Silicon Embrace [Hardcover]

John Shirley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

All of the UFO myths and legends prove to be true in this outlandish novel by John Shirley. In fact, not one but two alien races have visited the Earth, and it's not entirely clear whether this is good or bad. Things really get intriguing when the Zetans--who happen to have dropped off an ambassador in Roswell, New Mexico--hire a public relations man to discredit their rivals, the Meta. The Zetans have secretly been working with our government (unbeknownst to the president) for years, seeking "only" to improve our lot in life. But that's not all they've been up to...

From Publishers Weekly

Angels and aliens alike figure in this metaphysical SF novel from proto-cyberpunker Shirley (Heatseeker), who here throws UFOs, black helicopters, several major biblical figures and spiritual transcendence into the early 21st century. The U.S. has splintered into warring racial, religious and ethnic enclaves, and the federal government, vainly trying to hold things together, has become enormously repressive. As the novel opens, a public relations man is blackmailed into accepting employment at a secret government installment near Roswell, N.M. There, he discovers that most of the standard UFO myths are in fact true. There's not only a flying saucer at Roswell but a live alien as well, one who loves hot chocolate and cigarettes. And he isn't so much a prisoner as an ambassador. Unbeknownst to the president or congress, secret elements of the U.S. government have been working with the aliens for decades, ostensibly for the betterment of humankind though there are early hints that the aliens, called Zetans, have ulterior motives. Readers soon learn that two separate alien races have visited the Earth. The Zetans are, it seems, in conflict with the Meta, and the PR man has been hired to make the Meta look bad. Fans of politically conservative hard-SF may be turned off by Shirley's stereotypical characterization of the military, his brief and rather nasty send up of two popular right-wing SF writers and his metaphysical climax. But it's clear that the author is having fun tying together disparate UFO, conspiracy and New Age myths; readers will have fun watching him do the tying, too.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 282 pages
• Publisher: Mark V Ziesing; First Edition edition (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929480449
• ISBN-13: 978-0929480442
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,579,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kinetic and funny, January 31, 2001

By 

Mac Tonnies (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Silicon Embrace (Hardcover)

"Silicon Embrace" is a demented alien invasion story and one of the better cyberpunk novels of the 1990s: loopy, graphic and ambiguously funny, drawing on fifty years of flying saucer lore and--ingeniusly--making it all interesting in unexpected ways. Shirley's hyperkinetic vision of a fractured, anarchic United States steeped in the mythology of the late 20th century is terrific. This novel is an overlooked must-read for students of that nebulous field we call "ufology." Like Robert Anton Wilson, Shirley bravely opens doors for the sheer literary pleasure of seeing what's on the other side, waiting and ready to pounce.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shirley Delivers Again w/Silicon Embrace, October 16, 1997

By 

Luciferal "plebiscite" (salt lake city) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silicon Embrace (Hardcover)

Silicon Embrace was read in great, nourishing mouthfulls and satisfied my voracious
appetite for all that is Shirley. Although by the book's end it had subtly notched
by degrees from 'plausible' to 'fiction', that didn't really disappoint me because,
after all, the "Truth" is simply unknown to us, and perhaps, as Kant suggested, *unknowable*.
This didn't detract from the book's believability nor its sheer entertainment value.
The scenes with Sol, the remote-controlled ex-lover of Anja, brought the real Shirley
back for his avid fans, albeit somewhat brief in the overall narrative.
I also feel that the Zetans (or 'Greys') were not fully explained as to their overall
intentions quite enough. The gist was there; they needed us humans for a kind of
"bacteriological breeding ground", but I felt Shirley could've gone further into
their malevolence and microgenetic atrocities.


The prairie-squid "Ceph" was a nice touch, and the many references tieing
the plot into previous author's works (such as R.A.Wilson, Philip K. Dick, etc.)
were well thought out if rather brief. The bottom line is that Shirley has penned
a 'cautionary tale' about our government's involvement with extraterrestrials,
and it is with a sense of relief that I read Silicon Embrace as it exposed
our highest government officials being duped by the Zetans.


John Shirley has been one of my favorite of the 'new' writers
because he can cut through to the marrow of experience, translating it
into terms and sentences that not only can the average person relate to,
but more importantly, that the "not-so-average" (read: talented & gifted;
drug-user; conspiracy buff; etc.) can also relate to, oh-so-well.


He is one of those rare writers who can journey into the "dark heart
of the soul" *and* return to write about it coherently. I recommend John Shirley
to anyone looking for "something more" in their fiction; something most writers
are too afraid to confront openly on the naked page. Silicon Embrace: Buy it; read it.


Shaun Lawton([e-mail])slc, ut

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cyberpunk is dead... Long live science fiction!, March 30, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Silicon Embrace (Hardcover)

John Shirley's Silicon Embrace is a great book with a lot going on. The story begins with both a nervous public-relations man, and a group of outcasts on the lamb. Between this and the quiet and somewhat happy ending we have: several aliens, a human hybrid being, a collapsed United States, UFO's, Jesus, secret facilities and enough attitude to knock you off your feet. John Shirley blends a plethora of conspiracy folklore with wit and style. He creates a story that invites both wild applause, and occassional stomache-churning despair. All in all, I liked it better than Cats!