It’s not every day that you come across a novel that so elegantly shows the reality of desperately trying to save the world, while also having to deal with the real, everyday stress of life and family drama. I loved this novel and all the complexity these relatable characters bring to the story. If you love your sci-fi with a bit of heart, or, your family dramas with a bit of sci-fi, this novel strikes the perfect balance.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

I will admit, Science fiction is one of my least favorite genres. However, I have read Mike Chen's other books and I LOVED them. This one was no exception!

Its a sci-fi story but its also about a family. A family that is broken but yet still filled with hope.
The story revolves around Evie, Kass and their bother Jakob. 15 years earlier, the girl's father and brother disappeared during a camping trip. They found their father, but Jakob remained missing. It seems their father thinks Aliens are involved in this

Since then, Kass has became the rock of the family. Holding everything together. Evie, has gone off and focuses on Alien conspiracy theories. Then suddenly, Jakob is back with a story that is one for the books. He was "abducted" by the aliens that night and he is going on about a intergalatic war

Ok let me stop there, because at this point you are either "WOW right up my alley" or you are "WTF". If I hadn't read the book and was reading the review, I'd be at the WTF. This sounds absurd right? I'll be honest, if the book had been written by anyone other than Mick Chen, they would have lost me at abducted by aliens.

But Mike Chen has a gift. He has a gift to take a Sci-Fi theme and write it in such a way that you don't even realize you are reading a science fiction book. What I have always loved about his books were the characters and the family dynamics he always includes. This book was more like reading a fiction book with a sprinkle of sci-fi thrown in..

Mike Chen is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Thank you so much to #Netgalley and MIRA for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I am a part of the blog tour for this book so thank you to MIRA books for the opportunity to share my thoughts about this one!
I’ve read all of Chen’s previous novels and while they are all technically science fiction stories, they are all so different from one another that I never really know what to expect going into them. That was accurate for this story as well. I sort of thought I was getting into a hard sci-fi story full of action and adventure and space wars. But this is really the story of three siblings: Jakob, Evie, and Kass. Jakob’s disappearance fifteen years earlier fractured this family so much that when the three are finally reunited fifteen years later, it might not be possible for them to mend what’s been broken. Especially considering that Jakob has returned with stories of a war that’s raging between aliens and while Evie absolutely believes him, Kass thinks it’s more likely that Jakob is suffering from a mental illness. I definitely didn’t think this was going to turn into an “is it really aliens or is it actually mental illness” story, but the author totally had me convinced when I was reading the chapters from Kass’ perspective.
Since we get three points of view, one from each sibling, it felt like we really got to whole story. We really got to know each of these siblings. I really enjoyed that. I think having all three voices really made the story what it was because if it had just been from Jakob’s perspective it would have been a totally different story. Each sibling brought something different to the story. I liked all three of the main characters. It was interesting because when I was reading Evie’s chapters, I totally agreed with her resentment of her older sister, but when I was reading Kass’ chapters, I also totally agreed with her distain toward her siblings. I think Chen did an excellent job with these characters.
Overall, I loved the blend of family drama with the science fiction genre. The threat of an alien war coming to earth unless Jakob can get certain information to them raised the stakes of the story and set the pace. But the characters were absolutely what made this book what it was. The family dynamics were compelling and the issues between the siblings weren’t resolved with a nice neat bow, which I appreciated. I think there will be some mixed reviews on this one from those that are expecting more of a sci-fi story. But I will definitely be continuing to recommend Chen’s work.

I’ve read a couple other books by this author, and he’s never disappointed. When I was offered a chance to participate in the blog tour for his new release, I jumped at the opportunity.

What a hook this book has. If I only read the first two sentences in the description, I’d snatch it up. As a sci-fi fan, I was all in with the extraterrestial angle, but if you’re looking for hoards of aliens, spaceships, and intergalactic war, that’s not what this story is about. Yes, it’s in the background, but this is a book about a family dealing with loss, grief, guilt, and understanding. After Jakob disappears – presumably after being abducted by aliens – each character deals with his absence in different ways. Fifteen years later, Evie and Kass live on opposite sides of the country and are barely on speaking terms. Kass shoulders heavy family responsibilities, and Evie has dropped out of school to pursue alien conspiracy theories.

Chen has an amazing talent for creating characters that leap off the page. With three POVs (Kass, Evie, and Jakob), each has a distinct voice. Once this broken family is reunited, their interactions are painful, loud, maddening, humorous, and entirely realistic. Sure, they still love each other, but they can also barely stand to be in the same room. Evie believes everything about Jakob’s story of space wars and where he’s been for the past fifteen years, but Kass rationalizes it to the point that Evie begins to doubt him. Is he telling the truth? Is he delusional? With a party boy reputation in his teen years, Jakob believes he’s finally found where he belongs and can make a difference.

