Alien In a Small Town By Jim Cleaveland

Jim Cleaveland ´ 0 Free read

It is The Future, and the Mennonites of rural Pennsylvania live much as they always have, while the world around them has changed enormously. Indira left this place years ago to travel the Earth and beyond, but now for personal reasons she has returned. It is here, of all places, that she encounters Paul (his real name unpronounceable), a lumbering, stone-skinned, yet soulful alien who has now settled on Earth as penance for a crime he committed long ago. This is their story.

A wonderful story, beautifully told. — Brynne Chandler, screenwriter for Gargoyles and Batman: The Animated Series

Jim Cleaveland's first novel, Alien In a Small Town, is a philosophical meditation on Science and Theology. It's also a lot of fun. A truly alien extraterrestrial, appropriately named Paul, goes on a moral quest in a world of humans. From a sexy female android to space hermits, Cleaveland presents a universe of wild possibilities that never loses its moral center. — Brad Linaweaver, author of Moon of Ice and The Land Beyond Summer.

You had me until the love triangle. I'd have given it a five if it weren't for that, and it wasn't even that focused on it. Superb worldbuilding, fascinating concept...but midway through the book, the drama shifts to that interpersonal romantic tension, and I can't help but think, with all of the creative stuff going on in that story, that there could have been a less well-traveled direction to take. Especially considering the amount of space out there! It's the final frontier, after all! Or even a more creative setup for a love triangle, where Dwight's the hypotenuse and both competing parties fail at winning her over because 20 other Jan and a rogue android or something stampeded them to death getting there first.

I wish I'd read the Bible the whole way through. I'm probably missing a lot of subtext and symbolism, but I can definitely appreciate where it's coming from.

Honestly, my favorite part of this was when Barney's backstory gets explained. I'd easily read an expanded version of that. Jim Cleaveland A very interesting book. An exploration of a relationship which develops between an alien (with a very well thought out background) and a human woman. In between their growing friendship we have the alien’s thoughts about humans, and God, and love. Not much else happens, so to speak, but the journey alongside the characters is worthwhile and intriguing. At times there are large info dumps which does slow things down, and sudden jumps in point of view. But this is a good novel, and I look forward to his future work with interest. Jim Cleaveland