The Archives of Varok is ready for prime-time.

The sequel to "A Place Beyond Man" is called "The Webs of Varok," the second in the series. It is finally available for perusal after forty years of my toying with its premise. At last the time is ripe for some scifi fun while exploring human dilemmas that need serious thought.
The friendly, attractive, too-close-to-ignore aliens (the ellls and varoks--and yes, it's 3 l's because they have very long tongues and can make deliciously various sounds with l and ll and lll, which us humans have no hope of imitating)return to their nearby home on Varok, determined to show us just how a steady state works. Too bad a nasty villainess has pulled some illegal shenanigans and started a snowballing growth spurt (to mix a metaphor). Our friends have a lot to do to plug the economic holes she has punched in the economy and the emotional holes she threatens to punch in the mixed family of humans, ellls and varoks.

What do you think. Can scifi be fun? Can aliens be charming or cute or a challenge because they are too much like us instead of too different from anything on Earth? Can fiction show us something about down-to-earth economics and still be entertaining? Stay tuned for news of the other 3 books in The Archives.