"Prodigals" by Alan Dean Foster
https://www.amazon.com/Prodigals-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/1680573268/

A standalone science fiction space opera book, no prequel or sequel.
This is apparently Foster's 140th book to be published. I read the well
printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published
by WordFire Press in 2022. I have acquired and read many of Alan Dean
Foster's books over 50+ years, I regard him to be one of our finest
science fiction authors of my generation.

One fine day in the not too distant future, a large spaceship arrived
and went into orbit around Earth. The aliens in the spaceship demanded
to speak with leaders of Russia, European Union, China, and the USA.
When the USA sends its five person delegation, they are informed that
the aliens require several tons of wheat and corn. The USA complies.
Then the delegation asked to take a tour of the spaceship. And things
go wonky at that point after they find out that the spaceship was stolen
and the original owners are coming for it.

Alan Dean Foster has a website where he has a neat picture of a KK-drive
spaceship and all his book development notes at:
https://www.alandeanfoster.com/

My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars (I could be talked into 5 stars)
Amazon rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars (859 reviews)

Lynn

On Tuesday, 4 July 2023 at 21:54:19 UTC+1, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> "Prodigals" by Alan Dean Foster
> https://www.amazon.com/Prodigals-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/1680573268/
>
> A standalone science fiction space opera book, no prequel or sequel.
> This is apparently Foster's 140th book to be published. I read the well
> printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published
> by WordFire Press in 2022. I have acquired and read many of Alan Dean
> Foster's books over 50+ years, I regard him to be one of our finest
> science fiction authors of my generation.
>
> One fine day in the not too distant future, a large spaceship arrived
> and went into orbit around Earth. The aliens in the spaceship demanded
> to speak with leaders of Russia, European Union, China, and the USA.
> When the USA sends its five person delegation, they are informed that
> the aliens require several tons of wheat and corn. The USA complies.
> Then the delegation asked to take a tour of the spaceship. And things
> go wonky at that point after they find out that the spaceship was stolen
> and the original owners are coming for it.

Hmm. First Contact with criminals... now how often
does that happen? I suppose I mean with aliens
who are not bold rebels against a tyrannical space
empire, possibly someone else's, they are just up to
no good. So do we count Ferengi... being up to no
good is their typical posture, that and being sort of
hunched up. And in about episode one of _Babylon 5_
I think someone mentions that when we had contact
with the Centauri they claimed to be galactic overlords.
I'm hazy on details, perhaps they sold us our own moon?

On 7/4/2023 6:43 PM, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> On Tuesday, 4 July 2023 at 21:54:19 UTC+1, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> "Prodigals" by Alan Dean Foster
>> https://www.amazon.com/Prodigals-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/1680573268/
>>
>> A standalone science fiction space opera book, no prequel or sequel.
>> This is apparently Foster's 140th book to be published. I read the well
>> printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published
>> by WordFire Press in 2022. I have acquired and read many of Alan Dean
>> Foster's books over 50+ years, I regard him to be one of our finest
>> science fiction authors of my generation.
>>
>> One fine day in the not too distant future, a large spaceship arrived
>> and went into orbit around Earth. The aliens in the spaceship demanded
>> to speak with leaders of Russia, European Union, China, and the USA.
>> When the USA sends its five person delegation, they are informed that
>> the aliens require several tons of wheat and corn. The USA complies.
>> Then the delegation asked to take a tour of the spaceship. And things
>> go wonky at that point after they find out that the spaceship was stolen
>> and the original owners are coming for it.
>
> Hmm. First Contact with criminals... now how often
> does that happen? I suppose I mean with aliens
> who are not bold rebels against a tyrannical space
> empire, possibly someone else's, they are just up to
> no good. So do we count Ferengi... being up to no
> good is their typical posture, that and being sort of
> hunched up. And in about episode one of _Babylon 5_
> I think someone mentions that when we had contact
> with the Centauri they claimed to be galactic overlords.
> I'm hazy on details, perhaps they sold us our own moon?

No, they didn't sell us our own moon. They did claim that Earth was a
long lost Centauri colony though....

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Wednesday, July 5, 2023 at 2:44:00 AM UTC+1, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> On Tuesday, 4 July 2023 at 21:54:19 UTC+1, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > "Prodigals" by Alan Dean Foster
> > https://www.amazon.com/Prodigals-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/1680573268/
> >
> > A standalone science fiction space opera book, no prequel or sequel.
> > This is apparently Foster's 140th book to be published. I read the well
> > printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published
> > by WordFire Press in 2022. I have acquired and read many of Alan Dean
> > Foster's books over 50+ years, I regard him to be one of our finest
> > science fiction authors of my generation.
> >
> > One fine day in the not too distant future, a large spaceship arrived
> > and went into orbit around Earth. The aliens in the spaceship demanded
> > to speak with leaders of Russia, European Union, China, and the USA.
> > When the USA sends its five person delegation, they are informed that
> > the aliens require several tons of wheat and corn. The USA complies.
> > Then the delegation asked to take a tour of the spaceship. And things
> > go wonky at that point after they find out that the spaceship was stolen
> > and the original owners are coming for it.
> Hmm. First Contact with criminals... now how often
> does that happen? I suppose I mean with aliens
> who are not bold rebels against a tyrannical space
> empire, possibly someone else's, they are just up to
> no good. So do we count Ferengi... being up to no
> good is their typical posture, that and being sort of
> hunched up. And in about episode one of _Babylon 5_
> I think someone mentions that when we had contact
> with the Centauri they claimed to be galactic overlords.
> I'm hazy on details, perhaps they sold us our own moon?
One of the arguments in favour of British colonialism was that, without some sort of official British presence, natives would be at the mercy of any gang of cutthroats who could buy then-modern weapons, equip a small squad with them, and take over a nation defended by spears. Whether Earth is visited first by adventurers playing "The Man Who Would be King" with blasters and orbital bombardment or a District Officer in a pith helmet will then depend on alien attitudes to colonialism.

