Life Form

by Alan Dean Foster

When nine scientists discover a faraway planet that is miraculously like Earth, they immediately move in for a closer look but discover that nothing is as it actually seems and their survival will be challenged

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Aliens, Novels

311 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 29, 1995

About the author

Bestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.

Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.

Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life Form is an old-fashioned first contact/planetary exploration novel that Ace published in 1995. It's not set in his Commonwealth universe, but it is fun if somewhat uneven. It has a very interesting setting, with an imaginatively detailed alien ecosystem and a society we learn has been influenced by prior Terran interference. Some of the native life forms are quite malleable and adaptable, which leads to problems and raises a lot of questions among the expedition members. There are a few too many characters, and they're sometimes called by their first names and sometimes by their last, so it's difficult to keep track of them. The ending seems a little weak or rushed, but the set-up is quite fascinating.

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most implausible books about scientific exploration that I've ever read. "Oh look, we can breathe in this atmosphere! Let's chuck all caution and method out the window." Predictable results follow.

[Eager Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Normally I like Dean Foster. I got this becuase someone I respect is reading and enjoying it. I reached just over halfway and I'm stopping. Sorry Mr Foster (or Dean Foster) I don't like it. Here's my review...

LIFE FORM: Earth's governments for some reason spend billions of dollars sending 9 dumbasses on a trip to a distant exoplanet to study it without checking that they'll work together okay or have any personal prblems that will affect their performance when they get there. Then those 9 dumbasses arrive and do dumbass things that their ship shouldn't allow them to do at first (like simply leave the ship without any notification to the others... someone just sees the guy outside through a window!) and the whole group of scientists (except one) following a group of aliens to their village without any protection or without builing up to it. And the dumbassery doesn't stop there.

Sorry, Mr Foster, you rushed this i think and it shows. There's lots of typos. Scenes don't have breaks between them so it's hard to know what's happening and when, and who is the focus now of this paragraph etc. Really bad. Get Icerigger instead.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story started off promising. A group of biologists arrive on a planet hoping to study the terrain. What they find is not only does the planet have with crazy plants, animals, and insects, there are also aliens.
I don't want to give away too much of the plot but everything on this planet is not as it seems. I never got the feeling that the scientists were as surprised as they should have been about all the crazy things that happened. I might have given this book for four stars but I felt like the ending wasn't as good as it could have been.
One other point is that I never felt like the characters were completely developed. I was also a little frustrated that the author only described the women characters as beautiful and desirable but with no personality at all.

[Tanja Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this book ages ago, but I could not recall the title until I saw it in my sister's bookshelf tonight. She usually inherits the tomes I consider most worthwhile. I can't say I recall a terrible lot from this book, except I found it very entertaining and with a rather hilarious ending. My taste has changed quite a lot since I was a teen though, so there is no telling what I'd think of this now.

[Daniel Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending and overall pace really hurt the rating. Interesting world.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

It felt like there were 14 characters, but it was sort of impossible to tell, because they all spoke and acted almost exactly the same, and just to make it extra confusing, they would randomly switch from calling each other by their first name or their last name. I suppose I could have made a chart to tell them apart, but I didn't want to.

Through the whole book I was waiting for why it was necessary to have so many people in it, and it just didn't happen, I feel like if the book was written with one pilot and three scientists that were really distinct from each other and only called each other by one name, then it would have made the book 100x better.

Outside of that, the plot twist was disappointing. It's not a super bad story overall, but it's a slow read, that's for sure.

[Jarryd Kalideen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's start off with a few positives. This is written with an older/higher level of English, with plenty of words I had to look up (always good to learn new words). It begins as many other stories, about humans venturing out to another planet to research, but with a few twists and turns which make for quite the tale. The story flows quite well, and quickly, the description of the aliens and creatures are novel to an extent.

Now, the gripes. For such an expedition, there aren't any medical or military/security personnel and no thought of safety - since everyone goes to the surface and participates in every task. There's no reserve at all. The next part could be simply a great description of scientific, pompous hubris or silly writing - within a few days they're all walking around in shorts and unprotected, then get surprised when someone is stung/poisoned!

After the first death, the leader orders that everything be treated as potentially dangerous. Too little, too late chief? Perhaps 40% of the book too late.

I heavily disliked the romance nonsense, two humans pair off almost 5 minutes of being awake and have a sexual jaunt everywhere. Within 30 seconds of waking, one character is already ogling the women. Everyone, once down on the surface, behave in some way as horny teens. Either seeking sex or being controlled by it. Never can one imagine people wanting to sleep with aliens so quickly. Surely the caliber of person chosen for such a trip should possess self-control? Clearly not, here.

The revelation of the truth behind the aliens is quick stark and unexpected - though the author failed by not showing the reader the true form of the aliens. Epic fail there.

The next fail is the ending, too rushed, too sudden, and without valid reasoning for the deaths. I understand the philosophical undertones about finding oneself, finding meaning, changing your world view(s) etc but this just didn't do it.

[Paul Bellamy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Warning, this will contain spoilers. Not because I'm a spoilsport (pun intended) but if I can save anyone else enduring this waste of time and paper, I reckon I've done a good deed.

