A broken man. A robotic ape. A world of possibility. Verloc Nim - addict, estranged father amnesiac - wakes up in the middle of nowhere. Piecing together the events of the recent past, Verloc reveals the misery of his own life, and the beginnings of something new and entirely unexpected. Because on the last inhabitable planet to be discovered, at a forgotten scientific colony, impossible things are happening...

The Warm Smell of Dust is the first book in the Aama collection.

In the distant future, Verloc Nim wakes up in the middle of nowhere suffering from complete amnesia. He remembers nothing of his former life. But when Verloc is handed his diary by a robot-ape called Churchill, he is able to revisit his past. His life, he discovers, has been a miserable one. He lost his business, his family, and his friends because he refused the technological advancements of society. The eye implants, the pharyngeal filters, the genetic modifications - he went without all these. He was astray in a society he deeply resented - that is, until his brother, Conrad, took him to another planet to retrieve a mysterious substance called Aama.

This collection is wonderful introduction to the series - putting the reader into the same mind space as Verloc Nim - not knowing what the hell is going on as layer after layer of hidden storyline is revealed. It's an interesting tale, and one that revisits all of the elements that made classic sci-fi such a hit.

The art work is impressive and the story is multi-layered. The end result is an extremely rewarding read.

8

Nick Smithson