The Man Who Loved Alien Landscapes

by Albert Wendland

Overview

A science fiction novel that begins as a murder mystery and is taken over by an interstellar treasure hunt. What could draw poet, explorer, loner and paranoid Mykol Ranglen away from the relative peace of his own stellar habitat? He has no choice in the matter as one by one acquaintances are murdered or disappear altogether. Propelled by ever changing and deepening mysteries Mykol embarks to uncover secrets which could make people rich beyond their wildest dreams...or tear apart human civilization. The escalating quest takes him through worlds of many dangerous extremes, leading him to confront the deadly alien

Product Details

BN ID:	2940163772308
Publisher:	Raw Dog Screaming Press
Publication date:	06/27/2014
Sold by:	PUBLISHDRIVE KFT
Format:	eBook
Pages:	238
File size:	907 KB

About the Author

Albert Wendland teaches English, and often SF, at Seton Hill University, where he co-created the MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction, which emphasizes genre fiction exclusively, an emphasis rare in graduate writing programs.

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/12/2014
In Wendland’s intricately plotted, character-driven debut, pulp exploration meets philosophical speculation, and a moralistic sensibility is fused with Philip K. Dick’s paranoid fantasies and Ray Bradbury’s awe of alien encounters. Mykol Ranglen, a writer and consultant on the planet Annulus, is drawn out of his solitary existence when his ex-lover Mileen disappears, and Henry, her fiancé, is found dead. Mykol fears that Mileen has discovered one of the Carrier-Locked Integrated Programs (Clips)—technology created by the alien Airfane and ostensibly intended to protect humanity from the malignant Moyocks. He races to rescue her and locate the Clip, fearing that the technology is not as benign as it seems. Annulus is a vividly described, futuristic world, complete with political tyranny and social inequality. Impending doom pervades ripping action scenes, the Lovecraftian theme of ancient warring aliens lends cosmic menace and authenticity to a grandiose mystery, and Mykol’s transformation from distanced observer to active participant in a galactic conspiracy is deeply absorbing. (July)

Publishers Weekly

“In Wendland’s intricately plotted, character-driven debut, pulp exploration meets philosophical speculation, and a moralistic sensibility is fused with Philip K. Dick’s paranoid fantasies and Ray Bradbury’s awe of alien encounters.…Impending doom pervades ripping action scenes, the Lovecraftian theme of ancient warring aliens lends cosmic menace and authenticity to a grandiose mystery…deeply absorbing.”—Publishers Weekly starred review

“…shows a narrative energy and enthusiasm for the genre…there is an intriguing mystery subplot, and when the action picks up, readers will want to stay for the final act.”—Library Journal

From the Publisher

06/15/2014
Alien artifacts have changed humanity, in the form of mysterious Clips that contain secrets to technological leaps that lead to the stars and beyond. Mykol Ranglen is one of the few people to have found more than one of the Clips, so when his former lover Mileen disappears and it looks like it might involve alien tech, he gets drawn into a search for her. Mileen and her expedition found one of the precious Clips that belonged to the long dead alien culture, but they may have also found the aliens that wiped out the Clip's creators. VERDICT Written by the director of Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction MFA program, this debut novel, if not perfect, shows a narrative energy and enthusiasm for the genre. The characterization could be deeper (especially of Mykol, who comes off rather affectless), but there is an intriguing mystery subplot, and when the action picks up, readers will want to stay for the final act.

Library Journal