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Our Child of Two Worlds
Cory is the child of two worlds: when his birth-people come, they will break his mother's heart . . . but they may also be this world's only salvation.
Molly and Gene Myers rescued Cory and kept him safe from those who wanted to use his remarkable knowledge and power for their own ends . . . and in doing so, they rediscovered themselves and fell in love with a remarkable child.
In this gripping sequel to Our Child of the Stars, Cory and his new family are having to deal with the consequences of fame - but Molly is more concerned about the future, for Cory's people are on their way.
This is the time of Woodstock and the moon landings; war is raging in Vietnam and the superpowers are threatening each other with annihilation - but the Myers know there is a far greater threat approaching from the stars, and only Cory's people possess the knowledge to fight off the invaders.
A Child of Two Worlds
is a remarkable story of family and the power of love, set against the backdrop of a fast-changing, terrifying decade and an interstellar threat almost beyond imagining.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published April 29, 2021
2 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Cox
3 books59 followersI’m interested in strong, believable characters and their relationships. I like writing to have hope and humour, and to recognise the dark and unfair side of life. Usually, my work has some speculative or fantastical elements, but I am not interested in strict barriers between genres.
“Cox’s writing style is warm, lyrical and not afraid to explore humanity’s many complex and opposing points of view. This is the kind of book that makes you think about what being human is and could be.” (Run along the shelves blog)
The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder - Spooky Sapphic Victorian Murder Mystery is published 1st Sept.
"London 1881. Two older women, lovers living off their spiritualist scam; a beautiful young Lady lost in grief; and a powerful man concealing a hideous crime." One reader said
"With the perfect mix of meticulous research, emotional depth and a rollicking good story besides, Stephen Cox delivers surprises to the very end."
My two previous novels are available throughout the Anglosphere - and hopefully wider. I am querying a novella and there is free short fiction on my website. I provide services for writers and readers.
The first book Our Child of the Stars was called 'heartfelt, imaginative and thrilling'. In a 60s small American town, a childless couple rescue an alien boy and try to keep him from the government.
Our Child of Two Worlds concludes the story - though not perhaps further stories in that universe.
'a remarkable story of family and the power of love, set against the backdrop of a fast-changing, terrifying decade and an interstellar threat almost beyond imagining.'
My grandmother told me I read too much. I remember walking in the garden when I was small, telling myself stories.
I post on the website and I have a regular newsletter
I’ve lived in several places. I spent nearly all my childhood in Bristol, and I’m now an adoptive Londoner. I have a partner and two adult children. I’m a professional communicator, a science PhD dropout, a recovering poet, and a Quaker.
I’m active in the All Good Bookshop writers group
Name buddies
I’m not the sculptor, the American Libertarian and expert on Jane Austen, or the guy who wrote a book about the Munchkins.
“Cox’s writing style is warm, lyrical and not afraid to explore humanity’s many complex and opposing points of view. This is the kind of book that makes you think about what being human is and could be.” (Run along the shelves blog)
The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder - Spooky Sapphic Victorian Murder Mystery is published 1st Sept.
"London 1881. Two older women, lovers living off their spiritualist scam; a beautiful young Lady lost in grief; and a powerful man concealing a hideous crime." One reader said
"With the perfect mix of meticulous research, emotional depth and a rollicking good story besides, Stephen Cox delivers surprises to the very end."
My two previous novels are available throughout the Anglosphere - and hopefully wider. I am querying a novella and there is free short fiction on my website. I provide services for writers and readers.
The first book Our Child of the Stars was called 'heartfelt, imaginative and thrilling'. In a 60s small American town, a childless couple rescue an alien boy and try to keep him from the government.
Our Child of Two Worlds concludes the story - though not perhaps further stories in that universe.
'a remarkable story of family and the power of love, set against the backdrop of a fast-changing, terrifying decade and an interstellar threat almost beyond imagining.'
My grandmother told me I read too much. I remember walking in the garden when I was small, telling myself stories.
I post on the website and I have a regular newsletter
I’ve lived in several places. I spent nearly all my childhood in Bristol, and I’m now an adoptive Londoner. I have a partner and two adult children. I’m a professional communicator, a science PhD dropout, a recovering poet, and a Quaker.
I’m active in the All Good Bookshop writers group
Name buddies
I’m not the sculptor, the American Libertarian and expert on Jane Austen, or the guy who wrote a book about the Munchkins.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 14, 2022
The publisher provided me with a copy of the book for an unbiased review.
I have been eagerly awaiting this book since I found out that Our Child of the Stars was going to have a sequel. I so loved that story of how Molly and Gene became parents to a young alien child in desperate need, kept him safe and became a family in the face of some pretty major challenges. I was left wanting to know how they would cope with the world finding out about Cory as well as the threat of the alien snakes.
We start back in Amber Grove but a transformed one with the Ship keeping the Myers and their extended family of friends safe from the waves of people who want to meet Cory. Molly and Gene still fear for Cory’s safety with a plan in place to protect him that, soon enough, needs putting into action. From there the stakes keep rising as more things go wrong and the threat from the snakes intensifies.
