PRETERNATURAL

Mid-list science fiction writer Karen Guerreri imagines that her characters talk to her as she writes; her latest opus, Preternatural, is being dictated by the S.oteri, group-minded omniscient, omnitemporal, telepathic jellyfish. Among the S.oteri's other contactees (the aliens have no concept of serial time, so it's all happening right now) are the pharaoh Akhenaton, a female near-Messiah and contemporary of Jesus called Jess, and Hypatia, keeper of the great library at Alexandria—all of whom, according to conventional history, came to sticky ends. Karen, suspecting that the S.oteri are real, becomes convinced when she meets some other current contactees: Serena Bell, a terminally ill sketch- artist and sf fan; psychic and writer Tessa McGill; actor Larry Koster, who played a Captain Kirk type in a Star Trek-like series; and Larry's ex-sidekick Max Neimark, who played a sort of three- eyed Spock. Larry and Tessa, eyes lighting up with dollar signs, grab ideas from Karen's book and collaborate on a screenplay. Meanwhile, the S.oteri, deeply disturbed by the prolonged contact with humans, plan to withdraw. But, since they're entangled in the Earth's past, history may change utterly if they do. Intriguing, well-considered ideas and above-average characters from Bonanno (Otherwise, 1993, etc.). The real obstacle is the seemingly interminable twiddling between setup and payoff.