Illegal Alien

By: Robert J. Sawyer

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

When a disabled spaceship enters Earth's atmosphere, seven members of the advanced Tosok race are welcomed by the world. Then a popular scientist is murdered, and all evidence points to one of the Tosoks. Now, an alien is tried in a court of law -and there may be far more at stake than accounting for one human life.

©1997 Robert J Sawyer (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Boring courtroom procedural with aliens

Not sure why I picked up this audio book, if I’d known it was essentially a courtroom procedural I doubt I would have bothered. Just not my cup of tea. Even the fact that the court case dealt with aliens from other planets couldn’t keep this from being a boring recounting of witness after witness telling bits and pieces of a murder plot. Just boring. I finished it about a week ago and even now cannot recall how it ended.

What more could you want?

Aliens, courtroom drama, and surprises around every corner. I should have begun by stating I am a BIG Robert Sawyer fan. I was very excited to see his older books come to audible when Triggers was released. I blazed thru Triggers and moved on to Illegal Alien. I enjoy Sawyers writing style and the way he interjects morality and opposing points of view. If you are a Sawyer fan you will enjoy this book. Joe Barrett gives the story life. I will look for more books narrated by him. This is not my favorite Robert Sawyer book, that prize goes to Calculating God because it had some wonderful humor and the whole premise was so outlandish I admired the imagination that brougth it to life.

Illegal Aliens is a five star book and was well worth my last credit. I recommend this book to fans as well as Sawyer newcomers--just beware, you will be spending all your credits on Sawyer books for the next couple months...he is addicting!

95 out of 100. It's that good.

I read this book several years ago, and when I bought it on Audible I didn't realize I had already read it. Even though I knew I had read it, I couldn't remember all the plot points, and some of the finer details. This is a great book, I think all will like it. I give it 95 out of 100, which is one of my higher recent scores.

Good Transends Evil Everywhere

There are numerous science fiction stories where the aliens are very evil and few where they are very good. This is a story where the same alien is both. It gets off to a slow start but hang in there, it is worth the wait. The twists and turns cannot be forseen.

This is It.

If you want true science fiction, then turn to Robert J. Sawyer. This is my seventh Sawyer book and this is the best, but they are all good. If you don't like this, you don't like Science Fiction.

Sawyer explores the question, What if Aliens land in the United States in peace, but one of them commits a murder? Sawyer explores this question and we are along for the ride. It is a great ride with some mystery and lots of twists and turns, along with commentary on the U.S. Justice system.

Sawyer never cops out by having aliens that look and act like us. He examines evolution, figures out what type of creatures would come from certain planets and goes from there. Evolution is explored in this book in great detail and some cool things about humans are explained.

Written in 1997, it is just a little dated. There is talk of VCR's and no mention of cell phones. Blockbuster is even mentioned.

I wish I was more articulate, I loved this book and I want you to read it.

Narrator was absolutely excellent.

Like a haute stew!

Is it a murder mystery? How'zabout a "what are those weird aliens up to anyway" mystery? Or no… perhaps its a dig into a "BIG QUESTION" or two? Well, like a swell stew, this Sawyer novel – it be all a dem tings.

But do you think of stew AND haute cuisine? Not so much. But it's still good.

Look, you ever get a tune stuck in your head? Well Robert Sawyer writes his tales like the insidiously talented folks who compose pesky head-sticking music. He stays with you. And you stay right back.

Illegal Alien is about murder-solving, mysterious intentions, and even a big question Which is driven by anatomical-deterimination of all things. It'll stick in your head. Joe Barrett is in the top league of audio artists. He stays there throughout Illegal Alien.

I liked it. I'm gonna' go now and shop for another Sawyer listen. Bye...

Slow to Start BUT VERY GOOD

It was initially slow to Start, but the story S very good. I highly recommend.

So glad I found this!

Any additional comments?

After a lot of searching and trial and error looking for a new author to enjoy, I stumbled across this book and it's fantastic! The author has a true gift, keeping you enthralled and entertained to the point that it's hard to stop listening to the book. The ideas he comes up with are truly fascinating and believable at the same time.

The narrator is brilliant, bringing life to the characters and placing the right emphasis at the right moments. It's easy to imagine the characters as the narrator speaks for them.

I've now started reading The Neanderthall Parallax series (also by Robert J Sawyer) and I'm now hooked on that!

Highly recommended.

Sci-Fi-Courtroom-Drama?? Yes!!

Yet again Sawyer hits ANOTHER home run!

What a great story! I just loved it – glued to the developments and did not want to put it down.

I expected nothing less from this author; terrific!

refreshingly different!

What made the experience of listening to Illegal Alien the most enjoyable?

Some of the situations the aliens find themselves in can be humorous.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Illegal Alien?

The murder trial and all the discriptions of alien lifestyle.

What does Joe Barrett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Joe does a good job of being sad or happy or afraid when the situation calls for it.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The first time the murder weapon was seen by humans. It implicated an alien as the prime suspect.

Any additional comments?

I don't think this book was intended to be a comedy but I found myself laughing throughout.