The Sea People (Diane Detzer)

Four Stars

Skywash was supposed to be a human colony, but when the settlement team turned up dead, the humans learned that they were better off staying in the space station that circled it. The culprit was never found.

Dick MacCaishe is an injured space soldier. He’s sent to live with his nearest relative, who lives in the space station. But when he discovers that the relative’s daughter is an infinite distance telepath, he can’t understand why keeping this amazing find secret is so important. Once he understands, he is desperate to rectify the situation…but is he too late?

Ria Faradey is an infinite distance telepath who’s fallen in love with a somewhat humanoid alien. When her secret is discovered, she’s caged and dragged to Earth to join others from her mother’s planet that the Science Department has captured. The villain is enthusiastic about the idea of forcing her to marry a telepath strong enough to perpetuate the ability.

Leader Himu is a telepathic alien who’s fallen in love with Ria. Ria begs him to save Dick from the gigantic and terrifying Ancestors, a task that’s made more difficult when Dick’s friend Killer Barlew comes looking for him. Leader can’t rescue Ria by himself.. but the help of the two Earthmen, he might have a chance. Maybe.

Diane Detzer’s The Sea People reads like a great work of classic science fiction, and it is! Detzer originally published it in 1959 under the pen name Adam Lukens. Skywash, though deadly, is magical: shimmering silver water, floating cities, and a wise alien emperor. I wanted to see more of these wonders, and in particular found myself rooting for wheelchair-bound Dick.

One of the standout characters here was the main villain, Marie. Busy, stubborn and officious, she seemed to see Ria more as a prize mare than as a sentient being. If you’ve ever been frustrated by a person in charge who refused to see reason because they were blinded by selfish ambition, you’ll relate.

I didn’t love everything, though. I found the alien/human romance a little weird, but in fairness, the Star Trek half Klingon or half Vulcan hybrids didn’t seem to bother me. Maybe seeing how “human” a being looks makes a difference. As in many classic works of science fiction, the point of view would switch from one character to another within the same scene, which I found hard to follow. The aliens also had polygamy, which isn’t great in itself but is even more icky when you think about a human participating in it. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one! If you enjoy general market books and just wish more of them would would take the smut and anti-religious elements out, this is the book for you.

Genre: Clean classic science fiction.

Religious content: None, but nothing anti-religious either.

Content Ratings

Heat: very little. A married couple kisses briefly. There is a veiled reference to the idea that reproduction is possible between the aliens and humans.

Profanity: There are two or three d**ns in the book. It’s not prominent, though- I actually forgot they were there until someone else mentioned them, and I don’t usually do that.

Violence: mild. Beings do die, but the violence is usually either quick or off-camera.

Age Recommendation: 16+ due to the alien/human romance and profanity.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of this book with a request for an honest review.