The Quiet Invasion in Beyond Reality

Apr 02, 2017 mark monday rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi-modern

a quiet book featuring quiet characters, human and alien, and the quiet settling of Venus: The Quiet Invasion.

good book! this is one of those science fiction novels that is all about the characterization. there is science and politics and a wonderfully detailed alien civilization and the deaths of majestic beings and the potential birth of a lifeless planet... but first and foremost, the novel is (quietly) character-driven. Zettel operates with an even hand. although there are two murderous vill a quiet book featuring quiet characters, human and alien, and the quiet settling of Venus: The Quiet Invasion.

good book! this is one of those science fiction novels that is all about the characterization. there is science and politics and a wonderfully detailed alien civilization and the deaths of majestic beings and the potential birth of a lifeless planet... but first and foremost, the novel is (quietly) character-driven. Zettel operates with an even hand. although there are two murderous villains - one human, one alien - even that villainy is delivered in understandable although perhaps not relatable shades of gray. humans are portrayed as being driven by higher goals to explore and analyze and improve, to create a new society... but are often dragged down for petty, short-sighted reasons. the aliens who call themselves "The People" are a fascinating and vibrant avian culture that sees the aiding of life as intrinsic to the nature of all living things (and to think otherwise is to be considered insane)... and yet this beautiful society is one that includes indenture to the point of slavery.

this is one of the most female-focused books I've read in years. that's one of the main things I loved about it (the other is its portrait of an alien civilization). ideally, having a novel where female characters dominate the plot shouldn't have felt all that unusual - but of course science fiction is often a boy's world in terms of both authors and characters, so just the basic centralization of women felt fresh and bold. and all of these women - and the occasional male as well - are richly and carefully characterized. the depth of the characterization means that narrative thrills and twists & turns are kept to a minimum and even then slowly parsed out; but when they do occur, they are often jaw-dropping.

unfortunately, I found the ending to be distinctly underwhelming, even disappointing. I'm the sort of reader who likes ambiguity and who doesn't need every plot line to be explicitly resolved to be satisfied, but in this case there were too many important threads left dangling, which was particularly frustrating because this is a standalone novel (usually my preference). ...more

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Mar 08, 2017 Kathi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction

What an amazing and complex story! The characters from the People, the Terrans, and the Venerans were varied and, for the most part, three-dimensional. The plot held plenty of surprises and scenes to savor. This thought-provoking book reminded me why I so enjoy reading well-written science fiction. I see more Zettel in my future.

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Shelves: science-fiction, beyond-reality-science-fiction, year-2000, beyond-reality-unread, title-contains-q-x-or-z, q2, three-word-title, z, 0t-aliens, s3

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