In article <6286580e-3189-4fb9-89e5-166852a7bc65n@googlegroups.com>,
Andrew McDowell <mcdowell_ag@sky.com> wrote:
>On Wednesday, July 5, 2023 at 2:44:00 AM UTC+1, Robert Carnegie wrote:
>One of the arguments in favour of British colonialism was that, without
>some sort of official British presence, natives would be at the mercy of
>any gang of cutthroats who could buy then-modern weapons, equip a small
>squad with them, and take over a nation defended by spears. Whether
>Earth is visited first by adventurers playing "The Man Who Would be
>King" with blasters and orbital bombardment or a District Officer in a
>pith helmet will then depend on alien attitudes to colonialism.

That's kind of the premise of Stewart's "Duchy Of Terra" series.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On Wednesday, July 5, 2023 at 2:05:58 AM UTC-4, Andrew McDowell wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 5, 2023 at 2:44:00 AM UTC+1, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> > On Tuesday, 4 July 2023 at 21:54:19 UTC+1, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > > "Prodigals" by Alan Dean Foster
> > > https://www.amazon.com/Prodigals-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/1680573268/
> > >
> > > A standalone science fiction space opera book, no prequel or sequel.
> > > This is apparently Foster's 140th book to be published. I read the well
> > > printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published
> > > by WordFire Press in 2022. I have acquired and read many of Alan Dean
> > > Foster's books over 50+ years, I regard him to be one of our finest
> > > science fiction authors of my generation.
> > >
> > > One fine day in the not too distant future, a large spaceship arrived
> > > and went into orbit around Earth. The aliens in the spaceship demanded
> > > to speak with leaders of Russia, European Union, China, and the USA.
> > > When the USA sends its five person delegation, they are informed that
> > > the aliens require several tons of wheat and corn. The USA complies.
> > > Then the delegation asked to take a tour of the spaceship. And things
> > > go wonky at that point after they find out that the spaceship was stolen
> > > and the original owners are coming for it.
> > Hmm. First Contact with criminals... now how often
> > does that happen? I suppose I mean with aliens
> > who are not bold rebels against a tyrannical space
> > empire, possibly someone else's, they are just up to
> > no good. So do we count Ferengi... being up to no
> > good is their typical posture, that and being sort of
> > hunched up. And in about episode one of _Babylon 5_
> > I think someone mentions that when we had contact
> > with the Centauri they claimed to be galactic overlords.
> > I'm hazy on details, perhaps they sold us our own moon?
>
> One of the arguments in favour of British colonialism was that,
> without some sort of official British presence, natives would be
> at the mercy of any gang of cutthroats who could buy then-modern
> weapons, equip a small squad with them, and take over a nation
> defended by spears. Whether Earth is visited first by adventurers
> playing "The Man Who Would be King" with blasters and orbital
> bombardment or a District Officer in a pith helmet will then
> depend on alien attitudes to colonialism.

There are a few variations on this theme in Terrestrial history. For
example, when Kamehameha I captured Isaac Davis, John Young
and some US guns, it enabled him to conquer the Hawaiian
Islands and establish the Hawaiian Kingdom.

It's certainly possible to reenact similar misadventures with alien
soldiers/merchants/engineers/adventurers/pirates/etc affecting
a less developed Earth. Whether it can be done convincingly
depends on whether the reader is willing to accept the idea that
travel in outer space can be similar to pre-20th century travel across
the ocean.

On 7/4/2023 8:43 PM, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> On Tuesday, 4 July 2023 at 21:54:19 UTC+1, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> "Prodigals" by Alan Dean Foster
>> https://www.amazon.com/Prodigals-Alan-Dean-Foster/dp/1680573268/
>>
>> A standalone science fiction space opera book, no prequel or sequel.
>> This is apparently Foster's 140th book to be published. I read the well
>> printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published
>> by WordFire Press in 2022. I have acquired and read many of Alan Dean
>> Foster's books over 50+ years, I regard him to be one of our finest
>> science fiction authors of my generation.
>>
>> One fine day in the not too distant future, a large spaceship arrived
>> and went into orbit around Earth. The aliens in the spaceship demanded
>> to speak with leaders of Russia, European Union, China, and the USA.
>> When the USA sends its five person delegation, they are informed that
>> the aliens require several tons of wheat and corn. The USA complies.
>> Then the delegation asked to take a tour of the spaceship. And things
>> go wonky at that point after they find out that the spaceship was stolen
>> and the original owners are coming for it.
>
> Hmm. First Contact with criminals... now how often
> does that happen? I suppose I mean with aliens
> who are not bold rebels against a tyrannical space
> empire, possibly someone else's, they are just up to
> no good. So do we count Ferengi... being up to no
> good is their typical posture, that and being sort of
> hunched up. And in about episode one of _Babylon 5_
> I think someone mentions that when we had contact
> with the Centauri they claimed to be galactic overlords.
> I'm hazy on details, perhaps they sold us our own moon?

John Ringo's "Live Free Or Die" has the first group of aliens bringing
in a stargate using a space tug. Anyone then paying the toll can visit
Earth to trade stuff. Or, to drop rocks on Earth and then take tribute.
Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Live-Free-Die-Troy-Rising/dp/1982192704/

Lynn

Lynn McGuire wrote:

>"Prodigals" by Alan Dean Foster

>One fine day in the not too distant future, a large spaceship arrived
>and went into orbit around Earth. The aliens in the spaceship
>demanded to speak with leaders of Russia, European Union, China, and
>the USA.

The Russians were probably happy to still be included.

Brian