Hello and welcome to my blog, today I am sharing my review of The Visitors by Owen W Knight.
Paperback - https://amzn.to/3jNVK9Y
Kindle - https://amzn.to/3IgoqBN
(Paid links)
This is my second book from this author, I read another of his books 'Another Life' in 2021. Click to read my review. Owen was kind enough to send me copies of these books in return for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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The Great Reset has begun.
Fourteen years ago, Peter saved the world. Now, his sister Emily and two strangers receive coded invitations to return to the hidden village of Templewood, where Peter faces a new, terrifying threat.
Templewood is home to the Sect, a secretive organisation intent on global power. They have infiltrated many Governments and are collaborating with the Visitors: alien invaders who have brought gifts of advanced scientific and genetic discoveries. These gifts will potentially provide enormous benefits for humanity and facilitate the Sect's bid for power.
But at what cost and what is the Visitors' motive? Why are they taking, then retuning, increasing numbers of the local population? Peter, Emily, and their friends must uncover the truth before their worst fears are confirmed.
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This book is a sci-fi story revolving around 'first contact' with an alien lifeform. There is a lot of history and explanation from a previous story that was set in the same town of Templewood. The authors previous trilogy, The Invisible College series, will explain this story in more detail. I have not read the trilogy, however this did not detract from enjoyment of this book. Owen explained the key details from the previous stories and so I was able to understand enough to give some basis for the characters and the setting.
I enjoyed the format of this story, it was sci-fi and obviously had an encounter with another lifeform as a main part of the story, however compared to other alien invasion tales I have read or watched this seemed less about the aliens themselves and more about the reaction of the humans. It was speculative fiction and it had a slightly dystopian feel, the visitors having provided many different things to help our planet and our race. The people of Templewood were exploring these gifts and seeing the effects that they would have on our planet and how they could help issues to do with global warming and climate change. It really made me think about the things that are currently happening on our planet and how we could probably benefit from some intervention of superior scientific knowledge to help us balance the planet.
The level of depth and information given throughout the story was complex in parts so I read it more slowly than I might read other texts to ensure I was completely absorbing everything he had to say. I enjoyed the character building and the discussions between the three ladies and Peter along with the other residents of Templewood, they were very educated and well reasoned discussions that I felt gave me a lot of food for thought. Being a teacher myself, the thought of being able to completely plan my own curriculum and take charge of how children could be taught was very exciting so I thoroughly enjoyed Rachels storyline and found it quite pertinent!
There was an intriguing end to the story, it did not end as I thought it might and added a little twist which would definitely leave him open to create a sequel. It raised yet more questions about what we might do for the greater good and how we would act in a similar situation. It was certainly a clever piece.
Thanks again to Owen for allowing me to read some of his work, he obviously puts a lot of thought into his writing and it is a privilege to read it. I hope this has given you all the impetus to go and pick up your own copy! If you would like to, you can purchase it using the following links on Amazon. (Paid link)
Paperback - https://amzn.to/3jNVK9Y
Kindle - https://amzn.to/3IgoqBN
Let me know in the comments if you will be adding this to your TBR!