With themes of forgiveness, finding your place, love, and acceptance, I read this book in a day. Beautifully written and full of heart, it’s one I’d highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Light Years From Home is the story of a modern American family whose son just happens to have been fighting an intergalactic war for the past fifteen years. The Shao family grew up on the Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area… parents and kids playing the eternal game of expectations tug-of-war. Jakob fought constantly with his father about his future. His twin Kassie got some of the same, but put her nose to the grindstone and got an education and is now in the mental health field. Evie was a bit younger and in some ways was pulled along for the ride.

The pivotal moment in the family’s life came when the unexplainable occurred on a family trip to the outdoors… Jakob and his father Arnold disappeared. Arnold returns a couple days later, but with a new purpose. Find his son. — Fifteen years later Jakob returns. In the meantime Arnold passed away… Kassie now cares for her mother who is suffering from dementia, and Evie has taken up the task of finding her brother with an extraterrestrial conspiracy group. Jakob escaped the enemy by running home to Earth, but he has secrets that will help sway the war to the right side. Will he be able to recover and return? Can he trust his family to help and after 15 years, do they really want to?

Chen’s combination of plausible science and family drama wins again. Told in shifting perspectives of the three children, Light Years From Home quickly became a page-turner for me. The modern world is rife with stumbling blocks and it’s hard to find motivation for many. Each character is torn in some way between their own personal goals and what is best for the family. I was impressed with Chen’s seamless inclusion of flashbacks in this one. It’s not a dredging but a revelation of character and purpose. Each character is struggles with finding their ultimate purpose… Is Jakob’s in the stars or down on Earth?

I have now read all of Chen’s books and continue to find something new in his writing in each one. Some of the draw for me is the Bay Area setting (Sonoma County dude here), but most of the fun lies in the family situations that I can always relate to. These dense knots of love, regret, and hope that he ties together. BTW. The ending. Great. And one I did not see coming.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

Mike Chen is a new-to-me author and I am glad I took a chance on this novel. In reading the premise one expects a blend of science fiction and family drama and you mostly get a good family drama novel set in a background that is somewhat science fiction. The aliens and the spaceships and whatnot aren't really the point of the story. I really enjoyed the interplay between all of the primary characters and the snapshot in time in which we get to visit them. I will definitely be checking out more of Chen's work in the future.

Many readers discount science fiction because it often centers around aliens, deep space, sentient AI, and intricate world building. I personally love science fiction of all types and have a hard time convincing patrons to venture into the genre.. Light Years from Home offers hesitant readers an entrée to science fiction without the weight of a dense space opera . Yes, it is about alien abduction, but it is more about family relationships, siblings, caring for parents with dementia, misunderstandings, finding your purpose in life, reconciliation, and acceptance. It is the story of a young man returning to earth and his family after his sudden disappearance during a family camping trip. While he was taken to fight in a interstellar war, he could also have been reappearing after entering the witness protection program or deciding to go off the grid. Light Years from Home will also appeal to fans of the X-files and traditional science fiction looking for SF that takes place in a familiar time and place - and during a galactic war.

I enjoyed this story a lot and especially enjoyed the family interactions. What would happen to your family if aliens abducted your brother? lol. As always, Chen takes a fun idea and really fleshes out the relationships.
Good read.
Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

This is an interesting book- The Shaos are an ordinary Northern Californian family. One night, the three siblings, Kassie, Evie, and Jakob, and their dad are out camping, when Jakob and their dad disappear. When their dad reappears a few days later, dehydrated and seemingly confused, he is convinced Jakob has been abducted by aliens. While he spends the next several years learning more about alien abductions and trying to find Jakob and Evie ultimately joins his search, his wife and Kassie move on. Fifteen years later, Jakob reappears. He swears he has been in space, fighting in a way among different species of aliens. And now he to get back to space, to help the aliens he has been working with win the war. But he'll need his sisters' help -- and they are not sure they believe him or that they can forgive him for leaving his family behind. As they race against the clock, and evade law enforcement that is also looking for Jakob, the Shaos need to figure out if they can get past old hurts to a new future.

This book is a creative premise for a novel, bringing together a strong family narrative and a fast-paced adventure story. Recommended!

I really enjoyed Mike Chen's previous book, "We Could Be Heroes" and so when I saw that he had another book coming out about aliens and alien abduction I was definitely interested and managed to receive an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

If you are looking for a book that is similar to We Could Be Heroes, this one really isn't it. While it does deal with aliens and alien abduction it is more of a book about relationships and the impact that alien abductions have on families. In a way, I suppose it has that in common with We Could Be Heroes - WCBH covers the human side of superpowers - but it doesn't have the same level of humour.

