Paranoid militarists fear the aliens' ability to monkey around with folks' bodies, not to mention their brains. There's a glossary in the back. If you don't read much science fiction, you may wonder why those of us who do bother wrestling with its neologisms. Well, we think they're fun. Not just the words themselves, but the concepts and images surrounding them can be strikingly fresh.
Science fiction is the literature of the possible.
But Thomson doesn't go so far as to show the gentle Tendu reaching harmony with a species who prefers trashing their environment to altering themselves. Through alien eyes, human behavior is endlessly strange. And through science-fiction eyes, strangeness is an endless delight. Portis' two comic classics, Norwood and The Dog of the South , have a wonderful, subtle humor not found anywhere today. Norwood follows the title character on a trip through the South, up to New York, and back to his hometown of Ralph, Texas via stolen cars, train hopping, and buses.