Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences (review)

It is an understatement to say that Jesse is having a lousy day: an alien invasion has left most of humanity dead, and the survivors (including the snarky Jesse) are rounded up as slave labor. Since the Sanginians seem to have egos to match their telepathic might, Jesse hopes that he can use their hubris to his advantage, but the odds look unbeatable. Ah, but what if he forms a teen super-team of an overachiever, an athlete, a girly model, and a girl who shows as much latent telepathic promise as Jesse but who is currently trapped in her position as mistress of the invading leader? Then he just might be in business against, you know, a force of incoming millions who want to colonize the planet. Yansky ably balances abject horror with grim, sharp humor, illustrating the fact that it is difficult, even in unimaginable circumstances, to be depressed and somber constantly. The fact that the dark humor will likely make the readers uncomfortable on occasion, much as it does the protagonists even as they embrace it as a break, works to heighten the sympathetic response to the ragtag few humans who remain; the bleak joking emphasizes even more than the descriptions of work camps the ways in which people are merely waiting around to see the end of Earth as it was known. Pair this with Wallenfels' recent Pod (BCCB 5/10) for two contrasting looks at survival after most of humanity is instantly neutralized, and for their intriguing overlapping examinations of the environmental folly of humanity and how it may play a role on the way we could be viewed by alien life.