Flight of the Oberon

[tolmancreek]

Flight of the Oberon by Mark Lind-Hanson

Let's talk about fairies, shall we? You heard me right, FAIRIES. You know, those harmless friendly little pixies like Tinkerbell with her shimmering gossamer wings? Not to mention the Tooth Fairy and Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, who love and serve the Human Race.
No, unfortunately the fairies that I am talking about are hardy, greedy, and violent creatures, formidable 'Starsailors' with names like Metaleaf, Silversong, and Picklebelly. They are here on Earth, you know, ever watchful, ever alert, hiding in our backyard hedges and hollow tree stumps, waiting for orders from their Star Commanders and their vengeful King and Queen. These periodic visitors to our planet are ever-plotting mischief, mayhem and total destruction, patiently waiting for the final order to destroy the Human Race for overrunning and defiling the Earth.
That is the premise of the new sci-fi fantasy novel by Mark Lind-Hanson, FLIGHT OF THE OBERON, available at Smashwords. If you like sci-fantasy with a twist and a sense of adventure (not to mention a healthy dose of satire) then Flight of the Oberon is the book for you.
Follow Commander Kandleiac, Chief Acquisition Officer Metaleaf, Steward Silversong, and crack Field Agent Picklebelly on their current mission to Earth: To 'harvest' healing plants and herbs (not to mention fine wines and victuals) and transport them back to their hungry capital planet of Lux. You see, the Fairies love our Earth and all of it's bounty—but they despise the pesky, wasteful Human Race, who no longer believe in Fairies in this current Age of Reason and Reductionism.
The Imperialist world of Lux is split between two factions: Queen Oberon's War Party, who want to obliterate the humans, and the Pacifists like Metaleaf and Silversong, who perhaps naively want to 'educate and rehabilitate' and set us back on the right path to achieve ecological harmony and a return to our primal state of grace.
A compromise is reached between the two factions, although reluctant Metaleaf does not approve of the sinister plan, which is to kidnap a prominent writer's child (Sean Kaatz, son of Fionula Kaatz, popular author of 'Young Adult Fantasy') and transport him to the planet Lux for the purposes of instruction and indoctrination. Sean will then be returned to Earth with a mission: he must warn the Human Race that we must change our wasteful ways or face total destruction from the Starships of Lux. Sean has twenty years to spread the word in this cynical, unbelieving world. Can he save us from extermination and certain extinction?
This book can be read by all ages, and I highly recommend it to anybody searching for a fresh new angle on the sci-fi-fantasy beat.

[Michelle-lit]

Interesting that this is both science fiction and fantasy at the same time. I'm a big fantasy fan and usually stay away from science fiction (I'm not into the space ships and technology and all of that). Do you still think I would enjoy this book? Nice opening paragraph by the way. It made me laugh.

[tolmancreek]

It's not really sci-fi, but fantasy with a 'modern' twist. I found it refreshingly original in it's approach. The Fairies use their 'starships' to transport their booty:
400 pounds of hibiscus stamens
300 pounds of dogwood flower
250 pounds of rose petals
200 pounds of pansy flowers (for the King’s love potion!)
200 pounds of primrose flowers
175 pounds of heather
There's more, but you can get the point. You can download the first 20% of the novel for free at smashwords.