Saturday, September 19, 2020

2020/113: Werecockroach -- Polenth Blake

... battles were always involving me that I couldn’t control. Once I’d got over the whole spaceship thing, the aliens hadn’t turned out to be that different in the end. Most humans didn’t ask me if I wanted to be involved either. [loc. 576]

Rin, who's lost everything in a fire, is about to move into a shared flat in London. Unfortunately, moving day is also the day the alien spaceship appears over London, causing widespread panic and disruption. Rin, however, is pragmatic: their new flatmates, Sanjay and Pete, seem to respect this, and accept Rin's stated identity (non-binary, asexual, aromantic) and disabilities (partial deafness, dyslexia). Turns out this is because both Sanjay and Pete have divergencies of their own. 

 This is a short sweet novella, in which aliens abduct almost everyone in London except for Rin, Sanjay and Pete. Rin is surprised and pleased to be so quickly accepted by their companions, and together -- with the help of Rin's old friend Addie -- they manage to successfully achieve First Contact, though the aliens' translation machine is based on the Internet. ("With this one weird trick, communication with any human is possible. We hope it gives you all the feels." [loc. 1069]) Misunderstandings cleared up, a new era dawns. 

 I loved Rin and their perpetual snark, which contrasted nicely with Pete's conspiracy theories and Sanjay's solid good sense. Rin does seem to have another set of secrets, to which Addie refers: "I had a policy of waiting at least six months before I’d share with someone I’d met," thinks Rin. I am intrigued. 

 Queer, neurodivergent, and cheerful: I enjoyed this, and am pleased to discover that the author is working on a sequel.

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