The Intergalactic Interloper

This book was a lovely unexpected respite in our current pandemic.

A book set in the East Village in NYC in 1995, with the book sharing the different perspectives of people living near each other on 4th and ave A.
It is a short delightful dive into a large two headed turtle like alien duo called AxzleProva. The aliens considering cats the best species on earth is something I can get wholeheartedly get behind. They want to study cats more closely and disguise their spaceship on the roof as a water tower. I loved who different the stories were from the different perspectives.
My aunt and uncle lived very close to where the book is set, whom I would visit yearly. It was lovely to dip back into time without cell phones.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves sci-fi, funny humor and the odd way communities form in large cities (myself living in a metropolitan city as well).

This was a fun comedy/science fiction blend, with an amusing cast of characters, and New York for a delightful backdrop. I would highly recommend this book to science fiction loving cat owners!

“Out of all the indignities he had been subjected to, being outsmarted by the old woman was what bothered him the most. He had always considered humans to be relatively dim-witted creatures, always running around all over the place, never taking the time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. And yet, he, the great garden explorer, had been hunted and caught like a blind week-old kitten. And now he was completely helpless. He knew the old lady was just trying to figure out how to finish him off. He could smell it on her. She was clearly deranged – talking to herself and staring into space as if she were seeing things that weren’t there. Obviously, he had fallen into the hands of a whacko cat killer. Just his luck.”

Synopsis: Down-on-his-luck musician Ollie is just trying to make ends meet in Mid-Nineties New York City, but when his cat disappears and he witnesses a real Alien on a nearby roof, things begin spiraling out of control. With the help of his friend Zara and through some improbable events, Ollie’s hunt for Pirate takes him on a very strange and awkward journey.

Who May Enjoy This Book:

Fans of Christopher Moore (“A Dirty Job”, “Practical Demonkeeping”)
Fans of Douglas Adams (“Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”)
People who like absurd/quirky characters/situations
People who enjoy Comedy

Stephen Delas Heras (going by the nom-de-plume “Delas Heras”) requested an honest review of his debut novel, and I am more than happy to provide it here for you all. At 218 pages, this one was a quick (albeit pleasant) read. I confess to being enraptured by Epic Fantasy (Sanderson’s “The Stormlight Archive” is one of my favorite series), but as I get older and my responsibilities/employment take up more and more of my time, I am increasingly finding it enjoyable to be able to pick up a book I can read in the span of a few days. It allows me to take the time to chew on it a bit, then get on to another text. Good things can and do come in small packages (please don’t destroy me in the comments…). The structure of the text is such that each Chapter focuses on a particular Point Of View character (and there are many! More on this later…); the narration style is 3rd Person, and Heras tends to make us privy to only 1 character’s thoughts at a time (the POV Character’s). This approach is both refreshing and also, occasionally, mildly unsatisfying.

This isn’t to say that I took issue with the writing of the text; on the contrary, I felt the writing was very pleasant, easy to read, and accessible! I’m instead referring to the large cast of characters Heras continually introduces throughout the novel. I felt that the author did an excellent job of giving each character a distinct voice in a short amount of space, but I feel that some of them could have been excluded entirely and it would have left us with a tighter and more cohesive narrative. Constance, a mildly unhinged court stenographer, is a perfect example. If one were to remove her entirely from the story, the primary narrative (the quest for Ollie’s cat) would be exactly the same! And yet… I also feel like some of these nutball characters are more interesting than the primary cast. Constance and her rabbit suit, or Manolo and his perpetual confusion… I found myself gravitating more towards these figures than the well-meaning but dim-witted Ollie (an every-man protagonist worthy of a Christopher Moore novel in my opinion).

The title of the story implies that this novel will primarily feature some sort of Alien plot-line, but instead what we end up with is the hunt for a missing cat wherein Aliens make brief (albeit comical) appearances. When I first put the book down, I was very confused by this fact. It seemed to me that this was a somewhat important oversight! After giving it some thought, I realized that this all made perfect sense: the Aliens are merely an element which touches a certain aspect of each character’s narrative; they are a comedic device. Even the general characters are not the stars of the show, which explains the seemingly disparate narratives. The true star of the show is New York City itself, and Heras is painting the reader an amusing picture of this particular place and time. I liken it to Paul Auster’s “The New York Trilogy”, whereby disjointed narratives are tied together by their geographical connection and the city itself becomes a character. If you can think about the novel in these terms, the structure will seem less confusing and, at least for me, more enjoyable. It’s very clever.

