Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Book Club Edition, Ace, Berkeley Publishing
Description
Rabbitlike aliens from outer space colonize Earth during humankind's Second World War in a delightfully funny and thought-provoking science fiction adventure The Quozl just need somewhere to call home. A gentle race of extraterrestrial rabbits, they have a propensity for reproduction that has left their home planet, Quozlene, dangerously overpopulated, and in their search for greener and less-crowded pastures, they have discovered the perfect place to start over: the third planet away from a healthy, warming sun. What they don't realize is that this world they call Shiraz is already inhabited by a species of violent sentient creatures known as humans. But there's no going back now. In the midst of the brutal and helpfully distracting global conflict the Shirazians call World War II, the colony ship lands undetected, and the space rabbits immediately go into hiding. But a secret like the Quozl can be concealed for only so long, especially when their numbers start to increase and certain rebellious members of the long-eared society decide the time is ripe to claim their place in a world they believe is rightfully theirs. One of the most admired and prolific authors in the science fiction arena, Alan Dean Foster will delight readers who hunger for something different with this funny, thoughtful, and wildly inventive novel of first contact and coexistence. Once you meet the Quozl, you will never forget them.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member WingedWolf
Alien rabbits colonize Earth, hiding out from discovery by humans. Can they survive exposure, and will humanity accept them? Extremely humorous. The sex-and-violence-happy, but entirely peaceable, Quozl make some interesting points about modern cultural attitudes.
LibraryThing member ElementalDragon
A somewhat different take on the "first human-alien contact" theme. As the Quozl are not here in as a hostile invasion force, there is not any action that many people find interesting. For the most part, there is a lot of talking and debating among the Quozl about how they ought to go about their
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colonizing since the planet they sat out for turned out to be inhabited by humankind. The novel develops from unintended contact between "aberrant" Quozl and a young human male in the forests of the Rocky Mountains, USA into worldwide acceptance and integration at the end of the book. Based on data in the book, there is a span of approximately 100-150 years between the arrival of the Quozl at Earth and the final scenes of the book. It was mildly intriguing as the two different cultures (only one of which was really aware of the existence of the other until the end of the book) adapted to each other, but may be a slow read for many. Show Less
LibraryThing member LynndaEll
A post on "Query Shark" reminded me of "QUOZL" so I decided to reread it. The book has been in my library since 1991. I think this is the third time I've read it. Each time, I read it from a different perspective. This time, I read it as an emerging writer.
Writing styles have changed in the
Writing styles have changed in the
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ensuing twenty years. The story was slow and while the plot covered about 100 years, it didn't go very far. This time, I came away recognizing how cynical Alan Dean Foster sees our culture. We may be as naive as he portrays humanity, but I doubt it. The story would have been much more interesting if the tension had been greater. Show Less
LibraryThing member pussreboots
Quozl is at least 100 pages too long. The plot doesn't really start until page 100. This first hundred drags along as combination of hippies in space and Watership Down. There are pages and pages and pages and pages of idiotic descriptions of their sandles, their earings, their grooming habbits, to
So future readers, just skip to page 101. Once Runs-red-Talking meets Chad the story finally picks up but it's no where as interesting or compelling as Foster's much shorter and better written Nor Crystal Tears (which I highly recommend).
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the point of mind numbing boredom.So future readers, just skip to page 101. Once Runs-red-Talking meets Chad the story finally picks up but it's no where as interesting or compelling as Foster's much shorter and better written Nor Crystal Tears (which I highly recommend).
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LibraryThing member bness2
Wonderful quirky scifi story that makes me think a bit about human nature. I don't know if the way the Quozl view humans in this story is how a superior alien race would view us, but I suspect it does contain some truth. Fun to read and thought-provoking.
