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Illegal Alien (novel)
Encyclopedia
Illegal Alien is a science fiction
and mystery novel
by Canadian
novelist Robert J. Sawyer
. The book won the 2002 Seiun Award, in Japan, for Best Foreign Novel.
The story was published in hardback in December 1997, and appeared in paperback in England in January 1998 and in the United States in January 1999.
An alien spacecraft arrives on Earth, contact is established, and the two peoples begin to learn about each other. Things go well for several months, with the aliens (who call themselves Tosoks) doing a tour of our world, during which they viewed the August 1999 solar eclipse.
Then a member of the human contact team is found dead, under circumstances that place one of the aliens, Hask, under suspicion. Hask is in fact arrested for murder, and the remainder of the novel concerns Hask's trial in a Los Angeles, California court.
The book contains several references to the O. J. Simpson trial
, and it was in fact inspired by that trial. Sawyer (a Canadian) referred to the novel as "an outsider's view of American justice."
There are a number of pungent comments about the justice system, such as when a juror is discovered to be a "UFO nut" and is dismissed from the jury. While questioning the juror about the truthfulness about her answers to the pre-selection jury questionnaire, the judge uses the terms "UFO" and "flying saucer
" synonymously, whilst the juror distinguishes them as different things. Told she should have answered the question in the spirit it was asked, and that the Court wants "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," the juror rebuts:
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and mystery novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
novelist Robert J. Sawyer
Robert J. Sawyer
Robert James Sawyer is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 20 novels published, and his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Amazing Stories, On Spec, Nature, and many anthologies. Sawyer has won over forty awards for his fiction, including the Nebula Award ,...
. The book won the 2002 Seiun Award, in Japan, for Best Foreign Novel.
The story was published in hardback in December 1997, and appeared in paperback in England in January 1998 and in the United States in January 1999.
An alien spacecraft arrives on Earth, contact is established, and the two peoples begin to learn about each other. Things go well for several months, with the aliens (who call themselves Tosoks) doing a tour of our world, during which they viewed the August 1999 solar eclipse.
Then a member of the human contact team is found dead, under circumstances that place one of the aliens, Hask, under suspicion. Hask is in fact arrested for murder, and the remainder of the novel concerns Hask's trial in a Los Angeles, California court.
The book contains several references to the O. J. Simpson trial
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
, and it was in fact inspired by that trial. Sawyer (a Canadian) referred to the novel as "an outsider's view of American justice."
There are a number of pungent comments about the justice system, such as when a juror is discovered to be a "UFO nut" and is dismissed from the jury. While questioning the juror about the truthfulness about her answers to the pre-selection jury questionnaire, the judge uses the terms "UFO" and "flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
" synonymously, whilst the juror distinguishes them as different things. Told she should have answered the question in the spirit it was asked, and that the Court wants "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," the juror rebuts:
- "Forgive me, Your Honor, but it's been quite clear throughout this case that you want nothing of the kind. I've seen [defense] and [prosecution] cut off all sorts of answers because they were more than either of them wanted the jury to hear. By every example I've ever seen, the Court wants specific answers to the narrow, specific questions posed—and I provided just that."