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Archeons #4
Inertial Observer
The survivors of the disaster that destroyed the planet Rel have relocated to Earth. Raptors and foxes have taken up residence with human volunteers all over the world to help them integrate. The aliens want to help in whatever ways they can, but human society places so many restrictions on them.
Meanwhile, Deka, Kylac, and Sonjaa try to teach their human hosts what the people of the contacted universe value. Humanity is an isolated species, and it has much to learn if it wants to leave Earth and join the greater community of alien civilizations, but this wealthy family has other priorities.
The disaster left everyone scarred. Sonjaa keeps having waking dreams of killing people. Kylac has willingly given up his ability to open portals to other planets. Now Deka must deal with an entity from outside the universe. An entity who has taken personal interest in them and is haunting the house like a ghost until they give it what it wants.
Meanwhile, Deka, Kylac, and Sonjaa try to teach their human hosts what the people of the contacted universe value. Humanity is an isolated species, and it has much to learn if it wants to leave Earth and join the greater community of alien civilizations, but this wealthy family has other priorities.
The disaster left everyone scarred. Sonjaa keeps having waking dreams of killing people. Kylac has willingly given up his ability to open portals to other planets. Now Deka must deal with an entity from outside the universe. An entity who has taken personal interest in them and is haunting the house like a ghost until they give it what it wants.
390 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2020
About the author
James L. Steele
38 books75 followersJames L. Steele has been published in various anthologies and magazines, including: Solarcide, Allasso, Different Worlds, Different Skins: V.2, Tall Tales with Short Cocks V.2, Bourbon Penn, Gods with Fur, Claw the Way to Victory, and Fictionvale.
The Archeons series, his sci-fi novels featuring nonhuman characters, is published through KTM Publishing.
He lives in Ohio, where he pursues his hobby of becoming a wine connoisseur while having between two and six existential crises per day.
Blog: https://daydreamingintext.blogspot.com/
The Archeons series, his sci-fi novels featuring nonhuman characters, is published through KTM Publishing.
He lives in Ohio, where he pursues his hobby of becoming a wine connoisseur while having between two and six existential crises per day.
Blog: https://daydreamingintext.blogspot.com/
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 2, 2022
This one took me a while to get through. Of course the premise is interesting--our alien buddies trying to navigate Earth politics--but those reading the series front to back are already primed on how things will likely play out, and ultimately I wasn't particularly surprised with how they did. However, the narrative is saved by the way in which it swaps through a variety of personal stories--following specific people who agree to host Relians in their homes--and it does spend some time interrogating its own philosophy regarding the subordinate-master type of relationship the two Relian species have with each other, which is refreshing.
I think my main concern is that the focus of this world-altering event is tight: middle-class to wealthy Americans. This choice likely derives from the author's own heritage, but it made both the world and its politics feel small. The Relians come with one solution for everything; it would have been nice to see how this is received in Europe or Africa or East Asia, etc. Instead, the book works under the assumption that the entire planet is controlled by a handful of wealthy interests in the US, and events play out accordingly. The rest of the world may as well not even exist.
I think my main concern is that the focus of this world-altering event is tight: middle-class to wealthy Americans. This choice likely derives from the author's own heritage, but it made both the world and its politics feel small. The Relians come with one solution for everything; it would have been nice to see how this is received in Europe or Africa or East Asia, etc. Instead, the book works under the assumption that the entire planet is controlled by a handful of wealthy interests in the US, and events play out accordingly. The rest of the world may as well not even exist.
Displaying 1 of 1 review