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This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.
That said, on to the review!
Something is approaching from the depths of space, something so vast and large that its passage is enough to shake the moon itself, causing the historic footprints of Neil Armstrong and his fellow astronauts to fill in with displaced moondust. The SETI installation in New Mexico detects it when a strange signal begins transmitting from the titanic visitor. They spread the word, and soon the entire world knows that something is going on. The knowledge that there are other beings in the universe besides Earthlings becomes a bittersweet achievement as it becomes apparent that these strange visitors are bent on nothing short of the extermination of all life on Earth!
In a strange post-apocalyptic world, the American president struggles to keep his nation together, but it isn't easy. Major cities are gone. Survivors have turned feral, preying on each other to endure. Only a relative handful of men and women work to keep their lives on track. President Thomas Whitmore. General William Grey. Air Force Captain Steven Hiller. Exotic dancer Jasmine Dubrow. Communications director Constance Spano. "Cable repairman" David Levinson and his father, Julius. Vietnam vet and alien abductee Russell Casse. On their own and together the plan and brainstorm and scramble for a solution to the danger floating menacingly overhead. David discovers the solution, but it is so risky and so thinly viable that it is nearly no solution at all. However, it is all they have, and they go with it.
The basic premise of the novel is reasonable enough, given all the interest, intrigue, and controversy surrounding Roswell AFB and the legendary Area 51. I like the way the authors interwove the real-life mystery and gave it startling relevancy to the situation. The subplots that abounded in the novel were well-thought and well done with a masterful touch. Irony and metaphor not withstanding, the puns and plays-on-words that stretched through the novel gave it an occassional lighter tone that was definitely needed to keep the book from bogging itself down in high-paced, grim-faced action.
I'll admit that seeing the movie many times sometimes colored the experience for me. However, after reading the book I know it wasn't a simple novelization of the movie. There were numerous details in the novel that never appeared in the movie, such as the secret to Jasmine Dubrow's survival during the destruction of Los Angeles. Of course, there were certain things the book just couldn't do justice to that the movie did, such as describing the atmospheric entry of the city destroyers, but that's to be expected. Overall, I'm very glad I worked my way through the novel. Once I got firmly started, I could hardly put it down!
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