Paula Welch

Seven-year-old Charlie Featherstone lived on a farm in New South Wales, Australia. He loved nothing more than to look up at the sky at night, and dreamed of becoming an astronomer or an astronaut one day. On one starry night, Charlie witnesses a dazzling meteor shower that would change his life forever. Fast forward twenty-five years, Dr Charlie Featherstone is now working at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex when he discovers some strange activity radiating from the moon and a not too far away planet.

Meanwhile, hidden beside one of Jupiter’s moons, is the Zephyrus, a spaceship that has travelled from a far distant galaxy to flee war on their home planet of Lamatra. Captain of the Zephyrus, Lathaniel, has been searching for a habitable planet, and hopes the beautiful blue planet Earth will provide much needed shelter and safety. Lathaniel reaches out to Charlie and his team at the CDSCC in the hope they can persuade the authorities to let the Lamatrians settle in Australia. After long negotiations, the aliens are given permission to stay, and they soon adapt to life on Earth. But not everyone is happy with the new arrivals, and when innocent aliens are brutally attacked by humans, the Lamatrians have an important decision to make. Should they stay on Earth or leave and seek out another planet?

The Interlopers is an outstanding science fiction novel for pre-teen readers. The book has a perfect balance of insight and factual information, and creativity and imagination, to make this both an entertaining and believable story. It might even persuade the most passionate sceptics to question the existence of extra-terrestrial life! The book is packed full of interesting facts about science and technology, the planetary systems, and space travel. The narration by Emma provides further context and information, for those readers that might be less familiar with these subjects.

The book is beautifully written by Paula Welch. The characters are likable and well developed, particularly the two main characters, Charlie, and Lathaniel. The story follows their individual journeys, over time and across space, and readers will connect with their experiences of love and loss, their dreams and insecurities, and their successes and failures. We hope to hear more about Charlie and Lathaniel, and their human-alien relationships, in the future.

Star Rating: 5 Stars

Summary

‘An outstanding and believable science fiction story, beautifully written by Welch‘. A GOLD WINNER and highly recommended.’