Review of First

[Elise Sylcox]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "First" by William Tyler.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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As a lover of science fiction, the novel First by William Tyler captured my attention as a “first contact with aliens” book. Recently, I have watched many movies and TV shows about space travel, and because of this, I was intrigued to find out how the author chose to introduce space travel and aliens, and I was not disappointed. First is set in the near future of 2122 but still includes concepts such as starships, hyperspace travel, and something akin to warp drive, allowing instantaneous space travel that takes only seconds to reach outer space. The main characters use this advanced technology to travel outside the known area to find, as the novel quotes, “intelligent life and to find new planets where humanity could establish new colonies or find untapped resources.”

Though theoretical for our day and age, the author included explanations about space travel and the need for space exploration to make the concepts more believable. While reading the novel, I found myself turning to my scientist husband to ask about energy, black holes, and the possibility of space travel. This led to many great conversations. When I reached the part of the novel where first contact was imminent, I was unable to put the book down as the author included such vivid descriptions of the aliens and their lives. It offered a unique perspective on what aliens look like, how they act, and how advanced they are.

There were a couple aspects that bothered me throughout the novel, but the major ones were the length of the book due to the over explanation of some of the engineered parts of the spacecraft, the slightly confusing jumps in characters from chapter to chapter when first introducing main characters, and the number of errors I encountered, mainly with punctuation marks. Because of these issues, I cannot give the book a rating of higher than 4 out of 5 stars, though I do recommend reading this novel if you are interested in space travel or first contact with aliens. As a warning, there was quite a bit of strong language that not everyone might be suited for. This is an adult book with mentions of possible sex, though not graphically depicted. Caution is advised for young adults. All in all, I enjoyed reading this novel as it led to open discussions of possible life beyond humankind and the likelihood of space travel.

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First
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[Kibet Hillary]

I hope that the descriptions could have been shortened, but all in all, the rest of the novel sounds really interesting. I would also be very interested in knowing how the first contact played out and more importantly, whether another planet, a livable one, was found. Thanks for the fascinating review, @Elise Sylcox.