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First Contact
Clowns
Humanity's First Contact with an intelligent extraterrestrial species exploring the solar system occurred over a decade ago, but only one man was involved, a clown named Buster. Since then, he's established a counter-culture group called the Clowns that seeks to radically overhaul society. When a coup unfolds to replace the President of the United States, Secret Service agent Breezy De la Cruz finds herself partnering with a prostitute to track down the elusive Buster.
Deep fakes aren't simply misleading videos anymore, they're entire situations and scenarios that have been artificially contrived so as to look real and deceive the public. Enter the Clowns—an enigmatic, decentralized group of activists committed to exposing the truth about how social media has become distinctly untrustworthy and antisocial.
Deep fakes aren't simply misleading videos anymore, they're entire situations and scenarios that have been artificially contrived so as to look real and deceive the public. Enter the Clowns—an enigmatic, decentralized group of activists committed to exposing the truth about how social media has become distinctly untrustworthy and antisocial.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
457 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 20, 2022
287 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
July 4, 2022
In this instalment of the connected but not linked First Contact series, Peter Cawdron takes a bit of a different tack - the political one. Based heavily on US politics, the Secret Service and the whole behind-the-scenes action, this book looks at a first contact where, unsurprisingly, those in charge manage to pretty much embarass us. It’s hard, and embarassing enough, being the universe’s advanced apes, without those with their own agendas ruining it for us.
The two female leads Breezy (Secret Service agent) and Olivia (porn star) team up with a clown (such as he is), and discover a life out there, that is interested in us. I prefer these books to the traditional first contact movies, as the majority have us blowing the visitors out of the sky in an attempt to protect ourselves, which is risible considering these slightly advanced apes are still blowing each other up. We’re a galactical embarassment.
There’s just the right balance of action, politics, space, a touch of horror, and humour to make this a worthy addition to the Cawdron First Contact series.
And indeed, humans did fcuk around and found out.
The two female leads Breezy (Secret Service agent) and Olivia (porn star) team up with a clown (such as he is), and discover a life out there, that is interested in us. I prefer these books to the traditional first contact movies, as the majority have us blowing the visitors out of the sky in an attempt to protect ourselves, which is risible considering these slightly advanced apes are still blowing each other up. We’re a galactical embarassment.
There’s just the right balance of action, politics, space, a touch of horror, and humour to make this a worthy addition to the Cawdron First Contact series.
And indeed, humans did fcuk around and found out.
January 15, 2023
If i counted correctly, Clowns is the 21st book in the (very loosely defined) First Contact series with every book depicting a story where humankind in one way or another encounters alien life. I can now - very proudly i might add - say i've read all books Peter Cawdron has written although i might have overlooked a title since he's very productive.
I could write a detailed review of Clowns here but i really only want to tell everyone who reads this that you should really read this book yourself. No... that you should really read every book Peter Cawdron has ever written. Peter Who? you may ask since you won't find his books in a bookstore or on a list of nominees for some prestigious award. It's Peter Cawdron and i think he really should be on the list for a lifetime Hugo/Nebula/Clarke award because he writes damn good science fiction that only gets better and better with each new book. He's an independent writer so you'll have to buy his books (very reasonably priced) on Amazon but think of him as that needle in the haystack of self published books. Yes he's really that good and i can't recommend him enough as an author.
The only drawback i've managed to find about him is that's he's Australian so the chance i could buy him a beer in a local pub here in the Netherlands are mighty slim. But hey, if mankind can encounter alien/articificial intelligence more than 20 times in his universe, the chance that i may encounter Peter Cawdron in a pub near me isn't zero. How's that for science and fiction?
Just buy one of his books - any of his books - and try it if you like well written science fiction that isn't about aliens, starships and intergalactic politics but about humans and the human condition. Buy him a beer if you like 'em (and if you encounter him before any aliens do) or better yet, buy more of his books. And if you really come to like his books and live in the Netherlands, come and do a beer or cappuccino with me. We'll have enough to talk about obviously.
I could write a detailed review of Clowns here but i really only want to tell everyone who reads this that you should really read this book yourself. No... that you should really read every book Peter Cawdron has ever written. Peter Who? you may ask since you won't find his books in a bookstore or on a list of nominees for some prestigious award. It's Peter Cawdron and i think he really should be on the list for a lifetime Hugo/Nebula/Clarke award because he writes damn good science fiction that only gets better and better with each new book. He's an independent writer so you'll have to buy his books (very reasonably priced) on Amazon but think of him as that needle in the haystack of self published books. Yes he's really that good and i can't recommend him enough as an author.
The only drawback i've managed to find about him is that's he's Australian so the chance i could buy him a beer in a local pub here in the Netherlands are mighty slim. But hey, if mankind can encounter alien/articificial intelligence more than 20 times in his universe, the chance that i may encounter Peter Cawdron in a pub near me isn't zero. How's that for science and fiction?
