Winner of the 1994 Nebula Award for Best Novelette
Gerrold, a science fiction writer from California, adopts a son who has a slight behavioral problem. He believes himself to be a Martian. Gerrold begins the long, involving work of trying to earn the acceptance of Dennis, a hyperactive eight-year-old who desperately wants a father’s love, but is so insecure he feels he must be an alien. Gerrold’s memoir of the first two years with Dennis ends with the climax of Dennis running away and waiting in a city park at night for the flying saucers to come and reclaim him. Funny, endearing, and at times, heartbreaking, this is a beautifully written testament to fatherhood.
This book is semi-autobiographical. Gerrold did adopt a son, but he heard about a boy who thought he was a Martian from another adoptive father.
You can't go wrong with narrator Scott Brick. He does a particularly fine job with THE MARTIAN CHILD, a poignant story of a gay man who adopts a troubled boy who believes he is a Martian changeling. Except for the man's tendency to call the young boy "sweetheart" into his teens, the main character is completely sympathetic in his efforts to understand the lad's twisted mind. Brick is surprisingly effective as Dennis, the young boy, speaking with a convincing nonchalance that gives way to rage. Brick brings listeners along even as Gerrold begins to believe his son actually could be an alien. (A side note: Author David Gerrold wrote "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode of "Star Trek.") M.S. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
About the Author
David Gerrold is the author of the Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated The Man Who Folded Himself, When Harlie Was One, and the Chtorr, Dingillian, and Star Wolf series. He also wrote "The Trouble with Tribbles" episode of Star Trek, which was voted the most popular Star Trek episode of all time. He lives in Northridge, California.
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