Second Contact

by J.D. Austin

When Earth's advances toward an alien paradise are rebuffed-with missile fire-it decides to give peace one more chance. Enter Matt Wiener, Space Hero. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441008798
• ISBN13: 9780441008797
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Perfect Sci-Fi Lite

I found this to be the best of this author's light-hearted science fiction novels. The characters are realistic, and the humor is great without being over the top, like in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers" series. J. D. Austin (the pseudonym for Joshua Dann, author of the 'Timeshare' novels) seems to release books rather sporadically, which is my sole disappointment.

Good Time

I've read the other reviews, and I just don't get it. I love Sci/Fi, and I read a lot of it. Second Contact was just a really good time. It's comedy. It's like a cross between the old naive Sci/Fi of the '50s and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. No, it wasn't quite as humerous or as extreme as Hitchhiker's Guide, but it kept me smiling and turning pages. Second Contact reminded me why I love reading Sci/Fi in the first place--it's fun. Fabulous book, but not if you're a stick-in-the-mud.

Great-grandchildren of the Lens

Remember those thrilling days of yesteryear, when E. E. "Doc" Smith and his peers gave us the square-jawed heroes and dewy-eyed heroines that made space opera what it was? Remember when aliens were green skinned and did everything with brain emanations? Ever wonder what it would be like if someone could bring back those days of Space Patrols using modern writing techniques and science? Well, wonder no more, J. D. Austin has done it for us. Daring deeds from the good guys, insane schemes from the forces of evil, interstellar romance, "Second Contact" has the space opera fix you've needed, and didn't even know about.

Delighful satire on sf space opera

On two planets galaxies away from each other life surfaced on both at the equivalent solar time. As the millenniums pass Earth inhabitants travel into deep space, but the natives of Kivlan stay planet-bound. The earthlings reach Kivlan, but the locals tell them to leave. A destructive laser beam enforces the command so the spaceship departs. On earth, the leaders refuse to accept the insult quietly and send a fully armed military excursion to teach the Kivlan a lesson. No one on Earth realizes that the Kivlans are a peaceful congenial people who are a bit lazy so they invented the means of converting thoughts into objects. Their bellicose behavior towards the first visitors is out of character, but recent volcanic activity has left everyone on edge. The Kivlans expect the earthlings to return, but will this visit turn ugly with hostilities leading to mass destruction or will calm prevail? Although this novel starts off as a Flash Gordon type of Science Fiction, the story line quickly turns upside down and spoofs first contact tales such as the Arrival. The characters from both species seem real and engage the audience to want to know more about them especially the Kivlan natives. JD Austin provides a refreshing tale of first contact that showcases a peerless writing style that and readers will derive joy from this reading experience.Harriet Klausner