Rock 'N' Roll Babes from Outer Space

As anyone who's taken grade school science can attest to, our radio and television waves are constantly hurtling off into space, sent off forever to galaxies unknown. This means that right now, the good aliens of Venus are rocking out to Janis Joplin, or something like that. God help us all when the creatures of other planets discover Matchbox 20 or Natalie Imbruglia--they'll probably blow us to bits, and we'll probably deserve it.

The thought of our pop culture drifting out into the ether to be eagerly consumed by alien worlds must have appealed a great deal to author Linda Jaivin, who uses such a premise as one of the springboards for her sci-fi novel Rock 'N' Roll Babes from Outer Space. If otherworldly creatures are surviving on a steady diet of Foo Fighters, X-Files, and Tom Hanks movies, then what kind of kitschy mutations of humanity can we expect to discover when the first off-worlders park their souped-up retrosaucer on our collective front lawn?

Hopefully, creatures as riveting as Baby, Doll, and Lati. They're the three heroines of Rock 'N' Roll Babes, and they're three of the most creative, vivacious aliens to emerge from print since Ford Prefect and Zaphod Beeblebrox of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame. Everything they touch doesn't necessarily turn to gold, but it does get really horny. That's half the fun of this novel: watching these three aliens (who've subsisted on a steady diet of Earth pop culture for most of their lives) interact in our world, their understanding governed not by any true knowledge of humanity, but by pop song lyrics and television shows. The phrase "deft comic touch" comes to mind, and it's trite as hell, but it's also very true of Jaivin's handling of the three alien creatures (and their pet whatsit, Revor, who is the strangest alien creature I've EVER encountered in decades of consuming "Star Wars," "Star Trek," and other sci-fi film and television offerings). Episodes like Lati's first sampling of marijuana, Baby's relationship with American metal pariah Ebola Van Axel, and Revor's conversations with his earthling dog lover are hysterical and exhibit a gentle satirical approach. The characters are funny, but are never degraded by the author, meaning that readers can develop genuine affection for these strange aliens while at the same time chuckling at their follies on earth.

The other half of the fun can be found in the confused, tender romance between Baby and Jake, an Australian earthling who fronts Bosnia, an earnest alternative rock band. Jake is a classic nineties twentysomething slacker, meaning that it takes more work for him to appear disenchanted and unconcerned than one would ever realize. Baby drives him crazy, and vice-versa, but his own inability to connect with his emotions keeps the relationship from ever taking off, and even though Baby can read his mind and must know he loves her, she needs him to say it. Jaivin's prose really shines in the scenes between Jake and Baby, as she gently mocks the characters' emotional failings while still conveying the gentle anguish of a true love that has discovered itself across the cosmos, but cannot connect across a room.

The sci-fi approach taken by Jaivin in her creation of new species from outer space is a purely comical one. As Jaivin herself admits, her approach to science-fiction is based less on any appreciation for the "science" and more on a keen awareness of the popular culture's awareness of science, as expressed through films and books. An extra bounce is added; more traditional science-fiction like "Star Trek" or the books of Asimov hit the pop culture, Jaivin consumes it, then tosses these concepts back into the culture after putting her own twisted spin on them. This allows for such creative innovations as a race of angel-like creatures, the Cherubim, and an omnipresent God figure who is more concerned with busting speeding spaceships than in helping the races he's created. Through her unique brand of science-fiction, Jaivin parodies our popular view of science and extraterrestrials.

At its heart, Linda Jaivin's Rock 'N' Roll Babes from Outer Space is just one hell of a clever, fun read. There are great characters to get to know, a sappy romance at the heart of the book, and the added bonus of spotting Jaivin's clever pop culture references. It's too good to be dismissed as mere "beach reading"; whether you'll be consuming it on the beach, in an air- conditioned home, on an airplane, or halfway to Alpha Centauri in a flying saucer, it's still a blast. In fact, it's almost as much fun as a gorgeous alien woman with erogenous antennae and multiple genitalia. Almost.