liens known as the Hyadeans have come to Earth, where they are welcomed by the Western world's rich and powerful elite. Those not so well off are not as pleased with the visitors, for there is fear that the Hyadeans' cheap, technologically advanced imports will displace industries on Earth. Following a major demonstration protesting the expanding ties, two of the U.S. government's leading proponents of the relationship are assassinated when a plasma beam blows up their Hyadean aircraft. The government blames a revolutionary group called CounterAction, which is backed by interests in the Asian nations opposed to Hyadean influence.
Shortly after the assassination, Roland Cade, a wealthy but completely apolitical businessman, receives a visit from Internal Security Service officers at his Los Angeles home. Cade is known mostly as a deal maker for others, and has extensive contacts, including close ties with the Hyadean Los Angeles mission. The government, however, claims to be interested only in finding his ex-wife, Marie, a known political activist who moved to China after their divorce and who may be working for CounterAction.
Not long after, Cade's new girlfriend, Julia, also starts asking questions about Marie. Rebecca, an old friend of hers, is in trouble because of an article she wrote criticizing government policy, and needs a way to escape the country. Julia wants Cade to try to contact Marie to see if CounterAction can help. Arrangements are made to transport Rebecca by private plane to Atlanta. Unexpectedly, however, the CounterAction courier forces Cade to come along as well. When he learns from a defector that the U.S. government, not CounterAction, carried out the assassination, he is forced to examine his ideas of the way the universe works.
Politics makes alien bedfellows
In The Legend That Was Earth, James P. Hogan has written a political science fiction thriller that, amazingly, avoids dogmatism. While the main political viewpoint of the novel is certainly anti-totalitarian and anti-corruption, in most other respects it practices pragmatic moderation.
Most of the novel is driven by the differences between human and Hyadean psychology. While physically very similar to terrans, the Hyadeans are very logical. They find humans exotic and fascinating for their creativity, and art is the chief export from Earth back to their home planet, Chryse. But they also regard humans as undisciplined, and seek to impose their view of order. Hogan effectively exploits this different psychology in driving the plot, where it does provide a logical basis for the resolution. It's not a particularly complex motivation, however, resulting in a novel that is somewhat less deep than it could have been.
On the other hand, Hogan does maintain the pace and suspense most of the time throughout the novel. The plot works well and progresses logically, and the action is both exciting and realistic. Hogan's characters aren't developed any more than necessary to serve the purposes of the plot, but this lack of depth doesn't detract seriously from the drama. What does occasionally present a problem is Hogan's occasional viewpoint shifts to the antagonists. While most of the time he uses these shifts as a means to convey information from the other side that readers wouldn't otherwise know, these chapters too often telegraph what will happen a few chapters later without accomplishing much else.
The Legend That Was Earth does have many good qualities, though, and is worth reading. It will definitely appeal to readers who enjoy logically-constructed alien contact novels with a strong political/military component.
