Official Review: Aspeans The Invasion by Roy Dias

[jstriker]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Aspeans The Invasion" by Roy Dias.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Aspeans: The Invasion by Roy Dias tells the story of James and David, siblings who have Asperger’s syndrome, and are on a mission to save the Earth from hostile alien invasion. In this version of our world, people with Asperger’s are descendants of an alien race whose visitors have been influencing human evolution for generations. Now, their enemies, the Nequitians are on the way and plan to invade and conquer the Earth. They have already begun their mission by spreading fear and paranoia about Asperger’s and inciting the world’s major governments to begin incarcerating people with Asperger’s in concentration camps. James and David, who are aware of this plot, and possess their own alien gifts, are the only people who can end this intergalactic conflict and save not just our world, but two other alien civilizations.

As a science fiction fan, I was hopeful that this book would offer an interesting story with a nuanced portrayal of those on the Asperger’s spectrum. I found the premise intriguing and was looking forward to immersing myself once again in an alternate reality. The book was indeed fast-paced and delivered an impressive amount of action in a relatively short book. Clocking in at 231 pages, this is a book one could easily read in a single afternoon, and the plot never lags. The chapter breaks seem natural, and the story flows easily from one moment to the next, never seeming choppy or disjointed.

Many chapters were prefaced with a quote about autism from several well-known experts, and I found them to be lovely ways to connect our reality to the version of the world portrayed in the book. It was clear that the author is knowledgeable about autism and intended for their work to be as educational as it is entertaining.

Unfortunately, I found the style of writing and the development of plot points to be simplistic and rather quickly resolved. Some conflicts were resolved in an absurdly short time and with an ease that made me wonder why they had been treated as enormous problems when the solution so easily presented itself. For example, David’s encounter with the Nequitian overlord and his demand to harvest an “antidote” from David’s body was something David and his brother James had been trying to avoid since the very start of their adventure – in fact, preventing David from falling into the hands of this overlord seemed to be the driving force of their actions, but the entire issue was confronted and resolved within a single chapter.

Additionally, the writing felt as though it was directed toward a pre-teen or teen audience, but I found no indication in the book summary that this was a teen or young adult book. Both the ease of the conflict resolution and the simplicity of the language used made me think the book would be most successful if it were marketed as pre-teen or teen fiction. Teens would probably appreciate the pace of the book without being distracted by how quickly the political process moved to incarcerate an entire population of people, or how the world’s most powerful governments could reach a united agreement regarding this issue; and furthermore, were able to work together smoothly and openly with civilians James and David to bring about the denouement of the novel.

On the whole, I feel that this book would appeal to a young audience, but for adult readers who are looking for more sophisticated language and complex plot lines, I would rate this book 2 out of 4 stars.

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Aspeans The Invasion
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[Roy Dias]

Thanks for your detailed review. I totally agree with you when you state that the book is more appropriate for teens and I apologize if it wasn't clear that this is a YA book. Maybe it should even be a MG (not sure about this though). Thanks once again for your review.

[jstriker]

Thank you - when I began to read it, I assumed it was a YA book, but didn't find that specified in the blurb or on the Amazon page. It is a solid teen-level book, though, very engaging and action-packed.

[Roy Dias]

Thanks once again