Just buy one of his books - any of his books - and try it if you like well written science fiction that isn't about aliens, starships and intergalactic politics but about humans and the human condition. Buy him a beer if you like 'em (and if you encounter him before any aliens do) or better yet, buy more of his books. And if you really come to like his books and live in the Netherlands, come and do a beer or cappuccino with me. We'll have enough to talk about obviously.
May 23, 2022
Fake News
I love this man's stories. Always seems to hit the nail on the head, and this first contact story is no exception. He brings two totally different women together to fight for the truth, and they are able to get the job done. In his afterword he says to look closely at the eyes: wish I hadn't done that, already having nightmares.
I love this man's stories. Always seems to hit the nail on the head, and this first contact story is no exception. He brings two totally different women together to fight for the truth, and they are able to get the job done. In his afterword he says to look closely at the eyes: wish I hadn't done that, already having nightmares.
August 20, 2022
this book's cover - and to some extent, the blurb - do this book a huge disservice. i saw this book and i was all, "clowns? and aliens? really?", assuming it was some sort of gimmick playing off pennywise and the strange part that clowns play in our current zeitgeist. the cheesy horror-clown on the cover, the goddamn american horror story font - it all screams b-movie.
but clowns isn't gimmicky. it's not corny, and it's not cliche. it's just really fucking good.
this was my first book by peter cawdron and it most definitely won't be the last. excuse me while i go and inhale the rest of this series.
but clowns isn't gimmicky. it's not corny, and it's not cliche. it's just really fucking good.
this was my first book by peter cawdron and it most definitely won't be the last. excuse me while i go and inhale the rest of this series.
June 13, 2022
For six decades, astronomers around the world have been scanning the skies for signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos. In 1984, the effort led to the creation of a program called Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Surely, the organizers of SETI believed, someone, somewhere on one of the 100 billion planets in the Milky Way galaxy would be reaching out in hopes of establishing a connection. However, as we know all too well, SETI’s efforts to date have come to nothing. Decades ago, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi famously asked, “Where are all the aliens?” The lack of an answer has come to be called the Great Silence. And in Clowns, the latest entry in his long-running series of standalone novels about First Contact, Australian science fiction author Peter Cawdron offers a plausible explanation.
WHERE, INDEED, ARE ALL THE ALIENS?
In the novel’s preface, Cawdron writes, “First Contact occurred a decade ago with a traveling circus in the high-altitude desert plateau of Uzbekistan. The US Government has been covertly monitoring extraterrestrial activity around Earth since then but has struggled to make contact. They’ve kept tabs on the circus and its founder, Buster Al-Hashimi. Four years ago, Buster returned to the US to start a counter-culture group called The Clowns, challenging the sociopolitical status quo in America.” Buster is American. “His mother was born in Kansas, while his father is an Iraqi. Buster was a guest of the Iranian secret police for about eight years before escaping across the border to Turkmenistan.” And he has remained in Central Asia, using his circus as a front to smuggle female victims of male violence to freedom across national borders.
A NEW REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT LED BY CLOWNS
It’s now the near future, full of references to recent US Presidents and their policies. Soon, Washington DC, like many cities around the world, is in turmoil. Groups calling themselves clowns are demonstrating for revolutionary change. Dressed and made up like clowns from the Big Top, they seek change all across the board—not on any single issue, but change encompassing measures to combat racism, climate change, militarism, and violence of all sort against people and animals. “You think this is a circus?” they ask. “The real clowns are out there on Capitol Hill and over in the White House. Those that wear their neatly pressed suits and sit in their fancy swiveling chairs behind solid oak desks—they think they’re in command of this world. They’re not. they make fools of us all.” And those of us who fall prey to their delusions are lost in the fog of The Spectacle.
“We tell ourselves we’re looking for intelligent life out in space, but we don’t stop to think how little of it there is back here. . . We’re a species of infighting ape that’s spread out of control around the planet.”
TWO REMARKABLE WOMEN ANCHOR THE STORY
Apart from Buster the Clown, Cawdron’s tale centers on two young women.
** Breezy (Breanne de la Cruz) is a United States Secret Service special agent. As the story opens, she is stuck at the drugstore in the hospital where her partner works as a doctor. She’s just buying a Coke, but the four masked men who walk in with guns drawn give her other ideas. When one of them shoots a security guard, she rushes into action and, in short order, kills three of them and captures the fourth. This heroic act leads to her suspension from the Secret Service. Director Johnson is apologetic but firm.
** Olivia (Gwen Mary Jane Stacy Watson) describes herself as a high-end prostitute who services powerful men in the US Capital. She is on a shoot in a palatial suburban home for a top-secret deep fake porn video targeting a highly placed federal government official. (“They’ll use AI to change appearances and set up some poor sap.”) But when later she arrives near the rendezvous point to collect the $4000 owed her, she sees the woman with the cash for her shot and killed in a parking lot.
