One thing bugged me about this novel, but I'll get to it in a minute. First, this First Contact science fiction story totally succeeds in taking every typical sf FC concept and running with it or flipping it around on the reader. Cawdron understands the tropes very well. Five stars for concepts! I was pretty sure I knew how it had to end, and I was right, but that in no way disappointed me because of how it was revealed. One of the tropes the author used is 'common guy thrown into alien situation.' It's handled really well. In fact, I enjoyed every character.

The story is a little slow. There are some valid reasons. But, some of the slowness was the language around Teller's thoughts, mostly the ones about Cathy. Most of that wasn't necessary when their dialogue and actions revealed nearly everything. It wasn't quite insulting, but it was close, and I'm not sure what it was for. Or who.

Or, maybe I am sensitized now. After two years of reading some really fine romance novels, I appreciate the authors who can reveal a great deal through dialogue and actions, relying only a little on a character's thoughts. But there's a place for more thoughts, particularly in this kind of story, and much of those were necessary. Just, not so much restating what dialogue and actions have just shown us. Overall, not critical. But I'm picky. :) ( )

Will be a follow up book? Because I enjoy this one but its fall short by means of a DeusEx Machina. And there was a good selections of themes that get touched by this history.
( )

A swing and a miss

Not a bad tale but the show don't tell rule is just ignored. It is impossible to sink into the narrative when it's wrapped up in all the explaining instead of telling. ( )

Contrived story

Interesting idea, but the story was far too contrived. Only made it a third of the way through before I gave up in exasperation. ( )

A very solid first-contact novel that deservedly belongs on the shelf next to Contact, but I will be the first to admit it does some things better than Sagan and other things much weaker. HOWEVER, none of that changes the fundamentally good exploration of what it means to us to present ourselves before a far-advanced entity only to reflect all crap of what we are upon it.

It's not the same book as Sagan's. It's actually rather streamlined and distilled, having us focus more on lateral thinking, new physics, and communication as only a grade school teacher could swing it.

So, yeah! Having a grade school teacher teach experts how to get it right was pretty awesome. :) Things clarify and the basic story was not only intelligent, it was focused. No big heroics to save the day, but there is heroism. No resorting to violence, but there is violence. No ultrareliance on either science OR religion to break through to the heart of the story, but there is plenty of both in here.

IF what you might be looking for is a clear and focused SF tale to say something very solid about ourselves, then I wouldn't look any farther than this. It could very well be a bestseller turned into an intelligent SF movie and I would love its special effects and its message.

But I wouldn't call it super original.

A comfort read? A joy? Yes, absolutely, but not super original.

Fortunately, few of us necessarily need originality to enjoy a story. :) ( )