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3.5 

The Lesson

By Cadwell Turnbull
The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the US Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of superadvanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders and a peace that cannot last.

A year after the death of a young boy at the hands of an Ynaa, three families find themselves at the center of the inevitable conflict, witnesses and victims to events that will touch everyone and teach a terrible lesson.

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The Lesson Reviews

3.5
“I wish I had read this book before I read the Convergence series, I didn’t realize the two were somewhat tied together. Either way I really enjoyed Turnbulls writing and his depiction of humanity. The Lesson was a gripping story that never left me bored. The author has a great way of jumping around through the timeline and weaving story points together. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys science fiction.”
Surprised Face with Open Mouth“3.5 ✨ Closing out 2025 with this alien invasion sci-fi set in the Virgin Islands. This started off very strong for me but the constant shifting of timelines along with a tad bit difficulty telling characters apart caused me to not fully enjoy this. I still think this provided some good commentary on colonialism in a non-Western setting.”

About Cadwell Turnbull

Cadwell Turnbull is the author of The Lesson and No Gods, No Monsters. His short fiction has appeared in The Verge, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and several anthologies, including The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 and The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019. The Lesson was the winner of the 2020 Neukom Institute Literary Award in the debut category and No Gods, No Monsters won the 2022 Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ Speculative Fiction. Turnbull lives in Lafayette, IN.

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