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL OF CAWDRON’S FIRST CONTACT TALES
These two women, each remarkable in her own way, will end up interacting with Buster and the clowns following him and with Director Johnson in a high-speed tale that twists and turns in more and more surprising ways. We learn more and more about them as the tale unfolds. And they open our eyes to the vast potential of intelligent life in the cosmos. Cawdron has outdone himself with Clowns. It strikes me as the most successful ever in his long-running First Contact series.
Clowns is more philosophical than most of Cawdron’s other work. The novel explores the critical theory of The Spectacle, an approach first advanced in 1967 by the French Marxist philosopher Guy Debord. To say that it’s thought-provoking is an understatement.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Cawdron has written and independently published dozens of science fiction novels, including the 20 books to date in his First Contact series of standalone novels. Born in New Zealand in 1967, he has lived for many years in Australia. However, he also lived for a time in the United States, which is the setting for much of his fiction.
WHERE, INDEED, ARE ALL THE ALIENS?
In the novel’s preface, Cawdron writes, “First Contact occurred a decade ago with a traveling circus in the high-altitude desert plateau of Uzbekistan. The US Government has been covertly monitoring extraterrestrial activity around Earth since then but has struggled to make contact. They’ve kept tabs on the circus and its founder, Buster Al-Hashimi. Four years ago, Buster returned to the US to start a counter-culture group called The Clowns, challenging the sociopolitical status quo in America.” Buster is American. “His mother was born in Kansas, while his father is an Iraqi. Buster was a guest of the Iranian secret police for about eight years before escaping across the border to Turkmenistan.” And he has remained in Central Asia, using his circus as a front to smuggle female victims of male violence to freedom across national borders.
A NEW REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT LED BY CLOWNS
It’s now the near future, full of references to recent US Presidents and their policies. Soon, Washington DC, like many cities around the world, is in turmoil. Groups calling themselves clowns are demonstrating for revolutionary change. Dressed and made up like clowns from the Big Top, they seek change all across the board—not on any single issue, but change encompassing measures to combat racism, climate change, militarism, and violence of all sort against people and animals. “You think this is a circus?” they ask. “The real clowns are out there on Capitol Hill and over in the White House. Those that wear their neatly pressed suits and sit in their fancy swiveling chairs behind solid oak desks—they think they’re in command of this world. They’re not. they make fools of us all.” And those of us who fall prey to their delusions are lost in the fog of The Spectacle.
“We tell ourselves we’re looking for intelligent life out in space, but we don’t stop to think how little of it there is back here. . . We’re a species of infighting ape that’s spread out of control around the planet.”
TWO REMARKABLE WOMEN ANCHOR THE STORY
Apart from Buster the Clown, Cawdron’s tale centers on two young women.
** Breezy (Breanne de la Cruz) is a United States Secret Service special agent. As the story opens, she is stuck at the drugstore in the hospital where her partner works as a doctor. She’s just buying a Coke, but the four masked men who walk in with guns drawn give her other ideas. When one of them shoots a security guard, she rushes into action and, in short order, kills three of them and captures the fourth. This heroic act leads to her suspension from the Secret Service. Director Johnson is apologetic but firm.
** Olivia (Gwen Mary Jane Stacy Watson) describes herself as a high-end prostitute who services powerful men in the US Capital. She is on a shoot in a palatial suburban home for a top-secret deep fake porn video targeting a highly placed federal government official. (“They’ll use AI to change appearances and set up some poor sap.”) But when later she arrives near the rendezvous point to collect the $4000 owed her, she sees the woman with the cash for her shot and killed in a parking lot.
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL OF CAWDRON’S FIRST CONTACT TALES
These two women, each remarkable in her own way, will end up interacting with Buster and the clowns following him and with Director Johnson in a high-speed tale that twists and turns in more and more surprising ways. We learn more and more about them as the tale unfolds. And they open our eyes to the vast potential of intelligent life in the cosmos. Cawdron has outdone himself with Clowns. It strikes me as the most successful ever in his long-running First Contact series.
Clowns is more philosophical than most of Cawdron’s other work. The novel explores the critical theory of The Spectacle, an approach first advanced in 1967 by the French Marxist philosopher Guy Debord. To say that it’s thought-provoking is an understatement.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Cawdron has written and independently published dozens of science fiction novels, including the 20 books to date in his First Contact series of standalone novels. Born in New Zealand in 1967, he has lived for many years in Australia. However, he also lived for a time in the United States, which is the setting for much of his fiction.
May 27, 2022
Another Fantastic Read from Peter Cawdron.
Hi, Peter,
You have done it again! This is an utterly fantastic piece of art wrapped around a scathing social commentary. As I sit here at 3:36 am, I am still catching my breath from taking this awe inspiring ride with you. Many thanks for the trip, my friend. There are so many lessons I can take from this. Completely changed my perspective.
