The Girl Who Fell to Earth

Aria, from the planet Terros in a galaxy far, far away, does not really fall to earth. She accompanies her father on a mission with a purpose, to destroy human life. Patricia Forde sets up the story quickly and convincingly, beginning with the appalling revelation for Aria during a Terrosian Science class that she has human rather than Terrosian DNA. Appalling, because the Earth – “The Shadow Planet” – and life on it, is merely a Terrosian experiment in which human stewardship is being tested and has been found wanting. All that Aria knows about humans is that they are authors of wars and famines, and that, as a result of their greed and selfishness, the Earth itself will become unsustainable. So, Terros has decided that a new start is needed and Aria and her father are to deliver a virus that will begin the process of human eradication. They release it on the DART, the Dublin commuter train, but then things go awry. Aria herself is stricken by the virus and her father has to return to Terros in order to develop an antidote. Aria is left alone and sick in Dublin, with the police hunting for the “terrorists” who released the virus. It’s a tale that grips on several levels. How is it that Aria has human DNA? How can she stay one step ahead of the Gardai (the Irish police) and, as an unaccompanied minor, the Social Services? Why has her father’s boss, Seb Roy, arrived from Terros, apparently intent on eradicating her? Above all, will she go through with her father’s mission? Forde handles all this expertly, to such a degree that this reader, at least, finds himself just a little disappointed when the novel ends with Aria leaving Earth. Surely there is another story to be told about what happens on Terros as a result of her experience and what she has discovered? Perhaps, but there’s plenty of excitement and food for thought here exactly as it is.