This was a hard book to put down, I not only wanted to know what happened next but also didn’t want to leave Cory and his family. This book has the same emotional heart and heft of the first one, but on a much larger (as in galaxies larger) stage, a tricky balancing act pulled off with aplomb. The bonds of family are, again, at the core of the story and they are tested to the limit more than once as the story asks what Molly and Gene are prepared to do to keep Cory safe. But this time it could be a choice between keeping him and letting him return to his first home, a conflict that constantly tears at Molly. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that the fate of earth is now bound up in the choices they, and Cory, have to make, putting even more stress on their family. This tests the strength of Molly and Gene’s marriage more than once.
We also see Cory growing up and his own struggle to reconcile his two, very different families inside himself. He will have to make his own impossible choice about where his future lies and how far he will go to protect his adopted home. I loved seeing this side of him, the Cory I loved from the first book but growing into his skin and taking responsibility for his own future.
Alongside the Myers we have many of the characters from the first books plus some welcome new ones, not least Meteor, Cory’s loyal, mildly goofy dog. They all have their part to play in the decisions the Myers will make in the course of the story and all are well drawn, unique and interesting characters in their own right.
The writing is as wonderful as always, concerned with the small, telling details that show the wider picture so effectively. It’s evocative and beautiful and works to make you care even more deeply about both the characters and the earth that’s so under threat.
In short, I loved the book and felt that it thoroughly delivered on the promise of the first one. It never loses sight of the fact it’s a story about a family first and the threat of an alien invasion second which makes it so very compelling and heart-wrenching. Highly recommended!
I have been eagerly awaiting this book since I found out that Our Child of the Stars was going to have a sequel. I so loved that story of how Molly and Gene became parents to a young alien child in desperate need, kept him safe and became a family in the face of some pretty major challenges. I was left wanting to know how they would cope with the world finding out about Cory as well as the threat of the alien snakes.
We start back in Amber Grove but a transformed one with the Ship keeping the Myers and their extended family of friends safe from the waves of people who want to meet Cory. Molly and Gene still fear for Cory’s safety with a plan in place to protect him that, soon enough, needs putting into action. From there the stakes keep rising as more things go wrong and the threat from the snakes intensifies.
This was a hard book to put down, I not only wanted to know what happened next but also didn’t want to leave Cory and his family. This book has the same emotional heart and heft of the first one, but on a much larger (as in galaxies larger) stage, a tricky balancing act pulled off with aplomb. The bonds of family are, again, at the core of the story and they are tested to the limit more than once as the story asks what Molly and Gene are prepared to do to keep Cory safe. But this time it could be a choice between keeping him and letting him return to his first home, a conflict that constantly tears at Molly. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that the fate of earth is now bound up in the choices they, and Cory, have to make, putting even more stress on their family. This tests the strength of Molly and Gene’s marriage more than once.
We also see Cory growing up and his own struggle to reconcile his two, very different families inside himself. He will have to make his own impossible choice about where his future lies and how far he will go to protect his adopted home. I loved seeing this side of him, the Cory I loved from the first book but growing into his skin and taking responsibility for his own future.
Alongside the Myers we have many of the characters from the first books plus some welcome new ones, not least Meteor, Cory’s loyal, mildly goofy dog. They all have their part to play in the decisions the Myers will make in the course of the story and all are well drawn, unique and interesting characters in their own right.
The writing is as wonderful as always, concerned with the small, telling details that show the wider picture so effectively. It’s evocative and beautiful and works to make you care even more deeply about both the characters and the earth that’s so under threat.
In short, I loved the book and felt that it thoroughly delivered on the promise of the first one. It never loses sight of the fact it’s a story about a family first and the threat of an alien invasion second which makes it so very compelling and heart-wrenching. Highly recommended!
January 29, 2022
I couldnt put this book down, it was well written with an interesting and well written storyline and well developed charcaters that I enjoyed navigating the pages with. A really enjoyable read.
dnf
February 5, 2022DNF at 20%.
I try to finish reading all books I've requested ARCs of - I feel it's only fair, but sometimes you can just tell that it's not a good match and my eventual review would do nothing for the success of the book. This is one such case, and rather than continue plugging along for another month I have decided to give up. Therefore I'm also not giving a star rating, as I cannot speak to the other 80% of the book.
I thought the story sounded intriguing - I haven't read many stories featuring alien life on earth, and it does have some interesting bits. Though it's chaotic and disjointed. Partly this may be due to it being the second book in a series, something which was not clear to me when I requested it (in my defence there was at the time no other books in the series listed under the author profile on GR - there is now - and I thought it was one of those cases of a book having two slightly different names in different regions, which I know sometimes happens). Nevertheless, I would have expected to feel more at home in the story having gotten this far, and feel like I had an overview of what was going on, but vague allusions to snakes and purples and dreaming-together don't really solidify this world and the characters for me. I also feel like there's sometimes illogical jumps in the story. And lastly I feel as if it's on the other hand a little juvenile/simplistic. For instance, instead of using the story and characters to illustrate why racism is bizarre, cruel or doesn't make sense, it's just outright said that racism is a horrible thing humans do, and it kind of loses impact.
