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    Triptych
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    Triptych
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    Triptych
    Ebook367 pages4 hours

    Triptych

    By J.M. Frey

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    IN THE NEAR FUTURE, humankind has mastered the arts of peace, tolerance, and acceptance. At least, that's what we claim.

    But then they arrive. Aliens--the last of a dead race. Suffering culture shock of the worst kind, they must take refuge on a world they cannot understand; one which cannot comprehend the scope of their loss. Taciturn Gwen Pierson and super-geek Basil Grey are Specialists for the Institute--an organization set up to help alien integration into our societies. They take in Kalp, a widower who escaped his dying world with nothing but his own life and the unfinished toy he was making for a child that will never be born. But on the aliens' world, family units come in threes, and when Kalp turns to them for comfort, they unintentionally, but happily, find themselves Kalp's lovers.

    And then, aliens--and the Specialists who have been most accepting of them--start dying, picked off by assassins. The people of Earth, it seems, are not quite as tolerant as they proclaim.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDragon Moon Press
    Release dateMar 16, 2011
    ISBN9781897492321
    Unavailable
    Triptych
    Author

    J.M. Frey

    J.M. Frey is an author, actor, and lapsed academic. She's appeared in podcasts, documentaries, radio programs, and on television to discuss all things geeky through the lens of academia. J.M. lives near Toronto, surrounded by houseplants because she is allergic to anything with fur. She's a tea and wine nerd, and her life's ambition is to one day set foot on every continent (3 left!) Her debut novel "Triptych" was nominated for two Lambda Literary Awards, nominated for the CBC Bookie Award, was named one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2011, was on The Advocate's Best Overlooked Books of 2011 list, received an honorable mention at the London Book Festival in Science Fiction, and won the San Francisco Book Festival for Science Fiction.

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    Reviews for Triptych

    3/5

    13 ratings6 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I'm having a hard time getting into it, so I'm going to leave it for now. Could be my mood, or the format (on the kindle app on my Droid X).
    • 3/5
      Triptych is an uneven novel, and I'm very torn about reviewing it. At its best, it is, by turns, absolutely delightful and heartbreaking, but the narrative is uneven and the pacing feels off. Frey's writing is conversational and compulsively readable, sprinkled with science fiction in-jokes and references. She has a talent for writing empathetic, human characters (even the ones that aren't human!) and tells an original and inspired story. But structurally, I wish she could have tweaked some things, and gone into more detail.When their world is destroyed, the remnants of an alien race come to Earth seeking help. The United Nations sets up the "Institute," an organization designed to help the alien survivors integrate successfully. Gwen and Basil, a human linguist and engineer, respectively, are assigned to work with Kalp, one of the alien refugees. Gwen and Basil are a couple, and when they invite Kalp to live with them it causes a cultural misunderstanding, as Kalp's people mate in threes. The sections told from Kalp's point of view, which involve the inevitable confusion and culture clashes, are frequently delightful and hilarious - Kalp is one of the most endearing characters I've come across. You can't help but love him. Eventually the three do become romantically entangled, but this causes outrage among conservative groups. Gwen, Basil and Kalp find themselves facing the angry, violent humanity that lurks beneath our veneer of enlightenment and tolerance. The structure of the novel is just a little awkward, though - the story begins with Gwen and Basil accidentally time traveling back to the 1980's, the climax of the novel already passed (for them.) Then, after revealing much of the plot and conflict and resolutions, the narrative flashes back for the bulk of the novel - the relationship between Kalp and the humans, told from the alien's perspective. As I've said, Kalp's chapters are the most fun, the most painful and the most endearing, but sandwiching them between the comparatively short action/secret-ops/time travel parts, it loses the original tension and feels like an entirely different novel. In the last part, when our heroes catch up to the point they were at in the opening segments, things are more thoroughly resolved - although the story suffers from the familiar trope of the good guys can't tell who the bad guy is even though it should be fairly obvious. There is also an overlong denouement, but how I wish the author had instead spent more time fleshing out the details of her story - Triptych is a very short novel.In the end, Triptych made me laugh and broke my heart, while entertaining me with characters who were warm and lovable. I may have some criticisms, but I will still be looking forwards to any future books by the author.
    • 5/5
      When the aliens came it was nothing like the way science fiction and popular culture had predicted it. There was no invasion, instead they were refugees. Their own planet had collapsed, killing the majority, only a few escaped. Earth took them in and began to integrate them into human culture.

      Of course there were plenty of differences.

      And then the rumours of a conspiracy started. And the possibility that the aliens were actually invaders, invaders by stealth.

      Gwen and Basil were part of the Institute’s team of specialists, responsible for trying to learn about the aliens. Their culture, their technology, their language. They even take one of the aliens into their house. Into their lives. Is it possible that Kalp is acting against them?

      As far as I can remember I picked this book up because I’d seen the author quoted somewhere, something to do with gender and female authors in science fiction, and being advised to publish under J. M. rather than something more identifiably female. And the plot of the book itself seemed interesting. I’m so glad I did read it because this book is wonderful.

      It starts off with the death of Kalp. That’s his body falling to the floor in the opening line, and basil reacting to it. And then suddenly we are in the past, with Gwen’s parents and Gwen as a baby. The story then moves to Kalp’s point of view as he tries to integrate himself into human society. He calls himself “he” even though they are much more gender neutral in his culture. Gender only really matters when you intend to procreate. And finally back to after Kalp’s death, the causes, the reasons for it, and the fall out from it.

