Loved it!!

In depth review will be posted at a later date. ( )

Saving Paludis was a sci-fi novel unlike any other I'd read. Earth has been settling on various planets for the past few hundred years, their relations with the natives of the planet Paludis (called Musk by the natives) being poor indeed.

War begins to breaks out between Paludis and Earth and it's difficult to tell who to blame.

A variety of intriguing characters settle on the pages, my favourite being Claire. I found her to be really brave despite the difficult circumstances she found herself in.

If you're looking for unmatched world-building, then the author has you covered. They've put so much thoughtful detail into the world of Paludis that it's hard not to imagine it as a real place.

This is a wonderful novel for sci-fi fans that will hopefully kindle your imagination. ( )

I didn’t like Saving Paludis, I loved it!

The book is about an intelligent reptilian indigenous species on a trade route planet with a population that is conquered, interned, and discriminated against. Humans kill mass numbers of the native population when first arriving on the planet 300 years in the past and move the survivors to a preserve in order to exploit the planet’s natural resources and to make way for human habitation. The plight of the American Indians came to mind as I read.

Later, with Paludis growing in economic importance, Earth attacks the planet based on trumped-up charges and devastates the Paludis human population and its cities. Driving this attack is Earth’s fear of losing control over human Paludins. The war is ultimately won by the Paludins thanks to native reptilian Paludin ingenuity. The way to recovery from the planet’s scorched-earth damage now require the native Paludins and the human Paludins to work together.

While the storyline is as basic as described, the book is not basic. It is filled with breathless suspense, puzzling mystery, and human emotion. One night, the suspense prevented me from putting the book down. Looking at the 1:30 am reading on the bedside clock display and reminding myself of upcoming next business day obligations, I closed the book. Putting ‘Saving Paludis’ down felt like giving up a race with the goal in sight.

Saving Paludis is not a quick read, but the pace of the writing belies its length. On finishing the book, I found myself wishing it were longer as I’m curious as to the struggles ahead when the natives and humans try to put aside their differences in order to build a more inclusive society. Hopefully, the author, Clayton Graham, has a sequel in the works. ( )

Many light years from Earth, a colony planet, Paludis, is racked by economic instability in the aluminum market. At the same time, the indigenous native population has been marginalized by the fear and ignorance of humans and forcefully confined to a small isolated peninsula. This is the way Paludis has been for more than three-hundred years.

The natives are considered to be primitive “lizards” without appreciable technology. While the natives are not particularly sophisticated in terms humans would normally understand, they nevertheless possess deep spiritual roots and beliefs in the natural powers of their planet…to the point of limited interdimensional travel. The human population is clueless…until they develop a new product that will revolutionize space travel…but at the expense of the natural ocean ecosystem of Paludis.

As Earth becomes dependent on Paludis’ new product, it is suddenly racked by explained attacks that appear related to commerce with Paludis. Suddenly, Paludis finds itself facing war with Earth; accused of atrocities on Earth without any hint of how or why they should be blamed.

What follows is a rousing adventure full of personalities, heroes and people with dark agendas. An adventure where a whole planet faces destruction with no understanding why it stands accused. It is a story of madmen and madwomen parading as political leaders; and of faith and friends…and the destruction that can come from entrenched posturing between adversaries.

The characters are generally well developed for their roles and believable. The book is well written and the story well told…except that for the first few chapters I was enormously confused as the backstory was taking shape. Bear with the confusion, things eventually gel into an understandable storyline. It has been months since I sat up far into the wee hours of the morning reading, but I did so with this book.

Saving Paludis will definitely please sci-fi fans, many fantasy fans and just about anyone who loves action thrillers. Besides, it has an interesting twist that leaves a reader begging for a future story…at least it left me that way. ( )