So, I guess pick this up if you've read and enjoyed part one, or don't mind jumping in midway and not really getting a clear picture. If you enjoy stories about aliens and first contact. This one just wasn't for me, unfortunately.
I try to finish reading all books I've requested ARCs of - I feel it's only fair, but sometimes you can just tell that it's not a good match and my eventual review would do nothing for the success of the book. This is one such case, and rather than continue plugging along for another month I have decided to give up. Therefore I'm also not giving a star rating, as I cannot speak to the other 80% of the book.
I thought the story sounded intriguing - I haven't read many stories featuring alien life on earth, and it does have some interesting bits. Though it's chaotic and disjointed. Partly this may be due to it being the second book in a series, something which was not clear to me when I requested it (in my defence there was at the time no other books in the series listed under the author profile on GR - there is now - and I thought it was one of those cases of a book having two slightly different names in different regions, which I know sometimes happens). Nevertheless, I would have expected to feel more at home in the story having gotten this far, and feel like I had an overview of what was going on, but vague allusions to snakes and purples and dreaming-together don't really solidify this world and the characters for me. I also feel like there's sometimes illogical jumps in the story. And lastly I feel as if it's on the other hand a little juvenile/simplistic. For instance, instead of using the story and characters to illustrate why racism is bizarre, cruel or doesn't make sense, it's just outright said that racism is a horrible thing humans do, and it kind of loses impact.
So, I guess pick this up if you've read and enjoyed part one, or don't mind jumping in midway and not really getting a clear picture. If you enjoy stories about aliens and first contact. This one just wasn't for me, unfortunately.
August 21, 2022
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Our Child of Two Worlds was a pretty cute book if I'm being honest here. The only thing I didn't know was that this was a sequel to Our Child of the Stars. Unfortunately, I found this out while I was reading this because I was a little confused about some things.
In this, you will meet Molly, Gene and Cory. A lot of people want to meet Cory, so Molly and Gene have to come up with some creative ways to keep him safe. Of course, things don't always go has planned and threats become riskier.
Since I didn't know about the first book, I'll admit that this was entertaining and sort of hard to put down. Sort of because I kind of wished that I knew about the first book beforehand. Maybe then I would have been less confused about some things in the beginning. Still, it was a good book and I look forward to getting my hand on the introduction to these three.
In the end, I need the first book stat!
Our Child of Two Worlds was a pretty cute book if I'm being honest here. The only thing I didn't know was that this was a sequel to Our Child of the Stars. Unfortunately, I found this out while I was reading this because I was a little confused about some things.
In this, you will meet Molly, Gene and Cory. A lot of people want to meet Cory, so Molly and Gene have to come up with some creative ways to keep him safe. Of course, things don't always go has planned and threats become riskier.
Since I didn't know about the first book, I'll admit that this was entertaining and sort of hard to put down. Sort of because I kind of wished that I knew about the first book beforehand. Maybe then I would have been less confused about some things in the beginning. Still, it was a good book and I look forward to getting my hand on the introduction to these three.
In the end, I need the first book stat!
February 26, 2022
I had a lot of questions at the end of "Our Child of the Stars" and I was hoping they'd be answered in this follow-up. If anything, I have even more questions after finishing "Our Child of Two Worlds", so I'm hoping there will be a third book. As with the first book, this is a quick read and I enjoyed everything about the book... apart from the frustration with wanting to go far deeper into the alien culture.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
March 9, 2022
The thing I liked most about Our Child of the Stars was the characters, they felt nuanced and real and even characters who only appear briefly are believable people who could be the main character of their own story. The same holds true for Our Child of Two Worlds, which takes the much loved characters of the first book and alongside brilliant newly introduced ones, thrusts them into new scenarios, some anxiety-inducing, some heart-warming, some both. The new characters fit into the story so well that if you reread, as I have, you can’t wait for them to turn up again to experience the exciting dynamics they bring. This is a spoiler-free review so I can't provide too many details but I will say that some characters that only exist in Our Child of Two Worlds have overtaken characters that are in both books to fill the position of my favourite.
Similarly, while my love for good (in the sense of interesting not necessarily moral or kind) characters is fulfilled, one of my favourite tropes, found-family, is also present in spades with the characters of the Myers family and also their network of friends who help them.
Similarly, while my love for good (in the sense of interesting not necessarily moral or kind) characters is fulfilled, one of my favourite tropes, found-family, is also present in spades with the characters of the Myers family and also their network of friends who help them.
January 13, 2023
Eh, good concept, but rambling execution.