Jim
Hi, Peter,
You have done it again! This is an utterly fantastic piece of art wrapped around a scathing social commentary. As I sit here at 3:36 am, I am still catching my breath from taking this awe inspiring ride with you. Many thanks for the trip, my friend. There are so many lessons I can take from this. Completely changed my perspective.
Jim
June 19, 2022
I am sure that you, like I, have read dozens of first contact books. Perhaps you have read a number of Peter Cawdron’s excellent books on this topic. But I doubt that anything you have read prepares you for a first contact book that features clowns.
Over the past few years, Peter Cawdron has become my “go to” author for first contact books. Each and every one of the books in his First Contact series is unique and exciting. But when I saw that the next book in the series was titled Clowns, I was concerned that Cawdron has gone just a bit too far. I should have had more faith as this could be the most interesting book in the series, so far.
Cawdron’s books are all based on hard science, they all look at the positive and negatives of what first contact with an alien species will be like, they are all unique and entertaining, and definitely well written. Cawdron does not shy away from politics or controversy and in Clowns he takes direct aim at political short sightedness, human egos, and why intelligent alien species might give Earth a pass. In fact, he even highlights human ego by showing that we have named our planet after the part where humans live, Earth, when it is actually a liquid world with over 70% covered by water.
My favorite part of Cawdron’s books is at the end. Just when you think that the story is over and your reading is done, he springs his “afterword” on you. It is in this section when Cawdron speaks directly to the reader, spelling out his thoughts, the facts and science behind the story, and his personal feelings about human/alien interaction.
Is Clowns the best of Cawdron’s First Contact Series? If it isn’t, it sure is in the top five!
Over the past few years, Peter Cawdron has become my “go to” author for first contact books. Each and every one of the books in his First Contact series is unique and exciting. But when I saw that the next book in the series was titled Clowns, I was concerned that Cawdron has gone just a bit too far. I should have had more faith as this could be the most interesting book in the series, so far.
Cawdron’s books are all based on hard science, they all look at the positive and negatives of what first contact with an alien species will be like, they are all unique and entertaining, and definitely well written. Cawdron does not shy away from politics or controversy and in Clowns he takes direct aim at political short sightedness, human egos, and why intelligent alien species might give Earth a pass. In fact, he even highlights human ego by showing that we have named our planet after the part where humans live, Earth, when it is actually a liquid world with over 70% covered by water.
My favorite part of Cawdron’s books is at the end. Just when you think that the story is over and your reading is done, he springs his “afterword” on you. It is in this section when Cawdron speaks directly to the reader, spelling out his thoughts, the facts and science behind the story, and his personal feelings about human/alien interaction.
Is Clowns the best of Cawdron’s First Contact Series? If it isn’t, it sure is in the top five!
June 14, 2022
Clowns, aliens, shady government officials, deep fakes, a presidential coup, a secret service member and a prostitute. This book was phenomenal such a fast paced, action packed book as well as being a social commentary on the government, society and why aliens would not want to initiate contact with earth. Highly recommend.
May 25, 2022
An original story, an engaging adventure, but also a deep reflection on humanity without being dark and hopeless.
I really like Clowns. It is of the type of science fiction that aims at exploring the emotional and societal facet of a first contact with an extra-terrestrial people. I love this in particular because I think Peter Cawdron is very real about us humans and possible interstellar travelers. In this book it is more about how aliens might react to our human frailties, though the other direction comes to play as well. The other part that stands out with this book is that Peter Cawdron succeeded in avoiding having an essay in the story, but just told the story in a way that his thoughts about our shortcomings as humans still come across.
I received Clowns as ARC from the author, but this is a voluntary and independent review.
I really like Clowns. It is of the type of science fiction that aims at exploring the emotional and societal facet of a first contact with an extra-terrestrial people. I love this in particular because I think Peter Cawdron is very real about us humans and possible interstellar travelers. In this book it is more about how aliens might react to our human frailties, though the other direction comes to play as well. The other part that stands out with this book is that Peter Cawdron succeeded in avoiding having an essay in the story, but just told the story in a way that his thoughts about our shortcomings as humans still come across.
I received Clowns as ARC from the author, but this is a voluntary and independent review.
June 8, 2022
This didn't feel like a first contact novel at first although I was definitely quickly engrossed in the two characters stories which didn't take long to combine. Yet again Peter Cawdron has written a first contact novel from a new angle. I don't know how he does but I am grateful that he does.
May 26, 2022
I have watched Peter Cawdron improve his writing ability with every book he authors. The man was good when he wrote his first book many years ago, and now is one of the few authors I truly enjoy reading. Every book is better than the last.
Clowns gives another take on First Contact, but the story's first half is action-packed, introducing the primary characters with outstanding development but so much action that the story never gets bogged down. It offers a relatively strong social commentary that is spot on if you really examine yourself and those around you, based on a little known work by the French philosopher, Guy Debord, called The Society of the Spectacle. The real question Cawdron asks in this book is: what would alien intelligence think about our intelligence, with all our wars, being unable to get along with each other, and valuing material possessions over what is really important in life, that being life, itself.