If you fancy a short and sweet piece of writing with some wacky characters, clever humor, and excellent dialogue, I definitely feel like this is one you should give a try. The book releases on August 11/2020 (days away!), and I am certain this debut novelist would sincerely appreciate your support.

Happy Reading!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

When a strange object appears atop a crowded apartment building, a handful of characters are sent down a path that changes their lives. This sweet sci-fi-ish story was such a pleasant surprise. Written in pithy vignettes, we follow each character through their decisions and chance happenings as they collide and align with their neighbors.

It's funny, a quick read, and sweet. The writing is smart and concise. In such a short book, the author does a great job with the necessary world building and enough character development to be believable. The Bunny and Cloudman were especially awesome and silly! I adored the cover and character art as well as the fonts. The story allowed me to reflect on how a group of people can all see the same thing but do any two people see the same thing? Do we not see it from our point of view and in the context of our circumstances, personalities, and opinions?

(4.5 out of 5 stars. My review will be live on my blog, at the link provided, on August 11)

I love a weird, quirky sci-fi book. There's just something so inherently fun about weird sci-fi – it often doesn't take itself very seriously, freeing the author to let their imaginations run wild. It's usually a lot of fun and I frequently find myself drawn to these kinds of stories – which is exactly why I ended up reading "The Intergalactic Interloper." With a summary promising missing cats and two-headed alien turtles, I was immediately on board. And, having finished the book, it was well worth the read. While light on plot, "The Intergalactic interloper" is packed with fun and weird ideas and is immensely enjoyable. (4 out of 5 wands.)

Boiled down to basics, "The Intergalactic Interloper" is about Ollie’s search for his missing cat, Pirate. It is the discovery of Pirate’s disappearance that sets the story in motion and it’s the throughline that the novel follows. But I wouldn’t say it’s the novel’s focus. Instead, the novel spends most of its time tracking how this sizable group of characters react to seeing/knowing about Axzleprova, the previously mentioned two-headed alien turtle. Axzleprova doesn’t factor into the novel’s events all that much, but their influence is felt heavily throughout the story. They’re on Earth to study one of the planet’s dominant species to determine whether or not they qualify for inclusion in the greater galactic community. And, of course, their mission isn’t going well. On top of that, the two heads can’t agree on how best to execute their mission and their scenes read like an extraterrestrial version of The Odd Couple. It’s a lot of fun to read and they’re a very creative alien species to explore – which makes it a shame that we don’t get to spend a lot of time with them. They’re well-explored, but as a lover of interesting aliens, I couldn’t help but want more.

We do spend a lot of time with the rest of the characters, though. Namely - Ollie, Zora, Cassandra, and a few others. Lots of time is spent establishing who they are and what their place in the story is - though much of that doesn’t fully come into focus until the novel’s climax. I’m not normally one to enjoy plot-light stories, but "The Intergalactic Interloper"’s characters were so captivating that I found myself going along with the book despite the general lack of action. I was interested in how Ollie was going to find his cat and I was interested in the relationships between the characters and I was interested in how all of these different plot threads were going to come together by the book’s end. It felt similar to reading a good mystery; there were all of these seemingly disparate elements and you were just eagerly waiting for them to finally converge. It takes a good writer to balance so many threads and Heras pulls it off with remarkable ease. It’s clear that he spent a lot of time planning this book. Everything feels meticulously laid out, yet there’s an ease to how it all connects. The novel is paced very well, with information coming at exactly the right moment. All of the characters feel unique and fully-rounded and I found them all immediately captivating.

On the whole, nearly everything about "The Intergalactic Interloper" worked for me. I was hooked from page one and my attention was held until the novel ended. The whole thing is just a lot of fun. If I had one complaint, though, it’s that the book is a bit too short. There are so many different characters that it’s hard to feel like you’ve spent enough time with them to fully appreciate them in the novel’s short page-count. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – there’s something to be said about respecting the length one’s story wants to be – but I couldn’t help wishing that I could spend more time with these characters in this world. Some of them appear for only a few chapters and it would’ve been nice to spend more time with them to fully appreciate the work Heras put into ensuring they felt and sounded unique. But, honestly, it’s a pretty minor problem and didn’t hamper my enjoyment much.

At the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed "The Intergalactic Interloper." It’s a quick read, but an entertaining one. Heras populates the novel with some well-rounded characters, a lot of humor, and some weird sci-fi ideas. Heras’ prose is easy to get into and easy to read and you’ll quickly find yourself transported into the world he’s created. "The Intergalactic Interloper" is one of those stories you’ll have a lot of fun engrossing yourself into. There’s nothing particularly challenging about it, but it’s so creative that it’s easy to get lost in it. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who likes weird sci-fi or solid, character-driven stories. It’s a good read.