February 24, 2022
This is a fun book which develops the themes of the first novel to a satisfying conclusion. I was sent an ARC and may write about it at more length at some point. I also, as it happens, read this novel with a strong Cold War context just as Russia invaded Ukraine, which is obviously a terrible situation in general and may not have been ideal timing in terms of the book - that harsh reality makes some parts of the ending seem pat and idealistic while they make perfect sense within the story world. Setting that aside, this book explores further what happens to Cory Myers on Earth and what it means for humans to be in touch with aliens. In particular, it grants a lot of agency to the technologically and socially advanced aliens, and subverts human-centric expectations.
March 30, 2022
I had high expectations for Our Child of Two Worlds, Our Child of the Stars was one of my top books back in 2019 and I was very happy when I read that the follow up was being published.
When you have high expectations and loved a book I am always a bit wary about the follow up as I don’t know if it will be up to the first novel and if I will feel again the emotion I felt.
I am very happy to say that all my expectations were met and my doubts solved: this is another page turner that I couldn’t put down, that moved me and made fell in love again with Corey and the great cast of characters.
It’s a book about choices, hope against all odds, war, what it means belonging, and the difficulties in letting go.
There’s a lot going on and there’s never a moment when the plot drags or stopped making me feel emotionally involved in the story.
Stephen Cox is an excellent storyteller, he developed great characters and a fascinating alternate history and world.
It was a riveting, compelling, and gripping read. It left suffering from book hangover as I didn’t want to turn the last page.
A well written and emotionally charged story that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to Jo Fletecher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
When you have high expectations and loved a book I am always a bit wary about the follow up as I don’t know if it will be up to the first novel and if I will feel again the emotion I felt.
I am very happy to say that all my expectations were met and my doubts solved: this is another page turner that I couldn’t put down, that moved me and made fell in love again with Corey and the great cast of characters.
It’s a book about choices, hope against all odds, war, what it means belonging, and the difficulties in letting go.
There’s a lot going on and there’s never a moment when the plot drags or stopped making me feel emotionally involved in the story.
Stephen Cox is an excellent storyteller, he developed great characters and a fascinating alternate history and world.
It was a riveting, compelling, and gripping read. It left suffering from book hangover as I didn’t want to turn the last page.
A well written and emotionally charged story that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to Jo Fletecher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
September 21, 2022
Our Child of Two Worlds by Stephen Cox is the riveting sequel to Our Child of the Stars. This sci-fi book continues the themes of family and perseverance. The 70s feel of the book made me think of a Stranger Things and I really enjoyed the retro references like the Cold War. Molly, Cory, and Gene all have a good amount of character development and I really enjoyed seeing Corey figure out who he is and what's important to him. This was a compelling sequel and I think the author really has a handle on the sci-fi genre.
April 14, 2022
Please do read Our Child of the Stars first (what a book!) and then read this, which follows close on its heels with a world that has been transformed by its new knowledge of the universe. We are not alone! It's an alternate history of sorts, set during America in the 1970s, and it is full of wonder and love as well as menace and danger on a mega scale. Review is up on For Winter Nights.
May 2, 2022
A compelling sequel to the 'humans adopt orphan alien' book. This one (like the first) has some difficult (emotionally) content, but for me it was definitely worth sticking with it.
April 1, 2022
Save all the humans!'
I'm grateful to Jo Fletcher Books for a free advance e-copy of Our Child of Two Worlds via NetGalley and for inviting me to join the social media blast.
I was really pleased to see this sequel to Our Child of the Stars coming. Cox takes us back to his alternate early-70s, which is both familiar - the world is stuck in a Cold War and, in the US, the counterculture is running out of steam - and different. The ripples of Meteor Day, when an alien starship crashed near a small US town with one survivor, the child Cory ('Little Glowing Blue Frog' in his own language), continue to spread. The metal creatures known as Snakes are preparing to assault Earth (Moon landings have been attacked and satellites destroyed). Cory's people, the "Purples", have still not turned up, and Molly and Gene - his adoptive parents - are seeing their marriage under strain. Gene yearns to travel, but roaming Earth is impossible because of Cory and his complex situation. He'd really like to go with Cory to the stars ('He wanted to be the first human to breathe those strange, perfumed winds...') if his people ever return, but Molly can't abide the idea.
Our Child of Two Worlds is about what happens next - about Molly and Gene's attempts to balance their love for Cory with their own hopes and fears in a world utterly changed; about his need, with no role models from his own people, to control the powerful psychic powers with which he's gifted (there is real fear in his recognition of what he can do: 'Cory not-good no-he-isn't Bad Man!'); and about attempts, by various unscrupulous parties, to use or manipulate Cory for their own ends. (Yes, Dr Pfeiffer appears again).
When danger looms, with wider family threatened, the faultline between Molly and Gene is under even more pressure, with Cory, too, torn in different directions. Cox's nuanced portrayal of Cory is brilliant. We're not given a physical description, as though he was a different sort of thing, rather we see him through Molly and Gene's love - so occasionally a physical detail drops such as his 'strange striped ear', his inner eyelids (so he presumably has several), his tail - but there is no need to form a picture of Cory, rather all such glimpses are there to illustrate his emotions and mental state and the fullest description of him is as a loving, fearful and generous-hearted little boy on whom the hopes and fears of the word are projected.