As with all of his books, Peter offers a detailed afterword providing facts behind his writing. He always tries to back up his science fiction with real science. That's one thing that makes him such a good writer and brings the definition of hard science fiction to mean making it hard to know when the facts end and the fiction begins. This book is well researched and the afterword shows that.
This is another hit for Peter Cawdron, in my opinion, and should be added to the library of anyone who enjoys good science fiction and First Contact.
Clowns gives another take on First Contact, but the story's first half is action-packed, introducing the primary characters with outstanding development but so much action that the story never gets bogged down. It offers a relatively strong social commentary that is spot on if you really examine yourself and those around you, based on a little known work by the French philosopher, Guy Debord, called The Society of the Spectacle. The real question Cawdron asks in this book is: what would alien intelligence think about our intelligence, with all our wars, being unable to get along with each other, and valuing material possessions over what is really important in life, that being life, itself.
As with all of his books, Peter offers a detailed afterword providing facts behind his writing. He always tries to back up his science fiction with real science. That's one thing that makes him such a good writer and brings the definition of hard science fiction to mean making it hard to know when the facts end and the fiction begins. This book is well researched and the afterword shows that.
This is another hit for Peter Cawdron, in my opinion, and should be added to the library of anyone who enjoys good science fiction and First Contact.
May 25, 2022
Another winner from Peter Cawdron
I love Peter Cawdron’s books, for me he is one of the best sci-fi writers that I have had the pleasure of reading. Clowns starts off like an action thriller and gradually works it’s way into first or in this case second contact. Great story, very interesting characters, and like every great story teller he always ends the book with you wanting more. Highly recommended.
I love Peter Cawdron’s books, for me he is one of the best sci-fi writers that I have had the pleasure of reading. Clowns starts off like an action thriller and gradually works it’s way into first or in this case second contact. Great story, very interesting characters, and like every great story teller he always ends the book with you wanting more. Highly recommended.
May 26, 2022
Another winner by Peter! I have read several of this author's books and he always hits it out of the park! This one is no exception, the thing I like the most is how the characters are portrayed. This book was very unusual but I loved it!
June 12, 2022
Real friends
OK....So bring in the clowns!!!! Sorry, had to do that!! What a roller coaster ride this story was, (no pun intended....seriously)! This thing has more layers than the best, biggest cake I have ever eaten. Way too much stuff to try and condense. Let me just say it was a joy to read, try it, it's got every genre you can think of all wrapped up in an original plot , a regular funhouse!!!!
OK....So bring in the clowns!!!! Sorry, had to do that!! What a roller coaster ride this story was, (no pun intended....seriously)! This thing has more layers than the best, biggest cake I have ever eaten. Way too much stuff to try and condense. Let me just say it was a joy to read, try it, it's got every genre you can think of all wrapped up in an original plot , a regular funhouse!!!!
May 27, 2022
Another fantastic first contact novel by Peter Cawdron. This one is filled with intelligent observations about the current state of society. We don’t see evidence of aliens until almost halfway through the book, but I promise they arrive. There’s a reason for the delay.
I absolutely loved the big too scenes, super creepy. I could easily see it on the big screen!
I absolutely loved the big too scenes, super creepy. I could easily see it on the big screen!
June 4, 2022
Another excellent entry in this series
I enjoy Cawdron's approach to this philosophical discussion using stories that are fun to read. I hope I'm around when first contact actually occurs, and have a chance to find out if any of Peter's scenarios are right!
I enjoy Cawdron's approach to this philosophical discussion using stories that are fun to read. I hope I'm around when first contact actually occurs, and have a chance to find out if any of Peter's scenarios are right!
July 8, 2022
Thought provoking
Starts a little slow but you get it as the different characters interact. Great story that makes you realize how ridiculous the human race would appear to a benevolent alien race.
Starts a little slow but you get it as the different characters interact. Great story that makes you realize how ridiculous the human race would appear to a benevolent alien race.
February 2, 2023
Clowns is a story that imagines one way that first contact with extraterrestrials could go. We follow a Secret Service agent and a porn star as they become involved with a counter-culture group called Clowns. I really enjoyed the social commentary that the clowns provide, but the actual sci-fi elements of the story fell flat for me. There were certain elements that I thought needed more explanation within the story. This book did have a fair amount of action and twists and turns, but the way that the ending was handled unfortunately lost me.
June 1, 2022
Another excellent First Contact tale from the person quickly becoming the master of this milieu. There were a few errors (Austin is the state capital of Texas, not Dallas. Standard USMC kit is M27 not AR15) which hampered the verisimilitude just a bit. The twists and turns were unpredictable and added to the fiction (or is it fiction).
June 7, 2022
Clowns first contact
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Personally I think it’s Peter Cawdron’s best one in the series. Looking forward to the next one to come
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Personally I think it’s Peter Cawdron’s best one in the series. Looking forward to the next one to come
June 2, 2022
another engrossing book by Cawdron!
