This was intriguing and surprising. You follow a man who must venture into a jungle to find his disappeared wife. He runs into tribes, danger, and something larger than he could've ever imagined. It was an intriguing sci-fi read that kept my attention, though I wasn't completely wowed by it.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

This is one I received a copy of ages and ages ago and just never got around to reading it, which was a loss for me because I found it pretty interesting! I loved how real Okon felt while reading, and enjoyed all the members of the tribe. I thought the whole premise was intriguing, and this was very well written. I'd be interested in reading anything else by this author in the future.

This is one of those quirky, original books that I rave about to everyone, only to find that it takes ages to be released in Australia or it is only published as an ebook. I just hope I'm wrong.

This science fiction novel will appeal to a wide range of readers, not just sci fi fans. For starters, it's not set in space. Much like The Walking Dead is more about the characters than the zombies, this is more about the interactions of two cultures than it is about aliens or artificial intelligence. Yes there's some futuristic gadgets but all the action takes place in the jungle.

The characters leap off the pages with their individual traits and behaviours. The dialogue is witty and the sarcasm is priceless.

Much like the main character Okon, I found myself easily swayed from one opinion to the other. The concluding twists and unexpected plot turns had my head spinning along with his. The final chapter played out in my mind like a clever movie scene.

I usually get annoyed when a character thinks out loud too often and although I do think Okon voiced some observations that the reader is surely intelligent enough to deduce independently, I didn't get to the point of being frustrated about it.

I would love to think there could be another book about the jungle dwellers. Perhaps a prequel starring Ratu, who was the absolute star.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Okon gets a message from his wife to flee. They have been accused of things they did not do. He sets out to find her in an unexplored region of Africa. Along the way he meets up with an undiscovered tribe of natives.

Synopsis: The entire story is set in Central Africa and is told in first person by Okon, an overweight ex-chef who spends his time playing vr games and living a life of luxury, courtesy of his wife, Efawi, a brilliant and rich scientist/businesswoman.

When the story begins, Efawi has stumbled upon some valuable secrets deep within the rainforests. This leads to the state government trying to arrest her and Okon, who are on the run. They escape into the jungle, though not together.

Okon spends time with an isolated tribe deep within the jungle while looking for his wife. He also tries to find the secret discoveries of Efawi. He faces deep distrust from the tribe and is also closely pursued by the government who are out to arrest him.

Review:

This book deals with first contact scenarios. It is largely set within the rainforest in a futuristic world and has a tight first person POV narration. The world building is well established and believable.

The characters are done well. The MC Okon is a bumbling self loathing lazy man who is also very funny. For all his flaws, he tries to do the right thing as best as he can and does show a lot of growth. The other major players like Ratu, Mhaawu, Thembe etc were equally well realised. Though there are dozens of minor named characters, most of them feel truly unique.

The most enjoyable part of the book was the irreverent portrayal of the tribe. These are not a homogenous group of God fearing, superstitious, stupid savages. They are rich in culture and language, constantly questioning the world around them and are rational beings. They are also funny and rude, and it was a treat to read them.

Another thing the book does well is the humour. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, though the book turns significantly darker towards the end. The chapter Hundukka was the funniest and had me in splits.

At one point an LSD like trip is portrayed just by the writing and punctuation. It was slightly gimmicky but also thoroughly enjoyable.

The book moves at a fairly constant pace, except for some odd slowing down here and there. Some of the dialogue goes on for pages, and feels redundant. The story also sort of pauses in the middle of action to let the characters bring each other upto speed.

Some of the technology does not make sense, like the fact that everyone had the isolated tribe's language in their translation database. Bringing in a last minute 'saviour' style character like the Specialist didn't really work into the story. The cons were very few and distract too much from the rest of the book.

The epilogue adds an entirely new interesting layer to the story. As the author note says, don't skip it.

Overall, this is a really good first contact book. I would recommend for fans of quest type adventure stories, first contact scenarios with a dash of techno-political intrigue.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Veiled Edge of Contact

[Blurb goes here]

This is one amazing and truly unexpected story. It kept me glued to it, it made me laugh (out loud!). I had lots of fun, if I'm being honest. The main character is useless, not only is he aware of it, but people around him keep reminding him of the fact. Of course he grows, but his growth is a really painful one. One I enjoyed to no end.

I can't say enough good things about this adventure. Maybe the only thing you need to know is that it was worth every second I spent fully immersed in it.

Thank you for the free copy!