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The Wannoshay Cycle
The Wannoshay Cycle takes place in a world where terrorism has spread to America in the form of repeated bombings and violent attacks. Adding to the chaos and paranoia, three dozen alien ships crash-land in the middle of a blizzard, landing in the Midwest of America and Canada. Almost miraculously, in spite of the paranoia of the people who encounter them, the aliens known as the Wannoshay begin to integrate slowly into human society. The transition is interrupted, however, when a series of mysterious explosions occur, and the "Wantas" are blamed. The aliens are placed into internment camps, "for their protection and our own," according to human leaders. An unlikely group of humans, led by a Catholic priest, converge around the alien Mother Ship in Iowa City, where the Wannoshay are inexplicably dying. The humans soon discover the "true history" of the aliens, a secret that explains their epidemic sickness and forces the humans to make painful choices about how to help these immigrants to our world, choices that will take them away from the lives they once knew. The Wannoshay Cycle was published by Five Star Books in January of 2008. The ISBNs are 978-1-59414-661-9 and 1-59414-661-6. You can order the book from the following sources: Read a Press Release (PDF) about the novel and its author. Read Chapter 1 (PDF) Read Chapter 2 (PDF) Read Chapter 3 (PDF) The novel is an expansion of some of my stories that have been published already. Here are the published stories that started it all: And there's also a "prequel" story, set on the alien home planet, entitled "Drinker." Reviews "The
tone and tack of Jasper's novel are much more akin to Ray Bradbury, or
even Stephen King, than Peter F. Hamilton, Neal Asher or Richard
Morgan. There's a peculiarly American fullness that underlies his prose
and his approach. His spiritual interests are somehow still
down-to-earth even if his aliens are not of the earth. The Wannoshay
are as vulnerable as the homeless, as pliable as the ne'er-do-wells who
haunt fast food restaurants and run-down bars. They're pragmatic, not
romantic. And they're as easily sidelined, dismissed and converted into
scapegoats for all of our ills, for all of our sins. We live in the
century of the pointing finger, and would do well to remember that it
can easily swing in our direction." "I've always liked first contact stories because they provide a way of examining the human condition from a slightly, or sometimes greatly, altered point of view. Jasper has a clear, crisp prose style and and nice feel for his characters. The story moves smoothly and without loss of momentum. I thought it might be just a hair too long for its premise, but it wasn't bloated. I'll be looking forward to his next." "Michael Jasper has written an enthralling encounter of the third kind."
"Jasper draws some interesting parallels to our own history - the struggle for civil rights, the forcing of Native Americans into reservations, etc. In addition, the examination of what happens when two totally disparate cultures collide poses some thought-provoking questions. Do we have the right as humans to impose our authority on aliens from another world? How would we handle Wannoshay landing in our present time and place?" "Jasper has a real gift for evoking a mood, and for the most part, manages to make the Wannoshay seem genuinely, creepily alien and inexplicable." "When the Wannoshay start exhibiting signs of a strange soul sickness that may spread to humans, it’s up to the ragtag six to figure out what is going on in the Wannoshay mother ship, why the Wannoshay are falling sick, and what late means to them. Jasper imagines what first contact might be beyond Wellsian invasion—not hostile, necessarily, on either side, but rife with conflict due to misunderstandings and the problems faced by both cultures." "Jasper's first novel (he has previously published short fiction) makes important points about the current treatment of immigrant populations while telling a story of sacrifice and courage that belongs in larger libraries." "Ordinarily these types of novels, with shorter work incorporated inside a larger work, are called fix-it novels. I tend to think of fix-it novels as discrete short pieces linked by a little transitional text, but here Jasper has deeply reworked the stories to interweave all these stories into one complex, fully integrated novel. The result is an absorbing work full of unflinching looks at what makes us human, how we might react to be faced with the truly incomprehensible." "The Wannoshay Cycle centers more on characters and relationships than action and plot progression. This was an interesting look at how Americans might react to a completely different race trying to integrate into our society. Acceptance without knowledge of their nature would be close to impossible. And Michael Jasper has created a fascinating culture of aliens in the completely unique Wannoshay. This was a nice change of pace from my usual taste of space action scifi." "Jasper's characters feel right. Their choices, their reactions, everything they do feels true to life. One of the best examples of this is the way some of the characters react the first time they meet one of the Wannoshay. There's a moment of instinctive fear and panic. The Wannoshay are something outside of our experience. Millions of years of evolution have done nothing to prepare us for the truly alien, and that moment of first contact is overwhelming. Jasper captures that moment several times, and while it might be less glamorous than the heroic explorer who meets a new race without a glimmer of fear, Jasper's version is far more believable." "One of the best books I have read in the last 12 months, Jasper has produced a book that brings it all together - engaging story, realistic characters, and something that will stay with you after you have read it." |
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