Brother Termite

"Brother Termite" is a 1992 science fiction novel by Patricia Anthony.

Synopsis

Decades after Dwight Eisenhower helped the alien "Cousins" take over the United States, White House Chief of Staff Reen-Ja must deal with domestic unrest, political infighting, international conflict, the kidnapping of several Cousins, and the terrible secret underlying the Cousins' hidden agenda.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews considered it to be "(c)hilling, memorable work, with splendid characters", as well as "unstoppable narrative momentum" and "an enthralling plot", commending Anthony's portrayal of the aliens as "utterly convincing".[1] Publishers Weekly described it as "occasionally farcical but essentially poignant", "tense, often disturbing", and "a difficult, but rewarding read", and praised the Cousins as "sympathetic characters with a moving plight" (despite their "unjustifiable" actions).[2]

Adaptation

In the late 1990s, James Cameron's production company Lightstorm Entertainment was preparing a film adaptation of Brother Termite, with screenplay by John Sayles (Anthony later noted that Sayles "added a scene that [she was] particularly fond of, which did not occur in the book, but probably should have occurred in the book. It works so well.")[3] and Steve Norrington as director;[4] ultimately, the film was not produced, but in 2010, two minutes of test footage from Brother Termite (featuring early use of motion capture) appeared as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray release of Cameron's 2009 film Avatar.[5]

gollark: * robobot
gollark: Of course governments don't. It's not entirely ridiculous for some person in charge to say "make a better soldier ***FOR AMERICA***" and then for it to trickle down and get stupider and stupider.
gollark: How is one slightly better soldier going to help with wars anyway?
gollark: maybe
gollark: Also, lazors.

References
  1. BROTHER TERMITE by Patricia Anthony, reviewed at Kirkus Reviews; published July 15, 1993; retrieved November 14, 2017
  2. Brother Termite, reviewed at Publishers Weekly; published October 4, 1993; retrieved November 14, 2017
  3. Patricia Anthony, interviewed by Jayme Lyn Blaschke; interview originally published in Interzone #144, July 1999; archived in Voices of Vision: Creators of Science Fiction and Fantasy Speak, by Jame Lyn Blaschke, published 2005 by University of Nebraska Press
  4. A look at BROTHER TERMITE!, at Ain't It Cool News, published June 16, 1999; retrieved November 14, 2017
  5. Some Surprising And Curious Details Of The Upcoming Avatar Blu-ray Bonuses, by Brendon Connelly; at Bleeding Cool; published September 15, 2010; retrieved November 14, 2017
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