Fade-out by Patrick Tilley.
When an object of undeniably extra-terrestrial origin appears, the world is thrown into panic. Is this alien race harmless or a danger to humanity? Nine weeks later, civilization is on the edge of a total breakdown more devastating than any nuclear war or natural disaster.
A good read with good characters. I did like the cover. 4*.

First published in Great Britain in 1975; published by Bloomsbury Reader on December 14, 2017

Fade-Out was published in 1975, a simpler time when “the boys in the lab” solved the Earth’s problems while “the girls” were laying around getting “a nice suntan.” The novel has a dated feel that is enhanced by foreign policy debates about how the United States should handle the monolithic Soviet Union. The Berlin Wall came down only 14 years after Fade-Out was published. How quickly times change.

I’m not sure Fade-Out warrants Bloomsbury’s claim that it’s a “classic” that is “often copied by others.” In fact, the novel reprises First Contact themes have been an integral part of science fiction since at least the 1940s. At the same time, by the novel’s end, Fade-Out does have the feel of a classic, even if it’s a forgotten classic.

The book’s title refers to a “fade out” of radio wave reception that begins to afflict all parts of the Earth, albeit at different times. The boys in the lab figure out that something in orbit is causing the problem. They can’t see the thing, but they can detect it on radar. They are pretty sure it’s a ship and they surmise that the fade-out occurs when its propulsion system is activated. The boys in the White House reluctantly decide that the ship is of extraterrestrial origin, although they would prefer to blame the Russians.

The book’s initial chapters describe the political debate that surrounds the ET contact. Of course, the military wants to blow the ship out of the sky. More rational minds believe that starting an interstellar war would be unwise, but the conflict then revolves around the degree to which the United States should cooperate with Russia in addressing an alien presence. That debate intensifies when the fade-out continues after the ship buries itself in Montana.

Eventually we learn something about the ship (they name it Crusoe), and about the (apparently) big mechanical spider that exits from it (they name it Friday). Even the supposedly rational minds do precious little to communicate with the ET. They’re more intent on capturing Friday, or at least immobilizing it while they explore Crusoe. To that end, they do a number of things that would seriously piss off a human, apparently without considering that antagonizing an alien isn’t a smart approach to First Contact.

In any event, the humans who do manage to get inside Crusoe … well, I won’t give it away, but what they find isn’t what any of their team expected. Their close encounter of a very different kind sets the novel apart from others that have followed the same path.

The characters take occasional breaks to discuss philosophy (the nature and purpose of the universe, whether there’s an afterlife) and to debate scientific theories (the big bang versus the steady state theory, another aspect of the story that now feels dated). None of their musings add anything noteworthy to the story, except for the notion that lots of people don’t want to know the answers to the big questions, because the answers might unsettle their lives. One of the science-minded characters also accepts as fact some “scientific” theories about pyramids that have been debunked, and while that’s a small part of the story, it contributes to the novel’s dated feel.

I recommend the novel to fans of books (like The Martian) that feature scientists and engineers trying to puzzle out solutions to problems (like how to drop a bomb on a craft that disrupts electrical energy). Despite its dated feel, the story is reasonably convincing, and it ratchets up tension rather remarkably in the last 50 pages in a way that reminded me of the classic novel Fail-Safe. The ending is nicely ambiguous, which will bother readers who want everything spelled out for them. I was pleasantly surprised that the plot did not resolve in a more definitive way and that a couple of important loose ends were never explained. The rest of the book is good in sort of a predictable way, but to my mind the last chapter makes Fade-Out stand out. From the perspective of 2018, Fade-Out manages to be both dated and timeless.

RECOMMENDED

Showing its age and seeming more of the 50s than the late 70s in its style. Couldn't finish it.

Great idea for a story, but this was a bit of a chore to read. Don't get me wrong, it appears to be very ably written by a master of the craft, but the pace of it was rather pedestrian and really stole most of the enjoyment. This sadly comes across as a dated and slow execution of a classic idea, which could use a rework into a more modern edition that encompasses more of the world and the people in it. Good idea but far too narrow and slow in the storytelling.

I read 25% of this book and just could not get into it. THe dialogue was stiff and too long.

After finding this book a little difficult to get into, I found it to be an engrossing read. Human-alien interaction is always a toss-up, in my opinion. Either authors get lost in descriptions and brutal killing, or they seem to lose their thread a lot. This author is neither, giving a well-written book with complex characters and lifelike situations.

