The first book in this series, Our Child of the Stars, lingered on my Kindle for far too long. Having read it and loved it, I wasted no time devouring its sequel, Our Child of Two Worlds. Like its predecessor, it is a gem of a book, an underlying quiet, emotional story yet the action has been ramped up with an alien invasion. It is a poignant look at the life of one particular, peculiar family who have adopted a purple-tentacled alien child, Cory. The Myers family has found a modicum of peace in Amber Grove, a small New England town, from the tumult Cory’s arrival causes in their lives. Author Cox does a splendid job of recreating the tensions of the 1960s and 1970s: the long-haired, pot-smoking hippies; Woodstock; the straight folks who toed the line; the Cold War; the Vietnam war; the constant fear of atomic bombs; the secretive, sinister work of intelligence agencies.
Cox captures the youthful exuberance of this alien child down to his voice, that of a boy so eager to get the words out that they come out in a staccato rat-tat-tat. His physical description is vague enough readers can draw their own versions of the boy in their minds. He is smart, curious, and adventurous—and utterly endearing. Despite the Myers’ efforts to normalize his life, Cory is from a planet where there is communal sleeping—and communal dreams. His own people, who are supposed to rescue him, are millions of miles away. The stresses of having an alien child, which initially pulled the Myers’ together, tugs them apart as their views of their marriage and their dreams shift.
Our Child of Two Worlds is a poignant portrait of an American family, the ties that bind this family, and the strength of those ties. The novel is also a portrait of humanity with its light and its darkness and explores what it means for humans to be in touch with aliens and upends the expected human-centered expectations. Cory encourages humanity—as well as his own kind—to rise above their darker sides.
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Our Child of Two Worlds (Mobius, June 14, 2022) is available through:
Our Child of the Stars is available through:
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You can see my interview with Stephen Cox here and my book review of Our Child of the Stars here.
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