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Mission 51
Fifty previous Torkiyan missions were lost to time and space, but new technology gives Mission 51 a better chance to reach the legendary planet Cerulea—also known as planet Earth.
Zeemat, a peaceful Torkiyan who’d rather hold a paintbrush than a weapon, has been assigned to his planet’s fifty-first mission against his own will. After suffering a catastrophic journey, Zeemat’s spacecraft crashes in what becomes known as Area 51. Taken captive by a rather brutal cohort of FBI agents, he finds a friend only in his gentle and kind translator, Dr. Linda Deltare. As the FBI torture grows increasingly merciless, Zeemat must find a way to escape his holding cell or perish, never to see the outside world he traveled so far to see.
In his quest for freedom and happiness, Zeemat must learn to survive in a strange new land and fight against militant forces from both his native and adopted planets alike.
Zeemat, a peaceful Torkiyan who’d rather hold a paintbrush than a weapon, has been assigned to his planet’s fifty-first mission against his own will. After suffering a catastrophic journey, Zeemat’s spacecraft crashes in what becomes known as Area 51. Taken captive by a rather brutal cohort of FBI agents, he finds a friend only in his gentle and kind translator, Dr. Linda Deltare. As the FBI torture grows increasingly merciless, Zeemat must find a way to escape his holding cell or perish, never to see the outside world he traveled so far to see.
In his quest for freedom and happiness, Zeemat must learn to survive in a strange new land and fight against militant forces from both his native and adopted planets alike.
- GenresScience Fiction
414 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2022
4 people are currently reading
1334 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 31, 2022
HARD TO PUT DOWN
Fernando Crotte’s novel, Mission 51, was suggested to me by a visionary fiction group, and I’m glad I followed through. In spite of a crushing schedule of my own, I couldn’t put it down. Crotte’s obvious storytelling skills include steady pacing; crisp, believable dialogue; and engaging characters. In a literary world populated by cold and calculating alien creatures, Crotte’s protagonist, Zeemat, is a rarity. Challenged by the warrior stereotypes of his own species, Zeemat is an endearing, vulnerable, and emotionally dimensional artist/painter, who seeks connection over dominance. The story line has a familiar historical basis in the earthbound 1950’s and ‘60s, as well as twists and turns that keep the ending unpredictable until the last couple of chapters.
In these days of piqued curiosity regarding the possibility of actual alien sightings, Mission 51 is well-timed. Its narrative and philosophical questions are relevant. It begs the questions—if we were to encounter these creatures (which seems inevitable), would we find (or prejudge) them to be intellectually and/or emotionally superior or inferior? Would we approach them diplomatically or combatively? In pursuit of interplanetary evolution, would we seek partnership or dominance? And perhaps most importantly, are we just now preparing to meet them, or have they been among us all along?
Mission 51 is a story about space aliens, but it also rings true metaphorically on other levels closer to home, like immigration. In other words, if we can’t fully accept our own collective humanity, how will we ever accept intelligent/sentient life from other worlds?
Mission 51 offers no easy answers, and is an impressive debut on both moral and storytelling platforms.
Fernando Crotte’s novel, Mission 51, was suggested to me by a visionary fiction group, and I’m glad I followed through. In spite of a crushing schedule of my own, I couldn’t put it down. Crotte’s obvious storytelling skills include steady pacing; crisp, believable dialogue; and engaging characters. In a literary world populated by cold and calculating alien creatures, Crotte’s protagonist, Zeemat, is a rarity. Challenged by the warrior stereotypes of his own species, Zeemat is an endearing, vulnerable, and emotionally dimensional artist/painter, who seeks connection over dominance. The story line has a familiar historical basis in the earthbound 1950’s and ‘60s, as well as twists and turns that keep the ending unpredictable until the last couple of chapters.
