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Our Friends Upstairs
Philippa Roy served as Secretary of State from 2041 to 2045, capping a career in Washington filled with notable successes in the Middle East and China. Despite her diplomatic achievements, she has only ever had one passion: to solve the Climate Crisis. In her memoirs, Secretary Roy documents her failure to pass climate legislation in the Senate, her attempts to rally allies to her cause while leading the State Department, and the very unusual path she took to seeing her goal realized. After multiple setbacks and a dark realization that it may be beyond human capabilities, Roy turned to a higher power in her lifelong quest. We would call this higher power extraterrestrial. She calls them friends.
- GenresFantasy
312 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 17, 2022
43 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 15, 2023
Highly recommended!
I've read a fair number of books on the subjects of the climate crisis, extraterrestrial contact, and politics, along with some that attempted to combine elements of two or more of these topics. Those that focused on the latter were for the most part unsuccessful or uninteresting. But that was before I came upon this gem of a book that hit all of my hot buttons, melding the subjects I mentioned previously. The plot is clever and the characters well drawn and easily relatable, but the one factor that encouraged me to write a brief review about this novel was that it made me feel hopeful, a feeling that is in such short supply these days. I encourage you to read and prepare to enjoy "Our Friends Upstairs"!
I've read a fair number of books on the subjects of the climate crisis, extraterrestrial contact, and politics, along with some that attempted to combine elements of two or more of these topics. Those that focused on the latter were for the most part unsuccessful or uninteresting. But that was before I came upon this gem of a book that hit all of my hot buttons, melding the subjects I mentioned previously. The plot is clever and the characters well drawn and easily relatable, but the one factor that encouraged me to write a brief review about this novel was that it made me feel hopeful, a feeling that is in such short supply these days. I encourage you to read and prepare to enjoy "Our Friends Upstairs"!
May 10, 2022
I almost always finish a book even when it's bad, but I was close to quitting on this after the first few chapters. It starts slow, spends a lot of time on the back stories of the protagonist and the people around her, with very little conflict or suspense. It finally takes off after about page 85 and becomes a story that makes up for all of its drawbacks in the beginning. In some respects, the laborious backstories help with what happens later on. It's written as a first person memoir with climate disaster looming and no solution in sight. It turns into an entertaining and interesting take on what the world faces with humanities view of problems that can be put off until tomorrow.
May 17, 2022
It’s different
Was it bad…no, but a bit hard to stay involved. Told by a Secretary of State, during President Obama, yep read that correctly but this time it was one of his daughter…just imagine. The platform she won on was the climate Change, Before her run Florida was pretty much wiped off the map, the POTUS during that time denied that there was a problem. Anyways drastic situations call for drastic measures…The SEc. Of state had to build a relationship with Aliens that came many years ago. Of course that has been held as Top Secret. Can they help? Will they help?But the biggest question is, can they be trusted.
Was it bad…no, but a bit hard to stay involved. Told by a Secretary of State, during President Obama, yep read that correctly but this time it was one of his daughter…just imagine. The platform she won on was the climate Change, Before her run Florida was pretty much wiped off the map, the POTUS during that time denied that there was a problem. Anyways drastic situations call for drastic measures…The SEc. Of state had to build a relationship with Aliens that came many years ago. Of course that has been held as Top Secret. Can they help? Will they help?But the biggest question is, can they be trusted.
May 1, 2022
Not at all what I expected, but in the best way....
My only regret is that I started reading this in the evening. I found myself saying just one more chapter late into the night, and didn't want it to end.
My only regret is that I started reading this in the evening. I found myself saying just one more chapter late into the night, and didn't want it to end.
May 2, 2022
Our friends upstairs
Extremely well written. I don't like reading any political books, but this one had me continuing to read to the very end.I enjoyed all the surprised that continuously occurred.
Extremely well written. I don't like reading any political books, but this one had me continuing to read to the very end.I enjoyed all the surprised that continuously occurred.
May 21, 2022
Review on "Our Friends Upstairs"
Loved the topic. Interesting how the author says what our next 26 years politically might be like. Like the positive note in places in the book. Please read it as I think you will find it interesting and thought-provoking.
Loved the topic. Interesting how the author says what our next 26 years politically might be like. Like the positive note in places in the book. Please read it as I think you will find it interesting and thought-provoking.
July 1, 2022
TOO MUCH POLITICAL BS. Weak story
June 11, 2023
Long but interesting
Or, "The story of how I solved the Climate Crisis, and other matters". A political sci-fi tale, set in the near future (2039), begins with the interesting situation of Malia Obama being the new president-elect. But this story is told by her newly-designated Secretary of State, Philippa Roy, who has been a senator from Minnesota (and vaguely, very vaguely, resembles Amy Klobuchar). Philippa is chosen because of her interest in and work on climate issues. Slowly, during the course of the book, we learn that the landing in Roswell, NM, was indeed real, and that the "aliens" from that do indeed exist, are out there, and will maybe, just maybe, help us. But their help will depend on a few things, and humans may or may not be willing to cooperate with them. The aliens turn out to be rather interesting, in my view, and not necessarily what we might expect. Certainly not what Philippa expects, nor what President Obama, or her counterpart in Russia expects.
I found the story quite interesting, but I felt the book was longer than necessary and definitely needed an editor, not only for length and clarity, but because in spots there were just some very annoying little grammatical and spelling mistakes that should have been caught. Things like that do tend to limit my enjoyment at times, but there weren't enough of them to ruin the book for me. I hope to see more from this writer; I suggest, however, that they get an editor next time. The book will read much more smoothly.
Or, "The story of how I solved the Climate Crisis, and other matters". A political sci-fi tale, set in the near future (2039), begins with the interesting situation of Malia Obama being the new president-elect. But this story is told by her newly-designated Secretary of State, Philippa Roy, who has been a senator from Minnesota (and vaguely, very vaguely, resembles Amy Klobuchar). Philippa is chosen because of her interest in and work on climate issues. Slowly, during the course of the book, we learn that the landing in Roswell, NM, was indeed real, and that the "aliens" from that do indeed exist, are out there, and will maybe, just maybe, help us. But their help will depend on a few things, and humans may or may not be willing to cooperate with them. The aliens turn out to be rather interesting, in my view, and not necessarily what we might expect. Certainly not what Philippa expects, nor what President Obama, or her counterpart in Russia expects.
I found the story quite interesting, but I felt the book was longer than necessary and definitely needed an editor, not only for length and clarity, but because in spots there were just some very annoying little grammatical and spelling mistakes that should have been caught. Things like that do tend to limit my enjoyment at times, but there weren't enough of them to ruin the book for me. I hope to see more from this writer; I suggest, however, that they get an editor next time. The book will read much more smoothly.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews