by Phil Bailey (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
Kelvoo’s Testimonial: Surviving the aftermath of human first contact (Kelvoo’s Chronicles Book 1)
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Book 1 of 2: Kelvoo’s Chronicles
Aliens aren’t what they used to be. Back in the pulp fiction days, aliens were Bug-Eyed Monsters whose only interest was in ravishing Earth women. It didn’t matter why they wanted to do that; as long as they had a tentacle to spare, they did.
Aliens now are a lot more sophisticated and varied. Isaac Asimov, David Brin, Larry Niven and Douglas Adams were the masters of inventing interesting and engaging aliens.
But most of them had earth bound correlates. Asimov’s aliens were mostly “Star Trek Aliens,” humanoids with odd coloration and bits of plasticene. Niven’s Kzinti were modeled after big cats. Brin’s Gubru were modeled after big flightless birds. Both authors took their basic premises and ran with them, those and dozens of other great alien races. Brin and Adams both modeled aliens after bureaucrats; dour, officious, literal-minded. Adams’ were sadists; Brin’s weren’t. (Adams’ Vogons loved to recite bad poetry to torture their captives. A good friend of mine wrote a book of poems a couple of years ago and my suggestion for the title was “Unleash the Vogon Torpedoes.” I was defaming him, of course; it was actually very good poetry.)
Truly original non-earth aliens were rare. Niven’s Pierson’s Puppeteers comes to mind. But such unique creatures were rare.
Until Phil Bailey took a crack at it.
The Kloomar are some of the most brilliantly imagined aliens in science fiction. Possessing eidetic memories and a multi-throated language capable of conveying thousands of pages of information in seconds, they combine the strongest elements of individuality and a hive mind. On a mild and fecund planet where food and shelter are abundant and effortlessly obtained, they have no concepts of greed, theft, lying or commerce.
Until humans arrive.
It isn’t that Kloomar are incapable of those human vices; they’ve just never had a reason for them. The title character, Kelvoo, when confronted with the concept of lying, finds it interesting and in all likelihood useful. Compare with the Trisolarans in 3 Body Problem, who, upon learning that humans lie, immediately resolve to eradicate them. (Nasty as they seem to be, Trisolarans are a pretty unique alien race, too.)
Humans present the best and worst we have to offer, and the Kloomar’s rapidly-growing ability to assimilate humans and their vices and virtues makes for a fascinating read.
Rich, intelligent and witty, Kelvoo’s Testimonial is a must read.