When interstellar war threatens, three strangers must band together to save their world … dangerous and mystifying agenda of their own. Meanwhile, a desperate human cult has its own plans to exploit the powerful new technology…
To keep his home world alive, Stefan must team with two strangers, a botanist and a mysterious seer. As embattled factions vie for control of the universe, the trio must trust in each other to keep the new technology from ripping time and space apart.
Saving Paludis is an electrifying sci-fi thrill-ride. If you like futuristic technology, alien political intrigue, and high-octane, paranormal action, then you’ll love Clayton Graham’s interstellar adventure!
Buy Saving Paludis to protect the universe today!
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A well-written tale of colonization or perhaps invasion of a planet. The locals are marginalized and the resources of their world used and abused. All is well for the colonial government until….
Very interesting story. It took a third of the book before it lined up but after that it was hard to put down. I really enjoyed it. I received a complimentary review copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving a honest review.
Intriguing, thought-provoking, insightful and entertaining
Saving Paludis is the masterful report of our possible future history. Centuries from now, when Earth has become over-exploited and over populated, humans do what they always have done – colonized new places. Paludis, now an Earth colony, sits on the far reaches of human exploration, orbiting a sun in the constellation Pisces. It’s native sentients, Muskans, are a mere remnant of their former numbers, defeated, segregated behind a huge wall in their own “reservation.” Humans think them inferior, stupid, primitive, and an obstacle to human hegemony on Paludis. Humans, of course, are wrong on all points – except the last. Clayton Graham tells this tale of history repeated and social evolution through the eyes of multiple characters – Muskan, Earth human, and Paludis human. Readers work a mental 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, as bits of information, snapshots of characters, video clips of events, and a pastiche of predictably conflicting goals and motivations finally coalesces into a coherent mural – the history of humanity redux, with a surprise twist at the end. Graham challenges us to raise our sights above our own species’ well-trodden path, to see a future where the survival of humanity on other worlds may involve more adaptation of our species than we are comfortable with. This isn’t a beach-read. It’s riveting, it’s puzzling, its hold on the reader is insidiously seductive – fans of speculative fiction/SF (as opposed to hard SF) will enjoy it to the max. I must thank AXP and the author for the ARC, and this 5-star review and recommendation is independent and uncompensated.
“The new star will shine in the sky for many, many years, but it will not shine forever. When it becomes dust, only then will the Muskan people be free.”
As a reader who cut her teeth on Asimov, I was amazed at the story in Saving Paludis. This is true sci-fi that reflects our contemporary greed mentality: that humankind can just take what it needs and to heck with the consequences.Earth scientists have discovered a form of kelp on Paludis that can be used to make a sleeping pill. Their goal is to harvest all of it, and to heck with the indigenous species- the Muskan. Finally, someone decides this isn’t such a good idea and a small group of Earthers attempt to find two scientists and a Muskan in hopes of learning just what is going on.
A reverse “ethical”invasion sci-fi story? Count me in. This was a wonderful book, and I hope to see Clayton Graham in my queues for a long time to come. Highly recommended 5/5
[disclaimer: I received this book from the author and voluntarily reviewed it]