Notes from An Alien: A Message for Earth [Paperback]

Sena Quaren (Author), Alexander M Zoltai (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2011

"Profound..."

"A vivid journey into another realm"

"The Thinking Person's sci-fi"

Start with a 500-year Inter-World War.

Continue through ecological disaster and the decimation of populations.

Follow the institution of a Worlds' government that helps bring a glimmer of hope.

Discover the challenges and failures of unifying three very different Worlds.

Explore what it takes to give birth to a lasting peace.

This is what reading "Notes from An Alien" promises.

And, this story could help Earth...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alexander M Zoltai is a writer with roaring flames in his heart...

Product Details

• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: FastPencil, Inc.; 1st edition (May 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1607468220
• ISBN-13: 978-1607468226
• Product Dimensions: 0.3 x 5.9 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,018,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Sandusky, OH, USA to a Scottish mother and Hungarian father.

Two sisters...

One child, one grandchild...

Lived in at least 30 different locations.

Always loved language but didn't begin writing seriously till my 40s.

I'm a writer with roaring flames in my heart...

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A history of an alien race and how they found world peace August 28, 2011

By TicToc

Format:Paperback

Finding a way to make history palatable and taking a new and interesting perspective on life as we know it, Notes from An Alien by Sena Quaren and Alexander M. Zoltai takes you on a wild ride. Beginning with what this history classifies as the 500-year InterWorld War, it then moves on to ecological disasters of epic proportions that destroy more than is imaginable. The history moves further to the decimation of the population, and then on to the formation of a World Government dedicated to world peace.

Through it all, we follow the lives of an interesting family beginning with Velu, the daughter of Rednaxela. Rednaxela is the leader of the first expedition to another world. He along with his AI companion Morna do what they can to keep much of their thoughts private from the Corporate Mesh as they transport the settlers to their new home. One of the settlers in particular is in demand by the Anlans. His name is Akla and they know him as a profit. Upon reaching planet-side, Rednaxela disappears along with his Al and the religious prisoner Akla. The area they disappear to is known as the Unholy lands. Velu and her stepfather are conscripted to help search, and find the man that is her biological father.

The initial ship boasted 95,000 settlers headed to Anla. Prisoners and convicts were the main characters just as we have used as settlers in many places on Earth in earlier times in history. Written as told by a descendant of Velu, Sena tells her story through Zoltai, were we learn of the deaths and struggles as the World Government comes into being, and each successive wave of civilization and history unfold. We follow the decedents of Velu as they work through the different phases of government including the disasters that preface them....

I enjoyed the premise of the book and the characters were admirable, although I felt as though we moved through the times at a break neck speed. The very alien types of existence and characters where will written and quite imaginative. To read this as a possible verification of alien existence in our world puts a different spin on the possible reasoning for the very detailed description of the search and evolution of a lasting peace.

Each successive group of characters had abilities that exceeded those before them and the detail and dialogue that went into the telling made them seem like friends and colleagues. It was heartbreaking as time flew by and their deaths left an indelible impression each time.

This is a heady and interesting read, and if you enjoy alien life, science fiction and history written very like that detailed in a scholastic session, you will enjoy this work. It is thought provoking and makes you search your own thoughts on the very realistic types of damage and decimation that precede the final peace. Is it possible to have a similar outcome? That is just one of the questions I had as I finished my reading.

This is a short read and yet an in-depth history, full of stops and starts. Do not let the size of the story sidetrack you, it tells and reads as a book twice its size. Sometimes large things come in small packages. The read is not always smooth and the information is sometimes difficult to digest, but the direction it heads offers the look at a peace we all dream about.

This book was received as a free download from the author. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material. Read more ›

4.0 out of 5 stars A vivid journey into another realm January 30, 2012

By T. Quijas

Format:Paperback

Zoltai's Notes from an Alien is a thought-provoking trip into alien worlds that makes the reader shudder with the close similarities that are often reflected on our own planet. The inhabitants of Zoltai's worlds are bent on destruction of other worlds, over such things as greed, religion, and politics. Worlds are being lost, and civilizations are declining, all because one civilization assumes they are better than the other.