The first thing to say is that if you have a major problem with limited omniscient viewpoint, then this one isn’t for you. While there are a number of main characters, Tilley regularly slides out of their heads and into neutral storytelling mode. As it is a classic narrative mode for this genre, I didn’t have a major problem with it and Tilley certainly couldn’t have covered all the angles he wanted to if he’d chosen any other viewpoint option. The next issue that struck me was how male and pale the cast were – no women or ethnic diversity within the higher government circles or the leading scientists brought in to examine what was going on. Given the book was apparently rewritten and updated, I think it is a shame this aspect was neglected.

So, the story. The way it builds up is excellently handled and I love the consequences and cost involved in the alien intrusion. I was also gratified that answers didn’t fall into anyone’s lap. The alien technology and motives are a genuine puzzle and folks are left guessing for a long way through the book. Other readers have mentioned how very America-centric the story is – but I do think that is probably a realistic take on the way things operate at the top in that government these days. What is intriguing is how that viewpoint genuinely hampers their ability to get to the truth of what is going on and the politicking and negotiating around the Russians is both funny and terrifying – as well as being spot on.

This tale is as much about our society and what we value as much as about the aliens. There is much to admire about this book and I thoroughly enjoyed most of it – however given the unhurried pace throughout most of it, I found the abrupt rush in the final pages rather jarring and wondered if this was the first in a series. It appears it isn’t. That said, it is still an interesting read and recommended for science fiction fans who enjoy reading the likes of Clarke and Heinlein. While I obtained an arc of Fade Out from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

I picked up a copy of this from Netgalley for an honest review and I am grateful to them for the opportunity, however this book really wasn't for me. This is a re-release of a book first published in 1975 and had I realised that to start with I probably wouldn't have requested a copy. It is very of it's time and given that it's had a small reworking to bring it up to date, I wonder why bother? Women are still reduced to "trolley dolly's" on Airforce 1 or annoyances that simply eat a lot of cake, I found that a lack of a strong female presence was a let down and given that the book doesn't directly specify a year, perhaps something could have been done. That being said though I can appreciate why many have enjoyed it. It it exceedingly well researched and the science element is fascinating but I just couldn't get passed the half way point. It was very slow moving until the DNF point and although there were exciting elements it just wasn't enough to hold my attention any longer.

Okay, so it is not that I am absolutely hating this book, it's more that it's simply not for me. 

Writing:
The writing in this book is fine. It's well written but a little hard to understand especially with a lot of abbreviations and technical terms that I have no idea the meaning of. It took me about 3 chapters to realise AFB stood for Air Force Base and I still don't know what SAC or NORAD stands for. 

In the front of the book, there is a guide to all the characters and what their job is, as we are working with politicians, scientists, engineers and heaps of other people that have official titles. Which is great if you can remember them as it's not easy on an eBook to just go back to the start and check like it is to just flick back the pages in a book. Then there are the names themselves! Some of them get called by both their first and last names by different characters and it's just so hard to keep track of who is who! 

AND IT IS SO DAMN SLOW!!! I like action packed, fast paced books! Some of the time I don't mind a slower start especially if it is building a fantastic fantasy world! Like for example, Strange the Dreamer. But this book its just a group of men sitting in different locations discussing basically the same thing over and over! The first 10% of the book drove me wild as it was just them going back and forward wondering whether it is the Russians doing this stuff and because I read the synopsis where it says 'extra-terrestrial' I already know who is doing it! So this back and forward was driving me insane. 

Plot:
Due to the fact that I am only 17% into the book (which is about 100 pages according to (the amazing) BookOut App), there hasn't really been a plot yet! Like I said in the Writing section it's just men sitting around discussing things! (Also, where are all the women?!)

Characters:
I have absolutely no connection or really an opinion on any of the characters as there are just so many and I barely know who is who. The only 2 fairly constant characters seem to be the president and his Assistant and I still don't feel anything towards them. I have nothing bad to say about them, or anything good as I just don't feel anything at all. 

Overall:
Overall, this book just isn't for me. If you enjoy slower sci-fi books with not much going on, then you may love it. However, it is just not for me. It's too slow, too confusing and I just felt bored reading it.

