A Place Beyond Man: Reviews from The Original 1975 Release
Cary Neeper has created not one but two credible non-human species.... It's an engrossing first novel by a microbiologist whose previous writing has been [on] pneumococcal polysaccharide."—Psychology Today, New York, July 1975
If you're a sci-fi fan who particularly relishes the genre when it reveals the human condition sharply and logically, you'll find yourself talking about this book for a long time to all who will listen. If you think you don't like science fiction but are concerned about the growing ecological crisis on planet earth, you'll find Cary Neeper, a ...PhD in medical microbiology, presenting keen insight and pertinent directions. Her unusual device is obviously meant to bring the message of earth's economic and ecological problems to a wider audience. It should.—UU World, July 15, 1975
. . . the aliens and their base...are fascinating. The story...centered on character interactions...is serious and dedicated to the highest values.... Perhaps the best thing in the novel is Tandra's growing awareness that the froggy [ellls] are not human, not to be forced into her conventional mental categories, but are truly different in ways that must be respected.... a far better than ordinary first novel.—"Fantasy and Science Fiction Books" by Alexei and Cory Panskin, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1977, pp.73-74.
The current concern[s]...are dealt with competently and lucidly.... Tandra both learns and teaches emotional and intellectual integration, a painful but necessary step in the growing-up of mankind.—St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 4, 1975.
Tandra becomes an interface between these two [aliens]....Interesting comparisons are made between the history and cultures of the three species, and Tandra's convoluted approach to acceptance of love from the ellls and the gift of her own to the varoks is interestingly documented.—Galaxy Bookshelf by Theodore Sturgeon, Galaxy, March 1975.
...fine writing and down-to-earth story line, "A Place Beyond Man" is great escapism, and these days we really need it. Bravo.—Friday Magazine, WCNY TV/24 FM/91.3, April 18, 1975, 7 pm