Hilarious and flippant sci-fi, tempered by the solemn profundity of the human condition. It features extraterrestrials, bigfoots, and a handful of level-headed humans struggling to make sense of unprecedented circumstances on their home planet. An advanced species of aliens, Xenkonians, pretend to be God. Their purpose? To convince humanity to blissfully accept cranial tubing in order to harvest their melatonin, which just happens to have the same chemical properties as a powerful recreational narcotic, but with even better effect. It also enhances the telepathic ability of the few Xenkonians predisposed to telepathy, including an egomaniac military leader hell-bent on conquering the galaxy.
God is created by exploiting an ancient channeling species, the Hoo'qqai, who have a history of benevolently imitating God to influence and guide less-evolved species throughout the galaxy. The Xenkonians send an avatar in human form to earth, channeled by an elder and somewhat reluctant Hoo'qqai, whose initial mission is to unite humanity's religions, then create a new religious order controlled by the avatar.
But the mission gets sidetracked when the mind of an old Xenkonian mute monk, with a decidedly Zen disposition and a fondness for gambling, finds its way into the avatar's body. The avatar befriends a young atheistic hermit in the mountains of Oregon and the fun begins. Earth will never be the same.
*May Contain Spoilers*
Thomas Leo takes alien invasion to the next (humorous) level with his novel, Prophet Wacko. After aliens discover that the human supply of melatonin is a narcotic for various races, they intend to harvest it from humans by convincing the world that they are gods.
Wacko is the main character, a human vehicle with two alien species sharing the controls. He's multilingual, very persuasive, honest, and certifiably insane. The story revolves around his mission to Earth so he can convince the world population to blissfully accept their harvesting. Readers won't exactly have an easy time connecting to Wacko, but they will enjoy his energetic attitude and friendly demeanor.
Arabella, Elgin, and Jelpmittlebong are the three main supporting characters. Arabella is a student of folklore who meets Wacko and is told about the alien plans. She and Elgin team up to save the human population by telling the world what the aliens really want, but sadly not many people listen. Jelpmittlebong is a promising alien who takes the reins of the human controlling charter. He even throws a curve ball to let the humans have a chance at surviving. Readers will love Elgin's quirky banjo playing scientology, Arabella's pursuit of truth, and Jelpmittlebong's forced path.
Prophet Wacko is a unique novel with bouts of humor. The hardest thing about it is the variety of names. It's difficult to keep the different alien species straight, along with the planets and galaxies. Once the plot picks up the pace, the focus becomes the main character list and in turn, the novel is much easier to understand. One other difficult thing to deal with is the language. It's quite colorful and incredibly blunt making this a novel for adults only.
Rating: 3/5 Cups
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