This book likely will get classified as Science Fiction, but will likely appeal more to non-sci-fi fans. The characters were good, and it's a nice story, but it didn't grip me the way that I was hoping that it would.

#LightYearsfromHome #NetGalley.

Mike Chen continues to be one of my favorite authors. His characters always feel so alive and have a depth to their internal dialogues that I really appreciate.

In many ways, the science fiction elements are background to the family drama of the book. If you’re looking to be immersed in aliens, this will only partially satisfy you. The real star is a family trying to move forward after being torn apart.

Like Chen’s other books, the pacing is slower, but I think that the depth of emotions makes it worthwhile. And somehow I think a story that involves an intergalactic war is incredibly relatable.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

From the publisher: Every family has issues. Most can’t blame them on extraterrestrials. The perfect combination of action, imagination and heart, Light Years from Home is a touching drama about a challenge as difficult as saving the galaxy: making peace with your family…and yourself.

Light Years from Home is a family novel disguised as science fiction, or the other way around. Jakob is intelligent, like his two sisters, but a screw up. He cheats on schoolwork and has no purpose in life. Then, he is abducted by aliens and pulled into a galactic war, and he finds his purpose in life. When he comes into possession of some intel that could change the war, he drops by Earth to regroup. Fifteen years have passed. He father, who never got over Jakob’s disappearance, is dead – drowned, searching for Jakob. His mother has dementia. His therapist sister’s life revolves around their mother and her online game playing with the ex-husband she cheated on. His other sister has devoted her life to the pursuit of aliens.

This family always had issues. Now they have Big Issues. The siblings fight. Mom doesn’t recognize her youngest daughter anymore. There is a lot of resentment and anger. All Jakob can think about is saving the world; his twin Kass on the other hand is convinced he is mentally ill. (The author does a good job of making us wonder if he is in fact mentally ill, and all this galactic war stuff is in his head.)

I found the first part of the book slow moving, but the payoff at the end is worth it. The book had a bit of an X-Files feel to it. (The FBI does appear, but the agent is mostly in the Scully-without-Mulder mold.) I almost feel I would enjoy this book more a second time, maybe on audio.

Illinoisans: there is a funny reference that gets no further explanation. Jakob was always irresponsible and would disappear for days at time. “One time, she got an email from him from goddamn Moline, Illinois, because of some strange whim of his.” (p, 85 of the advance reader copy). Ha!

Light Years from Home reminded me a bit of Jo Walton’s Among Others. Among Others shows what happens after the main character fights a tremendous battle with her sorcerer mother in which her sister dies, and how she copes with her nonmagical father and going to a new school. The big action is off screen; the heart of both books is family relations and finding yourself.

I read an advance reader copy of Light Years from Home. It will be available at the Galesburg Public Library in print, on audio, and as an ebook.

DNF I have tried several of Chen’s books and just can’t seem to get into the writing style. I think they are good books for some readers just not me.

This one started out slow for me, but by the halfway point I couldn't put it down. It's now on my top reads list of 2021. Light Years From Home might seem like a straightforward sci-fi adventure about a man who returns to Earth after being abducted by aliens, but at its core it is a family drama. It blends sibling rivalry and relationships, epic space opera, and crime thriller effortlessly in a way that is still lighthearted and fun. Mike Chen is a real gift! Evie has my entire heart but I loved how Kass, Jakob, and Evie were all flawed but still lovable. I would recommend this one for everyone, but especially for people who might feel intimidated by a more traditional science fiction novel. Can't wait to read the rest of this author's backlist.

What happens to your family when you're abducted by aliens? For Jakob, it turns out that his younger sister and father dedicate their lives to proving the existance of extraterrestrials, while his twin sister becomes a hardened cynic, and his mother descends into dementia. When Jakob returns to Earth after 15 years of being an inter-galactic soldier and engineer, he must navigate all the family dynamics that he missed, and convince his family that he's not the ne'er-do-well they always thought he was if he's going to be able to save the galaxy.

The best science fiction is as much a story about characters as it is about science, which means that the characters have to read as real, 3-dimensional people (human or otherwise). Unfortantely, Chen's characters don't live up to that standard. We're supposed to believe that working together to save the universe changes their relationship, but none of the siblings changes much as an individual. The tone of book veers between sentimentality and harshness, with one sister repeatedly mentally berating the other for not being present throughout their mother's decline, and Jakob continuously displaying a facial expression that apparently tells his family everything they need to know about him. This is how we're supposed to understand the familial tensions.

