Aphelion

This wasn't too bad, but it had a kind of worn-out theme going, a little too reminiscent of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Sorry, Ms. Karmazin, but we've all heard this before -- a number of times over.

The tactics used by the aliens in this story were somewhat new (but not very), but they didn't make much sense. Tranquilize the whole population -- permanently? What for? And if they can do that -- as shown in the examples of various persons suddenly becoming empathetic and non-violent -- wouldn't that serve their agenda? They could just leave us in that condition and say, "You guys needed a little help to play nice. Here's our number; give us a call sometime."

As to that ship hiding "in the sun" -- unless that was meant literally, SOHO or one of the others of its ilk would have found it long before any amateur astronomer did. (See spaceweather.com)

Jay_Hill wrote: The premise may not be the most original, but I was captivated by Karmazin's treatment of it. The way she tied in senators and representatives, FOX news and other elements from our media-saturated society gave it a real sense of immediacy, which helped engage me as a reader.

Jay, I agree with you on this aspect; the writer's handling of the material was fresh and lively. For me, though, that wasn't enough to compensate for the shortcomings of the tired material.