Exile and Entrance

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This book is one of the best books I've read in years. The only one better is MURPHY'S LORE also by Patrick Thomas. What can I say about this book? Some parts of it are horror. The horror is such nasty ugliness that when it is transcended by the beauty of the book you are simply overcome. There is humor enough to make you smile all day. The SF elements rival the best space opera. Brave characters that include a little girl make you wish you could share their lives. The characters are so vividly drawn. I kept expecting one of them to tap me on the shoulder. BUY THIS BOOK! This book is off the scale good. Fantastic! Ms. Leann Arndt superb review publications, which include Bluz Review - Buzz Baby - Buzz Review - Buzzy's Book - Fearcast and Mystery Meat, are available by subscription in electronic or hard copy. For more information please contact her at:
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A futuristic adventure of betrayal and newfound trust, Exile and Entrance introduces a dark science fiction environment, quickly blanketing it with fantastical elements, and adequately intermingles both genres to create a unique novel. In the near future, the United States government grows corrupt after the forced relationship with an alien race from the planet Liberty. For reasons unknown to most of humankind, the government violently abducts hundreds of individuals for a so-called exchange program with an alien race, the ‘Muridae’. When Rick Wagner discovers his baby sister has been selected as an indentured extradite, and that his parents have willingly surrendered her, he hides her and forces the government to send him instead. Rick is warped away to the Planet Liberty, to a city called Tore. He befriends a small human girl named Susie en route to his exile, and in turn seeks out her safety upon arrival. Not an easy task, as the Muridae, human-sized rat people, have planned to auction off the six-year old as a slave. Rick fortunately makes the acquaintance of Burke and Kerr, two monstrous, multi-limbed aliens from alternate planets in the universe, who themselves were indentured as exiles from their home worlds many years past. Now well-regarded individuals, they take Rick under their wings (or furry and pebble-rocked appendages, in this case) and aid him in saving Susie from certain slavery. From this point on Rick from Dirt (Earth) learns the ways of life in the city of Tore, and the true reason for his coming here—to train as a warrior for the multi-cultural Tore games, Wrestlemania-like events that can leave its participants crippled. Kerr and Burke lead Rick through extensive training, teaching him how to live life entirely as a warrior. This doesn’t happen, of course. Following his human desires, Rick seeks happiness in his relationship with Susie as memories of his sister quickly fade. He meets and falls in love with Sasha, a blue-haired Amoropath (hooker), finds a way to defeat his foe Smed-lee, a Muridae with a penchant for inflicting pain, and finally seeks out other Earthlings. The premise of the novel is intriguing, and extremely well written, and Thomas leaves us with many unanswered questions, calling for a sequel. The biggest of these is: Why? Why has the government decided to shove off humans for such selfish Muridaen reasons, only to presumably get nothing in return? Approximately ten characters are introduced from their own points-of-view, some in first person: at first this can be confusing to the casual reader. No doubt Thomas had a flurry of inventive insight when creating all these personalities, but the reading would have been somewhat more fluid if limited to, say, half as many. Patrick Thomas writes with a gripping narrative style filled with some truly imaginative ideas, as Exile and Entrance clearly shows. Perhaps this effort would have been more tightly focused with an extra pass at editing. There are pages dedicated to the explanation of weapons, tools, even bodily waste techniques. Lengthy descriptions complicate simple scenes, and although they detail the strengthening relationships between the various characters, they do not necessarily move the story along. However, these are minor quibbles. Thomas’ elegant prose and apparently knowledgeable insight of the Muridaen world thoroughly entertain. Exile and Entrance is a captivating read for those willing to experience an extremely detailed sociological breakdown for an new, imaginative world. This is worthwhile reading, and not purely effortless escapism, though the reader will sure enter into a world of depth, action, and powerful adventure.

"A passionate balance of drama and humor. An addictive read."
The release signing of EXILE AND ENTRANCE broke the one day sales record for most copies of a single title sold in one day at Science Fiction, Mysteries and More in Manhattan on March 15, 1997.
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