Rating: 
Summary: Another winner from one of SF's brightest new voices
Review: Maintaining the high standards she set with "Fool's War" and "Playing God," Sarah Zettel's "The Quiet Invasion" is a very good hard SF book that doesn't skimp on characterization and good writing. In each of her books, she develops a well-realized alien race, and the People in this book - aliens who feel right at home on the blazing surface of Venus - are her best invention yet. Where the Dedelphi in "Playing God" occasionally seemed (and acted) like humans in alien suits, Zettle has taken care to make the People's culture in this book quite different from human, to the point where the two races sometimes have no matching cultural referents. In other words, sometimes her aliens are truly alien, and it's a rare SF author that can pull that off.There are a few plot holes, and some loose ends that I would have liked to see tied up. But I enjoyed this book a lot. If you're a fan of hard SF, but not so hard that it clanks and whirrs, it's worth spending your money on "The Quiet Invasion." Sarah Zettle has definitely won a place on my coveted "Buy Everything This Author Writes" List.
Rating:
Summary: Strong, with some faults
Review: Roughly 200 years into the future, the world is dominated by the UN, which also has jursidiction over various space stations and colonies through the Solar System. Since the brutal suppression of a rebellion on Mars, the UN has been hostile to the interests of off-Earth colonists, a hosatility that is resented in many places, definitely including the scientific research station on Venus founded and led by Dr Helen Failia. As Failia desperately searches for funding the Venera station appears doomed, until a probe discovers what appears to be an alien structure on the surface.
On a distant planet, an advanced species calling itself The People occupy a world that is dying from ecological overload. They have found only one other planet which appears suitable for colonization, but are concerned by the fact that another species, originating in the same system and having already built a station on the planet, may have a prior claim. Ambassador T'sha feels that it is important to contact the new species and obtain their agreement before the People move to New Home; her rival D'sheun is certain that losing New Home will mean the death of his species and is willing to claim the new world by any means necessary.
Zettel switches back and forth between human and alian characters, leaving actual first contact for quite late in this first contact story. The contact is still eventful and misunderstandings, whether deliberate or accidental, bring the cultures close to catastrophe. The plot dawdles a bit in the early going, but builds up a good deal of steam before reaching a conclusion that is a bit abrupt and not altogether satisfactory.
The strength of this book is in the elaborate drawn alien culture, the strong characters (mostly female, which seems to be standard in Zettel's work), and the interesting parallels and contrasts between human and alien perspectives.
Rating: 
Summary: A good, but flawed, effort.
Review: Sarah Zettel's "The Quiet Invasion" is a mixed blessing, with some fine writing and ideas mixed with poor plot devices. On the writing front, the words have a very smooth flow. With some authors, clunky wording distracts from the plot. The characters are quite three-dimensional. Despite the fine writing, I found the story dragging from time to time. I eventually realized that this was due to the many detailed character flashbacks, a technique that helped define a character while bringing the plot to a standstill. It happens over and over throughout the book draining a lot of momentum from the story. The plot seemed rather forced at many points. I can't give many examples without giving away parts of the story, but often characters take actions that seem rather irrational. This includes the aliens. One example that might not give away too much: The aliens have a system of "promises" -- debts incurred for favors. One alien offers another the indenture of any of his future children, even though he currently doesn't even have a wife and even though the promise may make it harder to obtain a wife and thus fulfill the promise. For this rather empty promise, he receives a "blank check" from the other alien, a deciding vote on a significant matter for which the second alien does not have all the facts (and knows it). Another example is found at the very end of the story, where a supposedly highly perceptive character is revealed to have originated a very stupid plan. I was also uncomfortable with a lot of the "science" in this book. The surface of Venus is 855° F (457° C) with a surface pressure of 90 atmospheres. The characters can not only travel on the surface, but can don Venus-suits which allow them to walk on the surface. The vehicles and suits seemed rather inadequate for the purpose and few details were given. This environment is supposedly comfortable for the aliens. Again, few details were given to support a metabolism that could function well at this high temperature. In one scene, an alien comments on Earth, a world so cold that substances appear in liquid form, something apparently unusual to them. Yet at 855°, the aliens must have some liquids in their environment, even if they are only molten metal. This doesn't encourage confidence in the author's technical abilities. The tedious character flashbacks, the forced plot devices and the scientific weakness of the story create constant irritations with the book. Yet the writing is so smooth and the characters so solid (even without the flashbacks), that one is left feeling that the author has a lot of potential. She may require a much more critical editor to achieve her best work.
