Frontier Earth

Excellent, combines SF with western folklore. I would highly recommend it.

Frontier Earth appeared some time ago but deserves ongoing mention as an excellent blend of a Western and a science fiction story. Two aliens crash land on earth in a plot reminiscent of Hal Clement's Needle, but with a Western twist; for their involvement in the gunfighting world of the late 1800s may change human lives. The fact that humans are oblivious to the aliens adds tension.

Tombstone 1881; not the slightly gritty, visually septic Hollywood version, but a real, multi-layered tapestry of frontier life, where the gap separating the lawless from the law keepers is thin and murky. This is the well-researched backdrop for a science fiction story that would give Sigourney Weaver nightmares. From the outset, we are thrust into a cat and mouse game. The predators are creatures who do not feed simply on human flesh, but feast, indeed savor, human terror. The prey is a man without a memory. But there's far more at stake that just his life...if only he could recall why.At times, the reader is caught up in the events leading to the most famous showdown in American western history, the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Then changing gear, the unfolding drama is seen from the alien perspectives of hunter and hunted, both of whom are confused by human motivations and self-righteous, conflicting moralities.Cocky and self-assured, caught up in their own unfolding drama, the human players have no comprehension that the very future of Earth is at stake as they head towards their own violent climax. A climax that without alien involvement, may have seen history written very differently....The book is punctuated with a rich patina of sensations. Not simply visual, but visceral. The brutality of the aliens is described with imagery that reaches into our primitive hindbrain and shakes it uncomfortably. Yet we also see that some humans too, feed on terror and in many ways are as unprincipled as the most horrific of aliens our imaginations can conjure.Read this one carefully to savor the tastes and textures of a well written, first book. I look forward to a sequel.

The man really did it! This first novel gives us a taste of Harry Turtledove, with a dash of Stephen King, and a healthy dose of Mr. Boxleitner's wit, charm and experienced actor's sense of story. It is definitely a first novel AND a setup for a sequel so the exposition is sometimes too lengthy, in moments even diluting the suspense, BUT when it revs up, it really revs up and is well worth the read--looking forward to more from such a creative storyteller!

The alien culture is vivid, the Tombstone, AZ setting is well-researched, the characters are intriguing, and the story is exciting! When is the sequel coming out?