Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Tachyon Publications
Description
The Secret City is a proud enclave carved in stone. Hidden high in a mountain range, it is a worn citadel protecting a lost culture. It harbors a handful of aliens stranded on Earth, waiting for rescue and running out of time. Over years of increasing poverty, an exodus to the human world has become their only chance for survival. The aliens are gradually assimilating not as a discrete culture but as a source of cheap labor. But the sudden arrival of ill-prepared rescuers will touch off divided loyalties, violent displacement, and star-crossed love. As unlikely human allies are pitted against xenophobic aliens, the stage is set for a final standoff at the Secret City.
Media reviews
The novel follows Lorpas, one of the last of a generation of aliens born on Earth. His people arrived as tourists but instead found themselves stranded on a planet they came to despise. They built a walled city in the mountains, hidden by vast trees and foliage, with false doors and steps that lead
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nowhere. Over time, many aliens were rescued by their own people. Many of the scenes involve Lorpas—who grew up outside the secret city—attempting to find the few remaining of his kind. But unlike most of his people, Lorpas doesn’t want to be rescued. He has come to love Earth. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member KarenIrelandPhillips
Prose so spare it's almost skeletal; first person, present tense: this lush, fast-moving story of stranded alien travellers breaks every rule yet I literally could not put it down.
Who, it asks, are really the aliens here? What is home? What happens when you don't fit in anywhere? Is biology
For the narrator here, those questions are answered, sometimes in ways you would not expect.
Who, it asks, are really the aliens here? What is home? What happens when you don't fit in anywhere? Is biology
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destiny? Is class more important than species?For the narrator here, those questions are answered, sometimes in ways you would not expect.
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Original publication date
2007
ISBN
9781892391445
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Emshwiller |