I love the way that Cox weaves together big, startling, science-fictional ideas - Aliens! Earth under attack! Scary mental powers! - with very personal ones: a failing marriage where husband and wife want very different things, a scared child, a manipulative husband. And indeed, the wonderful, tiny details of parenthood - 'the trance of the midnight parent' or the beauty in 'seeing a child in healthy sleep'. I felt this portrayal of humans under strain - and not just Molly and Gene - was very realistic, and far from judgemental. Cox is at pains to make us understand the history and in all the arguments and disputes there is no absolute right and wrong (even, perhaps, when said Dr P comes on the scene). And he makes his alt-history seem so plausible - all the little details tell (Simon and Garfunkel have a hit called "Meteor Day", there are rumours (of course!) that the Beatles will get back together to sing for Cory). There are also some fun little points to be spotted, I think; I'd swear Cox has put a sign of his passing by into Molly and Gene's journey, I also thought I glimpsed both 2001 and War of the Worlds references as well as a belief that 'The Truth is Out There'.
None of that detracts from or diminishes the tension, as Earth's defences are stripped away by the Snakes. Rather, the level of jeopardy is emphasised because the crack that runs through the Myers' marriage is all about Cory - if he returns to the stars, should they go with him or stay behind? Will they have that choice? Is it selfish to think of such things, faced with the threat to both humanity and to Cory's people? Soberingly, as I write this in March 2022, we read that Dr Preiffer, considering that threat, 'had been able to stare in to the abyss that was the possibility of nuclear war because he believed the Soviet leadership was not wholly irrational...' - that suddenly seems very on-point.
Like the best SF, Our Child of Two Worlds is about us, at our best and worst, and how we respond to the best and the worst in others. Cory's people are from a very different, almost Utopian seeming culture and - as in one of Swift's novels - we're judged by that comparison, Cory himself noting it even as his love for his adopted parents and his friends burns bright. Are we worth saving, if we seem willing to destroy ourselves anyway?
A fiercely intelligent, engaged and often angry novel, Our Child of Two Worlds is moving, exciting and deeply readable.
I'm grateful to Jo Fletcher Books for a free advance e-copy of Our Child of Two Worlds via NetGalley and for inviting me to join the social media blast.
I was really pleased to see this sequel to Our Child of the Stars coming. Cox takes us back to his alternate early-70s, which is both familiar - the world is stuck in a Cold War and, in the US, the counterculture is running out of steam - and different. The ripples of Meteor Day, when an alien starship crashed near a small US town with one survivor, the child Cory ('Little Glowing Blue Frog' in his own language), continue to spread. The metal creatures known as Snakes are preparing to assault Earth (Moon landings have been attacked and satellites destroyed). Cory's people, the "Purples", have still not turned up, and Molly and Gene - his adoptive parents - are seeing their marriage under strain. Gene yearns to travel, but roaming Earth is impossible because of Cory and his complex situation. He'd really like to go with Cory to the stars ('He wanted to be the first human to breathe those strange, perfumed winds...') if his people ever return, but Molly can't abide the idea.
Our Child of Two Worlds is about what happens next - about Molly and Gene's attempts to balance their love for Cory with their own hopes and fears in a world utterly changed; about his need, with no role models from his own people, to control the powerful psychic powers with which he's gifted (there is real fear in his recognition of what he can do: 'Cory not-good no-he-isn't Bad Man!'); and about attempts, by various unscrupulous parties, to use or manipulate Cory for their own ends. (Yes, Dr Pfeiffer appears again).
When danger looms, with wider family threatened, the faultline between Molly and Gene is under even more pressure, with Cory, too, torn in different directions. Cox's nuanced portrayal of Cory is brilliant. We're not given a physical description, as though he was a different sort of thing, rather we see him through Molly and Gene's love - so occasionally a physical detail drops such as his 'strange striped ear', his inner eyelids (so he presumably has several), his tail - but there is no need to form a picture of Cory, rather all such glimpses are there to illustrate his emotions and mental state and the fullest description of him is as a loving, fearful and generous-hearted little boy on whom the hopes and fears of the word are projected.
I love the way that Cox weaves together big, startling, science-fictional ideas - Aliens! Earth under attack! Scary mental powers! - with very personal ones: a failing marriage where husband and wife want very different things, a scared child, a manipulative husband. And indeed, the wonderful, tiny details of parenthood - 'the trance of the midnight parent' or the beauty in 'seeing a child in healthy sleep'. I felt this portrayal of humans under strain - and not just Molly and Gene - was very realistic, and far from judgemental. Cox is at pains to make us understand the history and in all the arguments and disputes there is no absolute right and wrong (even, perhaps, when said Dr P comes on the scene). And he makes his alt-history seem so plausible - all the little details tell (Simon and Garfunkel have a hit called "Meteor Day", there are rumours (of course!) that the Beatles will get back together to sing for Cory). There are also some fun little points to be spotted, I think; I'd swear Cox has put a sign of his passing by into Molly and Gene's journey, I also thought I glimpsed both 2001 and War of the Worlds references as well as a belief that 'The Truth is Out There'.
