The Alien Upstairs [Paperback]

Pamela Sargent (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 055324857X
• ISBN-13: 978-0553248579
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,569,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "COMFORTABLE" SPECULATIVE FICTION, September 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Alien Upstairs (Hardcover)

Pamela Sargent's novel is definitely not "hard" science fiction, but instead, falls into the category of speculative fiction. It is set in a future world which bears strong resemblance to ours, but bad weather and a poor economy have strained the lives of the average person. Into the lives of the main characters comes an interesting figure who professes he is an alien, which starts the couple on a mystery and adventure that eventually leads them into space. The novel is enjoyable in the sense that it is competently written and a quick, absorbing read. The ideas contained in the book are not particularly shocking, or even that imaginative, but they are intriguing even as they are a bit cliched. In fact, the whole novel really reads as a set-up to an unwritten second part, and so many questions (truly, the more interesting questions Sargent asks) are left unanswered and unexplored. All in all, the book provides fans of speculative fiction with a "comfortable" read: nothing too challenging, too fantasy or sci-fi oriented, but capably and somewhat rewardingly utilizing the conventions of the speculative fiction genre.

2.0 out of 5 stars Not this author's best effort, January 9, 2009

By 

Evan the Dweezil (A Place-Sort Of, Montana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alien Upstairs (Paperback)

The Alien Upstairs, is a short but fairly dull read, due mainly to the fact that no one point in the story is explored to any depth. The two main characters are petty and shallow, while the supposedly more intriguing "alien" upstairs neighbor is even more so. What little bit there is of this book is still fairly well written, when all parties involved aren't bickering constantly.