This is not the genre that I normally read....but it was extremely well written!!!—Kept my attention despite the time lapse of many years. This one is for lovers of mystery and those who question the possibility of other existences. Is there a sequel?! I am surprised that the book is just now being released for my reading pleasure in America, since it was written in 1974. Personal modern technology such as cell phones, laptops or tablets, were not only unnecessary, but also only slightly missed for the first few chapters. I have read some of the other reviews and I guess it's true, you can't please everyone. I have found this very entertaining to read, and I have read many books in my 40 plus years. I would recommend this as a good read.

Extremely well written!!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Fade Out is a slow-burn adventure of an extra terrestrial presence and the very realistic political battle for control and secrecy of decisions concerning that presence. This one is for lovers of mystery and those who question the possibility of other existences. Is there a sequel?! (I am shocked that the book is just now being released for my reading pleasure in America, since it was written in 1974. I am also impressed at how it was still amazingly pertinent. Civillian/personal, modern technology such as cell phones, laptops or tablets, were not only unnecessary, but also only slightly missed for the first few chapters.)

This book is set in the cold war period when the tension between Russia and USA is at its height. This is a typical UFO book where we meet the high ranking officals in the USA government as they try to work out the UFO threat.
Not only is this book written in the cold war era, the style is also of the time. We are introduced to large numbers of government officals at the start of this book with more added by the chapter. I felt rather lost and confused. Had there been a few less characters then their characters could be developed and I could have got to know them. Unfortunately the characters all seem to merge into just one or two. Most of the charatcers didn't seem particularly pleasant with time given to their juxtapositioning and internal politics which i didn't enjoy.
I should mention that I failed to finish this book. Although I do like science fiction books I just did not get on with this style. There are politics and plenty of characters with a large amount of jargon. I just could not face ploughing through all of this to discover an enjoyable story. I got approximately 20% of the way through and realised that I still didn't know who was who and their relevence. I also realised that I didn't much enjoy the politics with the Russians.
This was not a book for me. I didn't enjoy what I read and found it quite confusing and, to be frank, rather boring. I am sure there are plenty of people out there for who this is just their sort of thing but it wasn't for me.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

Fade-Out is the first book by Patrick Tilley that I have read, so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a well written thriller about first contact with aliens. This book is a standalone. There is violence.

The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat that all of that info here. The characters are well written and multidimensional. The author does a good job of keeping a steady pace throughout the book to keep this reader interested. It keeps you guessing what twists and turns will be revealed in the pages ahead. The book was originally published in the 1970s and definitely stands the test of time. It truly is a classic Sci-fi tale. I can’t believe it’s been out there for more than forty years and this is the first time I’ve read it!

Author: Patrick Tilley

Pages: 536 

Published: 14 December 2017 (first published in 1975)

Goodreads

Personal Context and Initial Thoughts: NetGalley provided me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. So when I downloaded this book, I didn't realize that it had originally been published in 1975. I had been reading the story under the assumption that it was a newly-written novel, and that likely colored some of my perceptions of it. I shall, as always, endeavor to remain unbiased in my evaluation of it.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When an object of undeniably extra-terrestrial origin appears, the world is thrown into panic. Is this alien race harmless or a danger to humanity? Nine weeks later, civilization is on the edge of a total breakdown more devastating than any nuclear war or natural disaster.

Patrick Tilley, author of best-selling science fiction series The Amtrak Wars, creates in Fade-Out a chilling thriller of humanity's first contact with advanced alien intelligence; a high tension tour-de-force that will stay with you long after you have turned the last page.


My Review of...

...The Plot and Pace: 

Fade-Out was rather difficult to finish. It took nearly three times as long to finish this story as other books of this size. Tilley effortlessly displayed the fish-out-of-water feeling humanity would experience if we were ever to come into contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence. The only lifeline I had in connecting to this story was the science-speak. The first third of the book moved very slowly and was inundated with building suspense and creating a foundation for the plot. This was the largest obstacle in my way, and it wasn't until about half-way through the story that it became page-turning. 

...The Characters and Relationships:

The solitary saving-grace of this story was Arnold Wedderkind. Scientific Advisor to the President, Arnold was the head of the research group responsible for investigating the alien spacecraft that landed on Earth, "Crusoe." I found the main character of Fade-Out, Robert Connors, to be rather distasteful and oddly unrelatable. Terribly manipulative, with a penchant for deception, Connors might be the protagonist, but he was certainly not a hero. 

