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Kenai
A planet steeped in mystery...Jess Amiko is long past her days as a space marine, with all the glory of that time tarnished beyond repair by what came after. Trying to rebuild from the ashes, she's taken a job as a security guard on Kenai, a lonely world far from the Council systems. It's supposed to be easy duty - quiet and peaceful, on a docile world with no real threats, watching over an archeological dig at a site built by a race long vanished.Betrayed and attacked by forces unknown, and finding that nothing on Kenai makes sense, Jess is plunged into a desperate fight for survival that leads her deep into the mysteries of Kenai's past, and deep into the hardship and paradox the planet imposes on all who call it home.Content military-style violence.
397 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 8, 2023
285 people are currently reading
245 people want to read
About the author
Dave Dobson
12 books85 followersA native of Ames, Iowa, Dave loves writing, reading, boardgames, computer games, improv comedy, pizza, barbarian movies, and the cheaper end of the Taco Bell menu. Also, his wife and kids.
Dave is the author of Snood, Snoodoku, Snood Towers, and other computer games. Dave first published Snood in 1996, and it became one of the most popular shareware games of the early Internet. His most recent game is Scryptix, a word game for cell phones.
Dave taught geology, environmental studies, and computer programming at Guilford College for 24 years before stepping away to write full time. He does improv comedy every week at the Idiot Box in Greensboro, North Carolina. He’s also played the world’s largest tuba in concert. Not that that is relevant, but it’s still kinda cool.
Dave is the author of Snood, Snoodoku, Snood Towers, and other computer games. Dave first published Snood in 1996, and it became one of the most popular shareware games of the early Internet. His most recent game is Scryptix, a word game for cell phones.
Dave taught geology, environmental studies, and computer programming at Guilford College for 24 years before stepping away to write full time. He does improv comedy every week at the Idiot Box in Greensboro, North Carolina. He’s also played the world’s largest tuba in concert. Not that that is relevant, but it’s still kinda cool.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
April 22, 2024
3.0 Stars
This is an action driven sci fi thriller. It's not the kind of science fiction I would normally pick up on my own if I wasn't judging the SPSFC.
This one is very dialogue and action heavy but I felt it was shy in terms of worldbuilding and character development. These are the elements that tend to really make me fall in love with a story. As an action story, this one fit the bill but I personally wanted something more from the novel
Disclaimer I received this one for review as a judge for the SPSFC.
This is an action driven sci fi thriller. It's not the kind of science fiction I would normally pick up on my own if I wasn't judging the SPSFC.
This one is very dialogue and action heavy but I felt it was shy in terms of worldbuilding and character development. These are the elements that tend to really make me fall in love with a story. As an action story, this one fit the bill but I personally wanted something more from the novel
Disclaimer I received this one for review as a judge for the SPSFC.
September 24, 2023
Review originally on
JamReads
Kenai is an unconventional military sci-fi novel, written by Dave Dobson, with interesting twists on classic tropes. What starts as a classic survival story, following the retired soldier Jess Amiko in a struggle to escape from Kenai after being attacked, ends being transformed into a deeper plot, leading us to discover more about Kenai and its natives.
Jess Amiko accepted a job as security guard on Kenai, something that seemed to be easy, just taking a look over an archeological dig; but when she's attacked by unknown forces, she will discover that there isn't anything that makes sense on the planet. A plot that initially screams military sci-fi, greatly executed, but which leads to a bigger story, exploring the paradox that surrounds the planet and its inhabitants, with Amiko playing the role of an alien among the natives.
We have a book with two parts clearly separated, really different in pacing; the first part where Amiko is struggling to survive is full of action, tension, difficult situations that are also clashing with her past (which Dobson introduces by using flashbacks), and the second one is much more investigative, around the curse that is over Kenai and her inhabitants. And I must say that despite being quite difficult to execute, because adding temporal distortions to a plot can end being terrible, it is solved in smart ways.
Pacing wise, we can also divide the novel into two sections. In the first one, all is really frenetic once it starts, but it devolves into a more contemplative second section, which might feel dragging sometimes, as in comparison, it's much slower.
A detail that I appreciate is how short the chapters are, contributing to the "one more chapter" impulse.
Kenai is great science-fiction book, a self-contained story which is quite enjoyable to read. A novel that you could comp as Edge of Tomorrow meets Avatar, executing some of these tropes greatly. If you are looking for a military sci-fi with a big plot, give this book a try.
Kenai is an unconventional military sci-fi novel, written by Dave Dobson, with interesting twists on classic tropes. What starts as a classic survival story, following the retired soldier Jess Amiko in a struggle to escape from Kenai after being attacked, ends being transformed into a deeper plot, leading us to discover more about Kenai and its natives.
Jess Amiko accepted a job as security guard on Kenai, something that seemed to be easy, just taking a look over an archeological dig; but when she's attacked by unknown forces, she will discover that there isn't anything that makes sense on the planet. A plot that initially screams military sci-fi, greatly executed, but which leads to a bigger story, exploring the paradox that surrounds the planet and its inhabitants, with Amiko playing the role of an alien among the natives.
We have a book with two parts clearly separated, really different in pacing; the first part where Amiko is struggling to survive is full of action, tension, difficult situations that are also clashing with her past (which Dobson introduces by using flashbacks), and the second one is much more investigative, around the curse that is over Kenai and her inhabitants. And I must say that despite being quite difficult to execute, because adding temporal distortions to a plot can end being terrible, it is solved in smart ways.
Pacing wise, we can also divide the novel into two sections. In the first one, all is really frenetic once it starts, but it devolves into a more contemplative second section, which might feel dragging sometimes, as in comparison, it's much slower.
A detail that I appreciate is how short the chapters are, contributing to the "one more chapter" impulse.
Kenai is great science-fiction book, a self-contained story which is quite enjoyable to read. A novel that you could comp as Edge of Tomorrow meets Avatar, executing some of these tropes greatly. If you are looking for a military sci-fi with a big plot, give this book a try.
October 31, 2023
I Am not officially scoring this book yet but I selected it as my first full read for the third SPSFC. I read on Kindle Unlimited although was also provided an e-copy for judging purposes
Long story short, Kenai is a fun space opera. It has military sci-fi elements but at heart it’s a dry-humorous space opera. The book also tackles serious themes like “finding the meaning in one’s life”, “how do we move on after seeing terrible things”, and “why do humans wear pants”?
I like Dobson’s descriptive writing and felt like I had a good idea of the setting and atmosphere of Kenai. His descriptions of the tree-like aliens are perfect and he does an amazing job introducing the strangeness that occurs when two totally different races meet for the first time. Is it hair or corpse fungus? What is that hole for? My favorite sci-fi trope is first contact that goes well, and snarky aliens are always a bonus.
I got a bit lost with some of the paradox and time travel elements. It made enough sense as it went but also was super confusing. I felt like I was clueless at first just like the main character, and eventually came to figure it out (kind of) with her. I also liked how the book kept going in different directions to stay fresh but came full circle at the end to answer all the Big Questions.
There’s plenty of murder and humanity and paradox to unravel, plus snarky life forms like aliens yacking out fish bones. Is it a rogue company trying to turn a profit, an alien gone wild, or what?
My only complaint besides being lost at times is that I think this was originally supposed to be a shorter work. It got drawn out with extra words and explanations at times and did tend to drag in a few places, just a bit.
Overall I really enjoyed reading Kenai. I am holding my score because I don't want it to be mistaken for an official team announcement, although our home page can be found at https://onereadingnurse.com/2023/09/1... for official updates ♥️🚀
Long story short, Kenai is a fun space opera. It has military sci-fi elements but at heart it’s a dry-humorous space opera. The book also tackles serious themes like “finding the meaning in one’s life”, “how do we move on after seeing terrible things”, and “why do humans wear pants”?
I like Dobson’s descriptive writing and felt like I had a good idea of the setting and atmosphere of Kenai. His descriptions of the tree-like aliens are perfect and he does an amazing job introducing the strangeness that occurs when two totally different races meet for the first time. Is it hair or corpse fungus? What is that hole for? My favorite sci-fi trope is first contact that goes well, and snarky aliens are always a bonus.
I got a bit lost with some of the paradox and time travel elements. It made enough sense as it went but also was super confusing. I felt like I was clueless at first just like the main character, and eventually came to figure it out (kind of) with her. I also liked how the book kept going in different directions to stay fresh but came full circle at the end to answer all the Big Questions.
There’s plenty of murder and humanity and paradox to unravel, plus snarky life forms like aliens yacking out fish bones. Is it a rogue company trying to turn a profit, an alien gone wild, or what?
My only complaint besides being lost at times is that I think this was originally supposed to be a shorter work. It got drawn out with extra words and explanations at times and did tend to drag in a few places, just a bit.
Overall I really enjoyed reading Kenai. I am holding my score because I don't want it to be mistaken for an official team announcement, although our home page can be found at https://onereadingnurse.com/2023/09/1... for official updates ♥️🚀
May 19, 2024
I read this book as a judge on the Wayward Stars team in the SPSFC3 (third annual, self-published science-fiction competition), in the finals round. This is my own personal review and does not represent the views of the team or any other individuals other than myself.
For myself, this is somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars. I really enjoyed the overall story and our main character, but I did get lost a little bit in the time aspects of the story. It was definitely interesting, and after reading the author's notes at the end, I think I enjoyed it mainly for the reasons he noted. I will not hesitate to try some of this author's other books as I felt that this was well written, and enjoyable experience as well.
For myself, this is somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars. I really enjoyed the overall story and our main character, but I did get lost a little bit in the time aspects of the story. It was definitely interesting, and after reading the author's notes at the end, I think I enjoyed it mainly for the reasons he noted. I will not hesitate to try some of this author's other books as I felt that this was well written, and enjoyable experience as well.
November 30, 2025
An interesting premise which unfortunately didn't manage to keep me engaged till the end. I had two main issues. First was the character work which, although the writer gives plenty of background for the MC, I couldn't connect with. Then was the time travel aspect of the story, which was a bit confusing and in the end not satisfying.
Points for the interesting setting and some nice humor.
5,6/10
Points for the interesting setting and some nice humor.
5,6/10
Read
April 23, 2024I read this book for the SPSFC3
I'll probably come back with a more complete review soon.
It is pretty hard to write a proper review for this book because the main focus of it is time travel, a sort of time travel at least, or time paradox, and that's not my thing. Usually, my brain just shuts off when things become scienc-y, and time paradoxes are no exceptions, so when we get to this part I just had to go with it because to me things stopped making sense. And I am not talking about a small part of the book, not at all. It is a big chunk of it.
And yet, I had fun with it. So, that's something, right? If I wasn't really following along for half of it, and I still enjoyed it, if time travel is your cup of tea, I think you will love this one!
I loved that this is, mostly, a grunt story. For once we don't have the daring leader or captain or whatever, we have a grunt who is happy with her place in life, up to a point and with a lot of context, but still... and it was refreshing!
And that's not all. We met a new alien species or two (I mean, does the AI cube count as an alien? I don't know, but it is worth meeting, trust me! It's just that I wanted more of it! But I think that Jess would strongly disagree with me, here!) and we get involved in some really bad plots, we get to see a whole new culture (and the aliens here are really aliens!), we get action, we get hope, we get personal growth and more.
All in all, I am pretty happy to have read it!
I'll probably come back with a more complete review soon.
It is pretty hard to write a proper review for this book because the main focus of it is time travel, a sort of time travel at least, or time paradox, and that's not my thing. Usually, my brain just shuts off when things become scienc-y, and time paradoxes are no exceptions, so when we get to this part I just had to go with it because to me things stopped making sense. And I am not talking about a small part of the book, not at all. It is a big chunk of it.
And yet, I had fun with it. So, that's something, right? If I wasn't really following along for half of it, and I still enjoyed it, if time travel is your cup of tea, I think you will love this one!
I loved that this is, mostly, a grunt story. For once we don't have the daring leader or captain or whatever, we have a grunt who is happy with her place in life, up to a point and with a lot of context, but still... and it was refreshing!
And that's not all. We met a new alien species or two (I mean, does the AI cube count as an alien? I don't know, but it is worth meeting, trust me! It's just that I wanted more of it! But I think that Jess would strongly disagree with me, here!) and we get involved in some really bad plots, we get to see a whole new culture (and the aliens here are really aliens!), we get action, we get hope, we get personal growth and more.
All in all, I am pretty happy to have read it!
August 18, 2024
The story follows Jess, who is working as private security on the planet Kenai. Right off the bat, we get an inkling that there is something strange going on. Things progress from there, resulting in a very cool, VERY interesting journey, complete with mystery, humor, big feelings, space creature friends, mysterious artifacts, and of course something wild that will remain unnamed to avoid spoilers.
This entire world (universe) is so well crafted that I could picture everything and follow along without having to go back and re-read, which is great. I would forget that we are not actually all over distant planets (or are we…?).
This book was really freaking cool and would make a great movie. 👽
This entire world (universe) is so well crafted that I could picture everything and follow along without having to go back and re-read, which is great. I would forget that we are not actually all over distant planets (or are we…?).
This book was really freaking cool and would make a great movie. 👽
June 13, 2024
I am one of the volunteer judges for the SPSFC3 contest finals. This review is 100% my own personal opinion whose score will be tallied with the other judges to determine the winner.
Now, Given the fact I read this book almost 6 weeks ago, there are already a few little tidbits that might be missing in my review. However, now that I have almost finished reading the last missing finalist book of the contest, seeing each of the pending last books try to stand on their own offers its own sense of excitement. It also helped me try to judge the books more equally.
Does Kenai deserve to be a finalist? Given I haven't read a lot of the books in Kenai's group, that might be a tricky question to answer because books loved by every other judge might not be my jibe and viceversa. What I do agree is at least the first 25% of the book is really well written.
The author pretty much tosses the reader into a strange unpopulated planet with a dull greenish sky, reddish rock and semi tropical pine tree forests filled with cute lizards and birds. Our heroine is a mercenary who is both distrustful and jaded. The way the book interchanges the main plot with Jess's past was quite a nice creative decision. And no, can't spoil it. But I did enjoy those chapters quite a bit. This is a galaxy where corporations can claim newly discovered inhabitable planets as long as no intelligent sentinent life exists. Jess's job? Act as bodyguard to a particularly neurotic archeologist digging strange ruins of a long-vanished civilization due to mysterious means.
And Jess doesn't take her job lightly. She's wearing a quality combat suit and always keeping her eyes open for danger. Only that... the only danger so far is gaining too much weight eating tasty military rations and befriending little iguanas. Oh... never mind that dead bird carcass that vanished without a trace the next morning. Huh?
Things go from slightly confusing to absolute mayhem when a bunch of yahoos start shooting around for no apparent reason. Once you learn about Jess's past, you can't blame her for going all Rambo shooting at these thugs.
In my opinion, the first third of the novel is the best written portion of the story. This is an author to keep under your radar! I liked the story, Jess and the weird planet. As a fan of military fiction, the amount of knowledge displayed in the pages is proof that author either has a military background or did thorough homework. I also liked it how female soldiers are treated as teamates and not mere sex objects.
It is when we see a backwards time travel story where things get weirder, at the cost of plotholes. Regarding this issue, I will take off my hat because keeping so many issues coherent in the story required a lot of care from the author and the assistance of several rounds of beta readers to spot them all. Things that the reader initially won't think are major issues such as Jess never eating the planet's animals when she first arrives (out of a scientific doctrine to avoid getting infections) carry huge weight in the story later on.
I loved the friendship she forms with the (spoiler). Sorry, can't say. But I loved how the friendship was done. I also spent a good portion of the book trying to guess the ending and wondered if the flashbacks in Jess's life will converge in the end. And no, I only partially guessed the ending.
Did all of the plot holes get eliminated? sadly, no. I spotted three of them. One is that everyone forgot the archeologist brought some cool nanomachine toys. Jess still had a few packets and I spent the entire book wondering if she'd ever get to use them to make a trap or dig a hole into the enemy combat suits. I never quite understood what happened to the unused packets. Like everyone forgot or something.
The second plot hole is regarding a tree marked with Jess's name that appears out of nowhere. The timespan of the marking was so short that looking back, I am still scratching my head 2 months later wondering how come Jess never got to see who scribbled the name with a knife in the first place... or skip through the grove without ever hearing a few very noisy explosions.
The last plot hole is quite reminiscent of the second Hunger Games book. Something weird happens at midnight, but Jess and the archeologist never notice anything for nearly a month. Then suddenly it becomes a really huge important plot point halfway in the book. Huh?
There might have been another plot hole somewhere, but these are the ones that lured most of my attention. They aren't fully distracting and don't break the book.
That doesn't mean I detested this book. Far from it. Kenai is a fun and quick read that will be up the alley of any reader that wants an emotionally complex protagonist being all-around badass. Oh, and I would get a jeebies too if I made a new friend that burps fish bones.
Solid 4 star read!
Now, Given the fact I read this book almost 6 weeks ago, there are already a few little tidbits that might be missing in my review. However, now that I have almost finished reading the last missing finalist book of the contest, seeing each of the pending last books try to stand on their own offers its own sense of excitement. It also helped me try to judge the books more equally.
Does Kenai deserve to be a finalist? Given I haven't read a lot of the books in Kenai's group, that might be a tricky question to answer because books loved by every other judge might not be my jibe and viceversa. What I do agree is at least the first 25% of the book is really well written.
The author pretty much tosses the reader into a strange unpopulated planet with a dull greenish sky, reddish rock and semi tropical pine tree forests filled with cute lizards and birds. Our heroine is a mercenary who is both distrustful and jaded. The way the book interchanges the main plot with Jess's past was quite a nice creative decision. And no, can't spoil it. But I did enjoy those chapters quite a bit. This is a galaxy where corporations can claim newly discovered inhabitable planets as long as no intelligent sentinent life exists. Jess's job? Act as bodyguard to a particularly neurotic archeologist digging strange ruins of a long-vanished civilization due to mysterious means.
And Jess doesn't take her job lightly. She's wearing a quality combat suit and always keeping her eyes open for danger. Only that... the only danger so far is gaining too much weight eating tasty military rations and befriending little iguanas. Oh... never mind that dead bird carcass that vanished without a trace the next morning. Huh?
Things go from slightly confusing to absolute mayhem when a bunch of yahoos start shooting around for no apparent reason. Once you learn about Jess's past, you can't blame her for going all Rambo shooting at these thugs.
In my opinion, the first third of the novel is the best written portion of the story. This is an author to keep under your radar! I liked the story, Jess and the weird planet. As a fan of military fiction, the amount of knowledge displayed in the pages is proof that author either has a military background or did thorough homework. I also liked it how female soldiers are treated as teamates and not mere sex objects.
It is when we see a backwards time travel story where things get weirder, at the cost of plotholes. Regarding this issue, I will take off my hat because keeping so many issues coherent in the story required a lot of care from the author and the assistance of several rounds of beta readers to spot them all. Things that the reader initially won't think are major issues such as Jess never eating the planet's animals when she first arrives (out of a scientific doctrine to avoid getting infections) carry huge weight in the story later on.
I loved the friendship she forms with the (spoiler). Sorry, can't say. But I loved how the friendship was done. I also spent a good portion of the book trying to guess the ending and wondered if the flashbacks in Jess's life will converge in the end. And no, I only partially guessed the ending.
Did all of the plot holes get eliminated? sadly, no. I spotted three of them. One is that everyone forgot the archeologist brought some cool nanomachine toys. Jess still had a few packets and I spent the entire book wondering if she'd ever get to use them to make a trap or dig a hole into the enemy combat suits. I never quite understood what happened to the unused packets. Like everyone forgot or something.
The second plot hole is regarding a tree marked with Jess's name that appears out of nowhere. The timespan of the marking was so short that looking back, I am still scratching my head 2 months later wondering how come Jess never got to see who scribbled the name with a knife in the first place... or skip through the grove without ever hearing a few very noisy explosions.
The last plot hole is quite reminiscent of the second Hunger Games book. Something weird happens at midnight, but Jess and the archeologist never notice anything for nearly a month. Then suddenly it becomes a really huge important plot point halfway in the book. Huh?
There might have been another plot hole somewhere, but these are the ones that lured most of my attention. They aren't fully distracting and don't break the book.
That doesn't mean I detested this book. Far from it. Kenai is a fun and quick read that will be up the alley of any reader that wants an emotionally complex protagonist being all-around badass. Oh, and I would get a jeebies too if I made a new friend that burps fish bones.
Solid 4 star read!
January 17, 2024
I loved this book. The characters, the setting, the mystery (which I will NOT spoil, not even in spoiler tags, since it's so much better if you can figure it out along with our MC, Jess). All of it. I had so much fun with this book.
I do feel I need to state up front that the CWs are important to be aware of for this book. If I have one complaint about this book, it's that the CWs should have been included somewhere. I think the ideal situation would have been to include a reference to CWs in the note before the book that references the history, and then have the CWs spelled out in the end. Not everyone will be impacted, but since there are war scenes in early flashbacks, I could see this being a problem for anyone who suffers from PTSD.
The plot of this book was really well done. I loved the mystery of Kenai, and getting to figure it out just one small step ahead of Jess at a time. I also really appreciated that this mystery was merely a part of the plot, not the whole plot, and so it got solved relatively early on in the story. The twist isn't completely new, but it's done in a way that I personally haven't seen before, and I appreciated that.
The setting was also really neat, and Dobson made the aliens actually feel like aliens while still being human-like enough in their feelings and motivations to encourage the reader to care about them. After my experience with Kenai, I definitely plan to check out Daros, which is another (standalone) book set in the same universe.
Speaking of characters, Jess (our MC and only narrator) was awesome. She's got a snarky personality and sense of humor, and yet has such a good heart. She's the kind of character I felt I could be friends with, assuming she opened herself up enough to let a friendship develop. She's been hurt (that's part of what the flashbacks are there to show) but still stays good and true and hopeful.
All told, this is a very enjoyable book as long as the CWs are not triggers for you. It has the perfect amount of weirdness and sarcasm, with just enough of a brain twister to make the mystery's reveal stand out. Jess, as "a marine and not a scientist" is the perfect character to lead readers through this new world, letting us find our way in alien territory alongside her.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
CW Spoilers:
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
I read this book as part of the judging process for the 3rd Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3), and while I was provided a review copy for judging purposes I read the book using the version available on Kindle Unlimited. My opinions are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of my SPSFC3 team or the competition as a whole.
I do feel I need to state up front that the CWs are important to be aware of for this book. If I have one complaint about this book, it's that the CWs should have been included somewhere. I think the ideal situation would have been to include a reference to CWs in the note before the book that references the history, and then have the CWs spelled out in the end. Not everyone will be impacted, but since there are war scenes in early flashbacks, I could see this being a problem for anyone who suffers from PTSD.
The plot of this book was really well done. I loved the mystery of Kenai, and getting to figure it out just one small step ahead of Jess at a time. I also really appreciated that this mystery was merely a part of the plot, not the whole plot, and so it got solved relatively early on in the story. The twist isn't completely new, but it's done in a way that I personally haven't seen before, and I appreciated that.
The setting was also really neat, and Dobson made the aliens actually feel like aliens while still being human-like enough in their feelings and motivations to encourage the reader to care about them. After my experience with Kenai, I definitely plan to check out Daros, which is another (standalone) book set in the same universe.
Speaking of characters, Jess (our MC and only narrator) was awesome. She's got a snarky personality and sense of humor, and yet has such a good heart. She's the kind of character I felt I could be friends with, assuming she opened herself up enough to let a friendship develop. She's been hurt (that's part of what the flashbacks are there to show) but still stays good and true and hopeful.
All told, this is a very enjoyable book as long as the CWs are not triggers for you. It has the perfect amount of weirdness and sarcasm, with just enough of a brain twister to make the mystery's reveal stand out. Jess, as "a marine and not a scientist" is the perfect character to lead readers through this new world, letting us find our way in alien territory alongside her.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
CW Spoilers:
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
I read this book as part of the judging process for the 3rd Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC3), and while I was provided a review copy for judging purposes I read the book using the version available on Kindle Unlimited. My opinions are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of my SPSFC3 team or the competition as a whole.
October 3, 2024
Solid 4.5 Star from me.
My fifth full read from the SPSFC-3 entries for Team Peripheral Prospectors was Kenai by Dave Dobson. Our team has been steadily narrowing down our assigned books. This has not been easy at times. Our team initially split our overall list in half for our initial samples. Kenai was one that fell into the other half of our team but got some positive feedback early so I wanted to dive into it as my next full read. I was surprised but not disappointed. As always please keep in mind that this review and my rating belong to me along and do not represent our team's overall score for the competition.
The pacing was interesting. I felt overall the writing style along with names and verbiage were smooth. Without giving to much away in spoilers though I will say things started to get very interesting along the timeline as things progressed. I would definitely call this read a bit of a mind bender as you try and keep up and wrap your head around events. I will say that I didn't find myself having to pause and contemplate these moments very often which to me does say something regarding Dave Dobson's writing style. As complex as this story could be, it seemed to fit my reading style well.
The world building was strong for me. As with many science fiction stories we have some time spent both planet and space side. The majority of this story does take place on land though. With that being said this book spends a considerable amount of time getting us comfortable with the world of Kenai itself with a sprinkle of Humanity history and current state along the way. Kenai itself seems like a very interesting planet with what appears to be two major factions or cultures that have very different outlooks on how life should exist and progress. As for the human side of things we have a few different cultures and times to learn about in this one but I felt it was handled fairly well.
The character development may take some twists and turns along the way with this one but overall it was an entertaining adventure along the way with what I'd consider our two protagonists and several supporting characters. The story starts with our characters basically in the present time and there are some flashback moments to get us to understand where Jess has been to make her who she is and then a similar type of situation in a different way for our other character.
This read certainly has some trippy moments but I think it's relatively easy to follow along if you're paying attention even slightly. It was the bind bending aspect that set this one apart from the other reads I've experienced in this competition so far.
There is also a couple of nice features in the back of the book which the author mentions at the very beginning to let the reader decide if they want everything revealed along the way (the path I chose) or if you'd like a bit of history lesson on what has happened with humanity before diving into the deep end.
I also wasn't aware the author had another previous SPSFC submission that received some positive feedback. Even though this one is a standalone I believe there are more plans to continue writing stories within this universe. I'll have to look up Daros and give it a go too.
My fifth full read from the SPSFC-3 entries for Team Peripheral Prospectors was Kenai by Dave Dobson. Our team has been steadily narrowing down our assigned books. This has not been easy at times. Our team initially split our overall list in half for our initial samples. Kenai was one that fell into the other half of our team but got some positive feedback early so I wanted to dive into it as my next full read. I was surprised but not disappointed. As always please keep in mind that this review and my rating belong to me along and do not represent our team's overall score for the competition.
The pacing was interesting. I felt overall the writing style along with names and verbiage were smooth. Without giving to much away in spoilers though I will say things started to get very interesting along the timeline as things progressed. I would definitely call this read a bit of a mind bender as you try and keep up and wrap your head around events. I will say that I didn't find myself having to pause and contemplate these moments very often which to me does say something regarding Dave Dobson's writing style. As complex as this story could be, it seemed to fit my reading style well.
The world building was strong for me. As with many science fiction stories we have some time spent both planet and space side. The majority of this story does take place on land though. With that being said this book spends a considerable amount of time getting us comfortable with the world of Kenai itself with a sprinkle of Humanity history and current state along the way. Kenai itself seems like a very interesting planet with what appears to be two major factions or cultures that have very different outlooks on how life should exist and progress. As for the human side of things we have a few different cultures and times to learn about in this one but I felt it was handled fairly well.
The character development may take some twists and turns along the way with this one but overall it was an entertaining adventure along the way with what I'd consider our two protagonists and several supporting characters. The story starts with our characters basically in the present time and there are some flashback moments to get us to understand where Jess has been to make her who she is and then a similar type of situation in a different way for our other character.
This read certainly has some trippy moments but I think it's relatively easy to follow along if you're paying attention even slightly. It was the bind bending aspect that set this one apart from the other reads I've experienced in this competition so far.
There is also a couple of nice features in the back of the book which the author mentions at the very beginning to let the reader decide if they want everything revealed along the way (the path I chose) or if you'd like a bit of history lesson on what has happened with humanity before diving into the deep end.
I also wasn't aware the author had another previous SPSFC submission that received some positive feedback. Even though this one is a standalone I believe there are more plans to continue writing stories within this universe. I'll have to look up Daros and give it a go too.
June 6, 2024
I received this book as part of the SPSFC3 where I am a judge. It is a finalist and a very worthy one at that!
If you love unique alien cultures, lone wolf characters doing it on their own, space marines, weird and mysterious ruins, and a subtle world-build, you will enjoy this. I think the reason I enjoyed it so much was because it reminded me of classic sci-fi (but without the problematic stuff!).
This book essentially has all the tropes I love about sci-fi, but throw in a female main character who may or may not be queer and a plot that isn’t “save the universe” and that’s both the icing and decoration on my cake!
This book might not be for everyone. While there is action, the plot moves at a rather languid pace and follows a trajectory that, while not confusing, is one of those “mind-bending” concepts where you can choose whether to think deeply about it or just “go with it.” We’re talking time travel here, folks, but not in the way you think. And, to be honest, time travel is one of those tropes that is really hard to make work without either cannibalizing its own narrative or coming off as ridiculous. This book manages to balance these things so that a) the repetition of a few events was done in a way that didn't feel repetitive and b) it still left you wondering about determinism vs. fate.
Tied to this, Kenai itself is one of my favorite types of sci-fi worlds: seemingly abandoned but with mysterious ancient ruins. Jess is here to guard a scientist who is studying the ruins, and while this isn’t an archeology story, the concept it morphs into is so very interesting. The concept is what reminded me of classic sci-fi because it’s bizarre and somewhat experimental. The best thing about this novel is trying to understand what the hell is going on! And when you do figure it out, there are a few more twists and turns to keep it engaging.
I absolutely loved the main character, Jess, as she was very much the stoic badass hiding a compassionate and vulnerable person. There are flashbacks to her life before this mission which help to solidify her character and the world-building. We actually get minimal on the outside universe, but these flashbacks and the way Jess thinks of her circumstances broaden it out in a way that is organic and expertly done. I love stories set outside the wider universe but that still are impacted by it. It gives the setting layers and depth.
And then we have the alien culture. I adored them to no end and their societal set-up was fascinating. I again can’t say much about them for spoilers sake, but they are definitely not your classic type of alien in terms of physiology. And no, I did not ship the human and the alien. For once.
Overall, this was my personal favorite book of all the books I read for the competition.
If you love unique alien cultures, lone wolf characters doing it on their own, space marines, weird and mysterious ruins, and a subtle world-build, you will enjoy this. I think the reason I enjoyed it so much was because it reminded me of classic sci-fi (but without the problematic stuff!).
This book essentially has all the tropes I love about sci-fi, but throw in a female main character who may or may not be queer and a plot that isn’t “save the universe” and that’s both the icing and decoration on my cake!
This book might not be for everyone. While there is action, the plot moves at a rather languid pace and follows a trajectory that, while not confusing, is one of those “mind-bending” concepts where you can choose whether to think deeply about it or just “go with it.” We’re talking time travel here, folks, but not in the way you think. And, to be honest, time travel is one of those tropes that is really hard to make work without either cannibalizing its own narrative or coming off as ridiculous. This book manages to balance these things so that a) the repetition of a few events was done in a way that didn't feel repetitive and b) it still left you wondering about determinism vs. fate.
Tied to this, Kenai itself is one of my favorite types of sci-fi worlds: seemingly abandoned but with mysterious ancient ruins. Jess is here to guard a scientist who is studying the ruins, and while this isn’t an archeology story, the concept it morphs into is so very interesting. The concept is what reminded me of classic sci-fi because it’s bizarre and somewhat experimental. The best thing about this novel is trying to understand what the hell is going on! And when you do figure it out, there are a few more twists and turns to keep it engaging.
I absolutely loved the main character, Jess, as she was very much the stoic badass hiding a compassionate and vulnerable person. There are flashbacks to her life before this mission which help to solidify her character and the world-building. We actually get minimal on the outside universe, but these flashbacks and the way Jess thinks of her circumstances broaden it out in a way that is organic and expertly done. I love stories set outside the wider universe but that still are impacted by it. It gives the setting layers and depth.
And then we have the alien culture. I adored them to no end and their societal set-up was fascinating. I again can’t say much about them for spoilers sake, but they are definitely not your classic type of alien in terms of physiology. And no, I did not ship the human and the alien. For once.
Overall, this was my personal favorite book of all the books I read for the competition.
July 4, 2023
“Kenai” is the third of Dave Dobson’s books that I’ve read (obligatory disclaimer: I know Dave slightly, but he’s hardly my best buddy or anything that would oblige me to like or even read his work—he seems like a really cool frood though). I hope my four-star rating will convince you it’s an honest one (and also convince you of the honesty of my five-star ratings for “Daros” and “Got Trouble,” go read those too!!)
It’s a welcome entry in the sci-fi subgenre “human soldier goes native with alien race.” You may be familiar with the absolute worst entry in this subgenre, “Avatar.” “Kenai” is way better than that. Dobson has a talent for worldbuilding and “Kenai” does not disappoint. It has a twist that may initially make you roll your eyes but as you see where he goes with it, you may change your mind (I did).
Pros: solid worldbuilding, good relationship between interesting main characters, doesn’t rely on technobabble
Cons: eye-rolling gimmick, one of the main characters shows up awfully late in the book
It’s a welcome entry in the sci-fi subgenre “human soldier goes native with alien race.” You may be familiar with the absolute worst entry in this subgenre, “Avatar.” “Kenai” is way better than that. Dobson has a talent for worldbuilding and “Kenai” does not disappoint. It has a twist that may initially make you roll your eyes but as you see where he goes with it, you may change your mind (I did).
Pros: solid worldbuilding, good relationship between interesting main characters, doesn’t rely on technobabble
Cons: eye-rolling gimmick, one of the main characters shows up awfully late in the book
June 16, 2024
I have quite a lot of thoughts on both ends of the spectrum about Kenai by Dave Dobson and was pulled in faster than I expected. I really liked the beginning of the book. The back and forth between the timelines gave the story a good pace at the start and I found myself wanting to pick up my kindle to read constantly. It did start to lag a little about a quarter in though and I was glad when the mystery really got started.
As mentioned above, there were a couple of issues I had with this book. I love a dual timeline but only when the actions in them directly relate to each other. While getting the backstory of the MC was interesting, I would’ve loved a plot-related connection between them that was more concrete than the possible mystery-related explanation (I don’t want to give too much away here).
The world-building had both positives and negatives for me. I enjoyed the environment and its inhabitants and curiosities and was initially really intrigued by the nature-related technology. Sadly, that didn’t go into very much detail though and eventually started feeling like more of a convenience than anything else. In a note at the end, the author talks about there being potential plot holes in the story and I agree with that. I had an incredibly difficult time at first with understanding what he was trying to do with the Kenai mystery of the story. I don’t want to go into too much detail here for fear of spoilers, but it felt really convoluted at times and a bit like a chicken or egg situation.
Where a part in the beginning dragged a bit for me, in contrast to that I found the climax of the story a bit rushed. Both confrontations in their respective points in time felt rushed and easily handled. I would’ve loved a little more detail to the action here to contrasts the intellectual side of the story. The change of plans though, for lack of a better spoiler-free description, was an aspect I really enjoyed.
A fantastic plus in this book though was the humor. I often struggle with humor in books but I thought it worked really well here. I literally spit on my kindle at one point because it caught me so off guard. It was so silly but somehow worked perfectly for me here.
Something that surprised me about myself is that I liked the cheesy ending a lot here. I’m not usually the type to like those and prefer open-ended conclusions that make me questions certain aspects of a story but the ending for this one felt very fitting, maybe partially because of the introspection of the MC. Whatever it was, it rounded the adventure out well.
While Kenai didn’t turn out as strong as I had hoped, I can still see why others like the book a lot and appreciate the things it attempted to do. It has put the author onto my radar more strongly and I’m looking forward to giving another one of his books a try in the future.
As mentioned above, there were a couple of issues I had with this book. I love a dual timeline but only when the actions in them directly relate to each other. While getting the backstory of the MC was interesting, I would’ve loved a plot-related connection between them that was more concrete than the possible mystery-related explanation (I don’t want to give too much away here).
The world-building had both positives and negatives for me. I enjoyed the environment and its inhabitants and curiosities and was initially really intrigued by the nature-related technology. Sadly, that didn’t go into very much detail though and eventually started feeling like more of a convenience than anything else. In a note at the end, the author talks about there being potential plot holes in the story and I agree with that. I had an incredibly difficult time at first with understanding what he was trying to do with the Kenai mystery of the story. I don’t want to go into too much detail here for fear of spoilers, but it felt really convoluted at times and a bit like a chicken or egg situation.
Where a part in the beginning dragged a bit for me, in contrast to that I found the climax of the story a bit rushed. Both confrontations in their respective points in time felt rushed and easily handled. I would’ve loved a little more detail to the action here to contrasts the intellectual side of the story. The change of plans though, for lack of a better spoiler-free description, was an aspect I really enjoyed.
A fantastic plus in this book though was the humor. I often struggle with humor in books but I thought it worked really well here. I literally spit on my kindle at one point because it caught me so off guard. It was so silly but somehow worked perfectly for me here.
Something that surprised me about myself is that I liked the cheesy ending a lot here. I’m not usually the type to like those and prefer open-ended conclusions that make me questions certain aspects of a story but the ending for this one felt very fitting, maybe partially because of the introspection of the MC. Whatever it was, it rounded the adventure out well.
While Kenai didn’t turn out as strong as I had hoped, I can still see why others like the book a lot and appreciate the things it attempted to do. It has put the author onto my radar more strongly and I’m looking forward to giving another one of his books a try in the future.
September 26, 2025
I love Dave Dobson’s books and his sci-fi ones are my favorite. This one is a good mix of hard/soft sci-fi, a compelling redemption story with a really cool twist and the author does a great job of explaining a lot of the more science-y things in layman’s terms so readers can wrap their heads around them. I really liked the main character, which was important because it’s a first person perspective so we spend a lot of time in her head. I’m always so impressed with Dobson’s world building, there’s fun aliens, cute bots, and well thought out interstellar history- this is a great read for any fan of the genre!
May 30, 2024
Solving mysteries of an alien planet to save the past and the future. Kenai is military sci-fi meets Avatar in a beautiful story of hope.
Retired Marine Jess finds herself on a planet, where nothing is as it seems. Strange and unexplainable occurrences surround the archeological digs that launch Jess into an adventure to solve mysteries to save an alien race. The concept, once revealed, is incredibly unique and immersive. Dobson explores alien culture, biology, science, and language in this "first contact"-esque story.
SPSFC3 Judge
Retired Marine Jess finds herself on a planet, where nothing is as it seems. Strange and unexplainable occurrences surround the archeological digs that launch Jess into an adventure to solve mysteries to save an alien race. The concept, once revealed, is incredibly unique and immersive. Dobson explores alien culture, biology, science, and language in this "first contact"-esque story.
SPSFC3 Judge
July 4, 2024
Dave Dobson wrote this perfectly and I enjoyed the overall feel of this book. The characters worked well with everything that I was looking for and worked with this story. I thought everything worked well together and left me wanting to read more.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
September 26, 2024
Finished in almost one sitting and, skogging hell, what a ride. Seemingly effortless storytelling, sentient alien trees, a space marine shoot-em-up ending - and the best new SFF swearword. Can’t recommend the skogger highly enough
March 27, 2024
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I read this book as a judge for the third annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: blood, gun violence, animal death, death of parent, mass murder, war, grief, discussions of suicide/self -harm
--
Kenai is a highly enjoyable combination of sci-fi sub genres with a planetwide mystery stringing them all together. It follows Jess Amiko an ex-marine, who is working as private security for an excavation project on an alien planet when things start to go awry. What she expected to be a straightforward job turns into both a mission to survive and a deeper connection to the planet and all its oddities.
The story immediately hooked me in. Not only is Jess such a captivating character but the driving mystery of what onEarth Kenai was actually going on was written so well! The narrative voice particularly in the first third (as well as the more solo action scenes later on) reminded me of Murderbot a little, plus the fact that Jess was hired security and there being manipulative/sketchy corporations involved added to that.
Interspersed within the happenings on Kenai there are flashbacks to Jess’ past which really help with connecting to her. The relationships she had with characters both old and new added balance to all the tensions of the situations she was in and there was even some great moments of humour. The flashbacks did feel better integrated to the actual plot earlier on in the story than they did by the end but they were great for giving you a feel of the wider universe of the setting. The worldbuilding and descriptions of Kenai were also brilliant. I am going to stay pretty vague on other details though as I think this book will be best enjoyed if you don’t know too much going in.
The overall plot does have some distinctive shifts when it comes to tone, from a tense and action packed mystery to a more contemplative one, which made it feel a bit segmented but I still found myself very much invested in seeing it all through. The big twist in this and everything that followed, though not a totally new idea had a unique spin to it. I figured it out early on but following along still made me doubt whether I was right or not for ages and this made it all the more fun.
I did find that some of the info-dumpy monologue moments in the last part of the story slowed the pacing down when the timeline of the actual story was getting quicker so there was this feeling of the conclusion being a bit rushed. That being said I still liked how everything wrapped up especially for Jess’ personal arc. A great read overall!
**I read this book as a judge for the third annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: blood, gun violence, animal death, death of parent, mass murder, war, grief, discussions of suicide/self -harm
--
Kenai is a highly enjoyable combination of sci-fi sub genres with a planetwide mystery stringing them all together. It follows Jess Amiko an ex-marine, who is working as private security for an excavation project on an alien planet when things start to go awry. What she expected to be a straightforward job turns into both a mission to survive and a deeper connection to the planet and all its oddities.
The story immediately hooked me in. Not only is Jess such a captivating character but the driving mystery of what on
Interspersed within the happenings on Kenai there are flashbacks to Jess’ past which really help with connecting to her. The relationships she had with characters both old and new added balance to all the tensions of the situations she was in and there was even some great moments of humour. The flashbacks did feel better integrated to the actual plot earlier on in the story than they did by the end but they were great for giving you a feel of the wider universe of the setting. The worldbuilding and descriptions of Kenai were also brilliant. I am going to stay pretty vague on other details though as I think this book will be best enjoyed if you don’t know too much going in.
The overall plot does have some distinctive shifts when it comes to tone, from a tense and action packed mystery to a more contemplative one, which made it feel a bit segmented but I still found myself very much invested in seeing it all through. The big twist in this and everything that followed, though not a totally new idea had a unique spin to it. I figured it out early on but following along still made me doubt whether I was right or not for ages and this made it all the more fun.
I did find that some of the info-dumpy monologue moments in the last part of the story slowed the pacing down when the timeline of the actual story was getting quicker so there was this feeling of the conclusion being a bit rushed. That being said I still liked how everything wrapped up especially for Jess’ personal arc. A great read overall!
July 25, 2024
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. 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!
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. 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!
February 8, 2024
The Paradox of Kenai
Jess Amiko, a former space marine seeking redemption, takes on what should have been a routine security job on the seemingly mundane world of Kenai. However, when she is betrayed and attacked, Jess finds herself embroiled in a desperate fight for survival that unravels the secrets of Kenai's past and the paradoxes it imposes on its inhabitants.
From the outset, I was captivated by the compelling voice of Jess Amiko, whose troubled past and resilient spirit kept me hooked throughout the narrative. The pace of reveals leading up to the twist was well-crafted, and I found it to be both unique and well-thought-out. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the Ent-like alien, Elihar, and the technology rooted in organic life forms which added depth to the world-building and enhanced the impact of the paradox on both the environment and characters. A real mind-bender at times. There’s a great ‘save the cat’ moment when Jess adopts the alien lizard. Overall, an enjoyable read with a satisfying ending as Jess finds redemption for her perceived sins and offers hope for an alien race.
While the narrative maintained a strong pace overall, the middle seemed to drag a bit. The flashback chapters delving into Jess's backstory, while providing character depth, felt tangential to the main plot. Additionally, the explanation of the 'curse' seemed clumsy and underdeveloped.
Despite my few misgivings, I found "Kenai" to be a captivating sci-fi adventure that offers a fresh perspective on the genre. Dobson's skillful storytelling, coupled with the compelling character of Jess Amiko, makes for an engaging read that will appeal to fans of speculative science fiction. While suspension of disbelief is required, the immersive alien world and thought-provoking themes make "Kenai" a standout novel deserving of 5 stars.
Disclaimer: I’m a judge for the SPSFC. Opinions expressed are my own and do not reflect the views of my team, Tar Vol On.
Jess Amiko, a former space marine seeking redemption, takes on what should have been a routine security job on the seemingly mundane world of Kenai. However, when she is betrayed and attacked, Jess finds herself embroiled in a desperate fight for survival that unravels the secrets of Kenai's past and the paradoxes it imposes on its inhabitants.
From the outset, I was captivated by the compelling voice of Jess Amiko, whose troubled past and resilient spirit kept me hooked throughout the narrative. The pace of reveals leading up to the twist was well-crafted, and I found it to be both unique and well-thought-out. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the Ent-like alien, Elihar, and the technology rooted in organic life forms which added depth to the world-building and enhanced the impact of the paradox on both the environment and characters. A real mind-bender at times. There’s a great ‘save the cat’ moment when Jess adopts the alien lizard. Overall, an enjoyable read with a satisfying ending as Jess finds redemption for her perceived sins and offers hope for an alien race.
While the narrative maintained a strong pace overall, the middle seemed to drag a bit. The flashback chapters delving into Jess's backstory, while providing character depth, felt tangential to the main plot. Additionally, the explanation of the 'curse' seemed clumsy and underdeveloped.
Despite my few misgivings, I found "Kenai" to be a captivating sci-fi adventure that offers a fresh perspective on the genre. Dobson's skillful storytelling, coupled with the compelling character of Jess Amiko, makes for an engaging read that will appeal to fans of speculative science fiction. While suspension of disbelief is required, the immersive alien world and thought-provoking themes make "Kenai" a standout novel deserving of 5 stars.
Disclaimer: I’m a judge for the SPSFC. Opinions expressed are my own and do not reflect the views of my team, Tar Vol On.
Read
September 21, 2023When I say I haven't read anything like this before, I'm not exaggerating at all. Firstly, I haven't read many scifi but the ones I've read were either set in the present or in the future but never in all time frames simultaneously! It was mind boggling & amazing. There were a lot of "wait, what?!" moments & at points I thought perhaps I was too dense to understand all that 😂 but then again, I'm a biology person, not a physics-geography-mechanics person😅.
This book is hard to get into but gets more and more interesting with each turning page. Somewhere in the first half when I thought I was finally getting familiar with everything, the world went upside down! The whole forward-reverse time thing was so unexpected & so fascinating! I won't go into detail because that would be a spoiler & honestly, I wouldn't be able to explain it even if I tried🫣, but I followed it & I think that's what matters😅.
Kenai is a standalone sci-fi, beginning in times far ahead from now, in places far away from Earth. There are other worlds & creatures and cultures apart from humans. There are destinies & curses & paradoxes. There's war and the loss & trauma that comes with it. Overall, it's a journey of survival, both physically & emotionally and it's Jess's journey of finding herself & her life's ultimate purpose. The book ended on such a sweet note. It felt complete, like a full circle. I think the author did a pretty good job & I'm so glad to have read this book.
This book is hard to get into but gets more and more interesting with each turning page. Somewhere in the first half when I thought I was finally getting familiar with everything, the world went upside down! The whole forward-reverse time thing was so unexpected & so fascinating! I won't go into detail because that would be a spoiler & honestly, I wouldn't be able to explain it even if I tried🫣, but I followed it & I think that's what matters😅.
Kenai is a standalone sci-fi, beginning in times far ahead from now, in places far away from Earth. There are other worlds & creatures and cultures apart from humans. There are destinies & curses & paradoxes. There's war and the loss & trauma that comes with it. Overall, it's a journey of survival, both physically & emotionally and it's Jess's journey of finding herself & her life's ultimate purpose. The book ended on such a sweet note. It felt complete, like a full circle. I think the author did a pretty good job & I'm so glad to have read this book.
November 5, 2024
Aliens are aliens and very alien. But on Kenai the aliens existed 50 000 years ago, as archeological sites of ancient cities denote.
Jess Amiko are not really into finding out more about aliens. No, she was an ex marine who ended up being blamed for something she was not really guilty off, served years in penitentiary and got a job at Kenai, a far-off planet, as a security person at an archeological site.That is, till a mysterious attack killed the people at the archeological site she was stationed at.
Except, once more , her employers seems to be the culprits for this mayhem.
Why?
Then her whole world turned topsy t.urvey when even weirder evidence begins to attract her attention. And suddenly a whole lot more things do not make sense anymore. Or would in the weirdest of ways.
Author Dave Dobson in Kenai certainly succeeded in turning even my world upside down as I followed the exploits of Jess Amiko on a very, very strange world indeed.
And one that would have me feeling quite emotionally depleted having finished the last paragraph in this very, very strange but brilliant tome.
Enjoy.
Jess Amiko are not really into finding out more about aliens. No, she was an ex marine who ended up being blamed for something she was not really guilty off, served years in penitentiary and got a job at Kenai, a far-off planet, as a security person at an archeological site.That is, till a mysterious attack killed the people at the archeological site she was stationed at.
Except, once more , her employers seems to be the culprits for this mayhem.
Why?
Then her whole world turned topsy t.urvey when even weirder evidence begins to attract her attention. And suddenly a whole lot more things do not make sense anymore. Or would in the weirdest of ways.
Author Dave Dobson in Kenai certainly succeeded in turning even my world upside down as I followed the exploits of Jess Amiko on a very, very strange world indeed.
And one that would have me feeling quite emotionally depleted having finished the last paragraph in this very, very strange but brilliant tome.
Enjoy.
Read
September 9, 2024(This is a catch-up review written for SPSFC #3, my apologies to those following the competition for taking so long!)
An excellent premise with worldbuilding concepts I found astonishing, paired with slightly forced prose and a sense that in some places the book was written while exploring what the book might become, making it feel a little bit uncomplete and rough on the edges.
In a sense my issues with the pacing and that roughness were made outsize simply because of the strength of the premise and concepts behind this book – there is a lot in here that is absolutely brilliant, and I want that brilliance to be reflected across every aspect of this book.
In some ways, this is nearly a masterwork. It may have missed that lofty goal for me, but it’s still a book absolutely worth your time checking out if the blurb or first few pages remotely catch your interest.
An excellent premise with worldbuilding concepts I found astonishing, paired with slightly forced prose and a sense that in some places the book was written while exploring what the book might become, making it feel a little bit uncomplete and rough on the edges.
In a sense my issues with the pacing and that roughness were made outsize simply because of the strength of the premise and concepts behind this book – there is a lot in here that is absolutely brilliant, and I want that brilliance to be reflected across every aspect of this book.
In some ways, this is nearly a masterwork. It may have missed that lofty goal for me, but it’s still a book absolutely worth your time checking out if the blurb or first few pages remotely catch your interest.
December 11, 2024
Interesting
At first I thought that I wouldn't get thru this but as " time" passed I was hooked. The story is strong and interesting to the point of a cult type experience for me. I'm retired oldsters with lots of time to read but being on a fixed income as many of us are I really appreciate the free books and have a library card from my local library. That helps a lot too with the financial side of things. But thanks for making reading still available for some of us who are still reading actual books. Not many of us left that I know of anyway. Looking forward to reading another of your books. I like the writing style and I am also a Trekie and Star Wars geek. Thanks, sincerely, Your friend, Ed Z.
At first I thought that I wouldn't get thru this but as " time" passed I was hooked. The story is strong and interesting to the point of a cult type experience for me. I'm retired oldsters with lots of time to read but being on a fixed income as many of us are I really appreciate the free books and have a library card from my local library. That helps a lot too with the financial side of things. But thanks for making reading still available for some of us who are still reading actual books. Not many of us left that I know of anyway. Looking forward to reading another of your books. I like the writing style and I am also a Trekie and Star Wars geek. Thanks, sincerely, Your friend, Ed Z.
January 5, 2025
Good story!
I like a fresh take on certain sci-if themes and without giving away any spoilers, I think the author did a good job. I like the protagonist, I like that while the theme is science fiction, the story is very much character driven. It’s very difficult to say anything more without giving away too much so I’ll leave with if you enjoy a good sci-fi story that does not spell everything out for you then you’ll enjoy this novel.
I like a fresh take on certain sci-if themes and without giving away any spoilers, I think the author did a good job. I like the protagonist, I like that while the theme is science fiction, the story is very much character driven. It’s very difficult to say anything more without giving away too much so I’ll leave with if you enjoy a good sci-fi story that does not spell everything out for you then you’ll enjoy this novel.
January 23, 2024
Twisty and Riveting
Once again, Dave Dobson writes a riveting tale with great characters. This one has a more twisty than usual plot thanks to the challenging premise at the heart of the story. No spoilers! And, wow, he pulled it off. I stayed up way too late to finish reading this one as it galloped to its conclusion—no regrets.
Once again, Dave Dobson writes a riveting tale with great characters. This one has a more twisty than usual plot thanks to the challenging premise at the heart of the story. No spoilers! And, wow, he pulled it off. I stayed up way too late to finish reading this one as it galloped to its conclusion—no regrets.
August 19, 2023
Military action in space from a Lone Marine, life is harsh and society needs someone to blame. Surprise developments on a far off planet. Purchased this item on July 26, 2023. , from Amazon for free., from Amazon for free., from Amazon for free.
February 12, 2025
Incredible adventure, great characters and a very unusual story. It is predictable as you know there is a good ending. The story between beginning and end is not at all predictable. I tried to imagine what came next, but it was always unexpected. A book to read again.
March 19, 2025
Well done, Mr. Dobson!
This book has an amazing thought-provoking storyline. It takes you on a mind-bending journey that is full of wonder and some heartbreaking. I throughely suggest you read it. You will not be disappointed!
This book has an amazing thought-provoking storyline. It takes you on a mind-bending journey that is full of wonder and some heartbreaking. I throughely suggest you read it. You will not be disappointed!
November 4, 2025
Decent story
This is a really interesting story with the concept of time going in two different directions at the same time. That was a tad confusing most of the time but rewarding in the end.
This is a really interesting story with the concept of time going in two different directions at the same time. That was a tad confusing most of the time but rewarding in the end.
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