Showing posts with label Brian Yansky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Yansky. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Author Guest Post: Brian Yansky helps us prepare for an alien invasion.






Brian Yansky, author of Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences, is here today to offer advice on how to prepare for an alien invasion. 



How To Prepare for an Alien Invasion:
      How do you prepare for an Alien Invasion?
      Very carefully.
      That’s the short answer.
      Alas, I don’t believe there’s a long answer that can be of any use to anyone hoping to be prepared for an alien invasion. The aliens in my novel are quite polite and have a saying when they brutally kill a human. They say, “I’m sorry for your loss.” If aliens come and they’re polite I’m afraid we’d be hearing that a lot. I’m of the Stephen Hawking, one of the biggest brains on the planet, school of thought. He recently said this about aliens, “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.”
      Right. Not so good for us.
      The first two sentences of ALIEN INVASION & OTHER INCONVENIENCES go like this: “It takes them less time to conquer the world than it takes for me to brush my teeth. That’s pretty disappointing.” So, in terms of the aliens in my novel, we humans are so primitive that our weapons don’t have a chance against them. Ten seconds and they’ve put most of the human race to sleep for good. Bummer. The survivors are made slaves, so surviving isn’t so great either. Double bummer. (I’m trying to bring bummer back. In case you’re wondering, I’m not having much success.).
      I do believe in the resiliency of the human race though and that is a large part of what my novel is about. We humans have our faults but you have to say one thing for us: we’re stubborn about remaining alive. My main characters find a way to survive the aliens whose awesome power comes from their telepathic abilities. What happens is my characters adapt in unexpected ways that give them a slim chance against the aliens. That’s all I can say without giving away too much. So here’s my advice for survival in general and surviving an alien invasion in particular though really it’s just an echo of Mr. Darwin’s advice: adapt. 
      It’s worked pretty well so far. 


____________________________________________________________

Thanks Brian! 

Check out my review of Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences here.


Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences


Visit Brian Yansky’s website

More blog tour stops can be found here. Make sure to visit the stops for the chance to read more reviews, guest posts, interviews, and enter to win your very own copy of Brian’s book.



Monday, November 1, 2010

Review: Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences by Brian Yansky (Blog Tour)



Title: Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences
Author: Brian Yansky
Available: Now
Reading Level: Young Adult




4.5 out of 5 Stars










Description from Goodreads:


A polite race of telepathic killer aliens, a ten-second world conquest, and one teenage boy collide in this wry, gutsy adventure.

Jesse is in history class when a formidable, efficient race of aliens quietly takes over the earth in less time than it takes him to brush his teeth. Most humans simply fall asleep and never wake up. In moments, everyone Jesse knows and loves is gone, and he finds that he is now a slave to an inept alien leader. On the bright side, Jesse discovers he’s developing telepathic powers, and he’s not the only one. Soon he’s forging new friendships and feeling unexpectedly hopeful. When a mysterious girl appears in his dreams, talking about escaping, Jesse begins to think the aliens may not be invincible after all. But if Jesse and his friends succeed, is there anywhere left to go? Brian Yansky offers a funny, grim novel packed with everything boys and sci-fi fans love: aliens, humor, action, and a healthy dose of triumph.


My thoughts:


Jesse finds himself among the small group of survivors left after Earth is invaded by aliens. His classification as superior product lands him an assignment living at the alien leaders’s home. While there he meets other survivors (also superior product), and friendships are formed. They hope for escape and survival, but know breaking through the alien security measures would be impossible. When Jesse begins to visit a girl in his dreams, who just happens to have inside info about the aliens, his dream of escape starts to feel possible.


Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences is a fast paced, and engaging read. At just 240 pages I was relieved it didn’t have the issues with plot pacing, and lack of character development that I’ve run into with other books of similar length. It wasn’t rushed, and the characters felt like friends by the time I reached the end. The ending left me to hope we might see more of Jesse and his friends in future books.


Jesse is a great main character. I enjoyed reading from his point of view, and found his alternate swear words hilarious. Some of the situations were a little darker than I’d anticipated, but there was enough fun to balance it out nicely. Reading the correspondence between head alien, and the important people back on the home planet, Sanginia, was a great addition. It was nice to know what was going on with both sides of the battle. 


Even if you don’t think aliens are your thing, I’d recommend giving this one a try. It’s a fantastic story of survival, and has a great message when it comes to how we treat our planet. Maybe the fear of alien takeover is just the motivation we need to be more environmentally conscious.


Brian Yansky on the web:



Other stops on the Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences blog tour can be found here. Author Brian Yansky will be here tomorrow to offer advice on how to prepare for an alien invasion. You don’t want to miss it!