While Eddie Robson claims to have had the inspiration for his new book Drunk on All your Strange New Worlds from watching the translator as director Boon Jong Ho received his Oscar, there have been plenty of science fiction books and stories about translators. Some great examples of translators in science fiction include The Story of Your Life (aka Arrival) by Ted Chiang and The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. In both of these cases the language itself, or the need to speak it, changes the human doing the translating. And this is also part of Robson’s scenatio. Robson quickly establishes that when humans translate for the alien Logi, the process causes them (among other things) to feel and act drunk. This makes his main character’s quest to find out who killed the Logi cultural ambassador who she works for, just that little bit tougher.
It is sometime in the future. Humanity has made contact with the seemingly benevolent Logi. There has been no invasion or destruction but rather a cultural and, to some extent, technological exchange between the two species. The Logi communicate telepathically and only few humans have the capacity to understand and communicate with them. So a specially designated cadre of interpreters has been created. People with not only the skill to communicate with the Logi, but the ability to deal with the after effects which include seeming drunkenness and increased weight due to unchecked insulin production.
Robson explores his world using the tried and true framing of a murder mystery. Lydia is an interpreter who works for the Logi cultural attaché, who calls himself Fitzwilliam. Fitzwilliam is killed in an essentially locked room mystery in his house and Lydia is initially implicated. When the police do not seem overly interested in investigating the murder of Fitzwilliam, and his disembodied voice still talks to her, Hamlet’s ghost style, Lydia takes it on herself to try and solve the murder. This leads her down a rabbit hole of academics, game designers and dissidents in what seems like a fruitless quest until it suddenly isn’t and also suddenly she finds the plot that she has discovered is something else altogether. At which point (about half way through the narrative), the book becomes much more interesting.
While the book is mainly set in New York, Eddie Robson is British and has a long history of writing for Doctor Who, so it is no surprise that his main character Lydia is not a local but comes from the North of England and always feels a little bit like an outsider. She does spend some time at home but the majority of the action is set in a futuristic but realistic New York with a thriving arts scene but also self-driving cars.
The best crime genre novels of any sort use the crime and its investigation to shine a light on the world, the characters that live in it and their concerns. And Drunk on All Your Strange New Worlds is not exception. Lydia is not a professional investigator and it often feels like her quest is a wild goose chase but it does throw a light on Robson’s post-contact New York. And then as the murder mystery starts to resolve, delve deeper into human/Logi politics and tension points. So while this is a novel that might well attract people just by its title, there is plenty going on here, including an engaging and feisty heroine that is bound to keep them hooked.

Drunk on all your strange new words by Eddie Robson, I struggled getting into this one, I don't think it was the book, but me. Thank you for giving me a chance with this book.

This fun, engaging, fast-plotted and tense near-future sci-fi murder mystery speculates on If we did make first contact with an intelligent alien species, just how would be communicate with them if not vocally?

Fast forward to Lydia, a human who does mental translations for Fitzwilliam, an alien Logi cultural attache to Earth, the side effect of which causes Lydia (or anyone undertaking the translations) intense dizziness. From receptions to plays, Lydia works fast to simultaneous translate via telepathy, the stress of which literally leaves her with the overwhelming sensation of being “drunk” on alien words. So much so that when Lydia stands at the break of a play to her feet, she tumbles over the balcony only to be caught midair by Fitz’s long arms. Exhausted by her work but lacking any real skills to do anything else, Lydia straggles on and at least appreciates getting along well with Firz.

Until one day Fitz is murdered in the home that he shares with Lydia, leaving her a prime suspect and launching an intergalactic crisis. But Lydia mysteriously still hears a Logi voice in her head and still feels drunk on the alien words. Lydia, in order to save herself, has to rally in order to solve the crime as the police seem stymied in their efforts. Lydia finds herself entangled in a complex web of intrigue that blends Logi language, technology, and human xenophobia about Logi presence on Earth.