Very imaginative, interesting characters & plot twists, and penetrating social commentary. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves scifi.
Very imaginative, interesting characters & plot twists, and penetrating social commentary. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves scifi.
September 10, 2022
Good story; great background
This book is part of this author's First Contact series. I absolutely loved the first one. While it was more "hard" sci Fi (which I'm generally not a big fan of) it had great character development.
This one was more of the type of book I usually like. But somehow I didn't like it quite as much. I think he over explains and is too repetitive about the idea of The Spectacle. Maybe like society in general I just don't facing I'm stuck in The Spectacle too. Idk.
But that said, it's still a very enjoyable book. The ideas behind it are very solidly researched and very interesting.
I definitely recommend giving this and the others in the series a read!
This book is part of this author's First Contact series. I absolutely loved the first one. While it was more "hard" sci Fi (which I'm generally not a big fan of) it had great character development.
This one was more of the type of book I usually like. But somehow I didn't like it quite as much. I think he over explains and is too repetitive about the idea of The Spectacle. Maybe like society in general I just don't facing I'm stuck in The Spectacle too. Idk.
But that said, it's still a very enjoyable book. The ideas behind it are very solidly researched and very interesting.
I definitely recommend giving this and the others in the series a read!
November 23, 2023
This is the third Peter Cawdren first contact novel I've read of his. It's his signature theme that he explores through his novels. What ifs about what happens when mankind meets intelligent aliens?
This is his best work I've read so far. The writing is mature, confident, and most importantly engaging. Great characters, a complex set of problems that are packed up in an adventure that leaves one thinking, what next?
Just in case you are the kind of reader that reads afterwords first... don't be put off by the over earnest afterword, which was totally unnecessary, because the story is told well enough that it needs no explanation.
This is his best work I've read so far. The writing is mature, confident, and most importantly engaging. Great characters, a complex set of problems that are packed up in an adventure that leaves one thinking, what next?
Just in case you are the kind of reader that reads afterwords first... don't be put off by the over earnest afterword, which was totally unnecessary, because the story is told well enough that it needs no explanation.
June 22, 2022
Afterward
As with all of Peter Crawdon's books, there is good character development, interesting locations, and a fast pace. This book has a bit more political messaging than most, and is a little less believable than most ( as if any current science is believable ). The most valuable information, however, is in the authors comments at the end of the story where some of the science concepts and the rationale for the theme of the book are explained. I continue to buy Mr. Crawdons books for these tidbits. Many may not agree with his ideas, but they should make us think.
As with all of Peter Crawdon's books, there is good character development, interesting locations, and a fast pace. This book has a bit more political messaging than most, and is a little less believable than most ( as if any current science is believable ). The most valuable information, however, is in the authors comments at the end of the story where some of the science concepts and the rationale for the theme of the book are explained. I continue to buy Mr. Crawdons books for these tidbits. Many may not agree with his ideas, but they should make us think.
August 4, 2023
Breezy - a 5ft tall Latina undercover US Secret Service agent who’s convinced the clowns are plotting a coup.
Olivia - a porn star we first meet during the making of a deep fake of the Vice President (part of a larger coup to get their guy in as VP and then assassinate the president). She is on her way to pick up her payment and completely by accident, sees a woman who looks like her at the meeting spot get murdered. She runs for her life and meets up with Buster who takes her under his wing.
Buster - head of the Clowns - a radical fringe group who nobody’s quite sure what their deal is.
Buster tries to warn the VP of the plot & brings Olivia to the White House with him. After a cordial chat with the VP, of course Breezy shows up and shoots Buster because she’s convinced he’s “a terrorist”.
After the shooting, her director takes her to an ultra secure “bunker” that’s chaotic with high ranking military people freaking out - she learns that the clowns are actually aliens and Buster was their leader. They’re worried about all-out war starting.
Director Johnson is behind the attempted coup to install their own handpicked choice as president and has been playing breezy for a fool this whole time. The clowns are trying to help, not terrorists.
Breezy and Olivia end up attacked by government forces and end up on a strange cloud spaceship and are dumped in a desert… somewhere… and picked up by local jihadis, escape, and meet Buster’s brother Chester.
Buster and Chester first met the “clowns” when their spaceship crash landed in the remote desert in Iran / Iraq as they were helping to smuggle some people out of the civil war. Buster helps the aliens, and the aliens got a kick out of Buster and allowed him to use some of their alien tech to “hold a mirror up to humanity, in the hopes it would change”. (Buster’s idea)
The reason the aliens never made wider contact with humanity was because they saw we were a fucking mess… wars, politics, religion, abuse and murder, cruelty, savagery all around, etc. - they basically view humans as apes, and not truly an intelligent civilization - and they didn’t want to be bothered with it.
