Transmission The Invasion Chronicles (Book One)

Morgan Rice’s book Transmission The Invasion Chronicles (Book One) tells the story of a thirteen year old boy named Kevin who is diagnosed with a rare and deadly disease. Kevin begins to have hallucinations and visions where strange things appear to him. He believes he is receiving signals from aliens and eventually manages to convince a group of scientists that he can translate these alien signals to them. These scientists work with Kevin to understand what these messages mean and they provide him state of the art treatments that otherwise would be unavailable to him. Throughout the book it is unclear whether Kevin is truly receiving messages from aliens or if he is confused and mistaking symptoms of his illness for alien signals. There is a twist near the end that lets us know which is it.

This book is the first in a series. It ends on a very dramatic cliffhanger. I didn’t find the ending very satisfying on its own but since it’s meant to be read in the context of an entire series this is somewhat understandable. Many chapters end on cliffhangers which makes the book hard to put down.

Events unfold from the perspective of Kevin who is a tween without very much experience in the “real world”. At many points in this book Kevin compares things happening to him and the scientists to experiences he has had at school. This makes him seem very down to earth and relatable to kids. The choice to have the book from Kevin’s perspective allows the audience to learn information alongside him which adds to the mystery.

The beginning is somewhat slow and very somber. It’s not really clear what type of book this is going to be. If I hadn’t already known it was a sci-fi book going into it I would have predicted this book would be about Kevin coming to terms with and dying of his illness. The opening scene is at a doctor’s office where the news is explained to Kevin and his mother. This sets the tone for the first chunk of the book. This portion of the book is different from the more action filled later parts of the book. Kevin’s diagnosis looms over him and his mother. He attempts to go to school but his worsening health makes this impossible. This portion of the book feels very slow and seems to go on forever. I think this helps us as the audience better sympathize with Kevin as his life is upended and will presumably end soon.

Kevin’s mother is an important character in this book; she is a hard working woman who wants the best for her child and seems to struggle to make ends meet and pay for Kevin’s medical expenses. Kevin feels guilty about making his mother pay for his treatments, which comes across as dark and touching.

Kevin’s best friend Luna  serves as a foil to him in many ways. She is spunky, eager to fight if she needs to, and unapologetic. She and Kevin don’t share any romantic bond in this book which I found to be a slight divergent from the norm.

Kevin seems to be somewhat of a “goody-two shoes” in that he almost always respects the authority of the adults around him and struggles to “misbehave”. Minor spoiler: when the apocalypse is happening he doesn't want to steal from a store so he leaves a note with his mother’s address. He talks about adults almost like they are a different species from him, which emphasizes to the readers how young and inexperienced he is. Kevin is surprised when adults act immature as he believes that is a behaviour exclusive to children.

This book has many themes such as self-doubt which is seen throughout the book as Kevin can’t be sure if he is really receiving alien transmissions or if he is delusional. There is also the theme of responsibility as Kevin’s choice to help the scientists has a massive impact on both his personal life and the world at large. There are some other social commentaries in this about American exceptionalism and how it stands in the way of progress. When the scientists believe that Kevin is receiving messages from aliens, the unspecified president is called in who remarks on how America is the most advanced nation on Earth and it’s only fitting that their scientists are the ones to receive this information. Later in the book, many nations are competing over who will get to discover and own a presumed alien artifact. Kevin is able to play peacemaker and convince these different groups to work together for the common goal of advancing the knowledge of the human species. That’s another theme this book explores, which is unity vs division. From the perspective of a child, complex political disagreements are similar to kids arguing at recess, which is arguably naive but I’d argue thought provoking as well.

There is also the role the media plays in this, which is often as an adversarial force. The press does not care about the wellbeing of Kevin and his family and they don’t see Kevin as a person but rather as something to help them sell a story. This relates to the theme this book has about the entitlement of the public and the dehumanization of public figures.

If there is a message this book offers to its readers I’d argue it is to believe yourself and advocate for what you believe is true even if others don’t believe or understand you.

I think this book would appeal to readers who enjoy elements of mystery and somewhat plausible sci-fi.

Perspective: 3rd person, generally limited

Tense: Simple Past

Length: 378 pages

Kindle Unlimited: Yes

https://www.amazon.com/Disposable-Soma-Zeb-Haradon/dp/B0CNZ4FB65