None of that detracts from or diminishes the tension, as Earth's defences are stripped away by the Snakes. Rather, the level of jeopardy is emphasised because the crack that runs through the Myers' marriage is all about Cory - if he returns to the stars, should they go with him or stay behind? Will they have that choice? Is it selfish to think of such things, faced with the threat to both humanity and to Cory's people? Soberingly, as I write this in March 2022, we read that Dr Preiffer, considering that threat, 'had been able to stare in to the abyss that was the possibility of nuclear war because he believed the Soviet leadership was not wholly irrational...' - that suddenly seems very on-point.
Like the best SF, Our Child of Two Worlds is about us, at our best and worst, and how we respond to the best and the worst in others. Cory's people are from a very different, almost Utopian seeming culture and - as in one of Swift's novels - we're judged by that comparison, Cory himself noting it even as his love for his adopted parents and his friends burns bright. Are we worth saving, if we seem willing to destroy ourselves anyway?
A fiercely intelligent, engaged and often angry novel, Our Child of Two Worlds is moving, exciting and deeply readable.
April 14, 2022
“All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Leo Tolstoy wrote those words in Anna Karenina, but Stephen Cox’s new book, Our Child of Two Worlds, offers a counterpoint to this truism. The Myers family at the core of the novel is a happy family, but they are unlike any other family.
This is because the Myers’s adopted son, Cory, is an alien. In the first novel in this series, protagonist Molly Myers secretly adopts Cory after the spaceship his family is on crashes near her small town in New York State, USA, in the 1960s. In the first novel Molly, her husband Gene and a few local allies protect Cory from the government and mobsters who would take him away.
In this new novel challenges arise to the Myers’s happiness. The Myers family is unhappy in a way that is unfortunately alike many ordinary families, as this second book shows how a family can fall apart. Cory’s non-human family looks likely to return, to take Cory away from Molly and Gene. Also, Molly’s sister Selena seeks shelter with the Myers after she experiences domestic abuse at the hands of her husband. The Myers may be an unusual family, but their troubles are sadly all too normal.
The Myers find love for Cory despite them not being from the same planet and their mutual love overcomes the obstacles thrown at them. Cory tells us to be accepting of other people despite our differences, it's not Cory, the outsider, the different person, who wants to hate people who are different. Cory doesn’t understand this. He teaches us to love and accept each other.
Cory is very different to us, but he also embodies what’s best about humanity. He encourages humanity to rise above the dark side of our nature. This book has a powerful message about love. One we need now more than ever.
This is because the Myers’s adopted son, Cory, is an alien. In the first novel in this series, protagonist Molly Myers secretly adopts Cory after the spaceship his family is on crashes near her small town in New York State, USA, in the 1960s. In the first novel Molly, her husband Gene and a few local allies protect Cory from the government and mobsters who would take him away.
In this new novel challenges arise to the Myers’s happiness. The Myers family is unhappy in a way that is unfortunately alike many ordinary families, as this second book shows how a family can fall apart. Cory’s non-human family looks likely to return, to take Cory away from Molly and Gene. Also, Molly’s sister Selena seeks shelter with the Myers after she experiences domestic abuse at the hands of her husband. The Myers may be an unusual family, but their troubles are sadly all too normal.
The Myers find love for Cory despite them not being from the same planet and their mutual love overcomes the obstacles thrown at them. Cory tells us to be accepting of other people despite our differences, it's not Cory, the outsider, the different person, who wants to hate people who are different. Cory doesn’t understand this. He teaches us to love and accept each other.
Cory is very different to us, but he also embodies what’s best about humanity. He encourages humanity to rise above the dark side of our nature. This book has a powerful message about love. One we need now more than ever.
April 19, 2022
A beautifully written book, as one would expect, and a more sophisticated and nuanced book than its predecessor, Our Child Of The Stars.
OCOTW continues the tale of the stranded, charming alien child named Cory as he matures into something approximating an Earth teenager. Cory and his adoptive family, the Myers, has to contend not only with the fame that his status has thrust upon them in early 1970s small town America, but an existential threat from the beyond the galaxy.
The late 1960s optimism captured in the first novel has made way for a less sanguine view of the world in the early 1970s. Reality bites, and things are not quite as black and white as the naive Cory had people believe at the end of Book 1. Here the world is painted in greyer tones, with villains given greater complexity and credible motivations, and the men and women of the world revealed for the bags of contradictions they are. Cory's mother Molly, a force of protective nature over her family, threatens to let her mothering instinct become devouring, while her husband Gene reveals his own desires and dreams, which may not be compatible with family life.
