Alex Hernandez

With 23 chapters to go, I started to read this new adventure from a new author. Written by fellow Miamian, Alex Hernandez, “Tooth and Talon” exceeded my expectations. I read this well-written book late into the early morning hours, self-assured that a respite from my need to know what happens next would come at the end of the next chapter. It never came!

The main character is a woman, unusual for a book written by a male author. We usually portray our own gender as heroes. I'd say the show more same for female authors in my experience. Hernandez did the unexpected with “Tooth and Talon” and pulled it off by not imbuing male traits and desires on Oya, his purely female character.

This story is about colonizing a planet in another solar system that, without foreknowledge, was already occupied by a race of avian-human mutants. These mutants were former castoffs from the Sol system, slaughtered and dispelled based on the prejudices of that time period. But, prejudices don’t die; they live on in our progeny. Hernandez, the son of Cuban immigrants, writes a story that addresses the hatred and mistakes that prejudices of this sort lead to.

Despite my description touching on migration issues that are relevant today, this book is in no way political. The story being told is purely science fiction with faster than light travel, artificial intelligence, and human ability enhancing nanite technology. The pace is steady and keeps the reader engaged.

I’m glad that I picked this book up as its storytelling befits a more seasoned author. show less

Average scifi.

Old style humans come across planet inhabited by bird-like, genetically modified humans. Conflict arises due to distrust on both sides (the inclusion and history thereof one of the better things about the story).

Some nice touches, some tropes and some dubious things (like how to two humans with wings large enough to fly fit inside a regular sized shower? ;) )

Believable science, interesting characters, conflicts created and resolved: make this a good first book for me from this author. The prologue was oft-putting but worked when read within the context of the story. The structure also required some patience but the story was worth it.

Why do I feel like I am not reading the same book as everyone else?

Unfortunately this book just did not do it for me. I am an avid science fiction reader and absolutely love reading about new worlds/civilizations, so I was super thrilled when this book was sent to me. After reading the epilogue, I was just left utterly confused about what just happened and truly not excited to read the rest of the book.

However, there were some positives…

-It had a great mix of science fiction elements: show more genetically modified dinosaurs, cyborgs, nanobots etc. etc.
-Characters were intriguing. I enjoyed the interactions and conflicts between the two main characters, Oya Valette and Inirigua.
-It was very descriptive…a little bit too descriptive for my liking -which leads me to the negatives of this book…

I just could not get into Hernandez’s writing style. His extremely detailed descriptions did not leave any room for the reader’s imagination. Some descriptions made absolutely no sense to me and could have been conveyed in a more straight forward manner that would have made the story easier to digest.

A quote from the book that really pinched a nerve:
“…-all the other ninety-nine colonists- were either dead or screaming, steeped in their own juices.”

Overall, I believe this book had so much potential with its twisted plot, and character development, however, the execution and descriptions really did not make it an enjoyable read. show less