Michael Flynn - Eifelheim

Pros: Interesting concept, Middle Ages-meets-Aliens, German setting, colorful characters...

Cons: The 21st Century portions of the book, unlikable characters

The Bottom Line: The next time you see a giant grasshopper, hope it speaks German.

Review: ...okay, the alien grasshoppers don't invade as much as they crash-land in the Black Forest. That's the premise behind Michael Flynn's sci-fi novel "Eifelheim." This first contact tale is set mostly in the mid-1300s in Germany, where a small mountain ...

Pros: Inventive, detailed medieval setting treats its premise seriously and stays period-accurate.

Cons: Flabby present-day narrative and repellent characters add nothing to the story but pages.

The Bottom Line: Father Endergebnis, seest thou yon massive space-shippe over the trees? What manner of travelers be inside?

Review: Sometimes, when you’re summarizing a book you’re reading for someone else, it makes you wonder why, exactly, you are reading it. “Well,” I heard myself say recently, “it’s about a bunch of aliens who crash-land in fourteenth-century Germany during the ...