LibraryThing member TempleCat
Quozl, by Alan Dean Foster, is a deceptively simple story of first human/alien contact. It takes place as aliens, the Quozl, looking for a new homeworld, run out of fuel in their spaceship and decide they must settle on Earth, even though the natives appear dangerous and uncivilized, what with
Introducing and following a pair of youths, a warm and fuzzy alien and an innocent human child, the story at first exudes a sunny and bright point of view that my cynical adult mind interpreted as, "Oh, this is going to be just another 'lived happily ever after' story." Additionally, the story's timeline did exhibit some jarring discontinuities. It occasionally jumped ahead anywhere from several days to several years without warning, from one paragraph to the next. Each time this left me disappointed because the storyline, now interrupted, seemed to have been developing and the characters were just getting interesting
What kept me reading, however, was not the plot but the memories of my own adolescence. I (and I suspect, most others) had faced similar desires for freedom and independence and the resultant conflicts with the wishes of authorities, public and familial. I wanted to see how the story's characters resolved them, particularly on the alien's side! As I kept reading, I was surprised to find simple conflicts morphing into meditations on trust and betrayal, sexual mores, and explorations of the capability of entertainment (possibly including this novel) to address serious matters. It was a redeeming discovery, one that made reading the book worthwhile.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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their constant warring. The Quozl, on the other hand, in a rejection of their own aggressive tendencies, have developed over many generations a peaceful culture that places great value upon exceptional politeness and courtesy with each other. Introducing and following a pair of youths, a warm and fuzzy alien and an innocent human child, the story at first exudes a sunny and bright point of view that my cynical adult mind interpreted as, "Oh, this is going to be just another 'lived happily ever after' story." Additionally, the story's timeline did exhibit some jarring discontinuities. It occasionally jumped ahead anywhere from several days to several years without warning, from one paragraph to the next. Each time this left me disappointed because the storyline, now interrupted, seemed to have been developing and the characters were just getting interesting
What kept me reading, however, was not the plot but the memories of my own adolescence. I (and I suspect, most others) had faced similar desires for freedom and independence and the resultant conflicts with the wishes of authorities, public and familial. I wanted to see how the story's characters resolved them, particularly on the alien's side! As I kept reading, I was surprised to find simple conflicts morphing into meditations on trust and betrayal, sexual mores, and explorations of the capability of entertainment (possibly including this novel) to address serious matters. It was a redeeming discovery, one that made reading the book worthwhile.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member LyndaInOregon
This particular paperback edition of 'Quozl' is a prime example of "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover". Jim Gurney's zany cover art and Foster's own reputation as being able to handle humor in a genre that sometimes takes itself way too seriously combine to suggest this first-contact tale will be
It's not, and the quicker the reader can re-align expectations, the better. Because the real star of this novel is Foster's carefully-realized alien culture, with its own biology, history, social structure, and technology, and a genuine life-or-death need to locate and colonize planets beyond its homeworld due to explosive population growth.
The plot is set in motion once their generation-ship makes its irreversible decision to make landfall on a planet they realize, too late, is already inhabited by intelligent, but violent, life forms. Making the best of a bad situation, they opt for a landing site in the most remote and unpopulated area they can identify, which turns out to be north central Idaho's Sawtooth Wilderness Area. There they literally burrow into a remote mountain canyon and create an underground habitat, using historical precedent and advanced technology to establish and maintain a thriving, hidden colony.
Several generations on, the inevitable contact with a local sets off a chain of events which will ultimately threaten to destroy the colony completely.
Foster sets a leisurely pace here, establishing a plausible scenario both for the long-sustained concealment and for the initial human-to-Quozl meeting, and keeps those interchanges moving in minuscule increments. The emphasis for most of the first half of the book is firmly on the Quozl characters and on their adaptations to or struggles with the restrictions of their hidden community.
Eventually, of course, the secret gets out, as virtually all secrets will, but even here Foster has developed a plausible scenario that puts both Quozl and their human contacts on the spot as all attempt to control and manage the biggest news ever to hit the human race.
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a screwball comedy.It's not, and the quicker the reader can re-align expectations, the better. Because the real star of this novel is Foster's carefully-realized alien culture, with its own biology, history, social structure, and technology, and a genuine life-or-death need to locate and colonize planets beyond its homeworld due to explosive population growth.
The plot is set in motion once their generation-ship makes its irreversible decision to make landfall on a planet they realize, too late, is already inhabited by intelligent, but violent, life forms. Making the best of a bad situation, they opt for a landing site in the most remote and unpopulated area they can identify, which turns out to be north central Idaho's Sawtooth Wilderness Area. There they literally burrow into a remote mountain canyon and create an underground habitat, using historical precedent and advanced technology to establish and maintain a thriving, hidden colony.
Several generations on, the inevitable contact with a local sets off a chain of events which will ultimately threaten to destroy the colony completely.
Foster sets a leisurely pace here, establishing a plausible scenario both for the long-sustained concealment and for the initial human-to-Quozl meeting, and keeps those interchanges moving in minuscule increments. The emphasis for most of the first half of the book is firmly on the Quozl characters and on their adaptations to or struggles with the restrictions of their hidden community.
Eventually, of course, the secret gets out, as virtually all secrets will, but even here Foster has developed a plausible scenario that puts both Quozl and their human contacts on the spot as all attempt to control and manage the biggest news ever to hit the human race.
Show Less
Subjects
Language
Physical description
248 p.; 8.5 inches
Other editions
Quozl by Alan Dean Foster (Paperback)