People of the Sun

Review of PEOPLE OF THE SUN
by Jason Parent

Jason Parent has a vast imagination, demonstrated in everything he writes. In PEOPLE OF THE SUN he has given us a contemporary science fiction thriller demonstrating the fallibility of humans (as well as of “aliens.”) I couldn't help but be reminded of my beloved science fiction films of the 1950's, in which human narrowmindedness and inability to accept anything beyond received facts are thoroughly demonstrated.

PEOPLE OF THE SUN focuses on a virtually new concept in science fiction, as the reader will discover in perusing this thriller. “Alien” meets “human” and discovers shared background, while most of humanity (in authority) either wants to destroy, or at least sweep the “problem” away and out of sight.

Readers will come away from PEOPLE OF THE SUN with an intensified appreciation for “the other,” for scientific open-mindedness, and for the wonders of the universe. This novel is guaranteed to provoke thoughtfulness and contemplation.

A couple of local men find what appears to be an alien craft that has landed in what was the day before a lake but is now completely dry as the desert. The craft is radiating so much heat that it doesn’t seem possible to get close to it. While waiting for the authorities to show up the men stumble up four alien creatures and things get a little intense when they can’t communicate.

Soon it’s found that the alien group has escaped their planet in an attempt to save their on species from extinction. They find that here on Earth water seems to revitalize their species but with this discovery comes even more abilities they didn’t know were possible. Not only is the situation between the humans and the aliens but the small group of marooned visitors find themselves questioning each other.

People of the Sun is a science fiction fantasy read by Jason Parent. I was quite curious as to what the book would hold having read a few horror stories from this author and found this to be a quite creative take on a crash landing on our planet.

The story had some nice world building to it that gave the story of where the visitors had come from and what it was like for them. There was also some nice development to the plot that gave depth to the story of what would it be like if this type of thing actually happened. As with our own human race not everyone is the same and the group of aliens had their own personalities which progressed the story forward and made for interesting reading. Lots of action and adventure and a nice read overall.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I was intrigued by the plot. Captivated enough to read the entire book.

But, honestly? It didn't flow well. Some of the characters changed their mind, and seemingly, their personality, from one sentence to the next. They went back and forth like this several times.

It's science fiction. It's a given that you have to suspend disbelief. It was hard to do with this story. Too many things conveniently fell into place without much struggle. It was hard to just "accept."

The ending is not a cliffhanger, but it does leave the story wide open to continue. There are several unanswered questions which I can only assume will be addressed in future installments.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

Jason Parent is one of those middle of the road authors who always seems to do ok or somewhat above that, but never really great. So I've come to rely on his books for quick relatively mindless entertainment, which seems to be an accurate and reasonable expectation. I do appreciate the man's range, he'll try any genre...scary, thriller and now this one, scifi. An intriguing enough premise with a middling execution, as the title suggests apparently there is a possibility of life on the Sun or, really, in the Sun, but now it's coming to an end and a small delegation of survivors crash lands on Earth and then we see how a place increasingly less welcoming to any sort of foreigners deals with the ultimate aliens or all, space aliens. What Parent did right with this story is present individual and drastically different mindsets and perspectives, sort of reduce the narrative into characters instead of sweeping (blanket) statements. Because, of course, that's what everyone so often forgets to do in fiction or real life...judging by generic characteristics and stereotypes instead of recognizing the individuals. So in that it was interesting to see how someone supercharged by our water (well, yeah, you'd be too, if you lived in the Sun) and essentially superpowered would fit in or attempt to stand out. It's the essential Superman dilemma...would he be happier as simply Clark Kent? Does he have a responsibility to use his powers for greater good? Does he have the right to just be a private citizen and live a normal life? And I'm digressing wildly...where were we...oh yes, basically this just isn't as good of a story as the Superman's. Which is, of course, a totally unfair standard. It's a decent story, but something's lacking, not as engaging as it ought to be, the dynamics are off. It maintains the attention and reads quite quickly, but leaves something to be desired. Not even sure if it was trying to be a metaphor for immigration ( I do love me a good morality laden scifi with sociopolitical connotations) or meant to be taken at face value as a sort of Scifi (Syfy) tv movie of the week. But there it is, entertaining enough. Thanks Netgalley.