Not being able to give Chen many points on characters, I hoped that at least the science fiction aspect of the book would redeem it. Unfortunately, not so. The science fiction parts almost seem just grafted on to give something to hold the story together. Jakob tells us about this vast, horrible inter-galactic war, but it's really just stage setting. Fortunately for Jakob, though, the aliens who abduct him are the good guys in this very black-and-white, good-vs-evil struggle. I would have hated for him to be captured by the bad guys, but it might have made for a more compelling story.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

Mike Chen does a fantastic job of taking a trope you know and cutting it open to explore the emotional heart underneath. I previously read Chen's A BEGINNING AT THE END, the story of a population rebuilding after global pandemic. This take on alien abduction strikes a similar chord: it's not about what is happening, but how it affects the people involved. LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME is a rich family drama which explores the inter-family struggles of care, honesty, and responsibility through a light sheen of sci-fi. The idea of exploring the impact of one's alien abduction on the people left behind is brilliant and well executed. For the sci-fi fan who loves a human interest story.

Full confession—I have a hard time with willful suspension of disbelief and have never gravitated toward SciFi. BUT. MIKE CHEN. Chen somehow always strikes the perfect balance—his characters are so beautifully developed and their relationships are so intricately realistic that the fantastical setting never seems obtrusive or unrealistic. His world-building skills are obviously solid, but the people in his novels are what get me every time. Bonus—his books (all fantastic) are terrific as YA crossovers, especially as their length isn’t unwieldy.

I will start by saying that I generally don’t read science fiction. However, I like family dramas, and this fits the bill. I read the author’s earlier book “Here and Now and Then” and liked it so much that I jumped when I saw an advanced reader’s copy from NetGalley.
What would you do if your family was broken, your mother had dementia, and your brother, who has been missing for years, shows up and tells you that he’s been living in space. Sounds a little farfetched, right? But somehow, the author blends it all together so that you feel the character’s pain of carrying her family burdens, and then you start to believe that the brother does have an alien armada after him.
As in his previous book, this one is so beautifully written and easily flows. If I didn’t have to work, I would have easily finished this in one sitting.

I really like Mike Chen's books and was really excited to be able to read this via NetGalley. (thank you, Net Galley!)

In this one a family has been deeply affected by their son and father's disappearance many years ago while on a camping trip. The father returned a couple days later, the son never did. The father maintained they were taken by aliens. The one daughter and mother didn't believe that at all, but the other daughter has made a career out of tracking potential alien encounters. Because of all this the family has fractured. Now, years later, the son returns from outer space where he's some kind of amazing alien warrior. Mind blowing! Btw, none of this is a spoiler, it's all told on the summary and first page. 

So here's the thing--I did not like this nearly as much as any of his other books. But in reading the author's afterward I'd have to say my lukewarm response (and if there were half stars this would be 3.5) is not due to his writing or anything, just that I didn't love what this was all about. In the afterward he explains that he very deliberately was writing a story about a family and he definitely achieved that. It's just that he gives you a taste of what the abducted guy's life has been like fighting in a big space battle with incredible technology, and that was what I wanted to read more about. I became tired very quickly of the bitchy eldest sister (but who could blamer her?) and her relationship with the younger sister. 

So, while it was well written, it just wasn't the story I wanted.

*I will say, re: very good writing, having only read the summary and no other reviews, I got to a point in the story where I thought maybe the story was going to be entirely different than I thought (trying not to give anything away here) and Chen had me wonderfully confused and invested in the outcome.

Mike Chen's books are always SO good. He must spend a lot of time figuring out character arcs and laying them into the plot. His characters seem so real, and they drive the story. The plots wouldn't be plots without them, and I really like that. I've loved all his books, but the characters here are some of my favorites. The Shao family has got a lot of issues to deal with. There's Jakob, the man who disappeared fifteen years ago as a teen and holds the key to saving the universe from hostile aliens. His sisters, Evie and Kassie, have taken different approaches to dealing with his absence--Evie has gotten involved in an alien-hunting society, while Kassie has retreated into video games and denial. Kassie has also been charged with the care of their mother, who has developed dementia. Their father and husband, Arnold, passed away in search of Jakob, leaving the three women in the pain of missing both of the men. Jakob's return sends the family into turmoil, and they're forced to confront the emotions they've been burying all these years. Although not as action-packed as WE COULD BE HEROES, the science fiction element keeps the reader's interest and interplays well with the characters' journeys. I'm very excited to host Mike Chen at my library in January and can't wait to ask him questions about this book (hopefully without spoiling anything for our patrons!)