Breezy and Olivia make contact with the aliens and are taken to a moon of Saturn to see the worms living in the oceans there.
Director Johnson has been planning a war against the aliens and using Breezy and Olivia as pawns to draw the aliens out, and figure out where their ship is. Director Johnson fires a middle at the ship and of course it doesn’t put a dent in it. Johnson is arrested and the coup collapses and the aliens leave, thinking “screw these maniacs” 😂
Olivia - a porn star we first meet during the making of a deep fake of the Vice President (part of a larger coup to get their guy in as VP and then assassinate the president). She is on her way to pick up her payment and completely by accident, sees a woman who looks like her at the meeting spot get murdered. She runs for her life and meets up with Buster who takes her under his wing.
Buster - head of the Clowns - a radical fringe group who nobody’s quite sure what their deal is.
Buster tries to warn the VP of the plot & brings Olivia to the White House with him. After a cordial chat with the VP, of course Breezy shows up and shoots Buster because she’s convinced he’s “a terrorist”.
After the shooting, her director takes her to an ultra secure “bunker” that’s chaotic with high ranking military people freaking out - she learns that the clowns are actually aliens and Buster was their leader. They’re worried about all-out war starting.
Director Johnson is behind the attempted coup to install their own handpicked choice as president and has been playing breezy for a fool this whole time. The clowns are trying to help, not terrorists.
Breezy and Olivia end up attacked by government forces and end up on a strange cloud spaceship and are dumped in a desert… somewhere… and picked up by local jihadis, escape, and meet Buster’s brother Chester.
Buster and Chester first met the “clowns” when their spaceship crash landed in the remote desert in Iran / Iraq as they were helping to smuggle some people out of the civil war. Buster helps the aliens, and the aliens got a kick out of Buster and allowed him to use some of their alien tech to “hold a mirror up to humanity, in the hopes it would change”. (Buster’s idea)
The reason the aliens never made wider contact with humanity was because they saw we were a fucking mess… wars, politics, religion, abuse and murder, cruelty, savagery all around, etc. - they basically view humans as apes, and not truly an intelligent civilization - and they didn’t want to be bothered with it.
Breezy and Olivia make contact with the aliens and are taken to a moon of Saturn to see the worms living in the oceans there.
Director Johnson has been planning a war against the aliens and using Breezy and Olivia as pawns to draw the aliens out, and figure out where their ship is. Director Johnson fires a middle at the ship and of course it doesn’t put a dent in it. Johnson is arrested and the coup collapses and the aliens leave, thinking “screw these maniacs” 😂
June 18, 2023
3 1/2 stars. I held off reading this book - frankly because of the title - you never quite know what to expect with clowns being front and center. I have no regrets about choosing to read this book.
I will spare you a simple regurgitation of the novel's synopsis. Breezy De la Cruz is a secret service agent partnering with a prostitute, Olivia, hired to appear in a deep-fake video featuring the president in a sexual affair. The aliens themselves have been around for 10 years but are quietly observing humanity and are quite astonished at what they see. Rather than direct interference with human affairs, they work with a group calling themselves the clowns in an attempt to initiate positive social change.
Clowns is a stand-alone book in the first contact series. This book quite a while to actually introduce the aliens. Much time is spent during the first part of the book setting up the characters, and the coup plotline. Once revealed, we mean the aliens essentially by proxy through the clowns.
Cawdron does cheat a bit with the storyline making it easier for the heroines to move forward - but it is minor.
Central to the split is the Spectacle in which all humanity is mired. Cawdron makes clear his opinion: "We like to think of ourselves as an intelligent species, but we’re not. We’re emotional. Pride is more important than reason. Anger shapes our logic. I am sure statements such as this may raise the ire of some readers.
The ending has a twist that left me thinking WTF. But like a Scooby Doo mystery or game of Clue (it was Colonel Mustard with the candlestick - LOL) the epilog explains how the heroines win the day.
This was a decent read and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
I will spare you a simple regurgitation of the novel's synopsis. Breezy De la Cruz is a secret service agent partnering with a prostitute, Olivia, hired to appear in a deep-fake video featuring the president in a sexual affair. The aliens themselves have been around for 10 years but are quietly observing humanity and are quite astonished at what they see. Rather than direct interference with human affairs, they work with a group calling themselves the clowns in an attempt to initiate positive social change.
Clowns is a stand-alone book in the first contact series. This book quite a while to actually introduce the aliens. Much time is spent during the first part of the book setting up the characters, and the coup plotline. Once revealed, we mean the aliens essentially by proxy through the clowns.
Cawdron does cheat a bit with the storyline making it easier for the heroines to move forward - but it is minor.
Central to the split is the Spectacle in which all humanity is mired. Cawdron makes clear his opinion: "We like to think of ourselves as an intelligent species, but we’re not. We’re emotional. Pride is more important than reason. Anger shapes our logic. I am sure statements such as this may raise the ire of some readers.