It's awful, basically. Not badly written (although not great, either) but the story is one of those shaky plots that takes the easy way out at almost every critical turn. The behaviour of aliens mimicking humans, along with their seemingly senseless battles every so often are conveniently explained away by the introduction of a human meddler, who had been pulling the strings behind the scenes Ta-Dah! all along. It's a lazy cop out and could have been dealt with far more imaginatively. Then again, it's Alan Dean Foster, so maybe not. Oh, and the obligatory "sex with shape shifting aliens" doesn't add to its credibility, either. Mind you, if you're into that sort of thing... you're pretty messed up, ain't you?

Things come to a head - as they will - and, just as everyone is about to make good their escape, they're all conveniently killed off with a Deus Ex Machina ending, worthy of any B-Movie.

I wouldn't recommend this to my worst enemy. Actually, I would because I can be vindictive at times.

[Pete Miles]

Like 1950s/60s sci-fi , complete with stereotypes & sexism. Ok if you put that aside.

This is in many ways like much earlier sci-fi. Humans go to a planet, act in ridiculous, unprofessional, risky and unscientific ways, while exhibiting gender stereotypes and casual sexism. Of course, the aliens want sex with humans and can manifest as a man desires. Don't they all? It's very silly and does not bear scrutiny, but is mildly entertaining most of the time. There are some odd ideas about what people and societies need to develop. There are some dated notions of what constitutes progress and how driving ambition is essential if communities are to 'advance'. I can only assume that the author actually has a time machine and has transported himself from the late 1950s.

[Richp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is at least my tenth by ADF. I find him to be a competent hack, producing a lot of work that is at least half decent. This one ends up being good, but it does drag in the middle before he drops his first big surprise in the plot.

[LinHigley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Form and shape can be a path.

Human are such a strange bundle. This story is frustrating with the simplicity of the natives and the explorers. But it made the important point about the complexity of life even on an alien world.

[Kyiah Ingraham · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
This was a good book which was definitely a good story. Very classic sci-fi storyline which reminded me of Alien or something along those lines lol. I do feel the end of the book was more exciting/enjoyable than the beginning.

[Edward ott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best

[Judith Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

great science fiction by a master of the art

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

great first contact story

Allen Dean Foster is a great story teller. His description of the new world and u expected intelligent species was very good to me.

[Simon Preston · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5.

I liked the aliens. The writing is never more than functional, and the characters very thinly drawn. Their 'personalities' are always told, not shown, and once told are sometimes forgotten instantly. Foster fails to conjure up any suspense or much reason to care what happens to them.

The most egregious example of this is when a major character is revealed, in what is clearly supposed to be a dizzying plot twist, to be... Someone named Clive Concarry Majestatus, who has never been previously introduced to the reader, for whom the reader has no frame of reference, and so the whole thing falls totally flat. He's filled in a bit after the event, and has to be fair a moderately interesting back story, but I found this very disappointing.

One interesting part for me was the fact that the gender politics actually seemed a tad dated, even since it was published in the early 90s. Captain Lastwell (who I simply could not stop picturing as a real old time pirate, beard and all) describing his ship as a goddam bitch or words to that effect - yeah I'd stay off Twitter for a bit Cap'n!

Not a terrible story, but a bit of a chore to finish overall. I gather he's quite a well respected sci fi writer (who's currently being shafted by Mickey Mouse apparently) so I'd try him again, this might just not be the best place to start.

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

The characters are not well developed although it’s obvious the author tried. Maybe he tried too hard?? He clumsily tells us of flaws that each one has, instead of just letting us discover them through their actions. They seem stiff, one-dimensional, and stereotypical. He also hints at characters’ pasts but never explains it throughout the entire book.

The dialogue is very hard to follow, this is for a couple of reasons. First, you’re never told anyone’s full name even though the author sometimes uses first names and sometimes last. Therefore, you have to piece together the first and last names. Also, the book switches pov constantly between 9 people and that makes it hard to follow. Should never switch between that many, and when you do switch, make it obvious and necessary.

Anthropologically incorrect and unrealistic. If a sci-fi writer is gonna write about first contact, the least he could do is brush up on his anthropology. He’s being highly ethnocentric, even if they are aliens.

Very unsatisfying ending.

[Kylie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an alright but uneven Foster book. I've read many many of his books, and this was far from the best and also far from the worst. It is loaded with nature details- alien flora and fauna. He sometimes goes overboard with such things, and this is one case in which he did go overboard.

The biggest issue for me was that he gave away the mystery in the middle of the book. Halfway through, all mystery was completely removed from the story. What follows is 100 pages of more nature descriptions and waiting... just looking forward to seeing how he wraps it up. I never scan books, but I scanned this one. I read only the dialogue and plot info for the last 100 pages because otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to finish this one.

Essentially, it was an interesting idea, but the execution was not on point. The first half was exciting, and the second half was boring until the last few pages.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but very flawed.
If you're a big fan of alien world/society exploration, give it a go. That's the focus, and it manages to get an interesting idea through.
But the flat characters, random PoV changes, generally not-very-good writing, sexist undertones, dodgy science ... yeah, lots of problems there.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life Form surprised me. I was expecting a Ray Bradbury-ish venture into other worlds and was presented with 3D characters that mattered (something not all that common in SF), a compelling story and Foster's propensity for keeping the reader engaged.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Dean Foster is one of the sci-fi author greats, and it shows in this work. If you're into sci-fi that's every bit (perhaps more) about the characters than about the raw science, Foster is your guy.

[Portobellord · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scientists make first contact with beings on the planet Xica. Interesting, but the ending seemed abrupt.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't remember it, so must not have liked it especially.

[Chad Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of predictable. Alien sex. Enjoyable but not terribly innovative.