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Contact
Hope comes at a cost.
Earth’s ability to sustain human life has nearly been exhausted. But the Federation’s decades long quest to find a new host planet has finally paid off.
Cultural anthropologist Madelyn Lawrence has been selected to join a small team of experts tasked with traveling to explore the new world prior to settlement. Her job is Make connections with and study the Xantarians, a group of sentient beings native to Sphyra. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime.
But not all is what it seems, and someone within the Federation has a dark secret. To what lengths will they go to keep that secret? Murder? Genocide? Or is no price too high to pay?
Madelyn and the team are ill prepared for the hostility that awaits them.
Earth’s ability to sustain human life has nearly been exhausted. But the Federation’s decades long quest to find a new host planet has finally paid off.
Cultural anthropologist Madelyn Lawrence has been selected to join a small team of experts tasked with traveling to explore the new world prior to settlement. Her job is Make connections with and study the Xantarians, a group of sentient beings native to Sphyra. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime.
But not all is what it seems, and someone within the Federation has a dark secret. To what lengths will they go to keep that secret? Murder? Genocide? Or is no price too high to pay?
Madelyn and the team are ill prepared for the hostility that awaits them.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 22, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 9, 2019
A dying Earth. First contact with a new species. Conspiracies and betrayals on all fronts. A slow burn novel that thoroughly explores all the aspects of politics, science and personal issues that would be involved in a real first contact. The world building and research is spot on, making it an immersive and believable read.
Bristow builds a team of scientists and military personnel, making for a lively team of characters, all with their own personal and moral issues. Constant communication with Earth ramps up the conflict, and the characters must battle their fears, losses and examine long cherished beliefs. Arriving on the planet ramps up the action as the team faces conditions that are nothing like they were told, and creatures that should not exist.
Clearly meant to be part of a series, the novel ends on a cliff hanger, with many questions yet to be answered. However, the book sets a firm foundation with the characters, world and many plot threads, that will no doubt keep readers enthralled through the series.
Bristow builds a team of scientists and military personnel, making for a lively team of characters, all with their own personal and moral issues. Constant communication with Earth ramps up the conflict, and the characters must battle their fears, losses and examine long cherished beliefs. Arriving on the planet ramps up the action as the team faces conditions that are nothing like they were told, and creatures that should not exist.
Clearly meant to be part of a series, the novel ends on a cliff hanger, with many questions yet to be answered. However, the book sets a firm foundation with the characters, world and many plot threads, that will no doubt keep readers enthralled through the series.
June 19, 2022
A large cast of characters deftly handled, most of whom seemed to have secrets or hidden agendas. At least two alien races plus fantastical beasts and fauna with layers of cultural and religious worldbuilding. You are definitely left with questions but then this is book 1 of 2. Decent pace, would've liked more heart in mouth moments but I'm just a conflict junkie haha. Felt the most emotional connection with Yena and almost more interested in the alien race's story than the human explorers. Obviously will be reading book 2 to find out more.
December 31, 2022
In Contact by Ian C. Bristow, a group of top scientists are recruited to a to secret mission to a newly discovered and probed habitable planet that may provide hope for the ravaged earth's own future.
However, all is not as it seems and doubts about the mission begin to emerge with cultural anthropologist, Madelyn Lawrence becomes a target of assassination attempts. The troubling questions increase from a whisper to a roar after the mission lands on the planet and the situation is both far more dangerous and more problematic than they were lead to believe.
Contact has an interesting cast of characters, a believable alien world and a suspenseful and challenging situation which, no doubt, sets up for the rest of the series.
However, all is not as it seems and doubts about the mission begin to emerge with cultural anthropologist, Madelyn Lawrence becomes a target of assassination attempts. The troubling questions increase from a whisper to a roar after the mission lands on the planet and the situation is both far more dangerous and more problematic than they were lead to believe.
Contact has an interesting cast of characters, a believable alien world and a suspenseful and challenging situation which, no doubt, sets up for the rest of the series.
January 27, 2020
Because Earth has been wasted and the environment/resources have been depleted, Scientists have been looking for another planet to inhabit. Now they've found one! There's a problem. It's inhabited by sentient humanoids who've evolved to about a pre-Christian early medeival stage.
Earth is sending a team to do research and make contact to see what the possibilities are.
In this series starter, Madelyn is a cultural scientist on the team. But bad luck starts almost instantly. Someone tries to kill her. The attempt is thwarted but as she recovers she realizes that in true Western European Imperialistic fashion, people of Earth intend to conquer or destroy the inhabitants. Those on the team who oppose this idea are now the problem.
I loved the world and character building and all the tension leading up to the Cliffhanger ending and will eagerly jump into the second installment to see how this is resolved.
Great Sci-Fi, Great Fantasy!
Earth is sending a team to do research and make contact to see what the possibilities are.
In this series starter, Madelyn is a cultural scientist on the team. But bad luck starts almost instantly. Someone tries to kill her. The attempt is thwarted but as she recovers she realizes that in true Western European Imperialistic fashion, people of Earth intend to conquer or destroy the inhabitants. Those on the team who oppose this idea are now the problem.
I loved the world and character building and all the tension leading up to the Cliffhanger ending and will eagerly jump into the second installment to see how this is resolved.
Great Sci-Fi, Great Fantasy!
December 30, 2021
A New Take on First Contact
Bristow introduces us to a fine cast of scientists, chosen to undertake the ultimate mission: making first contact with a new species on a distant planet, similar to that of Earth. In the dying stages of Earth's degradation, humans are looking to the stars for answers and, unbeknownst to the first exploration team, that answer might be invasion and conquest of another intelligent species' world. Other than their captain, the exploratory team is unaware of this hidden agenda.
