Underneath the quiet Minnesota farm town of Hypothermia lurks Area 68 - staging area for an alien war involving 1962 Chevy Impalas, telepathic toadstools with tentacles, and weapons of awesome destruction. Can agricultural coop staff photographer, Bob Putnam, save earth?
The small farming town of Hypothermia, Minnesota makes world news when a ’62 Chevy Implala is discovered in a trailer full of grain. Government agents quickly impound the Chevy and down play the incident. Yet when agricultural cooperative photographer Bob Putnam attempts to follow up with a story about the elevator manager who found it, he and his writer/partner uncover an unbelievable plot. Little gray aliens are out to exploit humankind and pit the Earth against another extraterrestrial species in an interstellar war. How did the United States become the instrument of this evil “pre-emptive” strike against a distant planet? Why do the town’s residents check newcomers’ toes? Can true love blossom amidst galactic disaster? Is the abandoned Navy base outside Hypothermia really abandoned? Will the malicious gray aliens be stopped? And can toadstools with tentacles really read our thoughts? All this and more is revealed in Z is for Xenophobe.
Professional Reviews
Laugh Out Loud Sci Fi Satire, June 7, 2012
This review is from: Z is for Xenophobe (Kindle Edition)
This novel is really funny. Honestly I was sceptical that this kind of science fiction spoof could be pulled off successfully, especially at the length of this one, as such attempts can so easily go terribly wrong. But again and again I was pleasantly surprised and also actually induced to break out in guffaws. What particularly works here I think is that the book is also well plotted. There are many characters, and each excerpt adds to an overall bizarre flow of events. Also feeding into the story's grace are lots of wry pointers toward current political realities.
The Veggian alien race affords the author many opportunities to slip into humorous dialogue, clever quips, and just plain silly jokes. Very fun. The interactions of this race, and of other less savoury aliens, with the bewildered humans that come into contact with them, merges with a slapstick small town version of an area 51 scenario. All of this gets stirred up into a vortex of astoundingly venal presidential politics and interstellar relations, whereby all of these tangents are teased out by giving them their own episodes from the point of view of the personages directly involved with them. This is to a large extent why this complicated humorous conflagration works at such length--the author is always showing us what is unfolding directly from the point of view of fully drawn characters intimately enmeshed in the events.
~ Simon Vigneault
BLOGCRITIC REVIEW of Z is for Xenophobe
Something strange is going on in the Midwestern town of Hypothermia. After a strange vehicle is found inside of a grain elevator, journalists Bob Putnam and Lenny Pinne are sent to cover the story. Never in their wildest dreams could they have possibly imagined the situations they would encounter. Two alien races — the Veggians and the Omnians — are currently on Earth. One is investigating an unsanctioned wormhole, while the other is planning an invasion. The American government has been surreptitiously led to believe there will be an attack but as things become jumbled it is unclear which race is the real threat.
Z is for Xenophobe is hilarious. The title of the book itself provides a hint to the author’s sense of humor. The alien spaceships are designed after classic cars so they do not stand out so much. When the aliens take on human form they appear as old movie stars such as John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. The aliens’ inability to comprehend English slang or figures of speech is priceless. It is evident the author spent a great deal of time choosing the perfect words to describe events, often creating words from popular politicians’ names. In fact, the entire book could be considered a satire about American politics and how the rest of the world perceives its leadership.
Xenophobe is the first book in a series, and I must admit I truly enjoyed reading it. I had a difficult time getting into the story at first due to the strange names of the alien characters and the action skipping around between subplots. However, as things began to be tied together after a few chapters, I became engrossed. I appreciated the vivid descriptions of the characters which allowed me to picture in my mind how they appeared.
This book could be considered both science fiction and adventure. The story is appropriate for anyone aged thirteen-years and older. However, young readers will not likely understand the political humor. The combination of action, suspense, and mystery takes the plot to a much higher level. I am really looking forward to the next book in Terry Faust's series.
(Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views)
Z is for Xenophobe
By Terrie Leigh Relf - author Waters of Nyr
Z Is For Xenophobe by Terry Faust
Terry Faust is funny. Really funny. But he possesses the best kind of funny: an intellectual humor that bends and twists like a yoga master, proclaiming “just let go” upon realizing that his meditation cushion is hovering in zero-g. Like Buckaroo Bonzai’s proverbial “no matter where you go, there you are”, the conceptual world will not prevent him—or his readers—from being on that cushion—whether it’s 3 feet—or 3 trillion miles away.
This warp-speed satiric space opera will keep you on your toes. Shoes and socks, optional.
Homer's Ill Iliad & Odd Sea Odyssey (420 pages) is an adult satire/parody rewrite of the classic stories of the 10 year Trojan War and of the 10 year adventure of Odysseus trying to return home to his native Ithaca.
