Cary Neeper

An Alien's Quest is the 4th book in the Archives of Varok by Cary Neeper. As the 4th book in the series it stands alone in the flow of the story and is easily readable without reading the previous three books. The writing is clear and relates a story of three species and the humanoid Shawne, who is part human and part alien. The reader begins by finding Shawne returned home after trying & failing to save the Earth, home to her human heritage. Her sadness illustrates her feeling of defeat. The writing explores the differences of those she calls her family. As the story explores the many ways thinking and culture develops in sentient beings from diverse physical environments, the reader witnesses Shawne come to terms with these differences and use "alien" philosophies to view & balance her own inner human turmoil.

This is a creative, illuminating story about Shawne and her path to bring the differences in her life to understanding through a trip to the home world of the ells and a meeting with Haralahn, the spiritual leader. The book itself is beautifully presented with fine style and attractive printing details. The ideas expressed in the work reflect the many concerns of our contemporary world as we tip the balance of achieved understanding of difference toward irrational, unequal separateness. I recommend An Alien’s Quest to readers of Science Fiction and related genres.… (mais)

Being a lover of most things science fiction since the 1970's this was a very difficult book to read. Cary Neeper had a specific agenda that leaked through the story line but the barrage of characters and their back story, the explanations that didn't explain were convoluted and made the tale tough to get through. The first portion of the book was ponderous and difficult to get through without checking constantly to keep everyone and everything straight. I hope there is a rewrite before final publication but if this is Neeper's writing style I doubt I'll read any other of her titles.… (mais)