On the HahaFiction shelf
Terminal 3
Gabe Chagas works security at a future LAX after losing his mother in a temporal incident. A cryptic message points him toward answers at a gate that doesn't exist, just as questions about his own residency make his position precarious.
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What makes it funny?
Interstellar travel still leaves workers worrying about rent and gentrification. A Department of Homeworld Security gives the familiar machinery of immigration enforcement a galactic reach, including officials who casually deport aliens.
The comedy at work
Ferreira makes the spaceport's bureaucracy indifferent to the people caught inside it. Cultural misunderstandings and arbitrary rules keep a goodhearted worker struggling with daily problems even as the universe heads toward collapse.
Try this if…
The appeal here is dark social satire seen from a vulnerable worker's position. Gabe's good intentions meet institutions too large and callous for one person's effort to set right.
Good to know
Family separation, deportation and prejudice are central concerns. Cultural conflicts can turn violent.
A few distinguishing details
- A spaceport guard investigating his mother's disappearance
- A Department of Homeworld Security
- Rent anxiety during cosmic collapse
More funny first contact & aliens
Sources & further reading
- Author bibliography
Author commentary
- Jonathan E. Hernandez on Terminal 3
Review
- Santa Clara County Library bibliography
Library catalog
- Latinx in Publishing release record
Book information
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