First Contact (Upon This Rock #1)

Marusek (Mind over Ship) launches his Upon This Rock series with a deeply disquieting sci-fi novel. Living a survivalist’s life in 2012 Alaska, religious zealot Poppy Prophecy physically and emotionally abuses his 17 biblically named children, among them Proverbs and Deuteronomy. The mother of the brood is catatonic, which does nothing to keep Poppy away from her, leading to some graphic rape scenes. Meanwhile, her daughters must attach the latest of Poppy’s feeding babies to their breasts. When Poppy witnesses a shooting star fall to Earth, he believes it’s evidence of the Christian Apocalypse. Noble but oblivious park ranger Jace Kuliak, meanwhile, believes it’s an alien visitation. Which man is correct? Readers must wait for book two to find out, as despite much foreshadowing, little closure is provided here. Marusek does a good job crafting Poppy’s disturbed, creepily righteous mental state—so much so that it’s painful to linger so long inside his mind. The foreshadowing, character development, and worldbuilding here are all strong, but the open ending makes this satisfying only as a first installment, not as a story in its own right. Readers captured by the potential of this God-or-aliens plot will want to snap up the sequel. (Self-published)