Mother of Demons

By: Eric Flint

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

A mercenary outcast with a perversion no one cared to think about.

A holy leader, who knows her people are on the verge of great upheaval - and who wants to know more about this new tribe of demons.

A battle-mother, possibly the greatest battle-mother who ever lived - if the rules of her tribe don't force her into a battle even she can't win.

A keeper of the secrets of history who would control the tides of fate - if only she could.

A paleobiologist with a terrible sense of humor.

They are all revolutionaries, but none of them expected anything like what they're about to experience.

Contains mature themes.

©1997 Eric Flint (P)2020 Tantor

My favourite first-contact novel!

Yes, yes, YES! Finally, some novel freaking aliens!

I’m so tired of reading sci-fi filled with humanoid aliens. I get that there is budget reason for that in TV land, but there is really no excuses for that in a book. Unless you’re just not that inventive. Or want to make it less weird for the humans to have sex with the aliens.

Regardless, this is such a solid book. I can’t believe it’s one of Flint’s first either. Yes, it does bear some marks of immature writing, but it’s a solid novel none the less. Very inventive. There are loads and loads of characters in this one, some with very alien names. I found them hard to tell apart in the beginning, but got accustomed to it soon enough.

I just love how the human colony develops, and how we’re treated to snippets of alien biology and culture. I liked the historical perspectives, too, even if they got a tad preachy on occasion. The wry humour also worked for me. And finally, I am SO glad this managed to avoid almost all of the tristest of the first-contact clichés.