The other issue I had with this story was the complete and utter lack of diversity. The entire cast of the story consisted of middle-aged-white-men. The only women mentioned were either love-interests of the male cast-members or practically nameless flight-attendants and secretaries. Until I realized that this was written in 1975, I was severely peeved that a contemporary story would still have a white-washed cast with misogynistic undertones and anti-semitic sentiments. While the publication date doesn't make any of that excusable, it does provide some explanation.

...The Writing Style and Mechanics:

Free from grammatical and syntactical issues, Tilley's language wasn't difficult to follow. With such an enormous cast of characters involving multiple countries, bureaucracies, and government agencies, Fade-Out's plot was a bit convoluted. 

...The Message(s) and Theme(s):

It is my opinion that Fade-Out is a lesson-in-tolerance. Wrought with the consequences of aggression, arrogance, and pride, Fade-Out should be a lesson to the world of the importance of diplomacy and caution. 

Overall:

I didn't enjoy Fade-Out as much as I wanted to. I found the plot to be difficult with which to engage, and the cast of characters to be downright, eye-rolling unlikeable. The science-speak was the only thing with which I was able to relate, and it was the only thing that got me through it. All of that aside, I think it serves as an important reminder of the importance of temperance, patience, diplomacy, and caution in the face of the unknown and the unexpected. It highlights the arrogance of Man (and also the gender) and the dangers, and often-times utter stupidity of aggression and deception in politics.

This book is a re-publication. Fade Out by Patrick Tilley was actually written in the 70’s. I didn’t notice that in the NetGalley description. Knowing this helps with understanding the setting of the novel. The mid-70’s in the USA was the Cold War era and racism & sexism are prevalent.

I was expecting more of an alien invasion but this is more the “what if and what should we do” kind of story. I thought of the movie Arrival while I was reading this; which I loved.

Fade-out highly thought provoking; which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Iliked the book as a whole, and thought it stood the test of time very well. I did not like the ending; it seemed just to finish rather than reach a satisfactory conclusion.

There was no indication in the NetGalley description that this was a reprint of a book first published decades ago - if there had been, I would probably not have picked it up. The book is terribly dated, and while that's not usually a problem, it's also poor written, with flat characters who act in illogical ways. The story is not that interesting, either, with no real suspense and no real feeling that there is any actual danger.

Fade Out by Patrick Tilley. An alien spacecraft has been found partly buried in the earth. What follows is a race to find out why it is here and does it mean us harm. I found this book very slow and quite complicated and was disappointed in the ending. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my E-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I wanted to like this book because the "First Contact" idea is one of my favorites; however, there really is no contact made.

That is the least of this book's problems. The book was written in the 1970s and it shows. I didn't mind the anachronistic happenings once I figured out that the action wasn't in the 21st century but sometime before the fall of the Soviet Union. I DID mind the misogyny and racism. There wasn't a single female among the main characters and when women were mentioned it was usually in a sexual context and very degrading (really, the phrase"a piece of a$$" was used). The sexism was so flagrant that, at times, I had to stop reading because of sheer annoyance.

The annoyance also extended to the author's exclusive use of WASP characters, though I think there was a token Jew. The author, a Brit, also gets details wrong about "Air Force One." The designation Air Force One or Marine One is only used when the President is on the aircraft. The stewards on the plane are enlisted members of the USAF, and subject to the highest standards of professionalism.

I kept on reading, despite the niggling aggravation because I liked the premise and I wanted to see what happened in the end.

Big mistake. The reader is left hanging...

(Spoiler alert) There are hints of interesting developments, like telepathy, that are left unexplored. But the main problem is that all the lead up to ending results in a big reveal of NOTHING.

In the end, this is a book that could be a commercial ad for Ancient Aliens. The best part of the book is the cover. That's about it!

I am sorry I wasted part of my life reading this book to the end. The least I can do is to save others from making that mistake.

A first contact novel that is all about how the governments and military of the world deal with an unknown alien craft that appears. There's really very little alien story here, it's how the US, Russia and China are going to deal with the problems generated by a mysterious and uncommunicative object. I was expecting something else as there's really very little contact in the sense of no alien narrative to speak of. The pace was fairly slow and a bit of a slog. Set in a Cold War era the book is somewhat dated (40 years ago) and failed to grab my interest.