Book Description:
Xenogeneic is a science fiction thriller about first contact with an alien race that lost their civil war and wants to take over Earth.
Dr. Elena Pyetrov’s father vanished in space 18 years ago while searching for extraterrestrial life. As an aerospace engineer, Elena travels into space to search for answers and continue his work. Her ship is pulled off course and crashes. She suspects extraterrestrial interference.
The alien Knoonk lost their civil war in a distant star system and fled to Earth’s neighborhood to hide and regroup. They seek a new home—Earth. Unable to live in Earth’s toxic environment, the aliens kidnap and use humans to genetically modify their species to adapt.
Surviving the crash, Elena and her shipmates are transported to a closed cave system where the Knoonk monitor and control everything. Elena tries to make a connection with her hosts and find ways to work together, but Knoonk leaders rebuff her and force the humans to submit as slaves. The aliens use illusions, distractions, and social experiments to learn from their hostages and keep them off balance. Resistance by captive humans brings swift punishment to break the human spirit.
While Elena continues to look for ways to cooperate with the Knoonk, it becomes apparent that there can be no compromise. The Knoonk want to capture Earth for their species. It is winner take all. With time running out, Elena must dig deep to uncover the alien plan and find a way to stop them before the human race faces enslavement and extinction.
Author's Bio:
Lance Erlick writes science fiction thrillers for young adult and adult readers. He is the author of The Rebel Within, The Rebel Trap, and Rebels Divided, three books in the Rebel series. In those stories, he explores the consequences of Annabelle Scott following her conscience. He authored the Regina Shen series--Resilience, Vigilance, Defiance, and Endurance. This series takes place after abrupt climate change leads to the Great Collapse and a new society under the World Federation. His latest novel is Xenogeneic: First Contactabout encounters with an alien race aiming to take over Earth.
My Review:
It's been a long time since I've read any science fiction, so I was really excited to get my hands on this book and it captured my attention from page one. Xenogeneic: First Contact by Lance Erlick is fast-paced and action-packed. It is a non-stop whirlwind and packed full of surprises right to the end.
That said, the characters are not well-developed. It's hard to become invested in a story when you don't feel like you really know anyone involved. There are also so many characters with fairly minor roles that it is difficult to keep everyone straight. The story is oddly jumpy at times, lacking smooth transitions. There is a lot of fighting in the book, although it is not particularly graphic. Nor is there graphic sexual content, with violence being mostly implied.
In short, while interesting, it was not compelling enough for me to seek out other books by this author. I have read better reviews of some of his previous efforts though.
To read more reviews, please visit Lance Erlick's page on iRead Book Tours.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for writing this review. The opinions are entirely my own.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for writing this review. The opinions are entirely my own.
