Passing Fancy

One of the strengths of the Alien Nation series has always been its anti-prejudice stand. This comes out even stronger in the novels, which are able to delve deeper into things then is allowed in a TV show with severe time limits.

In Passing Fancy, the central character is actress in a play that George, Susan, Cathy and Matt all go to see. The actress appears to be human, but it's soon revealed that she is really a Newcomer, and that there is a process, expensive, of course, that can physically change a Newcomer's external appearance to that of a human.

It's a process that requires continued medication, which is where the real expense is, and the actress has been taking some tainted medicine, some under-the-counter stuff that is affordable but terribly dangerous.

So the novel is set up with its law-based portion (finding who has been selling the drug and, if possible, who makes it and stopping them), and the anti-prejudice part. The novel Black Like Me is brought up in the story and discussed, and it's relation to what has happened to the actress is quite clear.

To complicate things, the actress is someone Matt actually knows, although his experiences with her in the past were not ultra-positive, to say the least.

This is a really good story, basically the kind that a person will want to read straight through.



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