REVIEW SUMMARY: A “slow invasion” story that reads quickly, but moves slowly.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A group of aliens stranded on Earth impact the small seaside town of Thatcham.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: Interesting premise; quick-moving, to-the-point prose; reminds us that alien invasion stories don’t have to be stitched-together action sequences; wonderfully creepy final act.
CONS: Takes a while before the really good stuff happens, then it’s over; characters acting inconsistently or illogically.
BOTTOM LINE: A bit of a misfire from a talented writer.

When science fiction fans think of alien invasion, they tend think of the action-filled special effects spectacles shown in film. In literature, invasions are often meatier, usually offering a more personal look at the impact of our alien foes. The depiction is more complicated when the invasion is more subtle, like this one depicted by David Moody.
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David Moody is the critically-acclaimed author of Hater, Dog Blood, Them and Us and the Autumn series. He lives in the UK.

We’re taught from early days that all stories must have a beginning, a middle and an end. Take my genre of choice – post-apocalyptic fiction. You have the beginning – the event – then the middle as our cast of characters inevitably have to fight to survive in what’s left of their world, but what about the end? Sure, there are countless stories which wrap things up with nihilistic ‘we’re all screwed’ finales, and even more with awful and lazy ‘oh, suddenly everything’s okay again’ endings, but I think there are more stories left to be told. What happens when the initial danger has faded and those who remain are left to pick up the pieces?

I’m talking about the post-post-apocalypse, and I think it’s fascinating.
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• Here’s an update on the production of Hater, the film based on David Moody‘s book that’s being produced by Mark Johnson and Guillermo Del Toro.
• Patrick at Stomping on Yeti follows up his Eclipse Three TOC rant with an apology to Editor Jonathan Strahan.
• John Ottinger III at Grasping for the Wind has the 2nd Edition of the SF/F/H Reviewer Linkup Meme.
• The Frozen Sand Glass is a new subscription-based serial fiction website that lets members earn points for participating in the website’s social community.
• CroSF is a website devoted to Croatian Speculative Fiction. The site looks like it’s just been launched, but already some of the cool content includes the following (Thanks, Irena!):
  The article
  • Science Fiction in Croatia, a complete and revised history of sf in Croatia from the 1920s to the present day.
  • A lists of Online stories (in English) written by Croatian authors
• SFX has a follow-up post about the price of eBooks.
• Karl Johanson (Editor of Neo-Opsis Science Fiction Magazine) has posted videos of the Aurora Awards ceremonies at WorldCon.
• Bookstove lists Top 10 Science Fiction Authors of All Time.
• Influx lists 5 Awesome facts about Moon you didn’t know.

• Interviews & Profiles:
  • @Bibliophile Stalker: Artist John Picacio, who beautifully illustrated the covers of Mark Chadbourn’s Age of Misrule trilogy.
  • @Falcata Times: Chris Roberson (Dawn Of War II).
  • Jeff VanderMeer interviews Ann VanderMeer on WorldCon. [via Bibliophile Stalker]
  • @Suvudu: Karen Traviss discusses Gears of War.
  • @Angry Robot Books: 20 Minutes With Tim Waggoner.
• Terry Pratchett campaigns for the right to take his own life.
• Lorette C. Luzajic discusses The 44 Novels of Philip K. Dick. Meanwhile SFGate looks at PKD’s Valis and later novels. [via Locus Online]
• Author David Moody talks about the story behind the cover of Hater.
• One for the writers: Angela Slatter On the Fine Art of Submission.
• There’s more writerly linkage over at Marty Halpern’s blog.
• Attention artists: SFBC is having an art contest.
• Brad Shorr on What science fiction has taught me.
• Cool images of cities from space. Hey, I think I can see my house!
• Den of Geek discusses The plot-obstacles to an Alien prequel.
• @SFX: The extended Doctor Who universe.
• MoviesOddity lists 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies Of All Time. A Boy and His Dog? Really?
• Wired.com’s Underwire blog lists (and shares some of the) 10 Space-Rocking Astronaut Songs. #1 should be obvious.