Ben Archer and the Cosmic Fall

The Alien Skill Series, Book 1

By: Rae Knightly

Narrated by: A W Dickson

Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

A boy with an alien power.

“The thing is, it wasn’t meteors that fell into the woods that night. It was alien spacecraft.”

The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2019 Silver Medal winner

Author Academy Awards 2019 finalist: Reader's Favorite

When UFOs crash into the fields next to his grandfather’s house, 12-year-old Ben Archer becomes a cumbersome witness in the eyes of the government. Not only that, but Ben discovers he has been entrusted with an alien power, the significance of which could jeopardize human life on Earth.

Government agents rush in to remove all evidence of spacecraft and extraterrestrials. The media are led to believe meteors fell in the area and they dub the event "The Cosmic Fall". But when Ben's involvement comes in the spotlight, he is forced to flee with the sole survivor of the crash: An alien man called Mesmo.

And while the destinies of boy and alien become inextricably linked, one question hovers above their unlikely friendship: Why did the aliens come to Earth in the first place?

The Alien Skill series is a science-fiction adventure series for teens. Listeners who enjoy The Proto Project or Crime Travelers will enjoy this fresh, age-appropriate story with a sci-fi twist the likes of A Wrinkle in Time and Animorphs. These middle-grade books have won the hearts of young and old alike, turning them into a best-selling, award-winning coming-of-age series filled with alien powers, hidden enemies, shape-shifters, and a thought-provoking glimpse into the way we treat our planet.

©2020 Rae Knightly (P)2023 Rae Knightly

Critic reviews

Silver Medal Winner of The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, 2019

Finalist, Author Academy Awards - Reader's Favorite, 2019

Loved it!

CSIS, the Canadian version of the FBI, is after Ben Archer as the only unaccounted-for witness to an event that occurred in his grandfather's backyard. The only problem is that Ben doesn't remember what happened. He knows it was terrible because he keeps having nightmares when he tries to sleep and panic attacks during the daytime.

I loved listening to this book. The way the events of the night were revealed in bits and pieces at various points while Ben and his mother try to avoid capture by the CSIS agents and help Ben recover his memories was intriguing. With this book being the start of a series, I was prepared for a cliffhanger, and while there definitely was a cliffhanger at the end, it was a good one. By the end of the book, the main storyline is completed, but the larger storyline was left open-ended.

For the audiobook, the narrator - A. W. Dickson - did a wonderful job with his performance. Though I certainly had not intended to, I ended up listening to the audiobook in one sitting - in part because the story was so good and in part because Dickson's performance was really good. I look forward to listening to Dickson narrating more books in the series.

Good read

This started off slow, but soon ramped up into an exciting chase. Never knowing who is who until the very end. Can’t wait for the next book.