The book makes no attempt to hide the ugliness in humanity, or to turn away from wicked things done, but also does not take the route of descending into nihilism; an easy route to take for a book that features an unthinking alien intelligence at its heart which is bent on destroying and devouring all conscious life it comes across. Instead the book makes the case for humanity; that for all our faults, we are worth fighting for, and that is a fine sentiment indeed.
A mature example of soft science fiction.
OCOTW continues the tale of the stranded, charming alien child named Cory as he matures into something approximating an Earth teenager. Cory and his adoptive family, the Myers, has to contend not only with the fame that his status has thrust upon them in early 1970s small town America, but an existential threat from the beyond the galaxy.
The late 1960s optimism captured in the first novel has made way for a less sanguine view of the world in the early 1970s. Reality bites, and things are not quite as black and white as the naive Cory had people believe at the end of Book 1. Here the world is painted in greyer tones, with villains given greater complexity and credible motivations, and the men and women of the world revealed for the bags of contradictions they are. Cory's mother Molly, a force of protective nature over her family, threatens to let her mothering instinct become devouring, while her husband Gene reveals his own desires and dreams, which may not be compatible with family life.
The book makes no attempt to hide the ugliness in humanity, or to turn away from wicked things done, but also does not take the route of descending into nihilism; an easy route to take for a book that features an unthinking alien intelligence at its heart which is bent on destroying and devouring all conscious life it comes across. Instead the book makes the case for humanity; that for all our faults, we are worth fighting for, and that is a fine sentiment indeed.
A mature example of soft science fiction.
March 11, 2022
Our Child of Two Worlds is a remarkable story of family and the power of love, set against the backdrop of a fast-changing, terrifying decade and an interstellar threat almost beyond imagining.
Stephen Cox is responsible for a fairly new love for reading Science Fiction, a genre that I very much thought I’d never find peace with. It all started with Our Child of The Stars (book one) of which this is the sequel coming in April 2022. In book one we meet Cory,
Another beautiful book that is so much more than a defining genre. Stephen Cox delicately weaves in poignant and emotive issues into his writing, putting everyday characters and challenges alongside what should feel unrealistic and out of this world. But it doesn’t. Molly and Gene Myers are ordinary people with an extraordinary life unfolding around them.
It’s absolutely wonderful to be able to unravel more of Cory’s life and see where Molly and Gene are too. There are new characters, all of which are woven into the book to build them up into realistic people, with their own complexities and back stories too. There are many many themes throughout, community, family, love, loss, and so much more.
This book can be read as a standalone but your experience will be so much better if you dive into Our Child of the Stars and get to know the origins of Cory and the start of his journey on earth.
Stephen Cox is responsible for a fairly new love for reading Science Fiction, a genre that I very much thought I’d never find peace with. It all started with Our Child of The Stars (book one) of which this is the sequel coming in April 2022. In book one we meet Cory,
Another beautiful book that is so much more than a defining genre. Stephen Cox delicately weaves in poignant and emotive issues into his writing, putting everyday characters and challenges alongside what should feel unrealistic and out of this world. But it doesn’t. Molly and Gene Myers are ordinary people with an extraordinary life unfolding around them.
It’s absolutely wonderful to be able to unravel more of Cory’s life and see where Molly and Gene are too. There are new characters, all of which are woven into the book to build them up into realistic people, with their own complexities and back stories too. There are many many themes throughout, community, family, love, loss, and so much more.
This book can be read as a standalone but your experience will be so much better if you dive into Our Child of the Stars and get to know the origins of Cory and the start of his journey on earth.
October 23, 2023
Carries on the story of Cory the alien from the first book, OUR CHILD OF THE STARS, with barely a falter in momentum. All the things that made the first book so charming and so strong are there: the golden age science fictional setting, updated with present sensibilities; the compassion and decency of the main characters; and above all, the intrusion of reality into the best-laid plans, making this feel like a story that is firmly set in the real world. Soon after the events of the first book, a new normality has just about asserted itself, people are getting used to it ... And then the rug is pulled right from under their feet. There is no guaranteed ending, and whether the actual ending we do get can be called happy is a matter of perspective. I cannot recommend this or its predecessor highly enough.
April 28, 2022
In a compelling story of love, family, and hope, Stephen Cox skillfully continues the story of Cory, the alien child of another world who became the beloved son of Molly and Gene in Our Child of the Stars.
In Our Child of Two Worlds, Cory is torn between where he came from and his life on Earth. Both places are home to him. Both worlds need him.
Heartwarmingly beautiful, Our Child of Two Worlds is not to be missed.
In Our Child of Two Worlds, Cory is torn between where he came from and his life on Earth. Both places are home to him. Both worlds need him.
Heartwarmingly beautiful, Our Child of Two Worlds is not to be missed.
August 6, 2022
Fantastic conclusion to a wonderful warm, smart and rather lyrical piece of science fiction. I love the exploration of what happens next when 1970s earth realised we are not alone and then it turns to a very impressive tale of alien invasion to boot!
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
November 21, 2022
This follow up to Our Child of the Stars is still full of warmth and hope, but is tinged with the harder reality of love and life.
Whilst the first book felt like a big hug of found family, this book maybe is that moment when you have to hold your child by the shoulders and teach them some life lessons.
The same assured writing from Mr Cox and will be hoping for more from him soon.
Whilst the first book felt like a big hug of found family, this book maybe is that moment when you have to hold your child by the shoulders and teach them some life lessons.
The same assured writing from Mr Cox and will be hoping for more from him soon.
January 25, 2024
Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.
I was happy to finally get to this follow up to Our Child of the Stars, and enjoyed seeing what happens next to Cory and family. Good pacing, with plenty happening to keep your interest. I would continue to read if there ended up being more books in this world!
I was happy to finally get to this follow up to Our Child of the Stars, and enjoyed seeing what happens next to Cory and family. Good pacing, with plenty happening to keep your interest. I would continue to read if there ended up being more books in this world!
August 29, 2025
Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with this book for review. Firstly apologies for this very delayed review. This book is a follow up to 'our child of the stars' and I found both books easy and fun to read, will there be a third book I wonder?
July 26, 2022
Cool and scary
January 8, 2023
3.75 stars, review to come
September 3, 2023
Doeddwn ddim yn gwybod bod llyfr arall cyn hwn, ond nes fwynhau
September 15, 2025
Review to Come
August 24, 2022
Our Child of the Stars is a book that lingered on my Kindle for far too long. Having now read it, I wasted no time reading its sequel Our Child of Two Worlds. Like its predecessor, it is a gem of a book, a quiet, emotional story while the action has been amped up with an alien invasion. It is a poignant look at the life of one particular, peculiar family who have adopted a purple, tentacled alien child, Cory. Set in the 1960s in Amber Grove, a small New England town, the Myers family has found a modicum of peace from the tumult Cory’s arrival caused in their lives. Author Cox does a splendid job of recreating the tensions of the 1960s and 1970s: the long-haired, pot-smoking hippies; Woodstock; the straight folks who toed the line; the Cold War; the Vietnam war; the constant fear of atomic bombs.
Cox captures the youthful exuberance of this alien child down to his voice, that of a boy so eager to get the words out that they come out in a staccato rat-tat-tat. His physical description is vague enough readers can draw their own versions of the boy in their minds. He is smart, curious, and adventurous—and utterly endearing. Despite the Myers’ efforts to normalize his life, Cory is from a planet where there is communal sleeping—and communal dreams. His own people, who are supposed to rescue him, are millions of miles away. The stresses of having an alien child, which initially pulled the Myers’ together, tugs them apart as their views of their marriage shifts.
Our Child of Two Worlds is a poignant portrait of an American family, the ties that bind this family, and the strength of those ties. The novel is also a portrait of humanity with its light and its darkness and explores what it means for humans to be in touch with aliens and upends the expected human-centered expectations. Cory encourages humanity—as well as his own kind—to rise above their darker sides.
Cox captures the youthful exuberance of this alien child down to his voice, that of a boy so eager to get the words out that they come out in a staccato rat-tat-tat. His physical description is vague enough readers can draw their own versions of the boy in their minds. He is smart, curious, and adventurous—and utterly endearing. Despite the Myers’ efforts to normalize his life, Cory is from a planet where there is communal sleeping—and communal dreams. His own people, who are supposed to rescue him, are millions of miles away. The stresses of having an alien child, which initially pulled the Myers’ together, tugs them apart as their views of their marriage shifts.
Our Child of Two Worlds is a poignant portrait of an American family, the ties that bind this family, and the strength of those ties. The novel is also a portrait of humanity with its light and its darkness and explores what it means for humans to be in touch with aliens and upends the expected human-centered expectations. Cory encourages humanity—as well as his own kind—to rise above their darker sides.
October 5, 2022
I almost DNF-ed this because the story just didn’t capture my attention but I still trudged through because I was curious to see how the story ends. The blurb for this is great and had me intrigued but I just couldn’t get into the plot and writing.
I have never read a story which featured an alien living on earth with humans and not wanting to cause chaos to humankind. Honestly, it does have some interesting parts but not enough for me to bunk up my ratings. The writing seemed disjointed at times and I don’t feel much for the main characters.
To be fair, I haven’t read the prequel to this story so that could be a reason why I didn’t enjoy this as much as I had hoped. Maybe I will come back and re-read this again after I have read the first story.
Thank you Netgalley and Quercus Books for the arc.
I have never read a story which featured an alien living on earth with humans and not wanting to cause chaos to humankind. Honestly, it does have some interesting parts but not enough for me to bunk up my ratings. The writing seemed disjointed at times and I don’t feel much for the main characters.
To be fair, I haven’t read the prequel to this story so that could be a reason why I didn’t enjoy this as much as I had hoped. Maybe I will come back and re-read this again after I have read the first story.
Thank you Netgalley and Quercus Books for the arc.
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