The ending has a twist that left me thinking WTF. But like a Scooby Doo mystery or game of Clue (it was Colonel Mustard with the candlestick - LOL) the epilog explains how the heroines win the day.
This was a decent read and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
February 27, 2023
I read The Tempest, and was highly impressed. I found clowns either satirical, which would make it awesome; or it is a lefty screed that shows a complete lack of self-awareness.
For instance, the main two character are a Lesbian and a porn star, and a carne midget! The book has a strong undercurrent of woke ideology. The porn star functions as a foil to “humanize” “sex work”, and we always need the virtuous female homosexual, who does feats no trained male martial artist could do in his wildest dreams. Add to this some pretty disgusting sexual situations and you have a pretty messy book.
As far as the story line goes… it’s okay I guess. The part where the “sex worker” and “lesbian” get dropped in the desert was long and tedious. At first you think they are on another planet but then it becomes clear they are in the backwoods of a middle eastern country. The aliens drop them there so they can find the dead midgets brother. The portion of the book was long and could have been significantly reduced.
So you can see I am stuck with a dilemma. Either Cawdron is a brilliant satirist using all the power of clown world (honk honk), or he is a leftist ideologue who uses clowns as the good guys fighting for social justice and a better world. I’m not sure which option is better. Hence, the book gets 3 stars, but maybe it should get 5 because of the authors amazing ability to keep me suspended.
For instance, the main two character are a Lesbian and a porn star, and a carne midget! The book has a strong undercurrent of woke ideology. The porn star functions as a foil to “humanize” “sex work”, and we always need the virtuous female homosexual, who does feats no trained male martial artist could do in his wildest dreams. Add to this some pretty disgusting sexual situations and you have a pretty messy book.
As far as the story line goes… it’s okay I guess. The part where the “sex worker” and “lesbian” get dropped in the desert was long and tedious. At first you think they are on another planet but then it becomes clear they are in the backwoods of a middle eastern country. The aliens drop them there so they can find the dead midgets brother. The portion of the book was long and could have been significantly reduced.
So you can see I am stuck with a dilemma. Either Cawdron is a brilliant satirist using all the power of clown world (honk honk), or he is a leftist ideologue who uses clowns as the good guys fighting for social justice and a better world. I’m not sure which option is better. Hence, the book gets 3 stars, but maybe it should get 5 because of the authors amazing ability to keep me suspended.
October 4, 2022
Preaching and not well plotted
This prose here is well written and engaging, but unfortunately a lot of the rest gets in the way. The plot is very, very silly; the idea that aliens encourage the formation of a counter culture movement as part of first contact. I have no idea what first contact might look like, but this account just stretches my suspension or disbelief beyond breaking point.
The bigger problem is that so much space must then be devoted to explaining the movement. To explaining the social problems that it's designed to fix. I probably agree with a lot of the movement's core logic (essentially that we don't live in a way that's authentic to ourselves), but I just got bored reading so much about it. I got the very strong impression that this description is an opportunity for the author to vent their frustration at the ills of modern society. And as I say, I share a lot of his concerns. But I don't read science fiction to be preached at; you can take your political manifesto elsewhere! I got so bored of it that I couldn't finish, which is rare for me.
This prose here is well written and engaging, but unfortunately a lot of the rest gets in the way. The plot is very, very silly; the idea that aliens encourage the formation of a counter culture movement as part of first contact. I have no idea what first contact might look like, but this account just stretches my suspension or disbelief beyond breaking point.
The bigger problem is that so much space must then be devoted to explaining the movement. To explaining the social problems that it's designed to fix. I probably agree with a lot of the movement's core logic (essentially that we don't live in a way that's authentic to ourselves), but I just got bored reading so much about it. I got the very strong impression that this description is an opportunity for the author to vent their frustration at the ills of modern society. And as I say, I share a lot of his concerns. But I don't read science fiction to be preached at; you can take your political manifesto elsewhere! I got so bored of it that I couldn't finish, which is rare for me.
December 7, 2022
I discovered Peter Cawdron a few months ago and have been chewing through his First Contact series. I held off on reading this one because I found the cover art disturbing and was concerned that it would be filled with disturbing content and graphic violence which I have trouble with. While that is there in this book, what is great about it is the rich characters and underlying philosophical thoughts that sometimes run a bit long. Peter's observations through his characters about the state of humanity and our lack of readiness for first contact is very thoughtful. Reading his afterword about all of this is even more insightful. I found it interesting that while the aliens were alluded to indirectly, they didn't actually show up until about halfway into the book which was an interesting way to structure the narrative.
Anyone who enjoys first contact SF will find that this guy is an absolute master and every time he comes out with a new book he takes a whole new spin on it. Peter is a very impressive author and I look forward to any new book he releases.
Anyone who enjoys first contact SF will find that this guy is an absolute master and every time he comes out with a new book he takes a whole new spin on it. Peter is a very impressive author and I look forward to any new book he releases.
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