This book was just what I needed! It was excellent and if I could rate it higher than 5 stars I would.

In the current pandemic life has been short of laughs, light hearted humour and general happiness and enjoyment from things so when I downloaded Intergalactic Interloper I was hooked from the first chapter.

I loved how this book had each chapter from a different perspective, it helped to move the story along and gave us the chance to see the backdrop of New York from so many different perspectives.

I was initially confused as the title implies the story will focus solely on our Alien visitors, but once I got deeper into the book I realised that wasn't the case. That each individual person or being that we were focusing on at any one time were there for the value of a persons POV, the true lead of the story was New York City and the many ways relationships are formed.

Once I realised this I absolutely LOVED reading everyone's connections and interactions with the aliens on the roof, it was brilliant to see so many different reactions through different eyes.

We also were treated to these truly beautiful graphics at the start of each chapter, which I thought added the perfect finishing touch.

I do think my favourite part was the ending, not because it meant the book was finished I wished it was longer in fact, but because of the way AxzleProva dealt with Mrs Butler, and the way that they were debating between themselves how to deal with her. It just rounded off the book perfectly.

On the whole, I absolutely adored Intergalactic Interloper, it was a light hearted, cheeky and funny read that brought a lot of joy and happiness to my bookshelf!

This was a fun fast read that I think my teen son will also love. It’s a comedy/sci-fi novel set in 1995, with quirky fun characters that will leave you wanting more. In fact my only complaint is I wish it were longer.

The Intergalactic Interloper is first novel by American author, Delas Heras. Ollie’s cat, Pirate is missing. The well-fed black and white calico tom comes and goes at will via the cat flap to the fire escape of his shoebox NYC apartment but, strangely, he hasn’t touched dinner and hasn’t come for breakfast. As Ollie peers out from the fire escape for any sign of the cat, he sees something bizarre on a nearby rooftop. He is unaffected by alcohol or substance, so when he sees a green two-headed turtle-like being vaporise a pigeon on a water tower, he concludes: alien; and worries for the feline’s welfare.

AxzleProva is/are on the planet to identify intelligent life that might fit the Amalgamation’s criteria for inclusion, but they are meant to be acting completely under any radar, so vaporising a pigeon breaks lots of rules. It’s not homo sapiens they are looking at: “…humans were meddling and murderous overgrown monkeys, and the whole planet was infested with them. For now at least, they were confined to this small backwater world, but they shuddered to think of what would happen if humans ever found their way out into the greater galaxy or beyond.”

No, they are interested in a different species: “… the fur-covered quadruped known to Earth biologists as Felis catus, but referred to locally as a house cat. This clever parasitic species had figured out how to get humans to cater to them night and day. While clearly predators and occasionally aggressive, they were not warlike, and they spent most of their free time dozing peacefully, an attribute that was known to be heavily favored by the Inclusion Committee.”

Is Ollie right to be worried? When he shares what he saw on the rooftop with his closest friends, the general reaction is one of concern for his sanity, as he had expected. But the singer in his jam session band is a Veterinary intern and understands his anxiety, although she summarily dismisses the alien theory. She does have some good ideas about finding lost cats, though…

What fun! Heras’s writing has the feel of a sixties American sitcom: the characters are a little quirky, the dialogue is clever and snappy, and the alien/s is/are very amusing. There’s a lot of tongue-in-cheek humour in there, as well as some insightful commentary on the common behaviour of our species. This would translate very well to the small screen. Very entertaining!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Books Go Social.

I love short reads that I can finish in a day! This was one that I enjoyed, but missed the mark somehow to have me give it a full five stars. There was some humor, but the author maybe had too many perspectives.

this was a really enjoyable read, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the scifi elements. I look forward to more from the author.

Oh I do love a good sci fi especially a quirky one and this book was just that. It certainly made me chuckle and put a smile on my face. It’s a lighthearted, fun read that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
The story is basically about Ollie who loses his pet Cat, Pirate and his search to find him. However, even though this is the main premise of the book, there are an array of characters with their own stories and of course a two-headed turtle like alien species to throw in the mix.
The book flows easily and I was desperate to find out what happened to Pirate. My only criticism is I would have liked to have learnt more about some of the other characters stories but the book was a short read. It could’ve been longer and maybe we could have had more about some of the other colourful and interesting characters.

A book set in 1995 with a sci-fi/ comedy blend made this such a fun read! I loved the characters, the pacing and the writing! I never pick up comedy or any books hinting at this, but i was intrigued by this concept and I highly recommend!