The new world is peopled with a species so similar to humans, that I wonder if this book is intended to be more allegorical than fantastical. For Bristow's alien species, a difference of religious belief takes centre stage; one alien subgroup trying to exterminate the other more peace-loving group over a difference in theology. Throw in attempted genocide by the Earth government and you have a hotbed of conflict awaiting the first contact team. Bristow's characters are believable and relatable, their responses to challenges admirable. This entertaining first book in a series leaves the reader at a cliffhanger.
There are many first alien contact books that have preceded CONTACT (INSTINCT THEORY BOOK 1), such as THE SPARROW by Maria Doria Russell, GRIDLINKED by Neal Asher, or LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS by Ursula LeGuin. While those books have focused on the linguistic and interpretive challenge of interacting with a totally alien species, Bristow's crew have a translator built into their helmets that surprisingly overcomes this communication challenge. An intriguing read.
Bristow introduces us to a fine cast of scientists, chosen to undertake the ultimate mission: making first contact with a new species on a distant planet, similar to that of Earth. In the dying stages of Earth's degradation, humans are looking to the stars for answers and, unbeknownst to the first exploration team, that answer might be invasion and conquest of another intelligent species' world. Other than their captain, the exploratory team is unaware of this hidden agenda.
The new world is peopled with a species so similar to humans, that I wonder if this book is intended to be more allegorical than fantastical. For Bristow's alien species, a difference of religious belief takes centre stage; one alien subgroup trying to exterminate the other more peace-loving group over a difference in theology. Throw in attempted genocide by the Earth government and you have a hotbed of conflict awaiting the first contact team. Bristow's characters are believable and relatable, their responses to challenges admirable. This entertaining first book in a series leaves the reader at a cliffhanger.
There are many first alien contact books that have preceded CONTACT (INSTINCT THEORY BOOK 1), such as THE SPARROW by Maria Doria Russell, GRIDLINKED by Neal Asher, or LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS by Ursula LeGuin. While those books have focused on the linguistic and interpretive challenge of interacting with a totally alien species, Bristow's crew have a translator built into their helmets that surprisingly overcomes this communication challenge. An intriguing read.
November 21, 2021
A group of top scientists and researchers are sent on a mission to a distant planet to find answers that could be the final hope of humanity—but it soon becomes apparent the purpose of the mission isn’t exactly what the crew has been led to believe
This was a fun, fast read that maintained a steady tension throughout. The creeping sense of mystery was a lot of fun, and held my interest, and I enjoyed the camaraderie and relationships between the characters. The writing style was very enjoyable, good enough to not draw attention to itself and instead let the story shine through. I appreciated the fleshed-out, three-dimensional characters, and I especially appreciated that the female characters were drawn with the same level of autonomy and personality and dimensionality as the male characters—something I don’t always see in sci-fi.
I am not the biggest fan of the aliens-as-a-backwards-society trope, but that’s more a me thing than a problem with the book, and it was handled well, with the aliens presented as unique individuals rather than a monolith.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable beginning to a series, and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.
This was a fun, fast read that maintained a steady tension throughout. The creeping sense of mystery was a lot of fun, and held my interest, and I enjoyed the camaraderie and relationships between the characters. The writing style was very enjoyable, good enough to not draw attention to itself and instead let the story shine through. I appreciated the fleshed-out, three-dimensional characters, and I especially appreciated that the female characters were drawn with the same level of autonomy and personality and dimensionality as the male characters—something I don’t always see in sci-fi.
I am not the biggest fan of the aliens-as-a-backwards-society trope, but that’s more a me thing than a problem with the book, and it was handled well, with the aliens presented as unique individuals rather than a monolith.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable beginning to a series, and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.
December 3, 2019
Bristow plies has talent on another genre! I really liked his urban fantasy thriller Hunting Darkness, so I was happy to read this near future scifi. I was impressed.
The world is on the brink of environmental collapse and the federation has found a new planet. It is already populated by intelligent life, so they will send a team to initiate contact with the natives. What could possibly go wrong? Explorers in Western culture have traditionally handled this situation very well. Just kidding. At last go we subjugated and enslaved anything our diseases left behind!
In all seriousness, the tension is great. Bristow’s got a good sense of building up a likeable character and keeping them in a bind.
Even before the ship reaches it’s destination, things start going wrong. Is the mission doomed?
I had the good fortune of beta reading this book. It’s a privilege pinned to running the Science Fantasy Hub. While I didn’t pay, I recommend you do. This book is great! If you liked Avatar, Battlestar Galactica (reboot), mysteries, or Star Trek, then you’re bound to enjoy this book.
The world is on the brink of environmental collapse and the federation has found a new planet. It is already populated by intelligent life, so they will send a team to initiate contact with the natives. What could possibly go wrong? Explorers in Western culture have traditionally handled this situation very well. Just kidding. At last go we subjugated and enslaved anything our diseases left behind!
In all seriousness, the tension is great. Bristow’s got a good sense of building up a likeable character and keeping them in a bind.
Even before the ship reaches it’s destination, things start going wrong. Is the mission doomed?
I had the good fortune of beta reading this book. It’s a privilege pinned to running the Science Fantasy Hub. While I didn’t pay, I recommend you do. This book is great! If you liked Avatar, Battlestar Galactica (reboot), mysteries, or Star Trek, then you’re bound to enjoy this book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews