[First Contact: Alien Encounters] Earth Alone by Daniel Arenson

On Writing

Love is Easy… ~Ray Bradbury

I’ve fallen in love with reading First Contact, Alien Invasion themed science fiction. Originally it started out as “research” since my co-writer and I had been brainstorming a prequel to our Cold War series.  This led to a deep dive into all things alien and I haven’t climbed out since.

Even movie nights at my house now must have an alien theme.  Not surprisingly, we watched Arrival [BD/Digital HD Combo ] [Blu-ray] the other weekend (it was excellent btw!) which was based on the amazing Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others.  The short fiction was a fantastic read, and watching the film really pulled it together for me.

Anyway, so now I finally write up my notes from the first book I read as “research” in my alien invasion themed quest.  Earth Alone: Earthrise Book 1 by Daniel Arenson was actually more a tribute to Starship Troopers than a first contact story. So for fans of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, you really must pick this book up.

Arenson writes so faithfully to the wonderful tropes in this space marine genre that you will not be disappointed!

Setting: 50 years into the future

Aliens: enormous, acidic blood, eat humans, no verbal communication.

Encounter: the aliens invaded the Earth, and our protagonist, Marco Emery was born during the conflict. People carry gas masks at all times because the aliens emit a toxic gas.  Marco joins the Human Defense Force and his time in basic is such a faithful jaunt through military tropes that he nails them all.  I particularly enjoyed how Arenson dealt with the issues of technology in the future (which types made it, which types didn’t).  Also, I especially enjoyed the strong female characters throughout the book, both in his personal life back home and later when he is going through HDF training.

This first book was lots of worldbuilding, so I’m going to dig into the second one where I think the action will really pick up and our hero actually gets off Earth.

Rating: Four Blasters.

This series is many books strong and fans who commit to this book or Audible will rest assured knowing they have many hours of enjoyment ahead of them.

Try before you buy: Visit Author Daniel Arenson’s website and sign up for free books.

ART CREDITS: Amazing Alien Encounter art by Marc-Alexandre.  His DeviantArt profile here.  

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