Fun with Mad Libs, the science fiction way

Ever think to yourself after reading the inside flaps of a couple dozen books in the same genre that it seems like you're reading the summary of the same five books over and over?  Probably not, because if you've picked up the book in the first place, it's unlikely you'll stop reading before you hit the title page.  But if you, like I do, have the occasional nutty moment when it comes to books, you may have noticed this, and there's a reason for it.  The short summary on the back of a book cover or on the inside of a dust jacket is essentially the "elevator pitch": the book is trying to sell itself to you in between the ground floor and the fifteenth.  To that end, there are several effective tactics that get employed.  See if you can guess what those tactics are -- and what book this summary was pulled from -- in the science fiction Mad Lib below the jump.