From Booklist
Baby, Doll, and Lati--three extraterrestrials from the planet Nufron who themselves are the results of extraterrestrial interbreeding with earthlings--pilfer a flying saucer and return to Earth, landing near Sydney, Australia, to abduct humans, perform sexual experiments, and form a rock 'n' roll band. But one thing Baby never anticipated was falling in love with Jake, her first subject, a dreadlocked slacker and lead singer of Bosnia, "a minor but reputable band." Jake, though too cool to commit, also finds himself incredibly attracted to the hot, green-complected, antennaed Baby.
Rock 'n' Roll Babes from Outer Space is a hard title to live up to, but Jaivin's second outing, following the sexy
Eat Me (1997), a best-seller Down Under, maintains just the right balance of zaniness, hipness, and charm. Its decidedly Aussie bent may put off some Yanks, but its parody of slacker culture and ufology is a hoot and should especially please fans of Tom Robbins and
The X-Files.
Benjamin Segedin
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Kirkus Reviews
The title says it all about this cartoonish second novel by the author of Eat Me (1997): Three alien babes escape to Earth in order to enjoy lots of sex, drugs, and loud music. Jaivin pretends that every pop sci-fi universe is real, from the space babies of the tabloids to the paranoid fantasies of The X-Files, and there's even a nod to Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker books, which clearly serve as some sort of prototype for the extraterrestrial antics here. Baby-Baby, Lati, and Doll are hybrid ``ayles'' (i.e., aliens) from Nufon, the most boring planet in the ``yoon'' (i.e., universe). The spawn of previous Earth abductees, the three aspiring rock star/sex fiends steal a rocket and head to Sydney, where Baby-Baby soon hooks up with Rasta-coiffed slacker and rocker wannabe Jake, the lead singer in the band Bosnia. After a night of otherworldly sex, Jake will do anything for his alien love, except commit. Meanwhile, the rock scene in Australia is mesmerized by the most amazing band they've ever heard--the three slightly greenish super-babes, whose antennas are assumed to be just part of their act. Up in space, an interplanetary committee, headed by Capt. Qwerk, decides to recapture the girls, before all of Earth learns of the ``Hidden Agenda.'' The babes manage to escape ahead of Qwerk, and bring a number of earthlings along for the ride--including UFO-spotting George, who's been waiting a long time for alien contact; and Ebola Van Axel, a leather-clad metal superstar. Their hasty getaway is assisted by none other than God, who makes cameo appearances throughout. The flimsy plot, though, is beside the point: Jaivin devotes most of her energy to re-creating the sounds of such things as inter-species lovemaking: ``Um um um! Socky wocky wocky! Um um um! Chp chp chp. Ooooooh. Smelly welly welly . . . .'' Strained humor and annoying bouts of intergalactic jive talk. ($50,000 ad/promo) --
Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