Rating: 
Summary: Unanswered Questions
Review: Sarah Zettel's fourth novel underscores her talent for the invention of alternative cultures, just as the previous 2 novels have done. However, in The Quiet Invasion, Zettel appears to be either gearing up for a sequel, or becoming bored with her own inventions. Many questions are left unanswered; several characters seem incomplete. The premise of this work is that human colonization of Venus is happening concurrent with colonization by another species. Zettel counterbalances the two cultures nicely, giving each side its share of idealists, pragmatists, paranoids, heroes and villains. Ideologies intertwine with agendas which run the gamut from sheer survival to desire for fame. Here lies the weakness of the book, for only one character's resolve comes across as strong and pure, leaving the other characters pale by comparison. As appealing as the character, T'sha, is, Zettel does not manage to give her as colorful a personality as even her lesser characters. The technological questions raised in this book are horrific, and Zettel dismisses them by giving readers a character who cannot understand her race's means of traveling across the galaxy. Zettel does, however, re-introduce readers to her vision of near-future communication technology, which appears to spring directly from present-day uses of the internet. Descriptive language throughout the book is more than adequate. Zettel continues to be an able craftsman. She also displays more of her talent for constructing multiple plotlines. If Zettel intends to continue an exploration of how two cultures alien to one another might co-exist, then the sequel to The Quiet Invasion could be most interesting. As a stand-alone novel, however, this one falls short of Zettel's previous work.
Rating:
Summary: Unanswered Questions
Review: Sarah Zettel's fourth novel underscores her talent for the invention of alternative cultures, just as the previous 2 novels have done. However, in The Quiet Invasion, Zettel appears to be either gearing up for a sequel, or becoming bored with her own inventions. Many questions are left unanswered; several characters seem incomplete. The premise of this work is that human colonization of Venus is happening concurrent with colonization by another species. Zettel counterbalances the two cultures nicely, giving each side its share of idealists, pragmatists, paranoids, heroes and villains. Ideologies intertwine with agendas which run the gamut from sheer survival to desire for fame. Here lies the weakness of the book, for only one character's resolve comes across as strong and pure, leaving the other characters pale by comparison. As appealing as the character, T'sha, is, Zettel does not manage to give her as colorful a personality as even her lesser characters. The technological questions raised in this book are horrific, and Zettel dismisses them by giving readers a character who cannot understand her race's means of traveling across the galaxy. Zettel does, however, re-introduce readers to her vision of near-future communication technology, which appears to spring directly from present-day uses of the internet. Descriptive language throughout the book is more than adequate. Zettel continues to be an able craftsman. She also displays more of her talent for constructing multiple plotlines. If Zettel intends to continue an exploration of how two cultures alien to one another might co-exist, then the sequel to The Quiet Invasion could be most interesting. As a stand-alone novel, however, this one falls short of Zettel's previous work.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredible
Review: The Quiet Invasion is an absolutely wonderful novel. The alien race is portrayed realistically, with their own agendas that come in conflict with the people colonizing Venus. The humans are equally well portrayed, including a future in which the UN runs the entire world, plus the affairs of every colony world that humans have begun settling. The book also contains one of the most incredible, fast paced, and action-packed first contact scenes I've ever read--or seen on the big screen. This was the first Zettel book I've ever read, and I will definitely read more.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: The Quiet Invasion is an absolutely wonderful novel. The alien race is portrayed realistically, with their own agendas that come in conflict with the people colonizing Venus. The humans are equally well portrayed, including a future in which the UN runs the entire world, plus the affairs of every colony world that humans have begun settling. The book also contains one of the most incredible, fast paced, and action-packed first contact scenes I've ever read--or seen on the big screen. This was the first Zettel book I've ever read, and I will definitely read more.
Rating:
Summary: Not much of an invasion
Review: This story of first contact leaves much to be desired. Our initial introduction to The People is not very clear. I had a hard time understanding what the aliens looked like, how they moved and what their interaction is with their cities and machines. At first I thought they were butterflies; later they were described as jellyfish. I must say, however, that once the initial confusion was dissipated, I found the interaction between The People and their living cities quite interesting. I just couldn't get myself to like most of the main characters. Dr Helen Falia, Grace, Veronica Hatch, and the others were all very flawed. Everyone had hidden agendas and were very self-centered. I couldn't find myself pulling for any of them. The parallel stories of political infighting within both cultures did not develop the sence of crisis that I expected. I kept hoping for more depth in the book and did not get it. There were glimmers of brilliance in this book. Unfortunately, they were few in number and short in duration.
Rating:
Summary: Not much of an invasion
Review: This story of first contact leaves much to be desired. Our initial introduction to The People is not very clear. I had a hard time understanding what the aliens looked like, how they moved and what their interaction is with their cities and machines. At first I thought they were butterflies; later they were described as jellyfish. I must say, however, that once the initial confusion was dissipated, I found the interaction between The People and their living cities quite interesting. I just couldn't get myself to like most of the main characters. Dr Helen Falia, Grace, Veronica Hatch, and the others were all very flawed. Everyone had hidden agendas and were very self-centered. I couldn't find myself pulling for any of them. The parallel stories of political infighting within both cultures did not develop the sence of crisis that I expected. I kept hoping for more depth in the book and did not get it. There were glimmers of brilliance in this book. Unfortunately, they were few in number and short in duration.
Rating:
Summary: a stunning clash of cultures
Review: When human explorers meet alien refugees on another planet, dire decisions are made from old prejudices & the planet humans named after the goddess of love becomes ground zero for an all out interstellar war. This author's emphasis on the parallels between possible cultures & the misunderstandings that arise when those cultures clash are written with stunning clarity. I fully recommend her work & would encourage any reader of science fiction to search her out & experience the worlds she creates. They are wonderful!
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