Warzone Nemesis: A Novel of Mars
By Morris E. Graham
I was nervous about reading this book when I first got a copy. I’m really not into sci-fi or space travel or aliens very much but I thought, what the heck, I’ll give it a try. While I wasn’t completely head over heels in love with this story, there were many good points that I found to be very interesting—more interesting than concepts found in some “best-sellers” today.
The first point I want to highlight in this book is that it heavily involves minority characters. Anyone who’s had me review their work knows that I’m a sucker for minority characters, so I was drawn to the book at the first mention of Navajo. I myself am half Native American so I was taken in by the wonderful details of the tribe. There was fry-bread, there was sheep’s milk, and there were herds to flock. I loved every second of it.
Including such great descriptions with the Navajo was something that really stood out to me. I could tell Graham did a great deal of research on this as he used much of the language and incorporated a lot of their culture in accurate ways.
Now, the actual plot of the story was interesting too. Warzone Nemesis is about a vessel that crashes onto a Navajo reservation which brings about a roller coaster of events that leads to space travel and even war.
Graham has quite an imagination and I could tell from the description of the characters and the actual plot itself. He engages readers with a very gradual progression of anticipation, leading us into each portion of the story with more than enough to fill our mind’s eye. There is clean cut dialogue and description throughout the story which is a plus for me because I can’t stand unnecessary cursing or overly aggressive dialogue.
One of the best things about this book is its creativity. You have to have an open mind to really get into space wars but Graham’s writing is crafty enough to take you there whether you’re a fan of aliens or not. I enjoyed being guided through the book, I felt as though I was taken step by step and I was given more than enough detail. Some may find that irritating, rereading facts and going back over dialogue, but I thought it was a plus as I sometimes felt a little confused—I’m not a sci-fi person so I wasn’t used to the concept at first. BUT I was able to digest much of the story because the author incorporated everything I needed. I knew what was going on and why, I knew where the characters were and what their goal was.
There was plenty of action in this book, enough to keep me entertained for days. But the non-action portions were easy to get through as well. Graham connected everything so that readers had a smooth transition between fighting in death-match battles and discussing their nest strategy or just plain old eating breakfast. Its not always easy to find a book that makes those difficult transitions so well but I appreciated it here.
This book is definitely a great read for all those sci-fi fans out there but anyone who enjoys action packed thrillers or wants to pick up something to challenge their imagination will love this too. I found it very enjoyable and because of its originality I was able to overlook the few typos I found. I think Graham is a wonderful writer equipped with an exotic imagination and creative flare. I expect his next book will be just as thrilling as this one.
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*