Hair Power

Terminal cancer patient, Quiti, walks into an abandoned building planning on taking her life.

Instead, she encounters a telepathic ball of hair that insists it is an alien seeking to facilitate diplomatic communication on Earth.

Quiti assumes it is all a hallucination conjured up by her brain tumor.

Because of this assumption, when she saves the alien’s life and it insists on doing Quiti a favor in return, she only asks for her hair back. She soon discovers, however, that the creature’s gift extends much further than her new locks that can change color with a thought. As her powers grow and her deadly illness goes into remission, Quiti quickly realizes that there are those that would want to use her for her abilities and is forced to leave behind everything that she knew.

Will this blessing curse her to a life on the run, or does the mysterious hairball have more in store for her?

*May Contain Spoilers*

Piers Anthony takes alien invasion to a whole new level with his humorous fantasy/science fiction novel, Hair Power. When a hairball appears and asks main character, Quiti, for help, it certainly creates a new image of what an alien could look like, while prompting a new investigation into why they would invade earth. 

Quiti has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In the beginning of the novel, she doesn't have much time left to live and decides to end it all on her terms. Until a twenty-pound hairball intervenes and asks her for help. In return, she granted a request. Easy for Quiti, all she wants is her hair back. The hairball agrees, but in the end does so much more for her, including curing her cancer. Quiti is a nice, down to earth person, who was given a raw deal, like all cancer patients. She's smart and even keeled. However, readers will only really get to know her after she becomes the convoy for the alien species. After she starts growing a new alien hairball on her own head, Quiti becomes incredibly intelligent, brave, and courageous. She also becomes more and more robotic as the novel progresses. As a mix between human and alien, Quiti's formality increases as her knowledge of what the magical hair can do expands. Even though the dialogue becomes more formal, I think readers will like Quiti as she travels around experimenting with her developing powers, knowing that there are government officials following her. 

The plot generally revolves around the question: what do these aliens want and why are they choosing specific people to help them? With that lingering throughout the book, readers see Quiti develop her powers and grow with the hair. As she finds more like her, the truth of the matter is revealed and the possibility of a sequel presents itself. Hair Power is a silly (in a good way), expansive enjoyment of science fiction and fantasy that lovers of the genres will like. The evolution of Quiti into an alien convoy is interesting and engaging while the thrill of escaping the government officials also adds a bit of adventure to an otherwise exploratory novel. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups