The Girl with the Jade Green Eyes

by John Boyd (Pseudonym), Boyd Bradfield Upchurch

When the encounter long sought by mankind -- first contact with intelligent beings from outer space -- occurred two years ago in a remote area of the Idaho Panhandle, the event was not marked in the heavens with strange lights or on Earth with newspaper headlines. It began prosaically one Thursday morning in late May...

"Where are you from?"

She glanced toward the eastern ridge, studying it, and for a moment he thought she might point to a rock or a tree. Weighing her answer carefully, she pointed toward the top of the ridge and said, "From there."

"From the other side of the mountain?" he asked.

"No. From the other side of the morning."

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

241 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Boyd was the primary pen-name of Boyd Bradfield Upchurch, an American science fiction author.

Reviews

[Edwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the novel to be an imaginative sci-fi thriller with a generous amounts of espionage and romance. I loved all the literary references and how well the alien Kyra was portrayed throughout her memorable adventure on Earth. I'm surprised that I had never heard of this book or the author and only stumbled upon it by deciding to read books that begin with "The Girl with the...". This is a very good novel. I give it 4 stars plus.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boyd Bradfield Upchurch published eleven science fiction novels (and one novelette in Galaxy magazine) under the pseudonym of John Boyd from 1968 - '78, and then left the field. The Girl with the Jade Green Eyes is the last one of the bunch. It's a first contact novel about an insect-like race that stops by to borrow a spoonful of U235 to power their spaceship. The aliens (with one notable exception), known as Kanabians, appear to be very attractive human females, much to the delight of the Forest Service agent who is first contacted by the title character, named Kyra. (She has green hair, too, which was really uncommon in 1978.) The Navy gets involved, as do a cadre of spies, and hijinks ensue... I thought it was a fun read, full of clever twists and humor. On the other hand, the Kirkus Review opined: "Boyd (author of the malodorous Barnard's Planet, 1975) writes with somewhat less poise and control than a busted cement mixer." But I liked it anyway...

[Silver Hawk]

September 16, 2011
Just picked it up at a soup kitchen in SF, Martin De Porres. Standby for review.

September 18, 2011
Ok. This book has really hooked me! Clever, intelligent writing. Interesting characters. It's sort of a bite off of "The Fifth Element". But then again which came first? This book has a copyright date of 1978. Anywayz...I offer an excerpt for your consumption:

-Suddenly she squatted on the grass in front of Peterson, gently removed the clipboard from his hands, handed it to Breedlove, and took both Peterson's hands in hers. She began to speak to him, but in her own language. Tentalively, at first probing and hesitant, she seemed to be questioning him. Then her voice grew more rhythmic, flowing in easy undulations, and she was singing, less a song than a rendition of a melody by the flow of the air over her vocal cords. It was a wind song, a sound as pleasant as the hum of bees in the fields of the summer, and Breedlove suspected it was a Kanabian lullaby.
Yet the singing was more significant than the sounds a mother makes to pacify a child. Over Breedlove's mind it cast visions of a green and pleasant land slowly yielding to the desolation of frost, and he could feel the despair in Kyra's voice. A counternote emerged, bringing intimations of hope, which swelled into an affirmation, and the wind rush of her coda brought again a sense of motion resumed through the far-flung glitter of stars.-


October 5th, 2011
I've been hella-busy and haven't had much time to read lately.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

i have this fascination with old cheap sci fi paperbacks. I was lucky to stumble onto john boyd (thanks chuck!).This one in particular is about a beautiful alien and her crew that are more insect then human, but gorgeous by human standards. A man falls in love with her - but the problem? she is one of those insects that eats her man after she mates with him. It is a touching story of unrequited love... sweet and memorable.. a keeper on my bookshelf.

[Brian Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really striking book from the unfairly forgotten 195s/60s author John Boyd. Superficially it is the story of an alien spaceship landing and asking for some radioactive material to power its ship. But Boyd makes a lot of the whole inter-agency business of who would deal with such an alien request, the paranoia and mind games of CIA etc. And there's yet another layer because the alien in question is very attractive to members of the opposite sex... and potentially deadly.

Although there aspects of male/female relations that feel dated, almost inevitably in a book from this time, that merely makes it the period piece that is. There is actually a lot more to this book than the synopsis would suggest - and it's well worth giving it a go. The twist in the tale is less shocking than I remember it being (having read it before), though it was extremely memorable, so I was waiting for it throughout the book.

[Kathleen V · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐

This is my second read of John Boyd and oh boy he doesn't disappoint.

Oh Sir Boyd, you love your orchids (check out his other book:The pollinators of eden) and politics.

Thomas Breedlove a park ranger is sent out to check out some nudist campers in the Selkirk Wilderness Area. There Breedlove encounters a girl with green hair and eyes. Kyra needs to get a spoonful of uranium to get her ship back into space. Will Breedlove and Kyra succeed that is for you to discover!

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A more modern (1978) version of a pulp novela of the "little lost alien" trope, done with some rather hefty satire and a lot of lampooning of both the government bureaucracy and stereotypical hero men types. Definitely NOT stereotype when it comes to the female characters though, and the ending is something complex I'm not quite sure about, but it's worth a think later!

[Christophe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected a fun, if silly, romp of the Species-the movie-kind, but there's way too much bureaucratic babble to sustain the thrill.

[Brenda Kirton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book within the year it came out and have remembered it ever since. The imagery has stayed with me. I like the surprise in it also. Now that I have the title I am going to try to get my hands on it again.

[colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read 06.28.84

[SciFiOne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cover author John Boyd. Grade A+.