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Epochs of Man: Evacuation

Name: Epochs of Man: Evacuation
Author: J.H. Lea
ISBN: 978-1495462061

by J.H. Lea ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 9, 2015

A well-meaning sci-fi novel that takes an unusual approach to Earth’s initial interaction with alien races.

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A first-contact story that offers an intriguing new take of the origin of humankind.

Thanks to substantial government funding, a corporation called Astmine, working closely with NASA, is able to harvest minerals and metals from asteroids. It’s no longer business as usual when a deep-space telescope picks up a large asteroid wandering into the inner part of Earth’s solar system. After analysis reveals that it’s made up of several valuable metals, Astmine, NASA, and government officials begin a successful, decade-long campaign to mount a mission to capture the asteroid, nicknamed Bell, and bring it into orbit around the moon: “Not since the days of Kennedy’s America had the people rallied around an American mission into space. America, once again, was on the move.” But after they safely anchor Bell, they make a startling discovery: it’s actually a spaceship carrying the Methodians, a race of people surprisingly similar to humans who are migrating from a dying galaxy to a new home many light years away. The problem is that space debris damaged their ark, so the Methodians needs the humans’ help to repair it. It’s also revealed that the same conditions that led the Methodians to flee will reach Earth’s solar system in 600 years. The rest of the novel shows the two races working together to build space arks, despite destructive opposition from radical Muslims and fanatics on the Christian right. Lea sets his novel on a near future Earth that has once again embraced space exploration, and he wisely portrays it not as a journey of discovery but as economic stimulus to help the world emerge from recession. He also develops an engaging premise: can two races from different planets set aside their differences for the common good? Unfortunately, despite his detailed exposition, there’s little shading in his characterizations; all the players are simply portrayed as either good guys or bad. However, the momentum and scope of the narrative manage to overcome this shortcoming.

A well-meaning sci-fi novel that takes an unusual approach to Earth’s initial interaction with alien races.

Pub Date: March 9, 2015

ISBN: 978-1495462061

Page Count: 374

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

SCIENCE FICTION | SPACE | GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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New York Times Bestseller

DEVOLUTION

by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

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Our Verdict

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New York Times Bestseller

Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).

A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.