
Saving Paludis by Clayton Graham takes are far into the future and far out into the cosmos. Man has developed a device known as, an Einstein-Rosen bridge, which finally allows him to conquer the vast distances of the Universe. With this, technological advancement human-kind has spread out across the cosmos and conquered many planets, for their own resources, including Paludis. Paludis, which has mainly been used for mining bauxite, has now come up with a fantastic new invention, a sleeping pill that will allow humans to explore even deeper into the cosmos, whilst the pioneers sleep away the immense time and distance. When Earth is attacked and the source of the attack is pinpointed as Paludis, the logical assumption is that this is about control of the most important discovery of the generations – the sleeper. Nobody suspects the subjugated and technologically deprived natives of Paludis, the Muskan’s, to be responsible for the attacks on earth – but could they be?
I found Saving Paludis to be good, solid, Science Fiction fare, with some interesting and relevant comments to be made on issues such as inter-species breeding, man’s natural arrogance, and indeed man’s inherent greed and sense of entitlement. Perhaps it's just me, but I could almost picture some of the characters wearing a MEGA (Make Earth Great Again) cap, I thought Clayton Graham presented us with a fast-moving, action-packed adventure that shied away from being too technical, or too geeky, which is exactly how I prefer my Science Fiction. At its core this novel is an action/adventure and as such had a complicated and twisty plot that at times threatened to drown the reader in its intricacies. The fast-paced nature of the story left less room for character development than I would have liked, however I accept that is the nature of the beast. If you are a fan of Science Fiction, of strange worlds, with fantastic inhabitants and aliens, then Saving Paludis will be a really satisfying read for you. It is nothing pretentious, just a good old-fashioned space adventure, set on a foreign world.
