3 out of 4 stars
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A.E. Nienow’s Zedgur opens on Mars, in a future where life on Earth is a distant memory. When the daughter of Minister Bishop, an important Martian official, alleges that she was drugged and assaulted at a club on the mining planet of Zedgur she is accused by the police of making up her story. Mars is on the verge of signing a treaty with Zedgur, and, while Minister Bishop is certain that his daughter is telling the truth and the victim of police prejudice against Martians, other government officials believe that it is important for the Martian government to avoid any controversy. In order to placate Minister Bishop, Alice Winters, an ex-military special forces operative turned private investigator is called in to help with the case.
Alice is hungry. She is not doing well financially, and this case will provide her with the opportunity to gain some financial independence. While the Martian government only wants to keep the pretense that they are looking into the investigation to keep Minister Bishop happy, Alice wishes to discover the truth. She soon finds that things are much more complicated that they originally seemed.
Filled with colorful characters, an intriguing mystery and an interesting landscape, Zedgur is part science-fiction and part detective story. A.E. Nienow seamlessly introduces us to a new world, society and government. Alice (and Martians in general) are somewhat unknowledgeable of those from other planets. As she is learning about these new races, so are we. The descriptions are not overwhelming and do not detract from the story.
I found A.E. Nienow’s writing style very interesting. While most books seem to limit the reader to the narrative of the main character, Zedgur does not do this. Throughout this book you see not only what Alice is thinking, but also the other characters. I have not read many books that are written in this way. I thought this was a different writing style, and it allowed me to connect with several of the characters. This was especially helpful, since so many of the characters were aliens (even though it is noted in the book that they are not technically aliens, just genetically different).
Zedgur is a fun adventure that will keep the reader wanting more. I give it 3 out of 4 stars. It had a great story, interesting characters and keeps the reader guessing. I think that anybody who is a fan of science-fiction would enjoy this story. It is also a good mystery, and while I do think that many fans of detective novels would enjoy this, I also understand that some people have a difficult time reading science-fiction. I almost gave this book 4 stars; however I did run into a couple of places where words were misspelled or there were grammatical errors. Other than that, though, this book is very well-written and grabs the reader’s attention. I would definitely recommended checking it out.
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Zedgur
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