      It is so well written, every character voice is different and distinct. I really connected with them as they told their stories. Poor Kalp who has lost everything when his home world was destroyed and who is trying so hard to fit in, to be part of Basil and Gwen’s life. All he wants is to find a home of his own.

      And Basil and Gwen, who go through so much together.

      It’s just a great read. So gripping, I found it so hard to put down.

      But it isn’t just an entertaining story. It is all about gender, and sex roles and dynamics. About how prejudiced some people are, and how that can have such huge impacts on other people. Kalp, as I mentioned, decides to take on the male descriptive pronoun, but his lack of understanding of what makes something culturally male or female serves to point out ridiculous we are for thinking that cooking if for women, for example. It isn’t a huge hammer in the book. Kalp decides to be known as male and never makes a big deal about it again, but it comes up in subtle ways throughout the story that his gender isn’t so important to him as it might be to a human.

      It isn’t a perfect book. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, and really recommend it to anyone interested in a first-contact story of a different kind.
    • 1/5
      I really, really wanted to like this book. I was excited about it. I love stories heavily featuring aliens, especially when they employ alien POV. I love stories with polyamory. I love time travel. This book has all of those things, but could not make it work for me.

      The structure of the book is non-linear, with an opening scene that makes very little sense on first read. The first section drops lots of references to things the reader doesn't understand yet, which are finally explained in the second section. I see what the author tried to do here, but it didn't work for me at all. I spent way too long being totally confused about the plot, and by the time things were finally explained, I'd forgotten what the explanation was for. In the end, I lost interest so completely that I stopped reading. I think the book would have worked a lot better with a more linear structure, even with the time travel.
    • 4/5
      This doesn't happen often, but I'm very conflicted as to how I feel about this book.On one hand, there's the time travel plot, the business with Gwen's mother and the farm at the start, and the elite commando action stuff near the end — all of which failed to enthuse me. The prose during these sections was less than polished, to my mind. For these alone I would give the book 3 stars.But then there's Kalp. Roughly half the novel (from 27% in, to 76% in, going by my Kindle's progress bar) was from the perspective of this marvellous alien (NB: I'm racking my brain, and I don't think the name of his species is ever mentioned). Kalp is such an amazing character, one for whom I came to feel very fondly. The relationship he builds with Basil and Gwen is touching and surprising: you don't often read about queer, polyamorous, interspecies love in fiction.I loved every moment of this middle section of the book — that is, up until things started to go bad for the characters. I was genuinely saddened by the events that transpired; I almost felt betrayed (whether by the character responsible, or by the author herself). After that (IE: from 77% onwards) I was a bit disappointed, feeling that the book was just going through the motions of tying up the time travel plot. The story just felt like it had been robbed of its most interesting element.I think Kalp's story would work far better as a standalone novella, with no time travel at all, and with the happy ending that he deserves. Such a story would earn 5 stars from me. But, sadly (for me — I know, how selfish of me), that's not the story the author intended to tell. I'll have to just amend my memory with a happy ending for Kalp, Basil and Gwen when I think back to this book.Thus, my conflicted response. Basically, I feel this is, in one half, a 3 star story about time travel with unpolished prose, and in the other half, a 5 star story of a refugee alien (with much better prose in that section, too). Unfortunately the two stories are linked by means of a tragic end for a character I loved. Anyway, to this book I dole out 4 shiny stars, mainly because I can't see myself ever forgetting Kalp.
    • 3/5
      I love science fiction books best when they do something a little outside the norm . . . when they push boundaries . . . and when they make you stop and think. While I do enjoy some mindless carnage on the big screen, it simply doesn’t work for me on the page. Mind you, what I like on the page doesn’t necessarily translate well to the screen, but I have a pretty solid production crew inside my head.

      Anyway, Triptych is a book that I’m delighted to say falls comfortably outside the norm, pushes sexual/racial/gender boundaries, and leaves you quite delighted to stop and think.

      Take one heterosexual human couple. Introduce an oddly gendered alien into the mix. Then watch a family emerge, only to be confronted by the worst of both societies. As a story of first contact and social justice, this reminds me of the old TV series Alien Nation. It has that same conscience . . . . that same sense of something significant taking place on a personal and intimate level, even if it is approached in a very different manner.

      Given Gwen and Basil’s role within the grand scheme of first contact, I was afraid we’d be left with a lot of technical asides and scientific musings to explore the aliens. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Instead of being cold and clinical, the approach here is warm and human. I won’t spoil any of what happens between them, but I will say I shed tears of joy and tears of sorrow for this unusual family, and that’s an accomplishment few authors can claim.

      Not only is this a wonderful story, but it’s a wonderfully told story. Initially, I had my doubts as to how well it would work – not because of any failing on the part of the author, but simply because there were so many ways it could have gone wrong. Fortunately, the pop-culture references are used wisely; the aliens are neither almost-human nor completely-monstrous (but something interesting in between); the core relationship is loving and tender, presented as something natural (rather than erotic or taboo); and there’s no sign of the usual time travel clichés.

      More importantly, beneath all the action and the drama, there are some big questions asked within the novel – the answers to which we’re guided, but have to realise for ourselves. That’s what makes a good science fiction novel memorable, and Triptych certainly is that.