From Elsewhere by Sarah Baethge
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The word that immediately sprang to mind when I started to read From Elsewhere was ‘quaint’ because it was a very similar 1950’s plot about an alien species that is stranded on Earth, and who looks very much like humans. There was a hint of excitement when this alien, a Sharill, has a device that extracts information from Sean’s brain so that the Sharill may speak and behave much like the other earthlings who live here. This slight thrill increased a little when another alien from a different planet, a Kisleem, arrives on Earth in pursuit of the Sharill, who is a rebel. This Sharill is also considered to be a criminal by the Kisleem, as he stole one of their spaceships. But then the excitement fizzled out and the story became very pedestrian and even quainter, since the characters who subsequently arrive on the novel’s stage spend page after page talking about what has happened. They do spend some time discussing what they might do about the incident and the effects upon Sean in various situations – again and again. They even get transported aboard a Kisleem spaceship that is orbiting Earth and we learn that there are other aliens, identical in many ways to homo sapiens, already present in numbers living undetected here on Earth. This scenario promises to be something that could be explored in endless ways for the rest of the book, but sadly it isn’t.
The main problem with the story is that it is not exciting, which most sci-fi fans expect, or scientifically challenging through ‘new’ or imaginative concepts introduced by the author, also expected by most sci-fi fans. Many discussions become rather tedious after a while as they repeat what has been stated earlier – on the same page or very soon afterwards. Dialogue is mostly used here to ‘tell’ the story when ‘showing’ it through the characters’ actions usually makes the plot much more engaging. Unfortunately, the whole book needs re-editing or to be run through a spell-checker since numerous spelling and grammatical errors are present: e.g. ‘grown’ when it means ‘groan’ and missing speech marks after some of the dialogue.


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Dead Man Dreaming by Uday Mukerji
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dead Man Dreaming is a remarkable fiction that feels like an autobiography throughout. Written in the first person, David describes disturbing changes in his future prospects in respect of his career ambition and his relationship with Chloe, the girl of his dreams, due to the discovery that he has Huntington’s Disease. Painfully aware of the mental and physical suffering his father went through before he died, and from whom he inherited the condition, the young doctor had been avoiding the possibility previously. Like a slap in the face David is stunned by the shock; his plans are ended, and for a while his emotions are wrenched back and forth.
The way that he confronts the situation and attempts to build a future life is inspirational and believable. It promises to be fulfilling and rewarding in so many new ways and this is due in no small part to the help, faith, and indeed love, he finds through a chance meeting with Jessie, a fellow student from his high school days. But of course, for the reader to get something from a book, it also needs skilful writing of the plot and character development by the author. And it has that in spades! Not only was the concept of hereditary disease screening interesting and intriguing to me, but so was the developing relationship between David and Jessie. His journey from start to end within the novel’s narrative was fascinating and emotionally challenging. Dead Man Dreaming is ‘a good read’; recommended for anyone who enjoys contemporary literature.


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