Despite her sarcasm and annoyance at the world around her, Lydia emerges a tenacious and compassionate heroine, as we cheer her on!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Oh how I love books that heavily embed linguistics not only the culture of the people in the book but also so deeply into the very plot of the book! I may not be a linguist (that title falls to my baby sister), but both she and I grew up with a love of languages and how language evolves over time. This book made me so very happy in my linguistics pants just because it was so clever and almost effortless in how it took the English language and showed how much it could have shifted and then been embedded into the social fabric in the future. I won’t give any examples, because I really don’t want to ruin the fun. Some of the changes are just so downright spot-on they become hilarious. I found myself saying, “Of course that’s what we’d end up calling that in the future!” This book also relies heavily on how technology has changed language on a global scale, with American English, fragmented sentences, and emojis being the most common languages spoken when the digital world is involved.

I am simply mad about this book. It’s one of the best sci-fi novels I’ve read this year, and it’s not even pure sci-fi. It’s also an amateur sleuth mystery, a little bit of a thriller, and a crafty bit of speculative fiction. There are many great points to be made about first contact with an alien civilization: what kind of considerations and how many considerations would we be willing to give to an alien civilization to gain access to their technology, should they come in peace? Would they have an advantage over us once some of us could learn their language and act as translators (in case they didn’t speak out loud, which is the case in this book) because it would give them a buffering time between speaking and then having to hear someone’s reply in which to craft more questions, thoughts, decisions, and answers? Would they have an advantage in composing oneself between one statement and another just by virtue of the translation lag time?

The overall murder mystery plot is an engaging and a twisty road. It’s unpredictable and it seems that just when the mystery might be solved, it’s another red herring or the logic falls apart and we’re a few steps back again. A few steps forward, a stumble back. That’s how this book goes and that’s how I like it. And just when you think all the players have been identified, there’s sure to be another piece put into play or one of the pieces is found to have not been part of it at all. In the end, I was about 85% surprised by who it was. And then I felt like, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Trust me, pick up this book. Then actually read it. If you’re a fan of speculative fiction I can almost guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan-Tor/Forge, and Tordotcom for granting me early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is a fascinating and compelling take on first contact. Lydia is a translator for Fitz, the cultural attaché to Earth. Her job requires her to translate mentally with Fitz and the effects of this work leave her feeling drunk by the end of the day. While her job can be incredibly stressful, it pays well and her client is pleasant enough to work with. After a long night of translating at a prestigious event, Lydia wakes up to find her client murdered. Racing against the clock, Lydia must help to solve the murder and declare her innocence. But Lydia is haunted by the voice of Fitz and finds herself unable to trust anyone around her, including herself.
Absolutely fascinating and thrilling, Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is a compelling and well-written sci-fi mystery.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is one of the books that reminded me of how much I enjoy science fiction.

I have received this book in exchange of an honest review, thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for the opportunity.

I have my own blog now (www.daysinotherworlds.com), so please do give it a visit if you're interested in my other reviews :)

Release date: 28th of June 2022.

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I don't actually read as much science fiction, as I read fantasy. And it's not because the genre hasn't impressed me before, not quite. I do believe that it's mostly because of my aversion to space as a whole, that makes me take a step back from it. Which is a bit excessive, I'll admit to that. Especially because, there are brilliant books like Drunk on All Your Strange New Words around for someone like me.

The book follows a translator of sorts, to an alien race, before that turns into a mystery for her and her allies to solve. Adding mystery to any genre, so far, hasn't been a con to me yet and this time was no different. The main reason I believe that this works as one, is seeing what the characters end up doing throughout.

It's more of a character driven book, than a plot driven one. And that in turn, makes having only one point of view character a bit of an interesting choice. Lydia, is the only point of view I get in the book, and I'm very thankful that she's a character who I can experience a lot of the world with.

How the Logi became a thing in our society, how did societies as a whole adjust to their existence and the new jobs that came with it. I also got the chance to learn more about the training process to become a translator, the dangers that come with it, how it affects someone and also saw different types of Logi as well.

