body of work, demonstrating that she is still writing some of the finest, most relevant, speculative fiction, worthy of attention to those who are mainstream literary fiction writers and critics.

[Gerhard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I knew this was a short novel when I saw the page count listed as 150 on Amazon ... but it reads much faster than that on Kindle, about an hour and a half at a push, and yet the pricing is that of a full novel.

There does seem to be a trend for authors to maintain reader interest by releasing shorter work in between major work, for which Kindle Singles is an ideal platform, for example. However, pricing shorter work the same seems a tad disingenuous. Then again, there is nothing to suggest that Amazon does not consider this to be a fully fledged novel. Perhaps the author does not either.

This is the first time I have read Nancy Kress, so I have no idea how her latest work compares to what she has done before. To me, this seemed like a brief sketch or initial try out for a much longer work: an immediate red flag in this regard is the fact that Kress provides no explanation for the appearance of the strange 2001 Monolith-like structure on the Denebs’ home world that points them initially towards Earth.

Yesterday’s Kin is a rather bland First Contact novel: curiously human-like aliens land in New York, warn the UN about an impending deadly interstellar spore cloud that the Earth will pass through in about a year, which begins a race against time to find an antidote.

Kress fleshes out this join-the-dots plot by looking more closely at the lead scientist’s dysfunctional family, which of course includes the token rebel son ... Anyone who has seen the telly show V. will know already how this particular narrative strand plays out.

And that is the biggest problem here: there is really nothing new that Kress adds. The ‘big reveal’ at the end is telegraphed so loudly so early on, that it came as no surprise to me at all. I am unsure if this is because I read so much SF that I can spot a trope galumphing in from a mile away. Whatever the case, this is a rather anaemic read.

I would recommend this to non-regular SF readers who want to dip a toe into genre waters without going native.

[Puddlyduck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do they really 'come in peace'?

Yesterday's Kin is a sci-fi adventure about alien contact being made in New York, told through the varying reactions from a family who finds themselves in close contact with these beings. Marianne, acclaimed scientist and mother if three, and her aimless addict son Ryan are the narrators of this interesting tale.

I enjoyed how plausible this story was. From the public's reaction, to the reticent nature of the aliens, their cultural differences and the aliens' physiology, this book had an ironically 'down to earth' feel.

In fact, one of the most implausible elements of the book was the way every member of the family became involved with the extraterrestrials, albeit in very different ways. Still, I guess this was necessary to frame Marianne's experience of the aliens, especially as the book straddles a novel and novella in length.

To summarise, Yesterday's Kin is a compelling mystery that is worth many a sci-fi fan's time.


Disclaimer: I received this ebook from netgalley and Tachyon Publications
3.5 stars

[Leo Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As part of my continued, "Found it in a sale of sci fi stuff, sure, go for it!"

I enjoyed this one a lot—backed by hard science throughout but delivered simplistically enough for a broad audience, cool idea, interesting twists—and I would for sure like to read the trilogy of which this is a part (this novella, as I understand it, constitutes the first part of the first book in the trilogy.)

One thing I'm noticing with sci fi is, the "harder" the sci fi, the more the fiction is merited on the strength of its ideas. And that makes sense. The more in-depth the ideas, the more, of course, that the fiction lends itself to an audience more interested in the imaginative science, and people like that are generally less interested in the emotional elements. But that means, as in this case, descriptions of rooms, aliens and people and so on are kept to a minimum, and complexity of characters and their interactions may well be deliberately avoided because of the type of audience to which this type of fiction caters.

In this book's case, if a character dies or there's some other type of character-based twist, it made me think, "That's interesting!", which is great, but I'm sure you could name some books that, when they killed off a character, had you thinking someone in the real world had legitimately died. And while few authors can pull that off in general (I can name three or four books like that that I've read in my entire life), it seems like that emotional engagement is something you'll much more rarely find in this kind of fiction.

But I don't see anyone in New Yorker stories speculating about the evolutionary origin of alien DNA either—it's just a difference ;)

[Kogiopsis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella was everything I wanted After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall to be - smart, science-based, thoughtful, and ultimately satisfying. There were some twists which I saw coming from the start, and some which snuck up on me and I only fully processed a few pages before they were revealed. The concepts which underpin the story are interesting ideas; I felt that Kress put a lot of thought into the biology and culture of her aliens, and their motivations and choices felt just the right degree of inscrutable.

I found the human dynamics less interesting than the interspecies interactions and scientific research, but the relationships did feel plausible and carefully crafted to underscore the themes of the story as a whole. Marianne is alienated from her children emotionally long before she is more literally alienated from them, and there is a strong contrast between her family and the intensely communal, matrilineal aliens. Is it a bit on the nose? Yeah, but this is a novella, and a little convenience is often necessary for a smaller wordcount.

I'm incredibly curious about the expanded novel version of this story and its sequels.

[Lukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

I enjoy Nancy Kress’ novellas. Sharply observant, well researched, they provide social commentary, education, and entertainment. In Yesterday’s Kin aliens (known as Denebs) have come to Earth to warn people about an interstellar virus that can destroy both civilizations. 

Dr. Marianne Jenner’s genetic research suggests Danebs are descendants of humans banished from Earth 150,000 years ago. Marianne and a team of researchers helped by aliens look for a cure for the virus before it reaches Earth. 

Humans have mixed feelings about Danebs - some want to meet them and cooperate, while others blame them for everything. Marianne’s three children react to aliens in different ways and this ups the family drama.

Kress uses clear and precise language to tell the story. She keeps the science understandable, and the story focused. We don’t get as much character development as I would like, but despite this, I enjoyed Yesterday’s Kin. 

A solid novella that shows both the best and the worst humanity has to offer. 

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this novella through a humble bundle a while back. It's okay, but kind of frustrating. Aliens have made landed on Earth, and geneticist Marianne Jenner and her adult children are at the center of events, as it's revealed that the aliens are humans taken from Earth 70,000 years ago, and that both cousin species must worth together to find a cure to an alien plague that threatens them. There's skepticism, panic, violence, and deceit, and at the end a brutal betrayal. This novella feels like it's Frankensteined out of the corpses of more interesting scifi concepts, and never really come together, though apparently it forms the basis of a trilogy.

[Andria Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still thinking about this story. It's interesting the way that the author had the aliens, the family working together, and the way everything tied together. I'm not for sure I'll continue the series but I'll definitely keep it on my tbr for now. 4 ⭐.

[Mbgile · Rating 4 out of 5]

-4

[Ninja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great short novel on present day First Contact on earth, with a well-written family hub point of view. No fat, just here's the situation and how it plays out. Reminded me in ways of Benford's style.

[John Purvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Yesterday’s Kin” was published in 2014 (September) and was written by Nancy Kress (http://www.sff.net/people/nankress/). Ms. Kress is a Nebula and Hugo award winner, and has published more than 25 novels as well as many novellas and short stories.

This novel is written in the third person and is set mostly in New York, New York at sometime in the near future. I would rate this novel as PG only because of some violence that occurs. The primary character is Marianne Jenner Phd. She is an evolutionary biologist at a small university in New York. Other principal characters are he children Ryan an environmental biologist, Elizabeth a federal border patrol officer and Noah her youngest with drifting interests.

Aliens, the Deneb, have made contact with Earth, and have set up an “Embassy” in New York harbor. They seemingly have come in peace, but have said very little. After four months of little communications, they suddenly request a handful of humans to visit the Embassy. The group is made up of the UN secretary General, the Russian and Chinese representatives to the UN, and most unexpectedly Marianne.

The aliens reveal that the Earth is facing a biological disaster from space in only 10 months. The Deneb have come to warn Earth and ask for Earth’s assistance. The Deneb have already lost outposts to the biological threat, and their home world will be facing the threat in only 25 years.

As Earth scientists begin to work with the Deneb at the Embassy, tension rises around the world. Marianne’s relationship with her children is strained, and surprising discoveries are made regarding the Deneb’s origin.

I enjoyed the four hours I spent reading this novel. It was well written and the characters had depth to them. I thought that this novel had a different twist on first alien contact and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I give this novel a 5 out of 5.

Other book reviews I have written can be found at http://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

[DivaDiane SM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a while since I read hard SF. And this is SF with a basis in hard science. However, I have to say that this book is not so much about the science as about Human nature and Human relationships. Why do we do what we do? Do we know our fellow humans? Do we really? Even the ones closest to us - our Family? It's this aspect that really made this book enjoyable. And blending hard SF with aspects of our humanity is something I think Nancy Kress does very well.

You can read the synopsis about the book, so I won't rehash it. But if Kress's ideas of how Humanity (or Terrans) would deal with "Aliens" (even if they turn out to be not-so-distant relatives) who are the harbingers of dire news and the aftermath that involves, then this is a book for you.

Coming in at less than 200 pages makes it a quick read. The main characters, whose POVs we experience, are Marianne (a middle aged woman with grown children) and her youngest son, Noah (20 something). They are very different people, with virtually opposite world views and modus operandi. Much of the character development within the novel happens as a result of the interpersonal relationships between Marianne and her 3 children.

That said, the book doesn't pack much of an emotional punch. The prose is too dry and detached for that. What it succeeds in doing is raising questions in our own minds about our own relationships, especially to those closest to us, but also to the wider community and the people that inhabit it. How do we treat each other? What do we or are we willing to do for each other? How do we react to how others treat us?

All important questions worth asking, to which Kress cannot give answers because each one of us must examine ourselves and answer them for ourselves.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this from the Strange Horizons fundraising drive; I wanted to read more Nancy Kress because her After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall was just so darned good. Also to keep up my efforts to keep reading female authors.

This is a really clever alien contact story, which like so many of the good ones tells the reader more about humanity than about any putative alien species.

Here, an alien ship arrives - apparently from the direction of Deneb, although not actually - and eventually tells the humans that the Earth is heading for a 'spore cloud' that will have disastrous consequences. The aliens are here both to warn the Earth and to seek answers to the problem of the spores, which will get to their planet some time later.

The story is told by Marianne, a geneticist who gets involved in the work with the aliens, and her estranged son Noah. They bring completely different perspectives to the story, of course, which are nicely complementary; they also allow Kress to explore family issues which are crucial to the story she's telling.

The science is really a important part of the story: how scientists work, what risks they can and should take, what everyday life in the lab is like (boring). Neither more nor less important is the social aspect. How does a mother deal with children who are different from her - and how do they deal with her? How can the world deal with knowing that there are aliens out there, and that a disaster is approaching? And then there's the politics too: this is set in a US that has become increasingly isolationist, a powerful border security force and many people wanting heavy tariffs on imports and restricted migration - and how does that play with the arrival of aliens?

At 189 pages, this is a short novel; it's fast-paced, easy to read, and wonderfully engaging.