In these days of piqued curiosity regarding the possibility of actual alien sightings, Mission 51 is well-timed. Its narrative and philosophical questions are relevant. It begs the questions—if we were to encounter these creatures (which seems inevitable), would we find (or prejudge) them to be intellectually and/or emotionally superior or inferior? Would we approach them diplomatically or combatively? In pursuit of interplanetary evolution, would we seek partnership or dominance? And perhaps most importantly, are we just now preparing to meet them, or have they been among us all along?
Mission 51 is a story about space aliens, but it also rings true metaphorically on other levels closer to home, like immigration. In other words, if we can’t fully accept our own collective humanity, how will we ever accept intelligent/sentient life from other worlds?
Mission 51 offers no easy answers, and is an impressive debut on both moral and storytelling platforms.
February 16, 2022
A fun ride by debut indie author Fernando Crôtte. Crôtte spins the immigrant experience into a scifi, first-contact story, told from the alien's perspective. Expect a fast paced scifi romp that doesn't shy away from tough themes, including nativism, colonialism, and what it means to be family. Looking forward to seeing what Crôtte works up next!
September 5, 2022
I will state that I am clearly not the intended audience for this book -- that being my youngest brother and his cohort -- but I still found the story and writing style enjoyable. The audiobook portrays the protagonist, Zeemat, as a bit too whiney for my taste, but that aside, it's well-read and perfectly suited as a kind of backdrop while I gardened and otherwise engaged myself. I'd zone out while planting my late-summer crops or pruning back my mint, and the rolling cadence made for many a delightfully pleasant summer afternoon.
Reading the book itself...
Honestly, the story is fun and tickled me pink in places. I wouldn't take it too seriously, but after the drama of the past few years, a story that's easy to follow with solid writing following a logical, mostly-relaxed-pace plot is exactly what I needed. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a stroll down this side of a fantasy adventure and enjoys seeing patience, altruism, and mutualism rewarded with wholesome outcomes. My five stars reflect the sense of peaceful joy I felt while reading and the fact that, once I started, I found my usual reads gathered a few days' dust. It also reflects the fondness I felt at its close.
Reading the book itself...
Honestly, the story is fun and tickled me pink in places. I wouldn't take it too seriously, but after the drama of the past few years, a story that's easy to follow with solid writing following a logical, mostly-relaxed-pace plot is exactly what I needed. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a stroll down this side of a fantasy adventure and enjoys seeing patience, altruism, and mutualism rewarded with wholesome outcomes. My five stars reflect the sense of peaceful joy I felt while reading and the fact that, once I started, I found my usual reads gathered a few days' dust. It also reflects the fondness I felt at its close.
January 3, 2022
This book kept me engaged from start to finish. Right from the opening I was completely drawn in. The language was so descriptive, I felt like I could clearly understand and picture the Torkian people. I absolutely loved how the author was able to tie in historical events to understand what was happening on earth at the time- very creative. The underlying theme of conquering/aliens/acceptance really gave me things to ponder as a reader.
I hope there is a second book! I want to see what is next for Zeemat. And wonder what will happen when Mission 53 lands on earth (will there ever be other friendly and peaceful Torkins?!). I also think this would make for a very fun tv series.
I hope there is a second book! I want to see what is next for Zeemat. And wonder what will happen when Mission 53 lands on earth (will there ever be other friendly and peaceful Torkins?!). I also think this would make for a very fun tv series.
January 14, 2022
The more than ideal humanity of an alien encountering the more than ideal inhumanity of humans. This is a fresh look at what it means to be imperfect beings in an imperfect universe. Tied beautifully to a time and place that’ll where humans first took to the stars.
April 18, 2022
I loved this story and I am not a science fiction fan. ( Full disclosure - I am a birding friend of the author and his wife.) I wanted to read this book because my friend had written it. I was enthralled with the world the author created and felt the way he wove the circumstances of the story into our history was quite clever. The story was interesting, exciting, and actually believable to me. I appreciated the subtle commentary of the value of welcoming the stranger and being open to new ideas and ways of thinking. I recommend this book, especially to readers who generally do not read science fiction. This story has encouraged me to seek out additional works of science fiction. I hope the author will write a sequel!
