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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Updated Review Tuesday: Warzone: Nemesis by Morris E. Graham


Warzone: Nemesis #1 (Volume 2 won't be out for another couple of years)

Goodreads Blurb:
"The space race was a lie, and the cold war wasn’t as cold as you thought. While we were playing spy versus spy, conducting an arms race and a space race on Earth, things were heating up in the solar system.

In 1959, an alien vessel crashed on the Navajo reservation, ushering forth a colonial space race in the solar system between the two superpowers. The prize is the mysterious metal known only as alloy-x and the alien technology that promises to make one nation or the other the dominant superpower in the arms race. The American commander finds himself fighting with the toughest antagonist of his career. He had finally met his nemesis. The stakes are high. Losing the struggle could tip the balance of power on the Earth, giving the Soviets the advantage in Earth’s cold war."


Review:
So this is an updated review of Warzone: Nemesis!  The author sent me the updated edition of the book and I've decided to change some things in my review.  I've decided to splice the two together so the parts in italics is my old review while everything in regular font is the new stuff.  Enjoy!


Thank you to the author, Morris E. Graham, for gifting me with a copy of Warzone: Nemesis in exchange for an honest review!

This is one of those times that I hate having to give a star rating to a book. I've been mulling this over for the past few days and I'm still not totally satisfied with my choice.

Now after I finished the book, I had a review drafted up (this was a couple weeks ago) but I just couldn't get this feeling out of my head that I was misreading things. So I sent an email to Mr. Graham and we had a chat about the premise of his book and the reality of many of the things he incorporated. I researched some things (such as the gravity on different planets) and he explained why he did certain things. All in all, it was very beneficial for the both of us: a lot of my confusion was cleared up and I suggested places he could add a sentence or two to clarify things. After that, he sent me a revised version which I read and then reworked my review. I won't tell you what my original star rating was because that will just set a certain image in your mind. So without further ado, here's the new and improved review!

The main idea presented in this book was very interesting indeed. Especially with secret government activity and such because honestly, who think that the government tells the people absolutely everything? It'd be a threat to security and all that. So that made it very intriguing.

I do think that the middle of the book was lacking a bit of direction. Because at that point, the first conflict was mostly resolved and the second one (and the one that carries into possible future books) hadn't arrived yet. So I think something could have been added there or it could have been shortened up a bit or something.

I also do wish that going into space was made a bigger deal than it was.  It seemed like it was just this nonchalant thing when really, going into space is a huge ordeal.

I really liked seeing how Kahless was dealing with... well everything. His life was really full of loss which is never a good thing. He's definitely a complex character to get to know.  In the newest edition, I was really able to look more deeply into all of the characters and they became a bit more 4D if you know what I'm saying!  They really start to develop into 'real' people and hopefully we'll get to see even more of that in the next book.

The whole space thing intrigued me from the start. I did wonder why, when they found the UFO, they didn't try to find where the aliens came from or anything about them. They were just interested in the technology.

I loved the ending! I don't want to say too much and give away anything but it's unlike any ending I've read before which is truly a feat. If you read this book and you find you don't particularly like it, give the ending a shot!  The main thing about this book is that it is rather long but it is worth getting to the end.

The Final Verdict:
As I said at the beginning, I'm not that satisfied with my star rating choice but I didn't know what else to rate it. I mean, it did have a wonderful idea with a complex MC but I... waded through it. I don't know how else to describe it. It was almost tedious to read. However, there are plenty of good things as well: the main idea, the MC, the ending, the space setting, etc etc. So a mostly even split I think but erring on the good side.  The transition from the first problem to the second was pretty well done in the most recent edition and was much smoother.
4 stars


Also something to note, the author, Morris E. Graham, has informed me that he is going to be devoting more time to beta reading and editing for other authors.  A giveaway just closed for his services but it will be open again in September.  See the giveaway here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/17031324-edit-package-giveaway-for-an-indie-author?comment=137795335#comment_137795335

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