Fluency by Jennifer Foehner Wells

Fluency by Jennifer Foehner Wells



On the heels of reading/listening to the Paradox trilogy, I was in the mood for more spacey books. Space and French memoirs- that’s been my reading life lately!

Dr. Jane Holloway, a linguist and someone who learning new languages comes unusually easy, was recruited by NASA to make a trip to an alien spaceship to make contact. What happened on the ship wasn’t in any of their “what if” scenarios.
When they arrive, they find that the ship’s crew is long died off and the only remaining living thing is Ei’Brai, essentially the being who controls the ship. He doesn’t have a body (that moves around the ship anyway), but communicates through Jane. He is able to access her mind because of the same unique quality that allows her to learn languages so easily.
Jane has a hard time convincing her travel companions that Ei’Brai exists, and while they’re trying to work out how to handle the situation theyre in, they discover a threat: a kind of space slug with extremely poisonous excretions.
What I disliked most about this book is that Ei’Brai gives Jane a series of “tests” to determine if she’s right for a certain position on the ship, and they tests are theoretical situations playing out in her mind that she doesn’t know aren’t real until after (neither do we). So I’d get caught up in this thing that is going on, only for him to say later, “JK! I was testing you…” I didn’t like the amount of those situations in the book.
Other than that, I really enjoyed the story. Everything about it sure is unique and I find that is a rare quality to have in entertainment these days. This is the first book in a series and I look forward to reading more.
3/5 Stars.