February 25, 2022
I had a great time reading this. The Torkians are a fantastic species creation, and the dynamic between Zeemat, the protagonist, and the Torkian cultural values was an excellent way to develop believable tension. The story rolls along at s good pace and, all in all, I would thoroughly recommend it.
December 9, 2022
“When Zeemat and the others departed the planet Torkiya, it was the year 1521 on the planet Cerulea. A fleet of Spanish supply ships lay harbored in Veracruz on the Mexican Gulf coast. Groups of soldiers and supply carts were strung along the dirt road leading from the coast to the heart of the Aztec territory in central Mexico. At the end of the line, Hernandez Cortez sat on his horse, observing the destruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, from his vantage point at the top of a hill.”
Zeemat wants more than anything to be an artist. His parents, however, intolerant of his peace-loving, artistic lifestyle, have different plans for him: to make him the next great conqueror of a planet, to make him the discoverer of a new source of precious metal and slaves. Unfortunately for Zeemat, fate has yet a third end in mind for him. A crash landing on Earth puts the would-be reluctant conqueror in the hands of a master more brutal than his father: the U.S. government.
In the pages of his book, Crôtte honors the struggles of the brutalized of history. He harkens back to the conquering past of humanity, and uses that as a reflection of the Torkiyans, mirroring Zeemat’s flight with the sailing of the invading Spaniards. Further, he uses the characters of both Zeemat’s people and the FBI to show brutality on a much more personal level, including abusive parenting, government torture, rape, and general brutality toward women and foreigners.
Additionally, he uses Zeemat’s literal alien-ness to call attention to the treatment of immigrants in the U.S. – something of a love-note to his own family’s past. These themes, and the passion Crôtte feels toward his subject, are the novel’s shining aspects.
But not all the book is brutality and mistreatment. Just as he uses colonial conquerors to highlight one theme, he foils them with a good and loving moral center. Even with a nod to The King and I, Zeemat will be aided by a woman whose judgment of character and treatment of an alien shows that prejudice and “otherness” can be overcome. These are the things we really should be trying to conquer.
Theme aside, Crôtte’s settings are a bit of a fun exploration of the 50s and 60s UFO craze, pulling in Area 51 and Roswell, President Kennedy, the moon landing, and even cattle mutilation rumors (though no cows are harmed in the pages of the book). All fun to encounter if you are an alien history buff (which I am). That all left me smiling and nodding with recognition.
My biggest issue was there were no surprises. The characters were very black and white, with little complexity. The plot felt ponderous and predictable without a strong sense of pacing or action, despite the promise of a cross-continent chase and a super-powered final boss-fight. In the end, I really wanted to like Zeemat’s friend, Linda Deltare, but couldn’t help but feel she used him just like everyone else. Like her King and I counterpart, Anna Leonowens, she’s just another tool for eventual conversion. As for Zeemat, I feel he came too close to throwing away many of his ideals and too close to embracing the violence around him.
Zeemat wants more than anything to be an artist. His parents, however, intolerant of his peace-loving, artistic lifestyle, have different plans for him: to make him the next great conqueror of a planet, to make him the discoverer of a new source of precious metal and slaves. Unfortunately for Zeemat, fate has yet a third end in mind for him. A crash landing on Earth puts the would-be reluctant conqueror in the hands of a master more brutal than his father: the U.S. government.
In the pages of his book, Crôtte honors the struggles of the brutalized of history. He harkens back to the conquering past of humanity, and uses that as a reflection of the Torkiyans, mirroring Zeemat’s flight with the sailing of the invading Spaniards. Further, he uses the characters of both Zeemat’s people and the FBI to show brutality on a much more personal level, including abusive parenting, government torture, rape, and general brutality toward women and foreigners.