Technology as a whole was incredibly fun as well, it gave me Psycho-Pass vibes at times, and that's a massive win anywhere.

The missing thing to all of this however, was a bigger look into the Logi culture away from human eyes. I did learn a few thing about them, like how language functions in their species and their physical attributes. But, I still would have enjoyed learning a lot more about them. We see multiple ones in the book here, and because they're so different, it'll surely would have been an interesting angle to add.

As mentioned earlier, this is a character driven book before anything else and Lydia was pretty cool. I enjoyed her way of thinking, and taking initiative trying to figure it out, while also getting into sticky situations. Getting to know more about her and her somewhat unique family situation was also something I really enjoyed.

When it came to the mystery itself, I believe that it was incredibly well handled.

The pacing of the book worked well with how the information was slowly revealed. How the ideas changed depending on said reveals, learning who to trust and how not to. Things aren't always as they seem and then finally for the ending reveals. It was fun, and I enjoyed trying to put the pieces together myself before the end.

Did I figure out? No, just some parts of it. But, I had fun either way.

I wouldn't mind coming back here one day with the author to experience more of this world, but even if I don't, as a standalone, I feel like this also ended on an excellent note.

I am not sure what I was expecting from this book, but this wasn’t it. I could not connect with the main character at all and the world building left a lot to be desired. If you are going to introduce new words – I get it, I see the connection with the book title, very clever – they need to be explained. The drug & is mentioned almost immediately and finally around 40% there is an explanation for what I am supposed to call it. This is just one example of many that I found while reading this.

Between the characters I didn’t care about, the blatant political messages, ‘truthiness filters’, and poor world building I was not feeling it. And then there is a murder that the MC, with zero qualifications, has to solve with the help of the murder victim, her deceased boss. Yeah, this is not the book for me, but if any of this tweaks your interest then check it out. Don’t let my specific tastes in science fiction and mystery thrillers stop you from a potentially enjoyable read.

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lydia is an interpreter for the cultural attaché of an alien race with which humanity has a working relationship. Insert xenophobia, conspiratorial theories, politics, and then the murder of Fitz, Lydia’s boss, and you have a different dimension of murder mystery.

The title refers to the state of drunkenness the interpreter develops after overworking the psychic link that the interpreter forms with one of the aliens to translate. This effect and the psychic connection she has with her boss are the main story, even though the dynamic of their relationship changes after the murder.

This plot kept me turning the pages, dreaming about it, and thinking about the story to the extend that I was discussing points of it with my wife. There were several twists and the last one was definitely in the details, and we’ll worth the read.

Lydia seemed like a real person, who like me, wondered how she ended up with a job of such importance. The future also seemed relatable; different, yet easy to see if things had gone differently and we’d had first contact. It seemed like there was just enough detail to visualize the Logi, but so much more that we are led to speculate or is not even mentioned.

I started the book thinking that each event was the one that was going to start off the mystery, but then found that it was just background. Some gave up on the book during the first quarter because of this, but I didn’t find it taxing enough to put it down. When the murder finally happened I was ready for it and things moved on quickly from there. Some of Lydia’s investigation was improbable and bogged down because of this, but the book got going again after each of these moments and was a great read overall.

Thanks to NetGalley and TOR for an ARC of this book.

Drunk On All Your Strange New Words is a witty sci-fi murder mystery.  This one took me a bit to get into (I didn’t love the story until around the 25% mark) but by the end I wound up really, really enjoying it.

This one caught my eye because of the mix of science fiction and mystery.  I’m a fan of both genres but haven’t read many books combining them — plus, there’s the very British humour that ties it all together.  Our protagonist Lydia is perfection: she’s smart and hilarious and gives no fucks about what you think of her.

The basic story is that Lydia is a human interpretor for a cultural ambassador from an alien race called the Logi, who speak telepathically.  When her boss is murdered, she’s the prime suspect, and she has to figure out who killed him before she’s arrested, or murdered herself.

I loved the alien race of the Logi and the bits about interpretation.  I wish there’d been more information about their history with humanity, but I also thought it was interesting that we were so immersed in Lydia’s worldview that she didn’t need to tell us the history, so I think it worked.  The mystery was nice and twisty and kept me guessing.

I did find this one difficult to get into, as I mentioned above.  I didn’t feel emotionally connected with the story until a good quarter of the way through.  I’m glad I stuck with it because the last half of the book was just so much fun.

Thank you to Netgalley and TorDotCom Publishing for my review copy of this book.

There's plenty of technothriller but not a lot sci-fi mysteries and this one was quite good.
It's set after the first contact, when Earth inhabitants and the Logi established diplomatic relationships and there's even a cultural attachè.
The cultural attache and Lydia, a translator, are the main characters and their relationship is quite interesting.
I appreciated how the author developed the characters, the idea that telepathically translation can cause a sort of drunkness, and the mysterious aliens.
The plot is well developed, entertaining and gripping and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I would be happy to learn more about the Logi.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I’m not sure this book would have been on my radar prior to the release date if I hadn’t seen it on NetGalley, who provided an e-arc and audiobook arc for review. I’m so glad it caught my eye because it’s exactly what I needed! Now I’m not sure we could call it a subgenre all on its own, but I do happen to particularly enjoy sci-fi stories involving human translators for space aliens. (It’s a thing.) This book has its own unique take on the trope and I thought it was done very well - in this world, the act of translation has a peculiar and specific effect on the human body, rendering the human “drunk” after an extended period of work. This of course poses a problem when our MC, the translator to an alien diplomat in New York, wakes up one morning at the center of a murder mystery with no recollection of the night of the murder.
As a murder mystery, I thought this was a very satisfying read, and as a sci-fi novel, I enjoyed how it was grounded in a personal, individual scale story while still giving us glimpses of an intriguing larger world/society beyond. The scope was just right for the length of this story.

Thank you to the author (Eddie Robson) and publisher (Tor) for an advance reading copy of Drunk on All Your Strange New Words. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions. Drunk on All Your Strange New Words releases June 28th, 2022.

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words was such a welcome read. I’ve been reading a lot of dark fantasy recently and well, it’s really nice to change it up. Sitting at 288 pages, this was an enjoyable soft sci-fi set in a post-contact period. The aliens (Logi) have already established first contact and have entered into a cultural working relationship with humans on Earth. With a murder mystery central to the plot, it made for an interesting way to explore the novel technology as well as a futuristic New York.

Lydia is a translator for human/alien communication and received training at the London School of Thought Language. The Logi don't use their mouths to speak. For Lydia, and the other human/alien translators, communicating telepathically with the Logi, i.e. processing the language in their brain, made them feel drunk..

The story takes place primarily in New York, with a brief visit to Halifax, England. The world building was inventive as far as the technology/digital details went. The period the story takes place in is very digitally connected. I wish we would've gotten a little more information on the Logi because I think it would have enriched the story more. Information on the first contact with the Logi, why the Logi came to Earth and their early interactions with human beings would've been interesting to learn. We learn a little about Logi culture throughout the story. Robson did do an excellent job weaving these details into the narration and avoided dumping info at the reader.

The murder mystery was pretty good. I did feel that there were some areas that didn't wrap up as much for me as I would have liked.. I feel that wrapping up the mystery took primary precedence (as it should, of course) however some other details felt unresolved. As for the characters... I loved the two main Logi's, Fitz and Madison. They were the heart of the story for me which was why I wanted to learn more about their civilization. Overall, Drunk on All Your New Words was a very enjoyable read. I loved the title as well.

[1.5 Stars]

The first 25% of this was really intriguing and I was eating it up. But the last 75%.......was a complete mess. I felt like the writing quality deteriorated and the plot itself became a huge mess. The mc's actions didn't make sense and the worldbuilding was frustratingly incomplete. Also, this is described as a "locked room mystery", which it's definitely not. The character moves all over the place the whole book. Plus, the little mystery that this has completely lacks the stakes I expected based on the synopsis.

Overall, this was a brilliant concept, it just fell apart in the execution. I feel like a little more editing and revising could have saved this.

Lydia works as translator for the Logi cultural attaché to Earth, though translating for him makes her feel drunk (hence the title). When he is murdered, Lydia goes from prime suspect to champion investigator, unwinding a grand conspiracy. A fairly ordinary mystery story, the aliens notwithstanding. The ending is quite abrupt, with Lydia discovering ties to the police and then the book just ending. Interesting, if not groundbreaking.

I do love the whole concept of alien contact living in eart to learn everything about humanity. I do get the Murderbot Diaries vibe with the main protagonist.

It is a great read though but the conflict is somewhere good. Not that very fresh and new but the characters lift the novel.

This is one of those interesting improvements on a genre staple - what if a locked room mystery, but set in a post alien contact society, and the murdered is our protagonist’s alien boss, and she’s the translator? This started to feel a bit stretched out towards the middle, but snaps back quickly into a fantastic pace. There’s also some neat ideas about alien linguistics, enough that when you find out that the writer has also written for Doctor Who audio dramas, you’re not that surprised. Would pair quite well with a reading retreat, or an afternoon on the back deck catching up on your reading. This is due out in a few weeks’ time as of the time of this review, and highly recommended.

This is a pleasant summer science fiction read. The author's world is interesting - a near future when social and news media have emerged and become all-consuming. The hero is someone you can cheer for - an everywoman with rough edges who's really just trying to get along in the world but who gets drawn into remarkable circumstances. The aliens are a little bit mysterious but not malevolent. The plot - a murder mystery - moves quickly enough to keep you from thinking about it too much, and there is enough suspense to keep a reader engaged. The writing is breezy; the author seems more interested in having a good time than Taking Things Seriously.

While I'm not one for murder mysteries, "Drunk on all your strange new words" was right up my alley. A fun sci-fi murder mystery with a hilarious and relatable main character in way over her head and trying to figure out what is going on and why is she in the middle of it. The story is pretty quickly off to the races with a breakneck pace as she tries to sift fact from fiction. A great fun read.

The Logi have come to Earth, and awkward, insecure Lydia is the translator for the cultural attache, Fitz. The ability to translate Logi comes with a drunken sensation, ameliorated by the drug &, which Lydia is under the effects of when Fitz is murdered in the house they share. She's a suspect, and the game is afoot.

Many scifi books involving First Contact lead the authors to create a second language, which I find cumbersome to remember; Robson's device is that Lydia and Fitz share info telepathically, which leads into some great musings by this humble reader as to the nature of truth when someone can read your mind. Truthiness is also expressed in the book whereby every social media post has a TR or Truth Rating - oh, if only we can execute that immediately, and how deep fakes and AI can play havoc with memory and recall.

This is a great blend of locked room murder mystery and scifi, without being too murdery nor hard scifi. It feel more like speculative fiction a la Blake Crouch.

4.7/5

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words is a light-hearted alien murder mystery set in the near post-contact future. Lydia, a translator for the Logi, an extraterrestrial species that has established an embassy in Manhattan, is at the epicenter of discovering who murdered her boss, while also proving her own innocence.

This is a quick fun read that doesn’t dive too deep into alien technology or politics, but gives a glimpse at life in a world where aliens are now a thing. Although set in the future, the novel gives off a very contemporary vibe and a perfect toe dip into the genre for non sci-fi fans. My only problem was that many of the characters seemed fairly one-dimensional, especially Lydia. I kept expecting more from her. More emotion, more background - but kept coming up empty.

Recommended for fans of murder mysteries and Sci-Fi Lite.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tordotcom, and Eddie Robson for a digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.