Kenai by Dave Dobson
A Book Review
I have a confession. Even though I’m planning on self-publishing my first book this fall, I’ve never read anything from another modern self-published author. I know, I know! So when the smoke cleared on the 2023 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition and a winner was finally selected, I decided to pick a copy up. I chewed through it in just a few days, and wanted to share some impressions.
Kenai is a good looking book. With fully wrapped, original cover art, and great interior formatting, it wouldn’t be out of place coming from a traditional publisher. Each of the over seventy chapters are named, often with funny puns or inside jokes, that add to the experience. As a side note, I’m always so impressed when writers can pull off chapter naming well, and these had me smiling constantly.
The story feels like sci-fi genre fiction, straight down the nose, but with a really fun addition. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, genre fiction is fun to read, and Dobson brought enough freshness to it that it doesn’t feel formulaic. It features Jess Amiko, a disgraced space marine that’s trying to piece her life back together with some work in the private sector. Everything goes horrifically, comically wrong, and Jess is marooned on an alien planet. The setting and early story events create a healthy dose of mystery and intrigue that will keep you turning the pages.
Time paradoxes play a central role in the story, and I think Dobson’s approach here adds a uniquely enjoyable element. Instead of trying to ignore them, he relishes in them, and each paradox has important consequences. This creates a lot of fun, mind-bending, time travel thinking for the reader that really sets the narrative apart.
Jess Amiko feels fully formed, if somewhat typical, with a satisfying arc, excellently witty dialog, and an engaging backstory that’s drip-fed through the narrative. Her primary counterpart, an alien talking tree, acts sometimes as Jess’s foil, sometimes as her mentor, and sometimes as her partner. All of these roles help her grow, and move the story along. They’re a great pairing.
Dobson does a fantastic job of imagining his alien world in Kenai. The vision here feels wholly unique, strange, and wonderful. There seems to be a re-awakening in sci-fi recently of what an alien can be, and I love it. I’ll take strange, time-paradox-creating, fish-eating, trees any day over something more typical. A separate social structure, culture, and language adds verisimilitude to their species.
Holistically, I came away impressed at how good self-published books are these days. From design and formatting, to story and characters, the experience was tight and well put together. I enjoyed Kenai, and wouldn’t mind reading things set in the same universe in the future. Kudos, Dave!
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