Aphelion Review # 16

Accidental Encounter

By Noel Carroll

Review by Dan L. Hollifield

Type of music/work: Sci-fi, First Contact novel

Musicians/Performers/Author(s):

Noel Carroll
General impressions of the album/book:

It grabbed my interest from the first few pages and held it all the way to the conclusion. Very well done.

Specifics:

I found this to be a very enjoyable book to read. The characters were real enough for me to start caring about them early on in the story. Noel and Carol have crafted an engaging adventure for their heroes. The aliens were just as well written as the human characters, so no part of the novel was slighted. The writers can feel justified in being proud of this novel.

I particularly enjoyed the aliens and their technology. Carol and Noel came up with a wonderful concept for their aliens and didn't stint in developing their associated technology and society. The interaction between the alien and human characters is very well done. As is the human to human and alien to alien dialogues.

All in all, a very fun read.

Background info:

The husband-and-wife team, Noel and Carol (using the surname, "Carroll") have produced novels and short stories in three genres: thrillers, science fiction and humor/satire. There is similarity between them, with all emphasizing story ahead of the sensational. Sensationalism also takes a back seat to plausibility, to reasonableness, to validity and purpose of character and to avoidance of the commonplace and the expected. The effect is to produce tales that seduce and engage readers of all genres.

Noel, prior to taking up writing full time, served as a corporate CEO. Carol was an executive in a private corporate. Their published works include novels, short stories and satiric essays.

URL: http://home.att.net/~noelcarroll

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