Jennifer Foehner Wells

I loved the sense of joyous imagination that pervaded this book. It was about discovery and adventure, not about conquering and war. That's enough to make me overlook any other flaws it may have, such as: (a) because of the nature of communication in this book the reader is constantly being told how everyone feels, rarely shown, (b) the book is flipping the tropes but at the same time reinforcing some of them and (c) also I loathe Alan Bergen. I want to go on an adventure with Jane and Ei'Brai.

I may be taking a bit of a different view on just who is the main character of this tale.

I'm sure most people will latch on to the leading female for her guts or supposedly for her language abilities which get nullified by the oncoming story. At least I agree that one complaint is valid against this tale: I expected a first contact story with an actual deduction of language and communication. Isn't it right in the title?

Alas, no. We get a high-tech pill solution, but I got over that really show more quickly because the tale was taking me some very interesting places.

Dreams, old civilizations, a wealth of technology at your fingertips, space-travel... even becoming a visceral part of a spaceship. That stuff is awesome, and I dug it, man. :)

So other than her and her slow-burn romantic interest who she saves on occasion, then just WHO IS THE MAIN CHARACTER?

It's the Alien Navigator. :) He's got a real personality on him. He's behind everything. Utterly everything. I can't help but be fascinated and impressed at the nature and scope of his lies and how willing he is to DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY to achieve his goals. :) He really did have to get very creative, and I think I feel closest to him out of all the characters. :) He's the real star of the show. :)

Maybe it's just me! :) But I really enjoyed the hell out of my squiddy friend. show less

I had trouble putting this down! A real page turner, many nights I was up too late because I had to find out what happened, or the action and suspense kept me riveted. Interesting characters who weren't what they first appeared to be often surprised me with a new, previously unseen facet to their character that led to actions I didn't expect. I was always waiting for something else to go wrong.

The author developed the characters while continuing the action, rather than slowing it down. The show more result: three-dimensional characters and a fast-paced plot. No cookie cutter characters here! Even those you love to hate had their good moments that kept you off balance, unsure of what a character will do next.

The alien was fascinating and as complex as the other characters. His motivations developed with the story.
Jane's new role was quite a twist. She has a really novel relationship with the alien. And with the ship.
Terrific story with terrific characters. My only complaint - it ended too soon. I hope there's a sequel! show less

Science fiction, yes, but Fluency is fast paced, a mystery with well-developed characters, which makes the extraordinary premise seem all too believable. It is a really well told story.

Jane Holloway is a linguist who has done a lot of field work and has a gift for learning languages. She would not be likely to describe herself first as a scientist, and certainly not as an astronaut. But NASA seeks her out precisely because of her extraordinary facility with languages.

The public doesn't know, show more of course, but NASA has been aware of a huge space ship hovering relatively near Mars since the 60's with no apparent activity detected for decades. Our technology has finally developed to the point that we can send a team to check it out. Jane's role, should they meet sentient beings on board, is to learn their language so that communication might be established.

Commander Walsh leads the group of 6 astronauts, but the protocol is that Jane would take the leadership if and when they meet other beings. Uncannily, as they approach the massive ship, lights come on to guide their relatively tiny craft to the docking station. The 10 months of claustrophobic togetherness is over, but the tension takes on a new tone as Walsh insists on retaining command, even when Jane is communicating with an intelligent being on the ship. The thing is, they see no one and the communication is telepathic.

Jane believes the being she is communicating with is good and helpful; Walsh is just as convinced she is being brainwashed. Jane learns far more about civilizations throughout the galaxy, and most troubling, that Planet Earth is in grave danger. The adventure has just begun. show less