Long before Cowboys & Aliens, there was Earthbound.
Marooned on Earth, a Thalian-Justine man must survive on the violent planet and return to his homeworld to destroy his mortal enemies and avenge his people and family. After rescuing Anna, a tall warrior woman, during a raid to a Comanche camp, the two become friends and comrades.
Will they survive the plague, the enmity of their Southern … of their Southern neighbors and the Civil War – and will he be able to return and exact his revenge?
more
3 ½ stars
Zebadiah L. MacDonald is Irish, and he’s an alien marooned on Earth in 19th Western US just before the Civil War. After a brawl in a frontier town tavern, Zeb befriends a German man named Rolfe. Together the two of them make plans to head to Texas. After all that’s where the spaceship, The Golden One, is buried and Zeb has plans to purchase the land so he can keep the spaceship a secret. But Rolfe tells Zeb that to travel to Texas will be dangerous. And before Zeb can purchase any land, he will need to make money. Rolfe offers him a job helping him trap and trade fur until they have enough money to travel.
Earthbound is the first book of Chronicles of the Maca a sci-fi western series by Mari Collier. The concept of this book is interesting. It is well written and the chapters are short, which makes for a quick pace. While I enjoyed this story, there were dialect issues that pulled me a way. I found the “twill” in Zeb’s Irish accent inaccurate therefore distracting as well as the ‘mitt’ for the German accent for the word with. This would have been better written as ‘vis’ as in “come vis me”. The rest of dialects/accents were well done. The book also fell a bit flat for me in the last few chapters, but I will admit that I had put it down for a number of weeks before resuming the story so this may be because of that.
I will definitely read the second book as I do want to know what will happen next.
The first book in a science fiction trilogy set in America’s old west, Earthbound is an impressive read. The story opens in Ireland during the potato famine of 1842 as a hungry mob attack and kill a ‘red-haired and finely dressed interloper with strange copper eyes’. His servant Llewellyn lives to tell the tale. A deft introduction to the sci fi element and the search for extra-terrestrial Toma, the missing Justine who has landed on earth, and from there Collier takes her readers to her own turf through the eyes of the MacDonalds, who try their luck in Texas. The rich history of frontier existence and the Civil War are the perfect complement to the sci fi narrative. Superb narrative control, great use of dialect in the dialogue, well-crafted characters and flawless action scenes make for fabulous and informative entertainment.
Earthbound was an unexpected, pleasant surprise for me. I had imagined, space wars between good and evil or aliens versus gladiators fighting to save the earth, so this threw me for six. This is a well-blended mix of sci-fi fiction and historical fact.
When the main character, an alien named Llewellyn, is banished to earth, his spaceship is hidden underground and he exits into the world of the 1800s old West. He has to learn how to blend in with the rough and ready men fighting to make a living from fur trapping and running a ranch while trying to keep their families safe from the marauding Indians as well as deal with the developing civil war.
The author’s descriptions of those difficult times really brought the book alive for me. It was so easy to imagine their lives under such difficulties that it made for captivating reading. Even her depictions of the alien Llewellyn made me feel drawn to him. You feel his loss and his love for his own planet and race. He wants to help people and has a good heart… or should I say two! When he finds love and has children, you can’t help but feel happy for him but wonder what will happen next.
This first book was a good grounding for what must be a spellbinding series. Highly recommended.
Aliens in the Old West!
I thoroughly enjoyed this unique new sci-fi adventure. The characters and situations are so realistic that I can picture them happening. I am intrigued by the storyline and am looking forward to reading the next book. Enjoy!
This book is the first in a series. The writing is excellent and the story original.