The Wild Boy - Hardcover

Rochelle, Warren

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1930846045 ISBN 13: 9781930846043

Publisher: Golden Gryphon Press, 2001

Synopsis

Humans have domesticated animals for thousands of years; in this novel, a spacefaring race descends on Earth to domesticate humankind. The Lindauzi came to Earth at the turn of the millennium with a mission to breed humans to become their emotional symbionts. Technically superior, within a generation the Lindauzi dominate the Earth, running a breeding program designed to produce humans capable of full emotional symbiosis. This is the story of Ilox, a human raised by the Lindauzi, his banishment and adoption by a tribe of wild humans, and his eventual reunion with his Lindauzi bond-mate, Phlarx. While alien invasion is a common plot in science fiction, this fresh voice breathes new life into such a story, focusing on the theme of what it means to be human.

About this title

About the Author

Warren Rochelle is the author of Communities of the Heart: The Rhetoric Myth in the Fiction of Ursula K. Le Guin. His short fiction and poetry have appeared in Aboriginal Science Fiction, Beyond the Third Planet, Crucible, and Romance and Beyond. He lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Reviews

This literary first novel from Rochelle, who's published short fiction and poetry in Aboriginal Science Fiction and other genre journals, updates a classic SF plot: aliens conquer Earth because they have a use for humans. On their home planet, the Lindauzi require a symbiotic emotional relationship with the intelligent, dog-like Iani to remain sane and sapient. When the Iani all die in a plague, the Lindauzi invade Earth in the hope of breeding humans as acceptable substitutes. Ilox, a human bred to be a companion, forms a bond with Phlarx, but it is not complete enough to prevent Ilox from also bonding with other humans, i.e., women. When his Lindauzi masters discover this flaw, Ilox must fend for himself. Within a comparatively short compass, the author skillfully and effectively uses multiple viewpoints, including those of Ilox, Caleb (the son of Ilox by a "wild" woman), Phlarx and various other Lindauzi. Some may find the premise hard to swallow, but once past the initial suspension of disbelief, most readers will find the story absorbing. Those seeking contemporary significance in the animal-rights subtext will be disappointed, since Rochelle has produced what amounts to a solid alien-invasion novel of the sort not common in SF since the 1950s and '60s. He deserves kudos for not bloating his narrative to limits beyond what the plot and characters can support. (Sept.)Rhetoric Myth in the Fiction of Ursula K. Le Guin.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

The alien Lindauzi land on Earth with one goal in mind to domesticate humans as empathetically symbiotic pets. When a human "dog" named Ilox angers his masters and is banished to the wilderness, he meets a group of untamed humans and discovers the truth of his and Earth's past. Rochelle's first novel explores the bonds of love, loyalty, and friendship while telling a story of alien conquest and human resistance. A good choice for most sf collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In Rochelle's wonderfully moving variation on the classic theme of Earth's subjugation by aliens, the conquerors just want to bond with us. The sophisticated, space-faring Lindauzi have depended on their powerful emotional linkage to their companion race, the simian Iani. But the Iani have all died of a terrible plague. After many Lindauzi suicides, Crown Prince Corviax determines to find a replacement species. Eventually, he discovers humanity. Regretfully, he begins culling to eliminate humans' technology, advanced culture, and emotional ties to one another. Finally, people live either as the Lindauzi's pets and servants or as tattered "wolves" in abandoned towns and forests. The long-lived Lindauzi continue breeding humans and improving their empathic capability, until Corviax's son discovers one with the true bonding talent. But that human, Ilox, flees, falls in love outside, and creates a family. Years later, when he is stolen from the human community, his 11-year-old son, Caleb, starts "hearing" the Lindauzi in his head and enduring a fierce struggle between longing to join them and rescuing his father. Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Golden Gryphon Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1930846045
• ISBN 13: 9781930846043
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 270