Alien Rain
Ruth Morgan
Firefly Press
Ruth Morgan’s Alien Rain is one of the most engrossing novels I have read recently. I begin by apologising to Nina Worm who was late to gymnastics because Mummy Worm was determined to finish this enthralling page-turner!
Bree Aurora, the teenage heroine, lives in Cardiff, Mars. Yes, a cool address and the descriptions of this sci-fi setting are original, convincing (I love the name drops and associations of Cardiff suburbs!) and visually stunning in the choice of detail. Bree has a gift for Empathy, which is one of the “soft subjects” in her top ranking school, and is the last person expected to be chosen for the prestigious trip to Earth. Humanity, as we know it, has been eradicated but the details of this final war are kept tantalisingly hidden until late in the novel.
Love-hate relationships simmer through the plot with ingenious machinery, apocalyptic Salvador Dali-esque imagery and physical and emotional journeys aplenty. There is something for everyone here, certainly Science Fiction in the truest sense, but at the core is a teenager who discovers self worth. There are pages where Morgan alludes to the horror genre and grips you in an icy embrace with the terror of the unknown. Just as convincing and one of my lasting impressions is the awe and wonder of the beauty of Mother Earth, “with its scary out-of-control lushness and fecundity” and Bree’s longing to be accepted on “this mystifying, rich and diverse planet”. The brilliance of this novel is that you journey not only through space but also through time and are left with a greater appreciation of our natural history – as well as an intense desire to spend longer in the “Origins of Earth” section of the Cardiff Museum!
There is so much more to praise here and I hope that Ruth Morgan has more in store for us. My advice to anyone looking for a Sci-Fi adventure is to step out and get themselves soaked in “Alien Rain”.
We are grateful to Firefly Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.