Jason Carter, an actor who's sick of starring in B-grade action flicks, takes a needed vacation with his cat in Peru. Rest and relaxation are the last
things he finds here. A series of mishaps and a bunch of unlikely meetings with unusual companions lead Carter into another dimension, where modern-day
Incas have spent the centuries seething over the loss of their homeland. The way is now open for revenge, and it seems that only Carter and three alien
carrot-men can stop them... unless his cat has any ideas.
Too bad they can't ask her. She just might know more about the whole situation than any of them.
Alan Dean Foster Ace Fiction, Humor/Sci-Fi Themes: Aliens, Space Stories ***
Description
Many generations ago, the great Quozl race sent out massive starships in search of new worlds to colonize. At last, one has arrived at a habitable
planet - only to find it already inhabited. There aren't supposed to be any other intelligent beings in the universe, so this poses a problem, but they've
come too far to turn back now. Deciding to avoid the troublesome, surprisingly violent natives, they find a remote patch of land to bury their ship and start
their colony, studying the locals from afar. Things go wrong when a native boy saves the life of a Quozl explorer; their illicit friendship may lead to the
revelation of the colony. How will the natives react, knowing aliens are on their world - these violent, backwards people who call themselves "humans?"
Review
On one level, Foster creates a unique and interesting alien race with the Quozl. Their internal struggles over living unseen on hostile territory, and the
rifts forming between those who want to stay secret and those who think they should reveal themselves, made for a nice change of pace from the usual
benign-benefactor or brutish-warmonger alien stereotypes some authors rely on. On another level, Foster can't resist backsliding into dippiness, especially
toward the end as more people learn of the Quozls among them. He also tries to squeeze too much mileage out of differences in how Quozl and human societies
view sex. I wanted to like this one, but ultimately I had to settle on an Okay rating instead of Good. Just a few too many minuses compared to its pluses,
plus an iffy ending.
Skip to Content