Additionally, he uses Zeemat’s literal alien-ness to call attention to the treatment of immigrants in the U.S. – something of a love-note to his own family’s past. These themes, and the passion Crôtte feels toward his subject, are the novel’s shining aspects.
But not all the book is brutality and mistreatment. Just as he uses colonial conquerors to highlight one theme, he foils them with a good and loving moral center. Even with a nod to The King and I, Zeemat will be aided by a woman whose judgment of character and treatment of an alien shows that prejudice and “otherness” can be overcome. These are the things we really should be trying to conquer.
Theme aside, Crôtte’s settings are a bit of a fun exploration of the 50s and 60s UFO craze, pulling in Area 51 and Roswell, President Kennedy, the moon landing, and even cattle mutilation rumors (though no cows are harmed in the pages of the book). All fun to encounter if you are an alien history buff (which I am). That all left me smiling and nodding with recognition.
My biggest issue was there were no surprises. The characters were very black and white, with little complexity. The plot felt ponderous and predictable without a strong sense of pacing or action, despite the promise of a cross-continent chase and a super-powered final boss-fight. In the end, I really wanted to like Zeemat’s friend, Linda Deltare, but couldn’t help but feel she used him just like everyone else. Like her King and I counterpart, Anna Leonowens, she’s just another tool for eventual conversion. As for Zeemat, I feel he came too close to throwing away many of his ideals and too close to embracing the violence around him.
December 29, 2021
Regards to Inkshares and NetGalley for providing me with the advanced copy in exchange of my honest review.
DNF@32%
I rarely DNF books and there is a reason for that: I want to give a book a chance each time, but sometimes it's too much even for me.
I was promised a sci-fi, but this is certainly not one in my books. You can't just give humans some weird names, change their skin/hair colors a little bit, throw them on a planet, and call them aliens!
That's not a good world-building, not even a lazy one. Overmore, the writing did nothing to help this. It's flat and unchallenging, making the story even blander.
After this absolute catastrophe of world-building, I hope that the characters were interesting enough for me to continue, but nope. Zeemat has no personality whatsoever besides being gentle and knowing how to paint. His crewmates have no presence except to give Zeemat some boring comments and don't even get me started on the people on Earth. They were described as if they were from a James Bond movie.
Overall, a huge pain to get through. Maybe someone will like it, but I certainly didn't.
DNF@32%
I rarely DNF books and there is a reason for that: I want to give a book a chance each time, but sometimes it's too much even for me.
I was promised a sci-fi, but this is certainly not one in my books. You can't just give humans some weird names, change their skin/hair colors a little bit, throw them on a planet, and call them aliens!
That's not a good world-building, not even a lazy one. Overmore, the writing did nothing to help this. It's flat and unchallenging, making the story even blander.
After this absolute catastrophe of world-building, I hope that the characters were interesting enough for me to continue, but nope. Zeemat has no personality whatsoever besides being gentle and knowing how to paint. His crewmates have no presence except to give Zeemat some boring comments and don't even get me started on the people on Earth. They were described as if they were from a James Bond movie.
Overall, a huge pain to get through. Maybe someone will like it, but I certainly didn't.
December 31, 2021
This is one of those books that simulates being a real story well enough to be mistaken for one at a distance of 500 yards.
The closer you get, though, the more you realize that something is just off. It's just a scaffolding of halfhearted attempts at worldbuilding mixed with cartoonishly ridiculous spy-movie character archetypes. Completely soulless, possibly an abomination.
The closer you get, though, the more you realize that something is just off. It's just a scaffolding of halfhearted attempts at worldbuilding mixed with cartoonishly ridiculous spy-movie character archetypes. Completely soulless, possibly an abomination.
November 13, 2024
Fascinating take on the Area 51 story and many lessons about human tribalism, immigration, government power, and more.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews