Super Extra Grande

In this galaxy, Dr. Jan Sangan Dongo is the “Veterinarian to the Giants,” the only veterinarian biologist who specializes in alien creatures that are truly larger than life. And in this galaxy, one where seven species vie for control of the spacelanes and Earth has Latin American scientists to thank for the ability to travel the stars, only Dr. Sangan Dongo can venture inside one of the largest creatures ever known and rescue two ambassadors as well as the peace they’re trying to broker.

Super Extra Grande is everything great about science fiction; it’s boundary-pushing, optimistic, challenging, and asks tough questions. And on top of all that, it’s pretty damn funny. Sangan Dongo is a wonderful narrator, sharing his life story and his misadventures in learning and love as he describes the peculiar universe he inhabits.

Much of the novel is written in a conversational mix of Spanish and English–Spanglish–which takes a little getting used to but also grants the book a very intriguing flavor. It feels like the reader earns every translated line between Sangan Dongo and the aliens he encounters, making us part of this strange, exploratory universe. It’s both clunky and supremely elegant.