45. The Road to Roswell

The Road to Roswell. Connie Willis. 2023 [June] 416 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Serena wasn't in the airport waiting area when Francie got off the plane in Albuquerque, but a man carrying a sign reading FIRST CONTACT COMMITTEE--WELCOME TO THE UFO FESTIVAL was. UFO festival? Serena hadn't said anything about a UFO festival going on at the same time as her wedding. Maybe it's not in Roswell, Francie thought hopefully. But of course it was. Where else was a UFO festival be?

My thoughts: I know, I know. I usually start with "premise/plot". But I just wanted to pop in to say THERE BETTER BE A SEQUEL. And all the better if that sequel is also published this year. Like tomorrow. I wanted MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE. This is easily the best book I've read in 2023. I'll clarify that a bit. The best adult book I've read in 2023. 

Premise/plot: Francie goes to Roswell hoping to stop her friend--her former college roommate--from marrying a "true-believer." It's a UFO themed wedding coinciding with a UFO Festival. This won't be the first time Francie has persuaded her friend to be a runaway bride. But before she has a chance to have a heart-to-heart chat with Serena, but after she's tried on her maid of honor dress--it's horrific, of course--she's abducted...by an alien. The alien, whom Francie eventually nicknames Indy (short for Indiana Jones), and Francie start off on a road trip of the most unusual kind. And as they travel--Indy indicates which direction to drive--they soon pick up more "guests" (or abductees). Wade. Lyle. Eula Mae. Joseph. The original car not being big enough for all the crew...they soon find themselves in a "borrowed" RV crisscrossing the Southwest. (It's Joseph's). What is Indy searching for? What does he want? What does he need? 

My thoughts (part 2): I loved, loved, loved this one. It was giddy-making. It has literally everything. This is a funny sci-fi rom-com. It would make an AWESOME movie. (In my opinion). I loved the characters. I loved the relationships. I loved the world-building. Nothing was tedious. I loved the amount of characterization. Yes, it's premise-driven. Yes, it pokes fun at at least a couple of sub-genres. (Lyle, a true believer, of sorts, has seen EVERY alien movie ever made. Joseph is a die-hard western fan. He's seen EVERY western ever made.) But it was such a delightful read. 

Did I love the ending???? I'm mad at it. Not mad-mad. Not angry, I mean. It's just like when a movie flashes up a big TO BE CONTINUED sign right in the middle of a scene. (Though the words were not to be continued. So there better be a sequel.) 

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Kidnapped

Kidnapped. Robert Louis Stevenson. 1886. 276 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June, the year of grace 1751, when I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father's house.

Premise/plot: When David Balfour's father dies, he sets out on a journey to meet the uncle he never even knew he had. There had been--he reasons, and rightly so--a falling out between the two brothers. But with his father's letter to his brother intact, he sets out with few expectations. Will his uncle welcome him with open arms? Will his uncle invite him to live with him? Will his uncle assist him in getting established in a profession? Will his uncle send him on his way?

Soon after he arrives in the village/town where his father lives, he begins to ask for directions. Every person that he meets gives him a) either a strange look b) strange warning or c) both of the above. It seems this uncle is little respected, much feared. Though he's been warned NOT to make his uncle's acquaintance, he reasons, well, I've come this far already it would be just silly not to go through with my plans.

Can you guess how the meeting goes?

My thoughts: If Kidnapped was a Choose Your Own Adventure book, the version I'd read would be very short! If given the option of choosing to meet the uncle or not meet the uncle, then I'd have him go back to his own neighborhood and trust in the friends he knows versus the family he doesn't.

Though David Balfour's choices would not be my own, I have to say this one is PACKED, absolutely packed, with action and adventure and twists and turns and DRAMA. And I suppose I should have mentioned before now that this one is set in Scotland where feudal disputes and violence abound...

I found this a compelling read. It was INTENSE and enjoyable. Alan Breck and David Balfours certainly know how to keep you turning pages....

Quotes:

"Captain," says Alan, "I doubt your word is a breakable. Last night ye haggled and arglebargled like an apple wife; and then passed me your word, and gave me your hand to back it; and ye ken very well what was the upshot. Be damned to your word!" says he. (86)

Charles the Second declared a man could stay outdoors more days in the year in the climate of England than in any other. This was very like a king, with a palace at his back and changes of dry clothes. (113)

I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both; and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first. (118)

At first I proposed I should give him for a signal the "Bonnie House of Airlie," which was a favorite of mine; but he objected that as the piece was very commonly known, any ploughman might whistle it by accident; and taught me instead a little fragment of a Highland air, which has run in my head from that day to this, and will likely run in my head when I lie dying. (239)

© 2019 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews