A Review of “Saving Paludis” by Clayton Graham

Full disclosure – I was provided a copy of this book by the author, however, have voluntarily chosen to write a review. All opinions are my own.
Saving Paludis is scheduled for a June 8, 2018 release

Colonization or Invasion?

In a distant future with a united Earth branching out to into the universe for exploration and settlement, a discovery is made on a distant planet that could revolutionize life. Having established a settlement on distant Paludis, the scientists at Tanberg university start to develop a sleeping pill mined from the kelp in the planet’s ocean.  With endless possibilities for good and ill, tensions mount when Earth ships start being shot out of the sky. As the mother planet retaliates, the residents of Paludis find themselves perilously close to an intergalactic war that they will not survive.  With the danger escalating and more acts of aggression are perpetrated, a small group of people set out to locate a pair of missing scientists and a native Muskan that could hold the answers to saving Paludis from utter destruction.

Saving Paludis is the new book by author Clayton Graham and definitely fits the description of a Science Fiction Adventure. With the main action taking place on Paludis, a distant planet that has been colonized by Earth, the reader experiences a world that is similar enough to the mother planet that the humans can move freely. As the Earthlings branch out in this new planet, their advancements come at the expense of the native Muskan species who have all but been relegated to an isolated peninsula. I got the distinct impression that Saving Paludis could easily also be called an “alien invasion” type of novel, only the humans are the aliens doing the invading. This definitely puts a new perspective on the story.  On the surface, Saving Paludis is what I would consider heavy Science Fiction, and I’ll admit that it took me a bit to settle in and really start to enjoy this novel. With talk of Einstein Rosen bridges, light years and other terminology that is best found in a Star Trek episode it took me a while to wrap my “non-Trekkie” brain around the concepts.  Even with the additional challenge of reading a title slightly out of my genre, I still enjoyed the story and will definitely recommend it to my harder Science Fiction inclined friends.