Light Years from Home
by Mike Chen
DETAILS:
Publisher: Mira Books
Publication Date: January 24, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 345 pgs.
Read Date: February 11-18, 2022
For Jakob, it meant days where time had no meaning, one lifechanging revelation after another. Were there aliens? Yes, there were so many aliens, a number so overwhelming that even now he still didn’t know the name of every species working under the Seven Bells flag. Were there bad aliens? Yes, and it turned out that Dad’s sci-fi shows got some of those traits right—plus mechs from the few years when he indulged in anime—along with holographic displays, faster-than-light speed, smart communication tech that quickly adapted to English, and other things.
It was all of that mashed into one overwhelming reality, something that made him question if he hadn’t taken the best/worst drugs of all time.
Fifteen Years Ago
Evie, her older twins, Kass, and Jakob are on a camping trip with their father. When Jakob and his father step away for a private word (Jakob’s thinking of dropping out, and their father is giving him a talk).
Then everything changes. Jakob and their father disappear. Three days later, their father reappears, disoriented and confused. But there’s no sign of Jakob—he’s eventually declared dead, and the family is shattered.
Evie
Evie’s following their father’s theory, Jakob was taken by aliens. She’s moved away from the family and joined up with others convinced that aliens have visited the planet. They research reportings, scientific phenomena, and do a webcast.
When her group notices phenomena in the area near where Jakob disappeared that matches the same strange readings from that night, Evie can’t contain her excitement, so she scrapes together enough money to fly across the country so she can look into it first-hand.
Kass
Kass had the opposite reaction, her brother’s always been a ne’er-do-well, he has no commitment, no follow-through—always getting by on his charm. She assumes that Jakob found some people to hang out with, leach off of, and was off having a great time while the family fell to pieces.
She stayed home, finished her degree, and is now taking care of their mother in the earliest stages of dementia while working as a therapist, helping others do for their families what she couldn’t do for her own.
She’s not thrilled about her sister’s impending arrival—Kass can’t believe Evie’s wasted her potential with this nonsense and has abandoned her family to do so. She wants nothing to do with it, or the inevitable request for financial assistance that comes with any visit with Evie.
Jakob
Jakob actually was taken by aliens—his father was accidentally taken up in the same transporter stream. He’s serving in an intergalactic war—he’s hiding briefly on earth until he can get some vital information to his side.
Or at least, that’s what he tells his sister when he returns. Kass has other ideas. She keeps using words like delusions and psychosis.
A Family Affair
The book hops around, being told from the perspective of each sibling—we get to know them, what they’ve been up to for the last fifteen years, and how they relate to each other. Whatever outlandish story Jakob is telling, what evidence and theories that Evie has about him, and whatever their mother is going through, the focus is the family—particularly on the siblings. The hurt they’ve caused the others, the neglect they’ve shown towards one another, the utter lack of trust that exists between any of them.
But they can’t fight the pull toward each other—to help each other, even as they’re proclaiming their disgust and disappointment.
Chen’s known for writing family drama, and to date, none of his families have had as much drama as these three.
Yes, there’s the FBI running around, accusations of fraud (and possible terrorism), and some pretty intense action—laced with SF goodness (as you expect from Chen). But the story is at it’s core, a story about these three siblings trying to find some healing. Or at least a definitive way to say goodbye.
So, what did I think about Light Years from Home?
I thought it was a great way to tell this story, I thought the characters were interesting and the situation was very compelling—bringing in their mother’s deteriorating condition was a wonderful addition (in terms of storytelling, I’m not saying I find dementia entertaining).
Yet, I had the hardest time getting involved with the story or characters. I thought it was a great read, but I just didn’t care. Or I didn’t think I did. But I found myself on the edge of my seat at the right moments and getting misty at the end. Without my noticing, Chen had wormed his characters into my heart—including the one, I’d easily have said the book didn’t need.
I’ll note that I just talked to a friend, who had an entirely different reaction to the beginning of the book (hasn’t finished it yet, but I can’t imagine he’ll disagree with what I said about the ending). This suggests, as I imagined, this is a Me-problem, not a Chen-issue.
I think this book worms its way into the SF/Speculative Fiction genre differently than Chen’s previous works. And maybe that was my hitch—maybe. I think it’s great that his works are so stand-alone, that there’s not even a Mike Chen-template like so many other stand-alone authors fall into.
With Mike Chen, you never know what you’re going to get beyond: interesting and fresh premise and emotionally satisfying ending. Light Years from Home lives up to that and has me eagerly awaiting his 2023 release to see where he’s going next.
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