What is your opinion?
Very Funny
"This is a great little short sci-fi story. I found it before the contest and the title drew me in. This story ended up being the last thing that I expected, but a refreshing difference for sure! You got a laugh out of me and I think you did well with writing the perspective of the alien to the point where until the humans explained, I didn't know what the humans did!"
Bravo!
"I am absolutely in awe of this story. It is as unique a story as I have ever come across, and positively thrilling. There is such grace with which humans are reintroduced to us through the eyes of the alien race. Things which we consider normal seem so terrible to these creatures. It makes one wonder just how much we agree with only because it's part of our culture and way of life. The aliens' sensitivity becomes clear with the revelation that they are highly evolved plant life. Plants, the embodiment of love and truth, will obviously have a much higher standard for respectability and behaviour than us. The use of alien language is an excellent touch, giving the whole story the right "feel". For some reason, I find their abhorrence of oxygen really amusing. It is a clever way to show just how different two beings can be. A very engaging story, a wonderful perspective and something which we could all benefit from."
Great Story
"What I liked: This was a great, original, read. I enjoyed it. The humor throughout was enjoyable. It gives a bit of food for thought, too, in how we communicate in this world. How transparent are we? What I didn't like: Not much to not like here. Minor grammatical errors. Nothing too traumatic. Conclusion: Great short story. I liked the originality. I liked the way the author weaved a "working" translation of the transmission."
Contact: Failed
"This is composed in classic ship's log style. The large amounts of partial decoding don't make it a quick read. The author does a good job conveying his aliens' perplexity and dismay. It's a good twist on the classic stories of humans making first contact."
Brilliant
"Reminds me a lot of Frederic Brown's "The Sentinel" and Katherine Maclean's "Pictures Don't Lie" - both long-standing favourites of mine. I find the epistolary style adds a lot to the telling and the non-traduced terms dotting the story are very creative and contribute to the world-building in a discreet, but very effective way. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing!"
Interesting
"I liked this story because it kind of made me think of H.P. Lovecraft's Old Ones and how their POV might have been. I do have one though, I felt like all the translation took me out of the story a bit. I felt certain parts, like when the translator is constantly telling the reader what a word might detracted from the plot a bit. The author laid out the story well enough that context clues would have been enough. I was able to guess what most things were without the translator's guesses. However, still an interesting look into the differences humans and aliens might experience."
