Alien Feast

Simmons, Michael. 2008. Alien Feast.

On the twenty-ninth of September, in the year 2017, William Aitkin's so-called stepparents were eaten by aliens, which he didn't particularly mind, seeing as they had never been very nice to him.

Alien Feast is a fun little adventure novel starring a young boy, William, the girl next door, Sophie, and his uncle, Maynard. They live in the town of Willoughby. As was hinted in the opening sentence, earth has been invaded by aliens. And these aliens are in the habit of eating whomever they want. But there are several things going for the people of earth, the aliens do show signs of laziness. They don't want to work that hard for their meals. But there is something even greater working in the humans favor: the aliens are susceptible--very susceptible--to human diseases. Chicken pox proves to be a mighty weapon against the aliens. However, while many of the aliens are among the dearly departed (or in this case the not-so-dearly departed), there are still aliens that have proved strong enough to survive so far at least. The humans do have one place left that the aliens haven't conquered; unfortunately, Willoughby isn't in it. Willoughby is in alien territory and thus proves the challenge for our heroes and heroine. They're on a rescue mission. First step, save Sophie's parents--both physicians--from the alien prison. They're being held captive until they find a way to cure, to treat aliens. Second step, save the world.

The book is one big adventure. It is funny yet it isn't without its serious overtones. (I certainly wasn't expecting one of the twists in the ending.) Alien Feast isn't quite like any of the books I've read. Books it might compare to in one way or another (although not always for the same age group) are War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and The True Meaning of Smek Day by Adam Rex. If you've enjoyed any of those in the past, then Alien Feast might be one to consider for your tbr stack. If you haven't read any of those, but you loved Alien Feast, you might consider reading some of the others as well. They're definitely worth the time.

I did read the ARC. So it's always possible that the first sentence changed. Just so you know.

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© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews