Clare L. Deming

Not Like Us is a stand-alond science fiction novel by Doc Honour, an author who I know through an online critique group (paid link). While I wasn’t one of the participants who reviewed an earlier version of this book, we have given mutual feedback on each other’s shorter works. It is the first book in the Empathic Humanity series, but this first book wraps up a single story.

Here is the blurb:

How do you escape from total socialism? Jake Palatin is forced to develop an antimatter bomb on the planet Verdant, where global war using his technology is terrifyingly close. Zofia, a woman with a secret, tempts him to resist. She also has a solution, a new technology to save humanity.

Fleeing in desperation, they confront a powerful foe who holds everything in totalitarian control. They must learn to trust each other while facing oppressive police, devious leaders, and a war that could break out at any instant. Danger looms at every step, while love threatens to derail all their plans.

Success is crucial. One mistake, and Verdant will go the way of a dozen other worlds, including old dead to everything.

Humanity destroys every world it touches, because those other people are “Not Like Us.” Jake and Zofia discover the key.

It took me a little while to get into this book, but that was mostly because I tend to read too many books at once. After I finished some of my other commitments, I was able to dedicate more attention to this novel. The story is mainly told through Jake’s point-of-view, but we do get to see the world through the perspective of a few other characters.

The set up is compelling–Jake’s attraction to Zofia gives her an opportunity to get him to question why the society established in Solity functions as it does. Once he discovers these problems with the current system, his thoughts spiral into rebellion and soon he is all in, leading to a thrilling sequence of events.

This book kept me engaged and I particularly liked how Jake’s recent work project becomes a direct conflict to his new goals. As an engineer, he had never given serious thought to the goals of the Solity government, but simply does his job. When tasked with the creation of an anti-matter bomb and then taught to think about the consequences of his government’s project, he realizes that he cannot follow through with this work.

While the ending doesn’t resolve the larger conflict between the nations of the planet Verdant, it does wrap up the immediate conflict and the story for these characters, making this a reasonable read as a stand-alone novel. I believe that Doc Honour is at work on the next book, and I’m planning to read that when it is done.

Have you read any books with a similar theme? Let me know in the comments (above).

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