The Y Factor

Cresperian #2

by Stephanie Osborn, Stephanie Osborn

When a stranger invades geneticist Mai Trung's office, he has to say only one word to get her interested in leaving with Xenobiology. Rumors have been rife about aliens on Earth, but only a select few know that they arrived on widely scattered lifeboats from a wrecked spaceship. Mai is brought into the secret group working with a few of the surviving aliens because they have one trait that is almost incredible for its They can turn themselves into perfect humans. More than perfect, actually. Closer to superhuman. And Mai is told she will be working with one of the aliens in order to help figure out how to apply that ability to humans; to heal injuries, to slow or even reverse the aging process, to make oneself healthier or more attractive. In the meantime, other scientists are re-engineering some of the alien technology in order to build a faster-than-light spaceship before other nations who have captured aliens do so. From that first word in her office, Mai begins an incredible journey that will eventually take her to the stars and into a whole new existence. [Sequel to Human by Choice]

Genres: Science Fiction

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Alisa Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think I suffered going out-of-order this time because this book did such a good job of referring to the events of the first book. In fact, I don’t think you need to read the first book to be able to understand what is going on. This is a fantastic book! The Cresperians, or the Crispies as they are called by the humans who come in contact with them, are aliens who have been marooned on Earth. Their life pods landed in many locations around the globe, and the book focuses on the ones who are in the United States. These aliens are able to offer many advances to space technology, and space ships are being built-in a rapid fashion. About midway through the book, the main female character, who is a geneticist, leaves Earth on one of the ships, and they head out after another ship with the mission of both ships being exploration and to find Cresperia. Of course, things do not go as planned, and many adventures ensue.

I liked that the book followed one point of view mainly and how events affected this person though you could make the argument that the book would feel more complete if you knew about other things that were going on. But, I think that’s just a matter of preference and doesn’t take away from how good the book is. I’m working on the third book now and will probably have a review up fairly shortly.

[Billy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book "Human By Choice" was one of those titles that I thought had an promising and interesting premise, but was held back by poor writing. Based upon the strength of that premise, I had decided to pick up its followup title "The Y Factor", hoping for am improvement in both writing and story. However, I am sad to say that was I sorely disappointed in that regard.

The pacing was horrible and rushed, zipping from chapter to chapter with little development in either the story or its characters. Needless characters appears in (and exits) the story randomly, and amazingly the cast were even more shallow and one dimensional than the ones in the original.

But the worst part of the book for me was perhaps the story itself. Even with an open mind and a wide tolerance for the fantastical, I was unable to buy into any single part of the story. I am not going to spoil the story for you incase you do choose to read this, but I did not like any of the characters, and not one single event in the story were in any way realistic or believable.

My recommandation? Avoid if you can.

[Donald Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine continuation of the Cresperian encounter

I enjoyed the mixture of action, adventure, and humor. The characters are well developed and blend seamlessly with the folks we met in the first installment. The action is fast paced with enough relaxation and true human feelings within the story to provide the reader a feeling of involvement. Can't wait to read the next installment.