Review: Close encounters of the best kind.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 29, 2012
Toss out close encounters of the third kind.This is close encounters of the best kind.First off, what an incredible book. Cherie weaves an allegorical tale of romance, borrowing some from Shakespeare and also from Greek mythology. Her heroes come from opposite worlds, yet when they find each other, it becomes clear that only together, can they rise above the challenges given to them and escape an apocalyptic earth.I'm a sucker for good sci-fi romance and this has it all in a very tame way. I would recommend this book to people who might have liked Stephenie Meyer's "The Host" although this one doesn't have a love triangle. Personally, I'm getting kind of sick of the love triangle, so I'm all for that.Perhaps Ms. Reich's most impressive feat is the forging of her alien races. She describes them wonderfully (down to the antennae) yet avoids making them so foreign that a reader cannot relate. Additionally, alien powers are not there just for show, but have been carefully thought about in order to contribute to the climax of the novel. It is a wonderful thing when a storyteller can bring all the scenes together to weave a tale that is both exciting and contemplative. There is electricity in this novel in more ways than one.