A man who has a serious problem with human relationships, but who squirrels describe as ‘shiny’, is ordered by an ex-colleague to take the transport he’s ordered for him and come down to New Zealand for a big job – with a paypacket he can’t refuse. In drops a harrier jump jet with an attractive British pilot, he gets a cool ride to a US transport, and ends up in a film set in Wellington, where most of the world’s navies are assembling – thanks to some odd goings-on that caused a satellite black-out a few days ago – and Greenpeace, whose attention to the nuclear element of said navies is acute.
This is a fast paced story with many strands and lots of characters, which I sometimes have difficulty with. The central part of the story is so intriguing, so well written, and so vivid, that I forgave myself when I got lost with the complexities and just carried on regardless. I suspect a re-reading would be beneficial and I’d enjoy it even more. Most of my confusions are down to being unfamiliar with the pet names for various types of military hardware, and I was more at home with the vagaries of the swarms of animals that helped track Estlin (our hero) across the Pacific. I mean, can you imagine it – message from the coastguard: I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ve got ten thousand rabbits crowding the cliffs looking out to sea. Add bats, cuttlefish and Russian squirrels with tracking devices… Yes, I suppose light-hearted does come into it, but it’s hell for Estlin.
At the heart of it all is the fact that he, almost alone in the world, can communicate with the aliens that selected New Zealand as their place to make the world aware of their existence. There’s some serious maths involved in the description of how they got here, a theme that wends in and out of the narrative, helping to prove that Estlin really is communicating and not making it all up.
By the time I finished, I wished I’d read Ms McCague’s bio, or I’d have realised I could be out of my depth earlier. Daytime job, nanotechnology. If I don’t keep my insecure writer head on, I am going to be seriously dissuaded from doing scifi books, since my science knowledge is stuck around 2000. Either that or I’ll have to check out some new grad-school science books. But no, I can go with what I know and can invent, just as Ms McCague does. But it’s brilliantly written, with fabulous descriptions of the communication methodology, and overall, seriously good.
With aliens.
Set partly on Samoa.
With a man who talks to animals, rather than people.
What’s not to like?

( )

I received a review copy of The Rosetta Mind, not realizing it was a sequel, so I had to read this first (and I expect the context here is necessary for that book.)
This is the second humans meet aliens and have to communicate with them book I’ve read in the past month. And in both, we don’t do well. Clever, a different take, there is a fairly good understanding of the military, a pretty good understanding of the civilian authorities and a better understanding of scientists and humans (again, we don’t do well…with others or ourselves.) Told in multiple, interlaced threads, this is a gripping page-turner of a story. I’m curious and ready now to get into The Rosetta Mind. I liked this line:
“I think the status quo is about to have its ass handed to it.” ( )

The Rosetta Man by Claire McCague. A man who is irresistible to squirrels and has the ability to mentally communicate with animals is brought in to help communicate with alien visitors to New Zealand. There is, of course, a big international team, political and military jockeying for position. I found it amusing, but also affecting. I did think the ending abrupt and inconclusive, and hope that at some point there’s more to the story. Reviewed from a copy received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program in return for an honest review.

I really like this book. Even though I wanted more I know that this book ended exactly where it should. It was really thought-provoking and very fun to read. I wanted more detail in the middle especially with the doctor and the little girl - they could have been fleshed out more to juxtapose the main character. ( )

Squirrely

Everything that the other reviewers say here is true. The book has a lot of characters and a lot of changes of location, some of which are unneeded for the plot but included solely, and this is not mentioned in other reviews I read, the changes in location allow us to watch more animals watch Estlin.

Estlin Hume has a difficult skill – animals, especially squirrels, adore him. More than pheromone attraction, Estlin actually understands animals and they love him for it. To the point that they invade (and trash) his house to be near him. This makes Estlin a difficult tenant and decades of evictions and relationships interrupted by critters have led him to a solitary life in an isolated cabin in rural Canada. Except sometimes biologists wrestling with thorny problems hire him – but they don't usually send military jets to pick him up.

Ms McCague lets Estlin's skill drive the plot and so poor Estlin is dragged around the Pacific by various political factions so that we may delight in the strange antics of the animals that follow him. I liked it loads.

Yes, the ending is abrupt and could have done with some better editing (and certainly a better title), but Edge Science Fiction doesn't work that way. Bury your annoyance with them and enjoy the book and the follow-on whenever that appears.

I received a review copy of "The Rosetta Man" by Claire McCague (Edge) through Librarything.com. ( )