Title: Beneath the Surface
Series: The Outsider Project, Book One
Author: Rebecca Langham
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: January 15, 2018
Heat Level: 2 - Fade to Black Sex
Pairing: Female/Female
Length: 93700
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Sci Fi, interspecies, captivity, teacher, politics
Synopsis
When a change in collective conscious sends the Outsiders, a group of aliens, to the shadows below the city, humans reason that the demonization of their peers is simply more “humane.” There’s no question, nor doubt. Just acceptance.
Lydia had embraced that sense of “truth” for as long as she can remember. The daughter of a powerful governor, she has been able to live her life with more comforts than most. Comforts can be suffocating, though, and when the opportunity to teach Outsider children in their private, “humane” community becomes available, she takes it.
What she finds beneath the city is far from the truth she had grown to know. There she meets Alessia, an Outsider with the knowledge and will to shake the foundation of all those who walk above ground. The two find a new and unexpected connection despite a complete disconnect from the technological world. Or perhaps in spite of it.
Still, it takes a lot more than an immutable connection to change the world. Lydia, Alessia, and a small group of Outsiders must navigate a system of corruption, falsehoods, and twists none of them ever saw coming, all while holding on to the hope to come out alive in the end. But it’s a risk worth taking, and a future worth fighting for.
My Review
Beneath the Surface, Rebecca Langham’s debut novel, nicely falls into what I would call Soft Sci-Fi, in that the nitty-gritty aspects of science aren’t explored, rather the social sciences are. As someone who studied Anthropology for several years in University, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this entire novel is a reflection of exactly that: a social experiment gone horrendously wrong.
The story unfolds slowly, eloquently, almost softly if I could put texture to it. The main character, Lydia, the daughter of a powerful politician, is a teacher in a society where being constantly connected to the “Hive” is a direct equivalent to our current modern day reliance on the internet and social media. Lydia, who could have chosen to do or be just about anything given her privileged family, selects a most unusual contract of going into the underground community where an alien race has been placed; a sought-after refuge and sanctuary. She teaches the alien children a very sterile and prescriptive curriculum all under the guise of protecting them. But security and shelter equate to nothing less than ensuring Earth’s human population maintains its own cultural standing as the prominent species.
There are some not-so-subtle comparisons that can be made throughout this story to the many refugee crises that have occurred in recent years in our own timeline. Not to mention how we as a society treat those we might consider ‘Outsiders’. Who belongs and who doesn’t? How do we identify those who are different than us? How do we treat anyone else who doesn’t resonate with exactly what we are? What are those differences? Skin tone? Sexuality? Gender? Nationality?
The number of times I read passages from this book and then thought about the news I had seen the night before often sent shivers down my spine.
We as a species simply need to do better – and this story amplifies that.
I still haven’t captured all the complex and underlying themes that were covered in this novel, and I’m sure that I could read it again and uncover more terrifying parallels. Of course, there’s a hook at the end of the book, setting up the story for a sequel. I can’t tell you what that is, but I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I had it figured out about halfway through the story – and yet, when it is revealed, it still comes off as shocking and abhorrent.
Langham has told this story in a crafty way. None of the themes explored in this novel point out where our own humanity is desperately failing, nor does it come off as abrupt or in-your-face. Instead, they are hinted at, even glossed over, and I found myself thinking about them pages later.
Shameful things we do to each other are like that though, aren’t they? We so often see the blunt and horrifying stories told on the Ten O’clock news. Stories that shake us, repulse us and draw immediate reactions. However, I think it’s the casualness of our faults, be it racism, homophobia, sexism (and certainly this is not an exhaustive list), that are our most hideous stains upon humanity. And that’s exactly how I felt as this story progressed. How easily we are manipulated as a society by media, how numb we become to bad behaviour and accepting what everyone else considers ‘the norm.’
I would be remiss if I didn’t say that I wanted more. More details about the alien race, how they were different, where they came from, how the technology in this world worked, but then it would have altered the flavour of this book. This is really an insidious exploration of how terrible we are at being human. It truly is a glimpse beneath our own surfaces.
Rating:
Available at:
NineStar Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/beneath-the-surface/
Amazon: http://hyperurl.co/egei88
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/772940
Meet the Author
Rebecca Langham lives in the Blue Mountains (Australia) with her partner, three children, and menagerie of pets. A Xenite, a Whovian and all-round general nerd, she’s a lover of science fiction, comic books, and caffeine. When she isn’t teaching History to high schoolers or wrangling children, Rebecca enjoys playing broomball and reading.
Author Links
Website: http://www.rebeccalangham.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RLanghamAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rlangham85
Instagram: https://instagram.com/Beckles1985
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