This tale is an interesting and provocative leap into the realm of Sci-Fi. Using ties that reflect back on much of our own world history, the story is told by the view of a descendant of the first expedition to a new world. History unfolds rapidly, and the search for everlasting peace in the galaxy is profoundly written. The characters are finely crafted and the story unfolds with magnificent clarity, worthy of a movie. These characters, as they live and die, as they walk through time, leave a palpable change in their world.

Notes from an Alien is a must read for fans of the Sci-Fi genre. In-depth, detailed, narrated by the fabulous Sena, the reader struggles along with each character, slipping into a world that mirrors our own. Well crafted and, if Sci-Fi novels are among the genres you like to read, definitely add this to your own TBR list.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Thinking Person's sci-fi January 24, 2012

By Arton

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I loved this book. 'Notes From An Alien' is a deep epic with many voices, which work together to create a concert of meaning, which is both instructive and profound. The book is quite 'documentary' in style and structure, yet the writing has intense lyrical moments which draw the reader in.

The story, told through science fiction, expresses the belief that world peace is possible and can be everlasting. The writer uses a clever technique of telling the story as a history of a distant planet. Soon however the reader comes to realize that this struggle could be the history of Earth itself in the future.

The plot turns in many remarkable ways but mostly the book seeds in the mind a desire to think about the worlds it describes and how they may have come about. The characters are finely drawn, not the least is the narrator, Sena, whose voice begins the narration in a most intriguing way. She has a poised intimate voice and her method of addressing the reader is arresting:

"I am a woman from a star system about twelve light-years from Earth. If you choose to believe me, my story might be considered a history lesson--how to achieve unity and peace--a lesson that Earth desperately needs. If you choose to not believe I'm real, my tale might be considered a science fiction story about how to achieve unity and peace--a lesson that Earth desperately needs...I'll proceed on the premise that I am real."

How can we resist such an invitation to listen?

She goes on to make the observation:

"And, even though I'm speaking to you now in what's called first-person point of view, most of the story will be told in what writers call third-person omniscient, which means that the other people in this tale won't be the storytellers.... This is what writers on Earth use to give them more freedom of expression--jumping from an overall point of view to very personal views and back out, much like what a camera does in a movie."

Which is apt because, for most of the book, I felt the reader was watching the stories unfold in a cinematic fashion, so much so that I am hoping that someone does make this into a movie! This is "Dune" without spice but with plasma as a far more potent symbol of connection. In fact as I read on I realized that Plasma was one of the most important 'characters' in the book. The concept of plasma as a connecting force or medium is fascinating. I found myself on several occasions looking up the index of science-based books in bookshops looking for the word.

This is the Thinking Person's sci-fi, which is more speculative in nature than fantastical. The philosophy is about understanding the self as a part of a broader connected universal family. You are left with the conviction that the events it describes could happen and by the end Sena's words seem like a prophecy and a warning. Go read it! Read more ›

5.0 out of 5 stars One Planet, One People...please? October 15, 2011

By Saran

Format:Paperback

Before reading, I knew very little of what this book was about beyond the title. But in nineteen chapters, each headed by an attribute of the Divine, Mr. Zoltai leads us through the struggles of a dual-planet civilization in achieving real and lasting peace. It is a deep rich read, a history, detailed with nobility and sacrifice, characters that I fell in love with, and mourned when they passed. There's little humor, but what there is adds whimsy to the personalities of such as Rednaxela, Velu and the Artificial Intelligence Morna (btw, I would like an AI myself!). I also want to say that it's the novel's use of religion to create a united world, beyond the division and strife it's blamed for on this, that appeals greatly to me. That is a subject very close to my heart - seeing the progression from one being and the resulting civilization to the next. I want that for us.