Book Review: People of the Sun by Jason Parent

All life comes from the sun. Sometimes, death comes with it.

Filled with hope and driven by fear, four would-be heroes are driven from their home planet in a desperate bid to save their civilization from extinction. But survival takes on a whole new meaning when a malfunction sends their ship plummeting toward Earth.

Surviving the crash is only the first obstacle on their path to salvation. The marooned aliens soon discover that Earth’s beautiful exterior masks an ugly foundation, a place inhabited by a warrior race that’s on a path toward self-destruction.

Brimming with action and intrigue, People of the Sun is sure to entice fans of dark fantasy and sci-fi thrillers such as Watchmen and I Am Number Four.

I’ve been meaning to review this for a while, but time got away from me! So, as I’m going off my notes, I hope I can do justice to Jason Parent and People of the Sun. This Science Fiction adventure was a brilliant way for me to dip my toes back into this genre. It was imaginative, but also realistic enough to make stepping into it easy. I have to say, I was impressed with the solid way that Jason Parent writes. Having not read anything of his yet, this book has my interest peaked!

Basically, this book is the story of all of the disastrous occurrences that befall the poor Symorians who are featured here. From the moment that they leave their planet, nothing seems to go right. What I found most fascinating, was the difference in the ways that they interacted with the human race, once they arrived on Earth. We always like to peg aliens as either infinitely good, or infinitely evil. Parent shows that there are grey areas there. Survival instincts can overcome common sense sometimes, and that’s an important distinction.

I think the toughest part of this book for me, honestly, was that there wasn’t really anything remarkable about this story. It’s solid, and the premise behind most of it is really well grounded. It’s just not as exciting as I hoped it would be. I felt like I wanted to be more invested in the Symorians that I was, and that really hampered the effect that the ending would have had on me otherwise. It was a little disappointing, but nothing that kept me from finishing the story. I definitely still had to know how everything panned out.

All in all, People of the Sun is a solid and relatively entertaining way to spend a few hours. I’d recommend it to readers who, like me, are still feeling their way into the SF genre. It’s easy to read, and will welcome you with open arms! Now, to go and find more Jason Parent books to read!

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.