Weekly Reader: Moon Deeds (Book One of The Star Children Saga) by Palmer Pickering; Alien Invasion Science Fiction/Fantasy Has Strong Start on Earth But Gets Lost on The Moon

 

Weekly Reader: Moon Deeds (Book One of The Star Children Saga) by Palmer Pickering; Alien Invasion Science Fiction/Fantasy Has Strong Start on Earth But Gets Lost on The Moon

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Palmer Pickering's Moon Deeds features an alien invasion, a nice mixture of fantasy and science fiction, and a pair of twins who travel from Earth to the Moon to fulfill their destiny in a chosen ones prophecy. It has a strong start while the characters are on Earth but it kind of loses something when they get to the Moon.

We get a fairly decent exposition introduction to explain the history of what happens in the book. It's a very intriguing back story and says a lot about human nature and how we would act during an alien invasion. Some would welcome. Some would fear. Many would defend themselves with weapons or words when things go bad.

In 2038, a race of aliens called the Ceph arrived on Earth. The Earthlings were impressed by their advanced technology and willingness to share resources so they formed an alliance. Things went well at first. Cephs began working on Earth and integrated into Earth society. Children who were half Earthling and half Ceph were born.

One half-Earthling and half-Ceph, Djedefptah (Jed) Tegea, known for his military strategy and conquests, went to war against Earth mercenary leader, Jared Metolius. The two eventually formed a Global Alliance to unite the world under one government. They combined their armies to form one in which the soldiers were called "Tegs."

Various Earthlings have formed a resistance against the Global Alliance.

For example, the Free States of North America remained neutral until Pensacola, Florida was bombed. The Free States government surrendered but various state militias formed Gaia United.

This exposition is not only fascinating but is in such detail that Pickering could write another series. It would be interesting to get a first hand account of the Cephs arrival, the life of Tegea, and the formation of the Tegs.

What is particularly remarkable about this conquest is that Earthlings not only use technology and science to fight the Tegs, but magic, making the book take a slight detour from science fiction into fantasy. It makes sense. Many believe that science and magic use the same types of energy and may just be different terms to describe the same things. It's also telling that if the new scientific means cannot be used as safeguards and protection, many will turn to the old cultural ways. 

 The British Isles created a shield called The Druid's Mist. While in the country formerly known as the United States, the Shasta Shamans, a religious sect from Northern California, created the Shaman Shield as protection against the Tegs.

It's ironic in these cultures that races, ethnicities, and religions of people that had been almost wiped from existence because of colonization, genocide, the rise of Christianity, and laws forbidding these practices end up being the ones to help save the Earth's inhabitants from  extinction. (There should be a mass and smug "we told you so" along with a sardonic "you're welcome" from the Pagan and Native American communities after this.)

Most of the action is set in 2090 and involves twins, Cassidy and Torr Dagda. With the two main characters, we get an interesting outlook at the various ways in which people survive in this environment.

Cassidy and Torr were raised under the Shaman Shield by their devoted parents. Their mother and grandmother were once members of the Shasta Shamans, though their mother cut ties with them. Because of this, both twins have intuitive clairvoyant abilities.

Torr is fighting with Gaia United in a losing battle against the Tegs. While he had some prophetic dreams, he lives in reality.

He is part of Gaia United and is a ground soldier fighting the Teg Army.  He and his fellow soldiers are given the choice to become Tegs or go to a work camp. Instead, Torr and a few others take a third option: resist and get the Hell out of there as fast as they can.

Some of the most gripping passages are when Torr and his regiment are fighting and running for their lives against the Tegs. A particular moment in which Torr and his friends escape by boat reveals them using their strength, wits, skill with weapons, and subterfuge to evade capture and head for familiar territory.

Meanwhile, Cassidy is studying many of her family's shamanic practices such as herbology and having visions. She studies the various plants in her grandmother's studies and even has some fascinating visions of the souls that inhabit them. Through Cassidy, the old magical spiritual ways are not dead but continue to thrive. 

 Though she is not at the forefront of encountering the Tegs, Cassidy is in as much danger as Torr. One frightening scene depicts this as the Dagdas spend the night in a treehouse to hide from the approaching Tegs. Their encounters with them create important sacrifices and decisions from them..As the Tegs are getting closer, the Dagda family has to  contemplate a move. 

Cassidy and Torr inherited a deed to properties on the Moon so it's about time that they used them. Cassidy is also hearing whispers about a prophecy of a pair of twins called the Star Children. Could she and Torr be them?

The majority of Moon Deeds is set on Earth and these are the strongest chapters. Torr and Cassidy see the world that they once knew slowly change and die right in front of them and have to go to a new world to start over. They have to live every day with courage, survival, and sacrifice. Perhaps the prophecy of the Star Children gives them something to hope for, that things will change and that in the end they are destined for something greater.

The book is not as good however when the setting shifts to the Moon. There are some interesting clever touches that Pickering provides. The Moon is almost like a futuristic Western in which property is claimed, people work hard to build a new life, prospectors get rich from the resources, and women from the World's Oldest Profession obtain power. It's very well detailed particularly how the twins feel the intense culture shock and discomfort of being separated from family in a new place without the things that they once held dear.

However, there are some concepts and characters that probably should have been saved for the next book. There is a group of women who are interested in Cassidy and might be a cult or a coven of witches. There are members of various alien species, besides the Ceph, that their presences are brushed aside. 

There is also a mysterious character who could be a charming con artist/antihero or a full on villain ready to take all that he can get. Unfortunately, these characters are introduced too late to fill their fullest potential in this book. It's almost as though once things on the Moon got interesting, Pickering decided to end Book One when it would have been better to end Book One with their arrival on the Moon.

However, there is enough interest in the setting and characters of the Moon to make Book 2, a potentially good, possibly better, follow up to its predecessor.