The New DAW Books for October

Just posted the new DAW Books over at the DAW Books blog (dawbooks). There's new Mercedes Lackey/Valdemar this month! Plus a new book in Laura Resnick's Esther Diamond series, and the debut novel from Lee Arther Chane! Swing by the blog and check them out!

Book Review: "Alien in the Family" by Gini Koch

I finished this a little while ago but haven't had time to review it until now. Just busy life stuff. But here I am! And the Alien series continues to rocket forward full jet-propulsion ahead.





This book focused on the ramifications of Martini and Kitty's coming wedding, both for the ACs living on Earth and for their home system. Because, for some reason, the home system appears to be taking a much more active interest in it than they should be. In fact, it seems that some of them are headed to Earth, but are they coming to witness the event . . . or to stop it at all costs? Or perhaps both?

There are, of course, multiple plot threads and motivations woven together there . . . or perhaps clashing together is a better description. As Kitty and Martini begin to unravel the mess, we're introduced to new characters and new aliens from the home system, along with vicious attacks and, since this is mostly set in Las Vegas, gambling. One of the best things about this series is that it does keep expanding. Some series fall into a sort of stability, with the same characters, just different bad guys. This one has new characters introduced in each book, while still keeping the old ones around. The world keeps expanding as well. Here we learn more about the home world and how it operates. And it all keeps coming at the same breakneck pace, the reader--along with Kitty--barely getting a chance to catch their breath.

I thought the weaving of the political intrigue and Kitty and Martini's wedding was done well here, as well as the action, comedy, science fiction, and romance elements that are key to Gini Koch's style. As a reader, I'm not that into the romance aspects, and that was the biggest drawback in this novel for me. This is just a personal preference. In the previous ones, the romance elements were there, but they didn't detract from the overall plot much at all for me. In this one, once the main political plot thread is resolved, there's a LONG section that has to do with the wedding arrangements. This lasts about 100 pages, and there's a little bit of additional action plot woven in here, but it's still mostly wedding plans and getting Kitty and Martini to the altar. For me, this was a major lull in the overall action. However, I'm certain that those readers who love the romance elements will love this section. It certainly wasn't badly written at all; just not what draws me to reading Gini Koch's novels. And, that said, it didn't turn me off of the novel.

But that was my only little, niggling complaint about the novel. If you enjoyed the previous novels, you'll love this one. And I'm certainly waiting impatiently for the next novel, Alien Proliferation, due out in December.