Alexander’s SF debut opens in the mid-22nd century. Earth officials send a long-distance starship with a group of scientists and military experts on a first-ever jump to a planet orbiting the star Kepler 452. The humans do not necessarily expect intelligent life standing in the way of their commercial colonization mission. But on a habitable planet dominated by a single continent, they meet the Haillar, a diminutive, almost fairylike race living in what looks like a feudal series of settlements. The aliens seem to take the Earth visitors politely in stride. But readers already know what the arrogant and ethnocentric humans do not: The Haillar are an ancient, sophisticated space-spanning race, some 250,000 years old. When required, they can wield immense power and technology—indistinguishable from magic. (It may actually be magic, centering on the manipulation of a mystical, all-pervading force called eka.) But for 20,000 years, the Haillar have been at war with a diabolical, all-consuming enemy called the Scourge. Now, the surprise appearance of Homo sapiens at what is actually a Haillar outpost facing an imminent Scourge attack tips the balance for all the species.
The author starts this series opener deliberately, with dizzying mouthfuls of first-person alien jargon (“They share the same house name but come from two different sides of the Sen Diessa Dichotomy. Remelda is a Healer and the leader of the local Academy, while Dioran’s affinity is Oblivion, the same as the Suzerain Queen’s”). But the narrative culminates with exciting cosmic battleground action worthy of E.E. “Doc” Smith. In between, Alexander manages to insinuate both a tragic romance and a compact critique of the typical capitalist/Western imperialist (aka earthling) mindset, unable to perceive the natives—in this case, a charming little ET queen and her peers—for the mighty, virtual demigods they really are. It’s a fine blastoff for the series and, smoothly wrapping up as it does, can be enjoyed just as much as a stand-alone.
The Force is strong in this intelligent launch of a mystic-tinged, space war saga.
Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite
Phoenix is a work of fiction in the science-fiction genre that is aimed at all ages of reader and was penned by author T. S. Alexander. The first book in the Queen’s Avatar series, this story marks the beginning of a saga of the interstellar conflict between humans and the alien civilizations which they stumble across whilst first exploring the stars. As the science that brought humanity into the cosmos comes into conflict with the magic-like abilities of the aliens, mankind is drawn into the midst of an ancient conflict with the exploration ship Endeavour struggling to survive in the middle. What results is a highly engaging tale with both technical and sensational merits.
It is rare to find works of science fiction that have enough of the hard-boiled sci-fi concepts to satisfy fans but also manage to hold up lots of cinematic moments and blockbuster tensions, and I feel that author T. S. Alexander strikes a great balance of the two here. Combining a close human story about learning to trust one another with an epic bigger-picture threat of interstellar battle, the narrative delivers much of its exposition through intelligent dialogue exchanges rather than dumping too much information on us from the start. This journey of discovery mirrors the experience of the Endeavour’s crew as they learn about Aldeea and its many dark and fascinating secrets, which are revealed well in the plot construction. Overall, I would definitely recommend Phoenix to both super keen and casual science fiction fans for its many layers of accomplished prose.