Review: Depressing subject matter - victims in refugee concentration camps.  Too much horror and helplessness.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 30, 2013
COTTONWOOD by R.Lee Smith.This is a story type that I have never liked - the main characters are helpless or victims through most of the book.  However, readers who like Oprah-type books might like it - and maybe hard core sci-fi enthusiasts.The author is talented.  I enjoyed her other books Heat and Olivia.STORY BRIEF:Aliens accidentally land on earth due to mechanical problems.  The IBI (International Bureau of Immigration) is created and run by the evil Van Meyer.  IBI use guns and force aliens to live in concentration camps which are ghetto/slums without enough food or water.  They are tortured, experimented on, and killed.  Most humans are unaware of this, since no interaction with aliens or photos are allowed.OPINION:If you change the words Aliens to Jews and IBI to Nazis, it's the same story as the Nazi concentration camps.  The only thing missing is gas chambers.  Most of the book is depressing because of the suffering, fear, and horrible events.  I did not like watching the torture of Sarah and aliens.  There is a happy ending for the aliens, but I didn't feel happy.  Also, I was disappointed that not enough bad happened to the bad guys - no justice.  The author was silent about Piotr - the worst thug in the IBI.  And I wanted Van Meyer to suffer which he did not.  His ending was too easy.I liked the relationship development between Sarah and Sanford and T'aki.  I was intrigued with the character Samaritan.There is some interesting sex between human women and alien men (think cockroach).On another subject:In the author's note at the end, she says after she wrote the first draft of Cottonwood she saw "a little movie called District 9" by Neill Blomkamp which was almost identical to her story.  So she changed/rewrote her story.  My opinion: don't do that.  I have read so many books that have similar stories.  And I have enjoyed them.  Whatever comes out of your head should guide you.  I might have liked your first draft better than this.  Think of the hundreds of regency romance stories out there.  They have more of the same stories than any other genre.  Also, I believe the majority of readers will never see that movie.  I had never heard of it and don't plan to see it.I'm reminded of the movies "A Bug's Life" and "Antz".  The Pixar creator of ABL naively told his Dreamworks friend what he was doing.  Dreamworks then copied the idea and created Antz which released the same year.  ABL was wonderful and better than Antz (according to Netflix stars).  The ABL creator did not change his movie just because another similar one was out there, which was the right decision.DATA:Narrative mode: 3rd person.  Kindle count length: 9,224 (811 KB) 467 pages.  Swearing language: strong including religious swear words.  Sexual language: mild.  Number of sex scenes: 6.  Violence: strong.  Setting: the near future U.S.  Copyright: 2012.  Genre: sci-fi with a little romance.