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Reader Reviews | |
Review by Paul Lappen (310505) Rating (8/10) Review
by Paul Lappen Meantime, an ambitious American state senator latches on to the issue as a way to propel himself to Washington. Using some very questionable science, and some huge jumping to conclusions, he does a fine job of changing the public's focus from Unexplained Signal From Space to ALIEN INVASION! Panic and rioting spreads all over the world. (If this really is an invasion, how is stealing anything not already nailed down going to help?) The initial government and military response is to look like they are doing something (it's probably nothing, or this will quickly blow over). By this time, "it" is less than ten light years away and still heading toward Earth. An obsolete space station, already in orbit, is retrofitted with appropriate engines and sent to the edge of the solar system. All they can do is to make themselves as noticeable as possible, and hope the aliens stop and have a look. They do stop, but First Contact ends up being rather anticlimactic.
This one is really good. The first of a four-part series, it focuses
more on the people involved than on the science or the Contact
part. It's a strong, well-done piece of writing. |
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