Beware of spoilers in the text below.
In 1998, Pocket Books published a series of books by Melinda Metz. They were labelled as young adult books within the science fiction genre, following three aliens, Max, Isabel, and Michael, as they hid their alien identity in a town called Roswell. When Max heals Liz Ortecho after she has been shot, the three aliens risk exposure and capture by an alien hunting organisation and create a bond of friendship with three humans: Liz, Maria DeLuca, and Alex Manes. When I first watched the TV show called Roswell, I hadn’t a clue they were based on these books and in the early land of the internet, acquiring books that weren’t published in Croatia was pretty much impossible.
It would be years before I obtained my copies of the original ten books (there are 21 stories written within this verse today), and it would be another few years before I actually got into reading them. In fairness, I regard e-books as practical, with so many stored on a tablet, Android, or laptop, but I will always prefer the books themselves.
Reading these books has long been a wish of mine, but it’s also book research for Just One. Why? You see, Just One originally began as a fan fiction tribute to the TV show Roswell, developed by Jason Katims and based on the books by Melinda Metz. The basic concepts of the two are fairly similar, and the main characters are heavily taken from the original books. Then everything goes separate ways, with elements still taken from the originals, but the story and character development unfold differently.
In the last week, I have gone through five of these. They’re relatively short, and the story flows into the next one. Names of some of the characters are closer to the Roswell, New Mexico show rather than the original 1999 version, but it’s difficult not to imagine Shiri Appleby, Jason Behr, Brenda Fehr, Katrine Heigl, Colin Hanks, Majandra Delfino… in their place even as small details may vary. These aliens differ in some ways from the ones I grew up with. Some things I even find interesting, and I feel it’s a shame they weren’t incorporated into the 1999 version. Still, if I really thought about it, the available effects might not have been up to par with Melinda Metz’s vision, especially their powers.
More spoilers ahead.
What makes a good book? The style of this book is relatively simple, and the plot moves through each of the books. Some of the scenes inside each of these books remind me of the original show, but it isn’t always the same character it happens to or the outcome. There are a couple of great scenes in the original show; for example, when Michael got sick, the group used the crystals to bring him back with the whole group, human and alien, connected to achieve this. In the book, Max is in trouble and needs crystals. He’s not sick per se, though he could die, but it’s a right of passage for their species, and it’s a matter of life or death; Max has to connect to the aliens’ collective mind. The crystals establish this connection due to the distance between the two planets. Then, the group comes together and connects, and a bond is formed between six friends to build trust beautifully. Melinda Metz describes their beings as being represented by auras that change based on emotion. There are also scents and musical notes, each unique to every individual. The connection between the six friends shows us that they all bring out a combined beautiful scent, and the melodies match each other. These scenes are delivered from different viewpoints, making it especially impactful when it’s explained all sides. Maria’s take on the connection is particularly beautiful.
The one thing I can’t get over in the books is Sheriff James Valenti. If you grew up a fan of the original Roswell show, you would know that Jim Valenti is a foe turned ally because while, yes, the sheriff and while, yes, initially, suspicious of our friends, he is a decent human being. He is a man who can see humans hunting our aliens are wrong, and these are just kids, whether human or alien. I absolutely loved Jim Valenti’s growth as a character and was sad to see how some aspects progressed, but it also made sense in some instances.
Big spoilers ahead.
Sheriff Valenti, in the books, is not a good guy. He’s very far from it, and he cannot be redeemed. The badge is a tool, and he’s cold and scary to each of the children. He’s also cold-blooded. It was heartbreaking to see this, to see him pull a trigger without remorse (even though the alien he killed was Nicholas, who, while the same as the kids, was the inspiration for the Skin alien Nicholas… and was also bad boy-style evil and thought of humans as bugs)… but the sickening part about Valenti’s character was that after he kills a young alien in cold blood, he goes on to ask people if they have seen him. It has you wondering for a brief, fleeting moment if there are two Valentis in the book and, potentially, the real Jim Valenti can be saved.
There aren’t, and he can’t.
There are more aliens within the Roswell High books, too, but it’s not nearly done with Royal Four and the Dupes or Skins and shapeshifters. Incubation pods have a different purpose; they are essentially how our aliens are born, and it’s not just three of our main aliens and Nicholas, but more come and cause more trouble.
I’m not finished with this series yet. Melinda Metz wrote the original ten, but there are 21 books in total (some of the others are directed sequels from the show). I look forward to reading all of them. A more accurate take on the books comes in the form of Roswell, New Mexico, with the original details and the show set up. And having watched the reboot, I’m curious about more information in the book that hasn’t been revealed yet. I have more to read, though!
Some more spoilers.
The one thing I particularly enjoy about this book series, and what I liked about Roswell High, is going deeper into the alien origins. In the reboot, this is shown by showing scenes from the time of the crash and what happened later, as well as showing us why the aliens arrived on Earth. In the books (so far), we got to meet an alien who shows Max and Michael what happened, as well as the introduction of a collective consciousness that is unique to the books.
So, this has been my review of Melinda Metz’s Roswell High series while reading it. The chosen writing style is overly simple but flows when you read it. You also connect with the characters, and I’m sure it’s a lot stronger when you’ve already been emotionally invested in these very characters, as I have.
As always, I hope you enjoyed the read and tune in again next week for the next rendition of Inspiration Monday. For the time being, this will be the only written blog section covering all previously existing topics (except quotes, because I love quotes).
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Until next time…
~ Love, L.V.
L.V. Luca 