While the human race spreads throughout the universe, a man gifted with telepathy considers his talent a curse, until a fateful encounter with an alien species convinces him about the potential of his powers. By the author of Unwillingly to Earth.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Ashwell's second novel, like her first, Unwillingly to Earth, turns on telepathy, aliens and deep-space exploration. Five loosely related stories comprise the narrative, which details the adventures of Richard "Ricky" Jordan and his family and friends. In "Big Sword," which leads off, Ricky is a young boy brought to a distant planet by his father, who is in charge of the Second Lambdan Exploratory Expedition. On Earth, Ricky was criticized as a snoop and an eavesdropper, but on Lambda it becomes apparent that he is a telepath-a useful trait since the planet's resident aliens, which are rarely bigger than large grasshoppers, are telepaths as well. The other four stories follow Ricky as he helps save the Lambdans from extinction (they are having major problems with their reproductive cycle); grows up; helps police detective Sebastian Karel solve high-tech mysteries on Earth; and creates a new division, with far-reaching ramifications, in the Space Force. Each segment is entertaining but, together, they read more like loosely connected short stories than a proper novel, with no binding thread other than Ricky, and with very little in the way of character development.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
As a child accompanying his father to the planet Lambda, Richard Jordan finds his secret telepathic gift essential in communicating with the planet's indigenous species. As a young man, he tries to avoid the celebrity caused by his freak ability but discovers that his talents-along with those of his boyhood alien friends-are needed to find a group of missing colonists. Ashwell (Unwillingly to Earth, Tor Bks., 1992) draws a convincing portrait of a future earth that is united under a world government but divided by the ambitions of its politicians and scientists. Solidly written, though somewhat lacking in emotional intensity, this sf adventure will appeal to readers who enjoy a strong dose of science along with their fiction.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting aliens & exploration of interstellar telepathy,
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This review is from: Project Farcry (Paperback)
This science fiction novel features a very original species of alien, called Lambdans, named after their planet, Lambda. Although the cover art suggests they are insects (and this does fit their physical description in the book), the Lambdans are really plant-based beings, with an unusual lifecycle. Too much detail would be a spoiler, so I won't say too much more -- except that, because they receive their energy directly from the sun by photosynthesis, most of their internal body space is made up of brain cells. Result? They are a lot more intelligent than their small size would suggest. And they are telepathic.
Richard Jordan, teenage human, is also telepathic -- but he does not understand that yet. All he knows is that he seems to have information about people that he should not have, and is always being accused of snooping when he is not. Through a series of dysfunctional family events, he ends up going to Lambda on a scientific expedition with his father -- where he meets and communicates with a Lambdan named Big Sword. The alien teaches Richard how to control his telepathy, and Richard translates for him to the other humans, convincing them that these insect-like beings are indeed a sentient species. Humans and Lambdans end up helping each other in some unusual ways. Fast-forward a few years and you are back on Earth, in a big underground city, where a telepathic cop meets up with a Mr. Rivers (actually Jordan in disguise, avoiding unwanted publicity) who is seeking out other telepaths. Why? Because it just might be possible to use telepathy for faster-than-light interstellar communication. But telepathy has its limitations, and true telepaths are rare. Not to mention the difficulty of convincing a skeptical government committee that telepathy is not a hoax. Then there is the techno-blunder that has caused an entire planet to shift into another dimension, where nobody can communicate with the Earth explorers trapped there. Or can they? I enjoyed this book, although I got a bit bogged down in the middle with all the underground city stuff, which was really more like a separate story, although it did tie in with Richard Jordan's telepathy project. But I was really more interested in the Lambdans -- who do re-enter the storyline in the last section of the book. One other complaint is that there was no real transition from one chapter to another, so things were sometimes rather abrupt. One chapter we are on Lambda with Richard, next chapter we are on Earth with a totally different set of characters years later. The Publisher's Weekly review suggested these were really five short stories or novellas, loosely strung together through the Richard character. Could be. At any rate, it would have helped to have some sort of transition to cover the time and space gaps. Pauline Ashwell, by the way, is the same person who writes under the name of Paul Ash (it says so on the cover).
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's Okay,
This review is from: Project Farcry (Paperback)
I picked this up in a second-hand bookstore because the cover and summary hooked my attention. It started out pretty good, about a spacer and his misfit son who travel to the distant planet of Lambda and meet a very unique species of alien called lambdans who look like insects (the description in the book and the alien on the cover match pretty well), but are really plants. But then the book seemingly goes in an entirely different direction with the underground city of Rockwell Deep and mystery involved. I got really bogged down in that section and the only common themes are telepathy and the misfit son. I think the author tried to put two books in one. My real interest was in the Lambdan's. They come back in the final chapters of the book in order to free a lost colony. The premise of this book is okay but I think the story and pacing could use improvement.
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